Published: November 09, 2007 02:17 am            

OUR VIEW: Status quo wins in Niagara County

The more things change the more they stay the same. But this time, there wasn’t even much of a change.

The drumbeat out there was supposed to be for the end to business as usual. Candidates preaching change were supposed to be on the upswing. If you listened to those advocating change, you were told to expect a groundswell of a ‘We’re mad as hell and we’re not going to take it anymore’ attitude.

A realization that Niagara County is one of the highest taxed areas in the nation and the fallout over the AES tax break deal were supposed to mobilize and energize the electorate to throw out the old guard.

Guess what? Didn’t happen.

Otherwise, the push for change generally fell flat.

In the Niagara County Legislature, the Republicans maintain control with their unique majority caucus: It’s a combination of GOP lawmakers and Democrats who generally agree with them. With a 14 to 5 seat margin, it’s essentially no change at all. The AES issue fizzled: One of its prime opponents, candidate Merrill Bender, went down to a nearly 2 to 1 defeat in the Somerset area, home of the AES power plant. Another opponent of the deal, Ann Oakes, fared better against longtime Legislator Clyde Burmaster but still came up short.

Some might call it apathy; others, like Niagara County Republican Chairman Henry Wojtaszek, say people are satisfied with the direction that the county is going.

So the people have spoken. But in many cases, it’s difficult to understand just what they said.

        

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