Wikipedia says leadership is a process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task. Currently I am reading a book by Rudy Giuliani called Leadership. It is an amazing book on how he made decisions that made him a great leader. I think we can all agree that he did turn New York City around. Every time I am back home in the city I can’t seem to think of Niagara Falls needing a Rudy Giuliani. If you remember, or read history books. South Bronx was in a situation that Niagara Falls is currently in. In was run downed. Crime was rising. Old building and houses were tagged in spray paint. Everyone has lost hope and doesn’t care anymore. It is unfortunate because the leaders across the board have not given the city the hope in which they can believe can turn the city around. I am not talking about just the elected officials, I am talking about EVERYONE. The union heads, development director, mayor, council, city administrator, budget director etc. A lot of missteps and constant pointing the finger has caused the downfall of what we see today in the city. Through this constant back and fourth there is no real light on the issues at hand. Being a person that is from Niagara Falls, and now looking in I feel I can comment on this problem. Here are the problems I say face Niagara Falls at the current moment:
I read that a few years ago a company called The Great Wolf Lodge came to try and put up a hotel. The perfect idea for a hotel. It was a family style hotel. It had arcades, in door water parks, restaurants etc. A great idea for Niagara Falls, NY. It would of brought in jobs and places for people to stay. Could you imagine having that hotel now while the Wallenda walk is going on? However, why was it shot down? Because of the permit process and the fact the land they wanted to build on they couldn’t build on. Where was the leadership to come interject to help them find another piece of property to help them build on? They were absent and now that hotel is across the river. The bullet points I just mentioned need to be on the top of the list. It needs to happen NOW. If you can spend 4 years of attacking those issues, I guarantee you will see a transformation in that city you have never seen before. People will come in to do business, your family and friends will come back and live, and the city will look new again. It will never happen though until we can grasp onto these issues and realize it and take control of it. If political infighting keeps going on you will keeps missing the issue. The city will crumble even more and it will be to late. I live in Charlotte, NC. It wasn’t built in a day. It took hard work, and people coming together on the knowledge of knowing what needs to be done to make it to what it are. Now half the people that use to live in Niagara Falls, NY live here. I run into them all the time. They say they would love to come back, but the issues I mentioned they mention. They don’t want to come back to struggle. It will never happen if Niagara Falls can’t get that leadership and build up future leaders that show potential. Even if you keep the current leadership, they need to realize that the political infighting needs to stop. “Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being like; leadership is defined by results not attributes.”- Peter Drucker “Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.”- Dwight D. Eisenhower
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About: Dom CianchettiBeing a Niagara Falls, NY native I try to come back to the area about once or twice a year. I have a lot of ties to the community. My parents owned the pizza shop called Jacobs, and my grandfather was Jacob A. Palillo. However, like many I left the area for Charlotte, NC. You as the reader can probably venture the guess on why I left. It is unfortunate but Niagara Falls has fell on some very hard times. A lot of empty promises are made daily, and nothing can seem to get done. Meanwhile the young people keep leaving because of the dysfunction. I am one person though that always swims against the current. I try to keep my ear to the ground on a lot of issues. I am looking to return to Niagara Falls because I am optimistic with the right leadership the area can change! |