Utica Mayor says newspaper is unfair to him because he's Italian

UTICA, Jan. 21, 2009 --Mayor David Roefaro said he feels the Observer-Dispatch discriminates against him because of his Italian heritage. He also said the paper purposefully printed unflattering pictures of his wife.

The mayor lashed out at the newspaper in a Tuesday interview on the Keeler in the Morning radio show. 

For the discrimination, he pointed to the paper's recent coverage and editorials based on his appointments, which he feels are mostly critical of him hiring friends and family.  He said the paper didn't levy the same accusations against New Hartford Town Supervisor Pat Tyksinski, who recently hired a friend and his campaign manager to work in government. 

"Why is it that New Hartford can do that and it's o.k., but for me to put my team together, I mean of competent people -- what do we look like - are we the goombah brothers," he asked. "Is that what we look like? Because that's insulting to me to be very honest with you." 

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When asked if he thought the O-D was discriminatory against Italian-Americans, Roefaro replied: 

"I feel that, I do," he said. "I absolutely feel that, and you know what, it's so ridiculous." 

The mayor's statements come nearly a week after the State Civil Service Commission ruled that his friend and the city's police chief Daniel LaBella was not eligible for the post in the first place. The O-D wrote an editorial admonishing the appointment. 

"The O-D has labeled it the family and friends plan of Mayor Roefaro, which couldn't be further from the truth," he said. "Do you know that 98 percent of my department heads and employees were employed before I got there and are civil employees? Chief Labella worked there for 20-plus years and then I made him public safety commissioner and chief, but he already was there for 20 plus years." 

Roefaro said the perceived attacks on his administration are normal for the paper and that he thinks it's bad for the city.

"They've exploited this," he said. "They've already condemned us and I haven't even had a response from the state. That's what bothers me and that's why the very essence of what they do will take down down the city."

The mayor also said that a ball his wife hosted for charity, O-D photographers got pictures of he and his wife smiling, but he said he believes the paper purposely published unflattering pictures of his wife Cindy. 

"I looked, I picked up the paper and I started laughing to myself," he said. "They couldn't have taken a worse picture of my wife, and that's deliberate. I know that's deliberate. There's a million pictures of us smiling and you've got to take that picture." 

As a result, the mayor said he merely glances at the paper nowadays.  

"I really don't even read the newspaper, I skim it," he said. "I never read the articles whether they're good or bad about me, because I know that if there's a good one, three days later, there'll be a bad one." 

The mayor implied that the paper's motivations may be political. 

"I truly believe that the O-D is running a campaign against me for 2011," he said. "And you've never heard me talk about this, but enough is enough." 

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