Gov. Kathy Hochul has shaken up the Niagara Falls Water Board with the appointment of the Town of Niagara’s highway superintendent to replace a board veteran serving on an expired term.
Friday night, Hochul’s office moved to replace Water Board Member Gretchen Leffler with Richard Sirianni, the current town highway superintendent and a former long-time member of the Niagara Town Board. Sirianni stepped down from the town board in August and was elected in November to the highway post.
Leffler, who was appointed to the water board in 2015 by then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, saw her term expire in December 2019. She has continued to serve on that expired appointment.
Board Members Renae Kimble and Colleen Larkin are also serving on expired terms. Kimble’s appointment by the New York State Assembly expired in December 2014, while Larkin’s appointment by the New York State Senate expired in December 2019.
Water Board Chairman Nick Forster said the board will have “no comment” on Sirianni’s appointment because the agency has not been officially notified of its new member.
“We’ll have nothing to say,” Forster said. “I’ll wait for some official notification.”
Sirianni, who said he was notified of his appointment by the governor’s office Friday night, and then sworn in by a member of Hochul’s Western New York staff on Saturday morning, said, “I would be shocked if they didn’t know I was a member (of the water board).”
Reached by phone for comment on Sirianni’s assertion, Forster insisted the board has received no communication from Hochul or her staff regarding the new board member.
“We’ve received nothing,” he said.
A request to the governor’s press office seeking clarification on Monday was not immediately returned.
Chris Borgatti, chair of the Niagara County Democratic Committee, and a Hochul confidante, said the governor has become “more aggressive” in trying to fill hold-over appointments.
“Almost five years later we’re trying to fill these holdovers because it’s important the members of the (Falls water board) represent what’s currently going on in the community,” Borgatti said. “It’s important they reflect the current needs of the community. It’s important to have someone on the board who reflects the governor’s concerns.”
Sirianni thanked “the governor and her staff” for “having confidence in me.” He also credited his appointment to support from organized labor, saying that the water board’s unions had “identified issues” of concern in the agency’s operations.
“I want to help the residents and the (board) staff,” Sirianni said. “I jumped at this opportunity. I’d like to see the board work together to find common ground on these issues.”
Among the issues Sirianni identified were proposed recent changes to retiree healthcare benefits. He also said he is concerned about the qualifications of a number of recent executive hires by the board.
Leffler, who said she was appointed by Cuomo on the recommendation of former mayor Paul Dyster, expressed disappointment with Hochul’s action.
“I have not had the courtesy of being informed (of the Sirianni appointment),” Leffler said. “I was honored to serve the community, 10 years is a long time. I’m disappointed the (Hochul) administration didn’t have the courtesy to thank me or notify me. But it is what it is.”