List of mayors of Niagara Falls, New York

Mayor of the City of Niagara Falls
Incumbent Paul Dyster since January 1, 2008
Style	His Honor
Term length	Four years
Inaugural holder	George B. Wright
Formation	1892
Salary	$77,701 (2012)[1]
Website

The office of mayor of Niagara Falls, New York is currently held by Paul Dyster.^[2] Prior to the establishment of the mayorship, the highest official in Niagara Falls was known as the "village president" and was held by Peter A. Porter in 1878.^[3]

List of mayors

# !	Name	Picture	Party	Took office	Left office	Notes
1	George B. Wright[4][5]		Democratic	April 26, 1892	March 1893
2	Mighellis B. Butler[5][6]		Democrat	March 1893	March 1894	Welcomed the Duke of Veragua to Niagara Falls in 1893.[7]
3	David Phillips[4][5]		Republican[8]	March 1894	March 1895	Elected with a 800-vote majority.[4]
4	Obediah W. Cutler[6]		Republican	March 1895	March 1896	Cutler is referenced as being the prime mover behind the Suspension Bridge water works which was established in 1876.[6]
5	Arthur Schoellkopf[6]		Republican	March 1896	March 1897[5]	His campaign slogan was "municipal government is business, not politics" and he was overwhelmingly elected by every district in the city. After a year in office, Schoellkopf decided not to run for a second term citing that "his private business would not allow him to devote the necessary time to the city’s affairs" and declined the Republican mayoral nomination for 1897.[9]
6	Arthur C. Hastings[6]		Republican	March 1897	March 1899	On April 15, 1897, a charter amendment increased the mayor’s term to two years so Hastings served again from 1898 to 1899.
7	Mighellis B. Butler[6]		Democratic	March 1900	March 1901	Reelected after serving as the 2nd Mayor of Niagara Falls.
8	John M. Hancock		Republican	April 15, 1902	December 31, 1904
9	Obediah W. Cutler[6]		Republican	January 1, 1905	December 31, 1906	This was Cutler's second time in office, having been elected first in 1895 and serving as the 4th Mayor of Niagara Falls.
10	Anthony C. Douglass[10]		Democratic	January 1, 1907	December 31, 1910	Douglass was a contractor with a business at the Jewett Building and resided at 259 Third St.[11]
11	Philip J. Keller		Democratic	January 1, 1911	December 31, 1912	Keller, of "Phil J. Keller & Son" was a butcher with a successful shop at 2013 Main St.[11]
12	William Laughlin		Democratic	January 1, 1913	December 31, 1915	During 1914, the Legislature enacted the "Optional City Government Law" which permitted cities of the second and third class the option of adopting one of seven forms of local government. Voters adopted "Plan C" with the council/manager plan to become effective in 1916. By 1916, there were 98 council-manager cities in the United States.[12]
13	George W. Whitehead		Republican	January 1, 1916	December 31, 1920
14	Maxwell M. Thompson		Republican	January 1, 1920	December 31, 1924	At this time, the mayors office was in the Gluck Building on Second and Falls Streets. Thompson declined to run for re-election.
15	William Laughlin		Democratic	January 1, 1925	December 31, 1931
16	Frank A. Jenss		Republican	January 1, 1932	December 31, 1935	Jenss served three terms as a city councilmen prior to being elected mayor.[13] He declined to seek reelection and instead supported Walter Greig, then councilman.
17	Dr. W. Levell Draper		Republican	January 1, 1936	December 31, 1939
18	Ernest W. Mirrington, Jr.		Republican	January 1, 1940	December 31, 1942	Resigned in 1942 (at the time, the youngest mayor in New York at 34) to join the U.S. Army. Mirrington had previously tried to join the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard.[14]
19	Eugene C. Butler		Democratic	January 1, 1942	December 31, 1942	Appointed to fill the term of Ernest W. Mirrington, Jr., won the Democratic nomination for mayor but was defeated in the general election by Stephen A. Lamb.
20	Stephen A. Lamb		Republican	January 1, 1943	December 31, 1947
21	William R. Lupton		Democratic	January 1, 1948	December 31, 1951
22	Ernest W. Mirrington, Jr.		Republican	January 1, 1952	December 31, 1955	In May of 1952, there was an 18-day strike of 600 city employees that disrupted services. The strike was settled through the efforts of a citizens’ committee.[15]
23	Calvin L. Keller		Republican	January 1, 1956	December 31, 1962	Keller welcomed John F. Kennedy to Niagara Falls in 1962 during his visit to Western New York.[16]
24	E. Dent Lackey		Democratic	January 1, 1963	December 31, 1975	Lackey was an ex-Methodist minister who served three, four-year terms.[17]
25	Michael C. O'Laughlin[18]		Democratic	January 1, 1976[17]	December 31, 1991	O'Laughlin served four, four-year terms.
26	Jacob A. Palillo		Republican	January 1, 1992	December 31, 1995	Palillo was president of the Niagara Falls Fire Fighters Association for 20 years and first ran for mayor in 1987. Elected in 1991 defeating Anthony F. Quaranto, but in 1995 lost a re-election bid to James C. Galie.[19]
27	James C. Galie[20]		Democratic	January 1, 1996	December 31, 1999	Galie was a former assistant police chief elected last year on a pro-casino platform[21]
28	Irene J. Elia[22]		Republican	January 1, 2000	December 31, 2003
29	Jacob A. Palillo		Republican	January 1, 2003	December 31, 2004
30	James C. Galie		Democratic	January 1, 2004	December 31, 2005
31	Irene J. Elia		Republican	January 1, 2005	December 31, 2006
32	Vincenzo V. Anello		Democratic	January 1, 2006	December 31, 2007
33	Paul Dyster		Democratic	January 1, 2008	Present

List of village presidents

Name	Picture	Village	Party	Took office	Left office	Notes
General Parkhurst Whitney[23]		Village of Niagara Falls		1848		Whitney's son built the Whitney Mansion in Niagara Falls, New York in 1849.[23]
Colonel John Fisk[23]		Village of Bellevue		1854		Fisk was an official of the Bellevue Land Company[23]
Peter A. Porter[24]		Village of Niagara Falls	Republican	1878	1878	Also a member of the New York State Assembly in 1886 and 1887 and elected to the 60th United States Congress.[25]
Colonel Charles P. Gaskill[24]		Village of Niagara Falls		1880s		Gaskill's presidency was marked by firm enforcement of law and order.[24]

History

• In 1892, upon the establishment of the mayors office, the length of office was a one-year term.^[11]
• In 1897, the term limit was changed to a two-year term.^[11]
• In 1901, the term was changed again to begin on the third Tuesday of April.^[11] The mayor, as the chief executive officer, no longer voted or took part in council meetings. A president of the council was elected, along with the alderman from each of the six wards and four aldermen elected at large. The president of the Common Council assumed the tie-breaking vote and the "municipal year" was changed to begin on the third Tuesday of April.^[6]
• In 1902, the New York State Legislature decided to change the political terms of local officials to coincide with the calendar year. The Niagara Falls Common Council opposed the change, but it passed and interrupted the first term of Mayor Hancock. Hancock's term began on April 15, 1902, but ended on Dec. 31, 1902. Upon his reelection, he began his second term on January 1, 1903.^[11]
• In 1904, the Town of Niagara Falls and the Village of Niagara Falls were amalgamated to form the "City of Niagara Falls."^[23]
• From 1916 to 1985, government in Niagara Falls consisted of a council of four members and a mayor. The mayor and council members were elected to four-year terms and they appointed the city manager, who ran the day-to-day operation of city government.^[12]

Mayoral elections

The 2015 mayoral election was held on Tuesday November 3, 2015, with the following candidates: Incumbent mayor Paul Dyster (Democrat) and challenger John Accardo (Republican).^[2] Dyster won (4,267 to 3,468) his third term as Mayor of Niagara Falls.^[26] With the win, Dyster joins E. Dent Lackey as the only two three-term mayors in Niagara Falls and draws closer to being in office as long former Mayor Michael O’Laughlin, the city’s longest-tenured mayor who held four consecutive terms from 1976 to 1991.^[27]

References

1. Miner, Dan (September 1, 2012). "What do WNY mayors make?". Buffalo Business First. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
2. Battson, Paul (October 12, 2015). "Falls mayoral, city council candidates to face off Wednesday". Niagara Gazette. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
3. Kestenbaum, Lawrence. "Porter, Peter Augustus (1853-1925)". politicalgraveyard.com. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
4. Higgs, Norma (June 2015). "Niagara Falls mayors and managers: The early years". Niagara Gazette.
5. Pool, William (1897). Landmarks of Niagara County, New York. Niagara County: D. Mason & Company. p. 423. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
6. Higgs, Norma (June 22, 2015). "More on the early mayors and Falls history". Niagara Gazette. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
7. "THE DUKE SEES NIAGARA.". The New York Times. June 11, 1893. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
8. "We Win!" (PDF). Niagara Falls Gazette. March 7, 1894. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
9. Linnabery, Ann Marie (September 12, 2015). "Arthur Schoellkopf had many interests in Niagara Falls". Lockport Union Sun & Journal. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
10. Marsh, Jack (October 8, 1967). "Typhoid Problems Forced First City Water Solution" (PDF). Niagara Falls Gazette. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
11. Higgs, Norma (June 29, 2015). "Falls mayors during the early 1900s". Niagara Gazette. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
12. Higgs, Norma (July 2015). "More on Mayor Frank Jenss and his successors". Niagara Gazette.
13. "F.A. Jenss, Ex-Mayor, Dies at 91". Niagara Gazette. May 22, 1961.
14. "State's Youngest Mayor to Army". The New York Times. May 24, 1942. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
15. Higgs, Norma (October 26, 2015). "Moving along to Harold Cheek, professional city manager". Niagara Gazette. Retrieved 28 October 2015.
16. Cichon, Steve. "JFK in WNY". trendingbuffalo.com. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
17. Kostoff, Robert David (2005). My Line Story. New York: iUniverse. pp. 106–109. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
18. "Wichita Falls Fall, With Niagara Help". The New York Times. June 7, 1987. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
19. "Jacob A "Jake" Palillo". findagrave.com. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
20. Barrt, Dan (February 9, 1997). "Unromantic Economic Facts Cast Pall Over Niagara Falls". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
21. Nieves, Evelyn (December 15, 1996). "Casino Envy Gnaws at Falls On U.S. Side". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
22. Besecker, Aaron (May 26, 2015). "Elia family name prominent in Niagara County". The Buffalo News. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
23. Berketa, Rick. "Niagara Falls: A Tale of Two Cities". niagarafrontier.com. Niagara Falls Thunder Alley. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
24. Williams, Edward T. (1923). Official Record of the Niagara Falls Memorial Commission. Niagara Falls, NY. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
25. Kestenbaum, Lawrence. "Porter, Peter Augustus (1853-1925)". politicalgraveyard.com. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
26. Scheer, Mark (November 3, 2015). "Dyster claims victory in Falls mayoral race". Nagara Gazette. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
27. Gambini, Philip (November 4, 2015). "Dyster promises to 'finish the job' after holding off challenge from Accardo". Niagara Gazette. Retrieved 4 November 2015.