Phase I

“Niagara Falls is an unclaimed promise.”  No one has ever described Niagara Falls so succinctly or beautifully. Those six words may just be the most intelligent ever spoken on the subject of civics.  I can’t imagine they came easily to the lips.  It took 86 years to perfectly form that short sentence.  It was worth … Read more

I field a lot of calls because of this series of articles.  Mostly from people I’ve never spoken to before.  One afternoon last week, after thirty minutes on the phone – thirty minutes of harsh analysis, sometimes outright disgust, always backed by facts and a lifetime of experience, I said to the caller “so, it’s … Read more

Money – or resources if you prefer a sanitary term – is the foundation of society. Whether its how you run your home or how you run your city, the acquisition and distribution of money are some of the most important decisions made.  Upon those decisions rests comfort or despair.  I’m not telling you anything … Read more

The more you learn about Niagara Falls, the more you realize you don’t know anything. It is one of the most complex situations you’ll ever run across.  Yet that’s what makes it so fascinating.  It is a deep and puzzling maze. Nothing is as it seems. How can a city with less than 50,000 people, … Read more

Change isn’t easy. It takes intellect to question norms and character to make unpopular changes in pursuit of goals. It includes having conversations with people you may not agree with. Seek to understand, then be understood, as they say. ‘You probably hate Trump.  Both parties hate him.  He’s not one of them.  He’s probably not … Read more

We ran for Mayor of Niagara Falls. We won. Now what? The civics project began with a few educational questions:  why is Niagara Falls what it is today, how did it get here, where do people believe it can go, and can we get there. We took advantage of the local campaign season when interest … Read more

What makes Niagara Falls the special place it is.  That’s the secret question.  The answer so obviously close in front of us that it’s maddingly difficult to get a focus.  All of us are smarter than any of us – and all of us have an answer, but none of us have the answer. That’s … Read more

When cities become poor by spending more than they raise talk turns to the need for a control board.  The talk is mostly on radio and in coffee shops.  It never really gains traction with the decision makers in government. If it’s ever talked about seriously within government it’s because it’s an option, albeit a … Read more

Civics is often bent to the will of the user.  Like the constitution, like the Bible, like justice and the law, civics is applied by those that practice it.  It’s a user guide more than stone tablets. We don’t all see the same thing, hear the same thing, dream of the same end result.  This … Read more