Congressman Higgins Came to Town

As announced in a post on this site earlier in the week, Congressman Brian Higgins held a town meeting in the hinterlands of Eden last night.

I attended that meeting and I also asked the Congressman some of the more pointed questions and concerns that arose from the original post about the meeting. Here in a nutshell are his answers.

Concerning his role in the negotiated Power Authority settlement:
Higgins acknowledged that he in no way accomplished the settlement on his own. He stated that there were many involved in putting the pressure on the Authority, which ultimately resulted in a monetary reimbursement to WNY.

Higgins agrees with those who say the settlement was not enough. He also agrees that there is much more to be mined. However, at this point, the Congressman notes that it is going to take greater pressure by a more united group of politicians, business people and community leaders to make that happen.

He also very plainly stated that one of the reasons that a better settlement was not attained was the lack of interest, concern and pressure from the WNY business community.

The most interesting information that the Congressman shared on the topic is that the final agreement for continued power authority usage of our valued water resource has not been signed. He stated that it is going to take quite a bit of time and negotiationing before that will happen, and at this point, there is no firm deadline for that signing.

Water Front Development

Higgins stated that over the next 6 months several projects on the waterfront will actually get underway. The one in particular that he detailed was the creation of a parkway from Furhmann Boulevard to the waterfront that will provide direct access to the Inner Harbor area that is now so impossible to reach.

He noted that he has millions in federal monies available to jump start the project and is dedicated to getting waterfront development up and rolling.

In discussing the waterfront plan being touted by Uniland Businessman, Carl Montante, Jr., the Congressman acknowledged that he is working in alliance with Montante, but labeled him “wrong” over Montante’s recent public statement that the most important thing people can do to help encourage waterfront development is to prevent the deconstruction of The Skyway.

Higgins strongly believes that the Skyway is a true impediment to ultimate public access to the waterfront and as such is determined to push for its demolition.

As for the amount of public access that will actually be available to the WNY Community, Higgins assured those in attendance that there will be public access all along the water’s edge.

Higgins’ only real moments of political rhetoric came whenever he referenced the Governor and what he believes are Pataki’s lacking actions and supportive policies concerning Western New York.

The only moment of conflict in the evening occurred when an unidentified man emotionally questioned the Congressman about the outsourcing of so many American jobs. Obviously the individual was somehow affected by the international job competition, to the point that he came close to tears as he asked, “Why is this happening? Are you trying to kill us?”

Higgins offered a lengthy explanation that spun back to the Bethlehem Steel days, at which point the questioner interrupted with an objection and Higgins abruptly ended his discourse.

Overall it was a pretty typical town meeting with approximately 100 people in attendance, on a snowy night that offered strong encouragement to stay home.