Corruption Has Been Normalized
Here Are the Facts:
For decades, Niagara County politics has been controlled by a small circle of corrupt Republican insiders.
Now, you might be saying, “Wait — I’m a Republican.” Fine. This isn’t about who agrees with Fox News. They want you focused on national issues so you ignore local criminality. That distraction is deliberate.
Here in Niagara County, what we actually have is a friends-and-family system. A system where some people get cushy government jobs without qualifications, where spouses are appointed or elected through insider deals, and where millions are made off taxpayer-funded authorities and quasi-government agencies.
If that isn’t you — Republican or not — then this system isn’t working for you either. And if it is you, then no, I’m not getting your vote anyway. So go relax and enjoy your cushy no-show job until I get elected.
Let’s be clear about how this machine works.
The Niagara County power structure is propped up by the same network that ran the OTB operation in Batavia. And before you ask, “What does Batavia have to do with Niagara County?” here’s the answer: they used a quasi-government authority with almost no oversight — Batavia Downs — to enrich themselves and their friends.
Year after year, state audits flagged corruption. Scandals piled up. Mismanagement was documented again and again. And nothing changed. The gravy train kept rolling. Power stayed concentrated. Friends kept getting paid and elected.
That money didn’t just buy luxury — it bought loyalty, jobs, and political control, not just in Batavia but across county government. If you map the interlocking boards, appointments, and contracts, the pattern becomes impossible to ignore.
They are literally hiring criminals — not despite their records, but because they’re part of the same OTB-connected cash system.
This isn’t how a functioning democracy works. It looks more like a third-world patronage system. And too many people shrug and say, “That’s just how it is.”
I don’t accept that. And it is my job to make you care.
Corruption in the Niagara Region Isn’t Inevitable — It’s Tolerated. And That Can Change.
In Niagara County, corruption has become background noise. Insider pay raises, lavish trips, and contracts that keep landing in the same hands barely register anymore. People shrug and move on. That resignation — not just the misconduct — is the real problem.
Corruption drains this region quietly but relentlessly. Every dollar diverted through insider deals is a dollar not fixing roads, not helping small businesses, not strengthening schools or healthcare. Money that should stay here keeps flowing upward and outward.
The Solution Is Simple — and Long Overdue.
Stop normalizing it. Start confronting it.
The authority already exists. What’s been missing is leadership willing to use it. That means forcing transparency where it actually exists by applying sustained, public pressure on the New York State Gaming Commission, which has real oversight authority, especially over OTB.
It means ending the silence around OTB. It may sit in Batavia, but its influence and beneficiaries reach directly into Niagara County. Taxpayer-funded authorities must answer to taxpayers.
It means using sunlight, not backroom deals. If everything is clean, transparency will prove it. If it’s not, reform must follow. And it means breaking the insider cycle — no more quiet settlements, golden parachutes, or untouchable institutions operating without scrutiny.
If you’re comfortable with a system where the same people always benefit and nothing ever changes, this isn’t your campaign.
But if you’re tired of watching Niagara County get bled dry while leaders look the other way, then it’s time to do something different.