Craitor, Morocco honoured at council
Out-going councillors recognized for long service to community
It was the end of an era for two longtime Niagara Falls city councillors Tuesday.
The final meeting for the current council was also the last one — for now, at least — for Kim Craitor and Joyce Morocco, both defeated in the Oct. 22 municipal election.
Each was presented a framed portrait of Niagara Falls, with a mounted plaque signifying their years on council. Mayor Jim Diodati made the presentations on behalf of the city.
“It’s truly been an honour,” said Morocco, who finished ninth among 33 candidates vying for eight seats on council.
“I want to thank all the constituents who gave me the honour of representing them over the years, and also my colleagues around the table.
“It’s not always been easy and we’re not always on the same side, but that’s not what we’re here to do.”
Morocco, 61, served three terms on council, from 2003-06 and then 2010-18.
The new city council will be inaugurated Dec. 10 at a ceremony at Gale Centre. Lori Lococo and Chris Dabrowski, the two new members elected, watched Tuesday’s meeting from the public gallery.
Morocco said to them, “always remember that the decisions you’re making are for the best of the whole community.”
the economy.”
“That is not happening,” he said.
“What is happening is we’re going to have a soft landing. Basically, the key word is modest growth over the next couple of years.”
In many regions, he said, real estate markets “are going to be growing at their long-term average in terms of home sales.”
Meanwhile, he said housing prices are going to be growing at about the rate of inflation. Edgard Navarrete, an economist from Central 1 Credit Union’s Ontario regional office
Monthly real estate sales data published last week by the Niagara Association of Realtors continue to show slight sales declines compared to the previous year, dropping by 1.2 per cent in October compared to a year earlier.
Homes also took 10.3 per cent longer to sell last month, compared to October 2017, while the average residential sale price increased by eight per cent to $417,993.
Navarrete’s full report will be free to download from the Central 1 Credit Union’s website — central1.com — when it’s posted by the end of next week.