Dyster wants $100,000 hire approved
Candidate for proposed development directorship lauded for experience
NIAGARA FALLS — Mayor Paul A. Dyster wants to hire an economic development director with more than 20 years’ experience in places like Erie, Pa., and the University of Toledo, but he will need to convince the City Council the new hire is worth adding a $100,000 salary line to the city’s payroll.
It’s not clear Dyster has that support now.
Dyster pulled a proposal to create the $100,000 salary line — $60,000 of which would be reimbursed by a private foundation — at the Council’s last meeting after failing to come up with the three votes needed to approve the new pay. He also publicly distributed the resume of Peter F. Kay, who is the top contender for the job after a six-month national search conducted by Dyster’s transition team.
Kay’s resume includes five years as an economic development adviser to former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge and a recent position at the University of Toledo in which he headed an 18-month effort to develop a science and technology corridor.
Dyster asked Council members to consider approving the salary for the position when they return from their August recess and told the Council that Kay had “just the right level of experience and energy” to head economic development in Niagara Falls.
“Having revealed the negotiated salary, we thought it would he helpful to make sure that everybody understood the quality of the candidate that we’re talking about here,” Dyster said.
A Perrysburg, Ohio, resident, Kay has also worked as president and chief executive officer of the Economic Development Corp. of Erie County in Pennsylvania and as director of the Department of Economic and Community Development in Dearborn, Mich. He started his career in the 1970s at planning firms in Jamestown and Buffalo, according to his resume.
Niagara Falls has not had one person dedicated solely to coordinating the city’s economic development efforts since City Council members in June 2005 refused to renew a contract for an economic development consultant hired by former Mayor Vince V. Anello.
Dyster has proposed re-creating the position of director of the Department of Planning, Economic Development and Environmental Services at a salary of $100,000. The Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo has agreed to pay $60,000 of the annual salary during Dyster’s first term from a fund set up by anonymous donors to help attract new candidates to city positions.
Dyster has also proposed creating a second post, for a director of tourism development, who would focus on tourism-related projects, but he has not yet announced a candidate or a salary for that job.
Dyster has already hired former Councilwoman Fran M. Iusi to serve as director of business development. Iusi, who replaced Ralph Aversa, oversees and coordinates loan, grant and other business incentive programs for the city.
Dyster has said the new directors of economic development and tourism development would join Iusi, Senior Planner Thomas J. DeSantis and other staff members who meet weekly and also serve as his “economic development Cabinet.”
Dyster agreed to pull the proposal to create the $100,000 salary line last week after Council Chairman Sam Fruscione and other Council members asked for more time to review the request. Fruscione was on vacation and did not attend the Council’s last meeting.
Fruscione said he is concerned about the impact on the operating budget of the city’s portion of the salary and the cost of benefits.
“We’re not trying to slow the mayor down,” Fruscione said. “We’re just trying to do what’s right for the city taxpayers.”
But Councilman Chris Robins said he believes the economic development director is a “key position” that needs to be funded in Dyster’s administration. Robins said that post could help the city deal with downtown landowners who control underutilized properties.
“Expertise is the key,” Robins said.
