OBSERVER?file photo Dunkirk Mayor Richard Frey says things in the city are “coming alive.”

Dunkirk Mayor Richard Frey had heard enough. During my last appearance Nov. 9 on WDOE’s “Viewpoint,” news director Dave Rowley asked whether a change in the council would matter to city voters after the election. My response, noting the Democrats now had the 3-2 majority, was our newspaper had issues with both parties. Neither truly backed spending cuts, tax reductions or consolidation efforts. Democrats talked about transparency, but they never really made it an issue until four months before the vote. But the point Frey took issue with was when I questioned the city and its development efforts. The Boardwalk is a taxpayer-funded structure, the SUNY Fredonia incubator has a lot of hope, but it is not adding to the city’s tax base and the Chadwick Bay Lofts, which looks great on the inside and outside, was done with more than $1 million in state funding.