City of Niagara Falls, N.Y.

State of the City Address by Mayor Paul A. Dyster
February 26th 2014

City Council members, fellow public officials, department heads, community leaders, ladies and gentlemen—good evening and thank you for joining me for the 2014 State of the City Address.  I want to express my particular thanks to those of you who braved the cold to come out tonight, given that my first two attempts to schedule this event fell victim to the Polar Vortex and a snow storm, respectively.  It seemed for a while there that this event was cursed with bad weather.  I thought of postponing it until May, but decided instead on late February—because if we did have one of those freakish late spring snowstorms, I didn’t want to get blamed for bringing it on.  So thank you for coming, and try to hang on for a few more weeks.  Nothing in this world lasts forever—not even the winter of 2013-2014.

Before we get started, I wanted to take a few moments to remember two individuals who are part of our Niagara Falls family who are no longer with us.  First, my long-time Executive Assistant Donna Winstanley, who passed away last week after a brief but courageous bout with cancer.  Donna was my right-hand person for over six years, and she was dedicated to serving the citizens of the City of Niagara Falls.  Second, we are all saddened by the tragic news that 20-year old Ricky Jones, a Niagara Falls High School graduate and son of Detective Lieutenant Dan Jones of the Niagara Falls Police Department, was killed in a multi-car pile-up while serving with the Marines in California.  Ricky, a firefighter for the Frontier Volunteer Fire Company in Wheatfield, was trying to assist the driver in another car involved in the accident when he lost his life.  Both of these wonderful people were a credit to our City, and both will be sorely missed by all who knew and loved them.  I would ask that we now observe a moment of silence in their memory.

Thank you.   (continued on next page)