Niagara County Legislature: Colangelo seeks 5th district seat

Niagara Falls High School business teacher Giulio Colangelo has announced his candidacy in the upcoming election for the 5th District of the Niagara County Legislature.

Colangelo, a member of the Independence Party, served as an interim legislator in 2011, completing the unfinished term of Legislator Richard Marasco in the former 1st Legislative District.

"I was honored to have had a short-term opportunity to represent the citizens of this community," Colangelo explained, "and though I learned much, I was deeply concerned by the initiative lost as a result of inter-party bickering." Colangelo hopes his minor-party affiliation would go a long way in avoiding such problems.

A lifelong resident of Niagara County, the graduate of the State University of New York at Fredonia sees jobs as the number one issue facing this community.

"I was fortunate enough to be raised in a household where the family's needs, like so many others in this community, were for years met by a father working one of the thousands of industrial jobs available in the western end of Niagara County. I firmly believe," Colangelo continued, "that our present-day work force has that same work-ethic of our parent's generation. Frankly, it remains in the laps of our elected officials to expand the local job market to best take advantage of this resource."

A former small business owner, having operated the Wall Paper and Paint Shoppe in Lewiston between 1990 and 2002, Colangelo claims a profound sense of the daily challenges facing local businesses.

"Our small businesses remain the lifeblood of this community," said the 45-year old head coach of the Niagara Falls High School Boys Club lacrosse team, "yet far too often 'hometown enterprise' has been overtaxed and under-represented as it works to compete with the advantages afforded big business."

Colangelo began his teaching career in 2003 as a special education teacher at LaSalle Middle School and has taught business at the Niagara Falls High School campus since 2008.

"Interaction with the young people of this community," noted the former NFHS varsity basketball coach "provides valuable insight as to the needs of our families in today's society."

Colangelo, who currently serves as a member of the Niagara County Youth Bureau Board of Directors, earned a master's degree in the foundations of education from Niagara University in 2003 and a second master's degree in special education from Canisius College in February 2004.

Colangelo and his wife Elizabeth (Beth) reside in the DeVeaux area of Niagara Falls and are members of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph Parish at St. Joseph's Church in Niagara Falls. For 13 years, Colangelo has been a member of the Cristoforo Colombo Society, currently holding the position of society trustee.