EDITORIAL: Failing to disclose city's legal bills 'makes no sense'

Niagara Gazette, Niagara Falls, N.Y.
·4 min read

Mar. 22—We agree with Niagara Falls Councilman Donta Myles who said: "It doesn't make any sense whatsoever."

Myles made the comment while talking about Mayor Robert Restaino's administration's refusal to provide updated information on what the city is paying the private law firm representing it in its ongoing eminent domain fight with the private firm Niagara Falls Redevelopment.

Myles has repeatedly asked for an accounting of the dollars the city has paid so far to Hodgson Russ, the Buffalo firm that is representing the city in its effort to forcibly acquire 10 acres of NFR's land for the purpose of building Restaino's proposed $165 million arena and "events campus" known as Centennial Park.

Our newspaper has been asking too.

The Gazette last year and again this year submitted requests under New York's Public Information Law to city hall, seeking copies of legal bills submitted by Hodgson Russ for its eminent domain work. Both requests — the first on Sept. 13, 2023, and the second on Feb. 7 — have gone unanswered. The newspaper filed an appeal on the second request earlier this week, asking the administration to take another look and turn over any documentation qualifying as "public" under state law.

In expressing his frustration over the lack of transparency on the issue, Myles said, "It doesn't make sense whatsoever" to withhold such information because it relates to the expenditure of tax dollars which are "public" resources.

We wholeheartedly agree.

Council Chairman Jim Perry told the newspaper part of the issue has to do with the way the city bills Hodgson Russ. He noted that the firm performs other duties for the city beyond handling eminent domain. Essentially, he said he's been told by the mayor that the bills are all mixed together, making it more difficult to provide copies of invoices for eminent domain work alone.

While that may be true and it may be more challenging to do so, there's no excuse for failing to follow provisions of state law.

At the very least, the administration should have acknowledged our requests and provided us an explanation for why it could not turn over the information which clearly falls well within the definition of "public."

Then there's the fact that, more than a year ago, the administration previously disclosed, in a response to an even earlier FOIL request from the newspaper, copies of legal bills filed by Hodgson Russ as they related to eminent domain work through Sept. 30, 2022.

In other words: The administration complied with a similar request before so what's the hold up now?

The documents the newspaper did receive in 2022 showed the law firm billed the city $44,274 for eminent domain expenses through Sept. 30 of that year. What exactly the law firm did for the money was redacted by the administration, which argued such activities are protected from disclosure under a FOIL exemption covered by "attorney-client privilege."

We disagree and believe there's no reason why the city can't share with the newspaper and by extension the taxpaying public, the fully detailed accounting of what representatives from the law firm are doing while being paid, in some cases, hundreds of dollars an hour for their services.

Are they meeting with NFR or the company's attorneys? Are they meeting with the mayor? Are they in court? Are they filing legal paperwork?

All good questions worthy of answers from our point of view.

We continue to question how residents in the Falls can be expected to back a $167 million endeavor when the administration has shown such reluctance to honor basic and more advanced requests for what is clearly public information.

Again, we're talking public money here.

What will the final bill be when the NFR eminent domain case finally comes to a resolution, a point in the process many believe will take years, not months to reach.

A sitting Niagara Falls councilman can't get updated information about the cost to date.

The newspaper of record in the city can't get the information either.

What chance would any average resident have in getting it if they attempted to use the rights afforded to them under the state's FOIL laws to try to get copies of the legal bills on their own?

When there's a $167 million public investment on the line, there should be no issue sharing any aspect of the cost the public is being asked to pick up.

To act in any other way, as Myles said, just "doesn't make sense whatsoever."