Weiser Calls for Accountability from Council, Mayor on City Finances

Accusations about an underfunded budget have prompted a reaction from the City of Dunkirk's Councilman at Large. During Tuesday's Common Council meeting, Nick Weiser issued a statement in response to Mayor Kate Wdowiasz's comments from the previous council meeting on September 1st. Weiser says the suggestion that the council has "deliberately underfunded" the city's budget for the current year is not accurate...

Nick Weiser: trying to thread a difficult needle

In his statement, Weiser called for accountability from both the council and the executive branch of city government regarding finances. He says while city lawmakers should own budget decisions that have consequences, the same standard of accountability also falls on the Mayor. An example he cited, referencing WDOE's "Viewpoint" interview with Wdowiasz in January, was the decision to seek an extension of the City of Dunkirk Fiscal Recovery Act, which never materialized...

Nick Weiser: decided that terms were unfavorable

Weiser says it's not reasonable for the council to be blamed for every financial challenge the city is facing...

Nick Weiser: not reasonable to attribute every problem to council

He added, "I'm not interested in assigning blame for the sake of assigning blame. I am interested in making sure that when we talk about the city's financial condition, we talk about it honestly and completely."

Photo by Greg Larson; audio from Dunkirk Access