[QUOTE=Diane Kozak;926177]
By the way, there was No choice for second ward councilman previously, cause if I remember correctly, Mr. Szymanski had NO opposition. He walked right into the job.[/QUOTE]
Twice.
2006
2010
[QUOTE=Diane Kozak;926177]
By the way, there was No choice for second ward councilman previously, cause if I remember correctly, Mr. Szymanski had NO opposition. He walked right into the job.[/QUOTE]
Twice.
2006
2010
Communities » Lackawanna
Lackawanna Council
Darch likely to get nod for seat
By Jay Tokasz
News Staff Reporter
Published:May 20, 2012, 12:00 AM
A vacant seat on Lackawanna’s City Council could be filled at the Council’s next meeting on Monday.
The 2nd Ward seat has been empty since former Councilman Geoffrey M. Szymanski was sworn in as mayor Jan. 1. The remaining councilmen have been split over who should serve Szymanski’s term until the end of the year.
But Council President Henry R. Pirowski said that Rebecca L. Darch, 25, a supervisor at a Buffalo nonprofit agency, will get the nod over Annette Iafallo, clerk for the city school board.
Pirowski said he now has the three votes necessary to get Darch appointed.
“I’m fully confident we’re going to be able to get Rebecca Darch appointed on Monday,” he said in a phone interview. “I thoroughly believe Rebecca is the best candidate.”
Both Iafallo, 60, and Darch were recommended for the job by the 2nd Ward Democratic Committee. Council newcomers Pirowski and Keith E. Lewis, who represents the 4th Ward, voted in favor of Darch in January, while 1st Ward Councilman Abdul Noman favored Iafallo.
Third Ward Councilman Francis J. Kulczyk, who was ill, did not attend the meeting, and with just three members present a unanimous vote was required for an appointment.
The council hasn’t addressed the issue since then, proceeding for months with four voting members instead of five.
Meanwhile, residents of the 2nd Ward have expressed growing frustration that their voice was not being represented on the Council.
In an effort the break the stalemate, the Lackawanna Democratic Committee went back to the drawing board last week and recommended a compromise candidate— Thomas Burke, 64, who has been involved in Democratic politics for years as a 2nd Ward committee member.
Burke recently retired from the Lackawanna Municipal Housing Authority, where he was serving as temporary assistant director.
Whoever is appointed will serve in the 2nd Ward seat until the end of the year. An election in November will determine who takes the post on Jan. 1, 2013.
Kulczyk appeared to be the swing vote, but this week he said he hasn’t made up his mind and wasn’t contacted by other members of the Council to vote for Darch.
Kulczyk said he supported Burke as a compromise candidate, because Burke was the choice of the committee and the 2nd Ward was overdue for a council member.
Burke said he won’t be a candidate in the election, while Darch and Iafallo have previously said they will run.
The 2nd Ward Democratic Committee, in a 7-3 vote, also endorsed Iafallo over Darch in the September primary election for the seat. A Democratic committee endorsement often carries significant weight in Lackawanna, which is heavily populated by registered Democrats.
Iafallo is a former mayoral candidate and former member of the Lackawanna City School Board. She was appointed school board clerk in 2008 and has said she would continue in that post if she became 2nd Ward councilwoman.
Darch is supervisor of family and county services with Heritage Centers, a nonprofit agency that serves people with developmental disabilities.
Diane M. Kozak, a retired federal employee and former school board member, also has announced her candidacy.
Kozak was seeking the Independence Party and Republican Party endorsements.
jtokasz@buffnews.com
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WOW!
Oh......btw......NO Council Agenda posted on City web ( Lackawannany.gov ) for tomorrow nights May 21, 2012, REGULARLY SCHEDULED COUNCIL MEETING, the way it is mandated by NYS LAW!
And when/where did they " meet ' last week to discuss this?!? It should have been a public work-session.....PUBLIC BUSINESS is just what it is. PUBLIC! You mean the " Democratic Party " in a closed meeting with the Council members present discussed this serious issue??!! Is this the way it is supposed to be done?
I would have thought there would be a Council work-session and maybe "the party" could have made their recommendations at it.....and not done at Curly's if that is where they "went back to the drawing board".
Transparency.................................?! C'mon fellas, you promised us!
Easy puzzle to put together.
Rebecca Darch is Robert Sireika's financee.
Two weeks ago, Darch didn't have enough votes. Then...Bo Sireika wins the school board seat.
Magically, Darch now has enough votes (makes you wonder if a trade was made).
Bo is also one of Hank Pirowski's best friends.
Now, Bo has wanted to be a Lackawanna fireman. I wonder if he'll "magically" end up with a fireman's job before his school board reign expires.
Wasn't he already fired from the Police Department?
Darch is a rubber stamp for Pirowski and we second ward residents will still have no representation on the council. She's the 3rd vote Pirowski and Lewis need to make the 1st and 3rd ward councilmen powerless. Every 2nd ward citizen should be calling Binky.
" Meanwhile, residents of the 2nd Ward have expressed growing frustration that their voice was not being represented on the Council. "
I know my Mother would never complain because the open spot saved hard-earned tax dollars, seniors want the money on their gas bills----not wasted on whatever,........I just wonder how many residents " expressed growing frustration "? 1, 3, 5, 100---500, 1000? How many actually expressed their frustration at this point?
I bet tons and tons of 2nd Warders do not even know there is an open seat .......I liked the upcoming election to force a fairer playing field at this point in the year. Back in January we could have had a transition.....but 1/2 year now---??!! Hank has said over and over that he takes care of ALL Council business because he is at large and it was getting done........so why now?
Especially when they are 3/4 of the way through the Lackawanna City Budget process of 2012/13', the crux of their job.
BTW: where is the Budget....historically it is always out around May 10. Is it out?
Lackawanna
Council appoints Darch to seat vacated by Szymanski
By Jay Tokasz
News Staff Reporter
Published:May 22, 2012, 12:00 AM
A five-month stalemate over a vacant seat on the Lackawanna City Council came to an end Monday, as Council members appointed political newcomer Rebecca Darch to fill the 2nd Ward post previously held by Mayor Geoffrey M. Szymanski.
The Council voted, 4-0, for Darch’s appointment to the seat through the end of 2012.
First Ward Councilman Abdul Noman, who in January voted in favor of Annette Iafallo for the appointment, this time backed Darch to break a Council deadlock.
“The 2nd Ward residents deserve to have a voice,” Noman said after the meeting. “I’m sure the residents of the 2nd Ward will be very pleased now to have a voice on the City Council.”
City Council President Henry Pirowski and 4th Ward Councilman Keith Lewis — both newcomers to the Council in 2012—were firmly behind Darch’s appointment.
“I know it’s been a contentious issue. We’ve had several good candidates come forward. I believe Rebecca Darch is the best person for the position at this time,” said Pirowski.
Third Ward Councilman Francis
J. Kulczyk tried to introduce a compromise
candidate, Thomas Burke, for consideration, but his motion was not seconded.
Kulczyk abstained from voting on Darch’s appointment, and with abstentions in Lackawanna considered yes votes, the approval was unanimous.
Darch’s appointment is effective immediately, and she will serve on the Council at the next scheduled meeting June 4.
Darch, 25, works as a supervisor at a Buffalo nonprofit agency and has lived in the 2nd Ward for about five years.
“The 2nd Ward needs representation, and it needs progress,” she said after the meeting.
Darch planned immediately to familiarize herself with the mayor’s proposed budget, and she expected to focus on ridding the 2nd Ward of abandoned buildings, creating more playground space for children and finding solutions to the ward’s flood insurance problem.
Iafallo also attended the meeting, and she congratulated Darch after the vote.
When asked if she was disappointed by the proceedings, Iafallo responded: “No. It’s called politics.”
“I do plan on winning this primary,” she added. “I wish Rebecca a lot of luck.”
Iafallo, 61, works as clerk of the Lackawanna City School Board and is a veteran of Lackawanna politics, having run for the mayor’s post and served multiple terms on the School Board.
Although she lost out on the appointment, Iafallo won a coveted endorsement from the 2nd Ward Democratic Committee earlier this month.
Burke, a longtime 2nd Ward committeeman, was not interested in running in the election. He said he sought the appointment as a compromise candidate.
Diane M. Kozak, a retired federal employee and former School Board member, has announced her candidacy for the 2nd Ward seat, as well. Kozak is seeking the Independence Party and Republican Party endorsements.
jtokasz@buffnews.com
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Not disputing the 2nd Ward needs their Rep at all........but their voice was Hank's until an election this fall. Oh well. It just smells of ............
Sooooo the plot thickens.................
Now the Front Page has a picture of the newly endorsed " Conservative Party " candidate for 2nd Ward Council-member.
How does the Chair-person of the Conservative Party roll........oh yeah, a retired Lackawanna School employee, a yes-man,
and a bleep bleep "to "The Party" high-ups for many-many years!
Why cave to others wishes? Doesn't anybody in any of these "parties" have scruples and a backbone?!
Oh Brother! Like the writing wasn't on the wall----tweedle dum and tweedle dee!
The same old- same old- life-long career politicians backing the same old same old "family and friends members"!
Give us a break! Same baloney....on stale bread! Hup two three four! "LACK" a-fill in the blank!
Now that the " Endorsed Democrat" has both of the "HOT" lines........what lines are the others going to run on for the special election for the 2nd Ward Council seat?
We need sincere people who love Lackawanna....NOT career people who......loveeeeeeee patronage and nepotism.
Common versions of the nursery rhyme include:
Tweedledum and Tweedledee Agreed to have a battle; For Tweedledum said Tweedledee Had spoiled his nice new rattle. Just then flew down a monstrous crow, As black as a tar-barrel; Which frightened both the heroes so, They quite forgot their quarrel.
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Poli-ticks sure does make strange bed-fellows doesn't it?! "Keep planting corn......and corn is what you'll get!"
A Democratic Conservative is an oxymoron. What in Annette's history would lead anyone to believe she has any Conservative Principles.
If I'm not mistaken...didn't Norm get to run on the Republican line when he ran for mayor? Obviously, I've never been shy in my support for Annette so I'm happy for any line she's given. I'm just saying, it seems to happen in this area where a Democrat gets a Conservative or Republican line (western NY in general)...really a true Republican around here is a rare find.
Also, I spoke to Annette the other day about the issue I had with the unleashed pitbull in my neighborhood. In less than an hour animal control and code enforcement were in my neighborhood following up. Now, I had put in 3 calls in 2 days to city hall and couldn't get a call back, but with her help, my issue is addressed! We want a council representative that can get things done. Think about the bigger issues we've had in the 2nd ward for years, playgrounds, flood insurance etc...I think she has the connections and good working relationship with the city to make some tangible change, finally!
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