Citarella announces candidacy for county's Third District seat

A registered dietician who grew up in LaSalle is looking to make her mark in Niagara Falls politics.

Noelle Citarella, the daughter of former Falls city planner Tom DeSantis and granddaughter of former chief city court judge John DeSantis, has announced her candidacy for the Niagara County Legislature’s Third District seat, which is being vacated by outgoing county lawmaker Mark Grozio.

Citarella, a Democrat, is poised to square off against Niagara Falls police officer Christopher McKimmie, the endorsed Republican in this year’s race for the Third District seat.

The district covers the LaSalle section of the City of Niagara Falls and the Town of Niagara.

“LaSalle and the Town of Niagara are wonderful places to live and raise a family,” Citarella said. “I plan to continue making that a priority by ensuring our streets are safe and walkable and we have playgrounds and things to do for our children locally. I also believe we have great opportunity to grow a vibrant business corridor along Buffalo Avenue. We are already seeing new businesses open. In order to sustain this, we are going to need partners in government from the city all the way up to the State. In addition to taking advantage of opportunities for economic development, we should continue to invest in our people, our most valuable resource, to make sure quality jobs are available and accessible. I want my children to grow up in a community they are proud to be a part of, and one where they want to stay.”

Public service is not new to Citarella, whose father, Tom DeSantis, served as senior planner in the Falls for many years, and whose grandfather, John DeSantis, was the chief city court judge in 1970.

“From a young age, I developed a passion for supporting my community and an understanding of the importance of participating in government,” she said. “I would be honored to follow in their footsteps and work for the people in all parts of district three to improve the community I love, and to give them a voice in county government.”

Citarella currently works as a private practice registered dietitian, with Buffalo Nutrition and Dietetics, PLLC. She is also the immediate past-president of the Western New York Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

“I am very passionate about working as a partner in health with my patients to help them improve their quality of life,” she said. “As an integrative and functional nutrition practitioner, I take a whole-body systems approach to identifying root causes of nutrition related disease. This guides my tailored nutrition interventions for my patients that will make lasting change. I work hard to educate myself, stay up to date on research, and help improve the quality of life of the people I work with every day. I plan to apply the same philosophy, hard work and passion to the role of legislator to improve the community if given the opportunity.”