Despite a reversal of plans by the Niagara Falls Water Board to change union retiree healthcare coverage, retirees and their supporters converged on the Falls City Council meeting Wednesday night to demand the removal of the council’s appointee to the water board.
While some union leaders had hoped that the council would take immediate action to replace Water Board Member Michael Asklar, Council Chair Jim Perry told the crowd gathered in the council chambers that members were following a “process” in deciding their appointee’s future.
“We got all of the phone calls. We got all of the emails,” Perry, the former director of administrative services at the water board, said. “We know there are issues at the water board. We understand.”
But Perry said the council had to “go through a due process” before deciding whether to replace Asklar. He was appointed as the city council’s representative to the water board in 2021 and is serving a term that expires in December 2025.
His appointment was advanced by a majority of council members who are no longer in office. Asklar has reportedly met recently with the current members of the council.
One member, who requested anonymity to comment on the private discussions, described the conversations between Asklar and the council as “testy.”
Perry told the crowd at the council meeting, “It is our full intention to do the right thing.”
The council chair has previously confirmed that members have been in consultations with Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office over their concerns with operations and hiring practices at the water board.
Under intense pressure from its union retirees, Hochul moved to remove long-time Board Member Gretchen Leffler. A 2015 appointee of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, she had been serving as a holdover on a term that expired in 2019.
Hochul tapped Town of Niagara Highway Superintendent, and former town board member, Richard Sirianni to replace Leffler.
Scott Jones, a retiree who worked for 30 years at the city’s wastewater treatment plant, told council members that he believed the water board was violating the terms of its union contracts.
“The crux of our fury is we were not given a choice (to change healthcare plans),” Jones said.
He asked the council to replace Asklar with someone “who will bring integrity to the (water) board.”
On July 3, two days after the new healthcare plan changes took effect, the water board announced that it would reverse its decision and allow the retirees to retain their current health insurance plan, while also offering them the opportunity to switch to an alternative Medicare supplemental plan if they chose to do so.
While that decision appeared to address the retirees’ concerns, union leaders told the council they were not satisfied.
“Your appointee to the water board has blessed all of (the healthcare changes),” United Steelworkers District Director Jim Briggs said in calling for Asklar’s removal.
Briggs called the current water board members “immoral and unethical.”
Tim Huether, president of Steelworkers Local 9434, which represents the retirees, said all of the current water board members needed to be replaced and expressed “my disappointment” that Asklar was not being immediately removed by the council.
“(The water board) let this change go through. They’re not stopping it. No one is being held accountable for not stopping it. One of them is your guy,” Huether told the council members. “Pull your water board appointee. I think all of the appointees should be removed. Removing yours would be very much appreciated.”
The healthcare plan changes would impact 130 retirees and surviving spouses. The steelworkers’ union has reportedly filed a grievance over the proposed healthcare changes.