Last month, Buffalo's Common Council voted to support the merger of the two bridge authorities that control the four non-rail crossings of the Niagara River: the Peace Bridge Authority* and the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission. The unanimous resolution, co-sponsored by Councilmembers David Rivera and Joseph Golombek, added new impetus to an idea hearkening back to the International Joint Commission and Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan.
This effort has also been pushed at the state level in recent years by Assemblyman Sam Hoyt and State Senator George Maziarz -- both of whom have raised significant concerns over accountability, transparency and plans of the bridge authorities that are based in their respective districts. Hoyt and Maziarz are now again preparing legislation to get the merger process rolling.
On this latest development, so far WNED's veteran journalist Mike Desmond has owned the story, which ran during yesterday morning's local news segments of the Morning Edition block. The information below includes my notes from those segments, and Desmond's associated article posted on the WNED web site yesterday:
There's another push on in Albany to merge the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission and the Peace Bridge Authority.
"Enough is enough. Let's merge them," said State Assemblyman Sam Hoyt.
He says he's again working with State Senator George Maziarz to merge the public authorities which control the four highway bridges across the Niagara River.
Because they are bi-national, the Buffalo Democrat admits it's likely to take time to get approvals from the U.S. and Canada, Ontario and New York for a merger.
"It's complicated, but we're going to work with Senators Schumer and Gillibrand. I've already talked with the Canadian Consulate," said Sam Hoyt. "It was proposed years ago by the joint International Joint Commission."
Hoyt also said this is part of a larger statewide effort on transparency and reduction of public authorities -- no one in the state actually knows how many there are. "We don't need two different public authorities running these bridges."
Hoyt and Maziarz have tried this in the past. It would be complicated -- it would require treaty changes in the US and Canada, and legal changes in New York and Ontario. Currently, the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission is looking at a $60 Million project at the Lewiston/Queenston Bridge, and the Peace Bridge Authority is looking at spending hundreds of millions on expansion plans.
"You have four bridges within twenty miles of each other, and two separate authorities managing and maintaining them. It's an unnecessary duplication, and a lack of coordination." Hoyt also cited cost savings and better transportation planning as reasons for the merger.
Transparency is a major driver for Senator Maziarz. When the bridge commission fired its boss just two years ago, it refused to say how much it cost to buy out Executive Director Thomas Garlock, arguing it didn't have to tell anyone or any government on either side of the river.
"We couldn't get answers about compensation of Thomas Garlock, former Executive Director of the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission," said Maziarz, who went to court over the refusal to list the costs.
"It's another example as to why we need to rein in these unaccountable authorities," Sam Hoyt said, "that kind of arrogant attitude that they don't have to reveal basic information to the public, or representatives of the public such as Senator Maziarz and myself."
*For the persnickety: the Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority.
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This effort has also been pushed at the state level in recent years by Assemblyman Sam Hoyt and State Senator George Maziarz -- both of whom have raised significant concerns over accountability, transparency and plans of the bridge authorities that are based in their respective districts. Hoyt and Maziarz are now again preparing legislation to get the merger process rolling.
On this latest development, so far WNED's veteran journalist Mike Desmond has owned the story, which ran during yesterday morning's local news segments of the Morning Edition block. The information below includes my notes from those segments, and Desmond's associated article posted on the WNED web site yesterday:
There's another push on in Albany to merge the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission and the Peace Bridge Authority.
"Enough is enough. Let's merge them," said State Assemblyman Sam Hoyt.
He says he's again working with State Senator George Maziarz to merge the public authorities which control the four highway bridges across the Niagara River.
Because they are bi-national, the Buffalo Democrat admits it's likely to take time to get approvals from the U.S. and Canada, Ontario and New York for a merger.
"It's complicated, but we're going to work with Senators Schumer and Gillibrand. I've already talked with the Canadian Consulate," said Sam Hoyt. "It was proposed years ago by the joint International Joint Commission."
Hoyt also said this is part of a larger statewide effort on transparency and reduction of public authorities -- no one in the state actually knows how many there are. "We don't need two different public authorities running these bridges."
Hoyt and Maziarz have tried this in the past. It would be complicated -- it would require treaty changes in the US and Canada, and legal changes in New York and Ontario. Currently, the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission is looking at a $60 Million project at the Lewiston/Queenston Bridge, and the Peace Bridge Authority is looking at spending hundreds of millions on expansion plans.
"You have four bridges within twenty miles of each other, and two separate authorities managing and maintaining them. It's an unnecessary duplication, and a lack of coordination." Hoyt also cited cost savings and better transportation planning as reasons for the merger.
Transparency is a major driver for Senator Maziarz. When the bridge commission fired its boss just two years ago, it refused to say how much it cost to buy out Executive Director Thomas Garlock, arguing it didn't have to tell anyone or any government on either side of the river.
"We couldn't get answers about compensation of Thomas Garlock, former Executive Director of the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission," said Maziarz, who went to court over the refusal to list the costs.
"It's another example as to why we need to rein in these unaccountable authorities," Sam Hoyt said, "that kind of arrogant attitude that they don't have to reveal basic information to the public, or representatives of the public such as Senator Maziarz and myself."
*For the persnickety: the Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority.
About the entry image: This is one of the signs that the Prospect Hill/Columbus Park neighbors were holding last month at Common Council, to show their support for the pro-merger resolution.