Three battle for Falls city court seat

Rick Pfeiffer, Niagara Gazette, Niagara Falls, N.Y.
·3 min read

Jun. 19—Two veteran defense attorneys and the city's corporation counsel are locked in a battle for the four major party lines to run for the Niagara Falls City Court bench.

Attorneys Dominic Saraceno, Janelle Faso and Christopher Mazur are each seeking the Democratic, Republican, Conservative and Working Families party lines for the seat currently occupied by Chief City Court Judge Mark A. Violante. Violante is retiring at the end of 2021.

A 20-year veteran of the defense bar, Saraceno previously lived in the town of Hamburg in Erie County and moved to the Falls in 1992. He arrived in the Cataract City after receiving a bachelor's degree in Business Administration and an MBA in Finance from the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Saraceno received his law degree from Georgia State University College of Law and has spent most of his career handling criminal defense work. He has served as a public defender in both Niagara and Orleans counties as well as a defense attorney in private practice.

"I've been involved in some of the more complicated criminal cases in Niagara County for the last 20 years," Saraceno said. "And I think now is a good time to make the move to the bench."

The other defense attorney in the race comes from a family with a history of service in the courts.

Attorney Jenelle L. Faso began her legal career, in her words, "later in life." She first served as a court clerk in the Niagara Town Court and then worked as a dispatcher and dispatch supervisor at the Niagara County Sheriff's Office for 14 years.

While working full time at the sheriff's office, she attended Niagara University to finish both her bachelors and masters degrees. Faso then attended the State University of New York at Buffalo Law School full time.

She has been practicing law since 2011 and has handled what she estimates are thousands of cases in the federal, state, city and town courts.

Her private practice, based in the Falls, focuses primarily on criminal matters, including misdemeanors and felonies. She has handled hundreds of cases in Niagara County Court, were she also serves as a public defender, assigned to represent indigent defendants.

She is the daughter of Niagara Town Court Justice James J. Faso, Sr., and the sister of City Court Judge James J. Faso, Jr.

Mazur has worked as an attorney in the Niagara Falls Law Department since 1997, advancing through the ranks to his appointment as corporation counsel in January 2020. He said his experience as the city's legal counsel has been wide-ranging, representing the city in both civil and administrative proceedings.

In 1997, Mazur was appointed as the city's special prosecutor by the Niagara County District Attorney. He has been re-appointed to that position on a yearly the basis ever since.

"My professional and life experience has prepared me to take the next step in my legal career as I am ready to follow in the footsteps of past and current City Court judges who are alumni of the corporation counsel's office," Mazur said.