FINAL State of the County Remarks Prepared for Delivery
Wednesday April 24, 2024
Good afternoon. Thank you for joining me today as I provide a report card on the condition of our county. I am proud to report that the state of Erie County is strong and getting stronger with each passing day.
Before I explain why, I want to thank a few people for today's event.
First, thanks to Father Paul Seil for our invocation today. Father Paul has served not just the church but also our first responder community as a chaplain during its time of need, and I thank him for the leadership he has shown.
Thank you also to Janne Siren and the entire AKG family for hosting us today. We are so proud to have played a small part in creating the new AKG, truly one of the shining jewels of Erie County.
I want to thank the Girl Scouts from Troop 30413, the daughters of our very own Commissioner of Senior Services Angela Marinucci, for leading us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Thank you!
Thanks to the elected officials gathered here today, my partners in county government, and to your commitment to serving the people of Erie County.
Also, thanks to Karen Gambino from DAS for providing ASL translation this afternoon.
Finally, thank you to the people of Erie County for believing in our administration’s vision for our community and sending us back for a historic fourth term.
It’s an honor to be before you today, serving as your Erie County Executive.
Since my administration’s first day, our goal has been to create the best community we can be and to leave the county in better shape than when we started, not by just providing essential services but by improving everyone’s quality of life.
By supporting everything from parks, small businesses, to accessible healthcare, and more, I know we are building a better Erie County every day.
The proof is in the pudding:
Erie County is an economic powerhouse with a gross domestic product of $74 billion.
That is larger than the GDP for seven states: Alaska, Vermont, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Rhode Island.
It is also larger than the GDP of Fiji, Lebanon, Iceland, Serbia, Slovenia, and Costa Rica, among other nations.
Unemployment is at historic lows, and our workforce and economic development teams are placing county residents into all types of available jobs.
Our property tax rate is at its lowest ever and is the lowest of all western New York counties.
Our county credit card, its debt load, has been reduced by half since I took office, and our credit rating is the best ever.
In the last census, we saw that Erie County's population is rising as our family- and business-friendly reputation grows.
We’ve dramatically improved our parks, libraries, and senior centers to welcome more visitors with new programs and services.
We've assisted the educational, business, and cultural communities overcome challenges and thrive for all county residents.
As I will explain, we are not done yet. We will continue this vital work to create the best Erie County possible.
For example, during last year's State of the County, we announced multiple ambitious initiatives to better the community:
The Erie County Ambulance Service is now up and running and making a lifesaving difference in rural areas of the county. Covering an initial eight towns with broad support in southern Erie County, the service has since expanded into Elma and Marilla.
My administration’s number one priority has always been protecting and promoting the health and safety of Erie County’s residents. Our Ambulance Service forms a strong safety net for rural county residents, ready and able to respond when other agencies cannot or will not. I thank the men and women working daily to protect our residents' health.
We have begun work on a comprehensive buildings and operational needs assessment for Erie County’s correctional system, including the Holding Center and Correctional Facility. The study will evaluate the needs of the community, as well as the feasibility and cost of renovating each location into two separate and improved facilities, or merging services to one existing renovated facility, or constructing a brand new one.
Some of the nation’s foremost experts on correctional systems are currently reviewing what is needed for Erie County. They will determine, at a high level, the ideal facility and programming for Erie County that will meet modern best practices and provide resources to promote a safe and productive work environment for employees, while protecting the physical and mental health of those in custody.
Additionally, improved correctional facilities will help inmates and detainees re-enter the community upon release.
I thank Sheriff John Garcia, his Sheriff’s Office team, and our Erie County Department of Environment and Planning, led by Commissioner Dan Castle, for their work in moving this critical initiative forward.
Affordable housing is fundamental to the well-being and prosperity of any community, serving as a cornerstone of economic stability, social equity, and overall quality of life.
It remains a significant concern here in Erie County and across America. That's why I announced we would invest more than $25 million to create safe, quality housing, the largest single-year investment ever by the county in our community's housing stock.
I am proud to say that today, we are partnering with the City of Buffalo, the Town of Cheektowaga, and the Land Bank to identify sites and lay the foundation needed to construct many affordable single-family homes.
Additionally, I am very proud to announce that we have approved county grants of $500,000 each to ten affordable housing multi-unit projects across the county. These projects will create 630 new affordable housing units, let me repeat that, 630 new affordable housing units, thereby easing the strain on our already tight housing market.
Access to safe, decent, and affordable housing is a basic human need that impacts every aspect of an individual's life and is a crucial building block of our Live Well Erie efforts.
I thank Mayor Byron Brown, Supervisor Brian Nowak, Jocelyn Gordon, her team at BENLIC, and our many community partners for working with our Environment and Planning team on an issue that affects the entire county.
An old saying goes, "The best time to fix the roof is when the sun is shining." We are doing just that when considering preparations for the next major winter storm that will inevitably hit our area.
We are undoubtedly seeing increasingly stronger storms than we did in our youth, storms that are far more severe and drop many feet of snow. Climatologists predict that these severe storms will only grow in number.
After experiencing the Christmas Blizzard of 2022, which was preceded by a seven-foot snowstorm three weeks earlier, last year I announced we would invest more than $5 million in ten new high lifts, new snowplows, snowmobiles, heavy road blowers, and other snow-fighting heavy equipment.
Nearly all the equipment was purchased and ready to go this winter, a common-sense step to enhance community resilience and preparedness for future winter weather events.
While this past winter was milder, we are ready for the next big snowstorm. Our smooth response to the back-back major snowstorms this January showed that our improved equipment and tactics are making a difference.
It wasn't just Erie County that was prepared, either. Thanks to a Live Well Erie partnership with the United Way of Buffalo and Erie County, we distributed more than 5,000 winter emergency kits to county residents and hosted dozens of trainings on winter safety and survival.
We also created a $5 million winter storm fund to allow for a quicker response when weather emergencies strike. By setting aside funds earmarked explicitly for major winter storm-related expenses, we can ensure that the financial resources needed for rapid response are readily available.
Dealing with the complexities of winter storms requires coordinating tremendous efforts countywide, getting resources where they are needed as quickly as possible, and having essential personnel in place to address an ongoing event. I thank our county team and all of our partners for the work you do to keep our community safe during trying times.
Investments in wastewater treatment facilities such as the Southtowns Advanced Wastewater Treatment plant are essential for creating a cleaner Erie County in the long term by safeguarding public health and protecting our most valuable and irreplaceable natural asset, Lake Erie. We are renovating it with a $50 million project that is the first step of a multi-phase effort to modernize the nearly 50-year-old facility, thereby strengthening it for the future.
This project was named the 2023 Environmental Project of the Year by the WNY Chapter of the APWA, further proof of my administration's goal of leaving Erie County better than when we came into office. Congratulations to all involved in designing this state-of-the-art, award-winning project.
Promoting mental health awareness and giving our residents the tools they need to access mental health resources is of paramount importance, especially for school-aged children.
That's why our Department of Mental Health and partners released the Erie Path app last year. This free app connects individuals, parents, and caregivers with mental health and behavioral health resources for their school-age children or themselves.
We knew the app was needed but did not know how much it was until we saw its statistics of use. Since last fall, more than 98,000 individual users have accessed it, that’s more than ten percent of our population, with 8.5 million hits.
Think about that for a moment. In less than a year, nearly 100,000 individual users have accessed the Erie Path app. This just proves our investment in designing the app and providing the crucial information contained therein was well worth it.
Thanks to Deputy County Executive Lisa Chimera, Mental Health Commissioner Mark O'Brien, and our education partners for working together on this to help students and families.
Because of the work of our great team, every single one of these six initiatives announced at last year’s State of the County address have been completed or are underway today.
While we’ve made a lot of progress on our 2023 initiatives, other projects from recent years are also creating a better-connected Erie County, a stronger business climate, and an improved quality of life that is growing our county population. Here’s a snapshot of that progress:
The countywide Erie Net open access network is here. Construction is underway, and eventually, more than 400 miles of fiber and broadband infrastructure will be installed in the county's underserved areas.
Building broadband access is not just a matter of convenience; it is essential to bridging the digital divide and fostering equitable opportunities for all.
By extending broadband infrastructure to underserved areas, we empower residents with the tools they need to thrive in the digital age. From the drawing board to reality, Erie Net is another way to build a better Erie County for the future.
I thank Erie Net Executive Director Melissa Hartman, Chairman of the Board of Directors Thomas Baines, the Erie Net board for guiding this project forward, and President Joe Biden for funding this critical $34 million project through his American Rescue Plan.
Thank you.
Construction on one of the most anticipated projects in county history, the new Buffalo Bills stadium, is well underway and ahead of schedule thanks to our mild winter. Structural steel is being installed today, and soon, we will be able to make out the new home of the Bills as it rises at the corner of Abbott and Southwestern.
Furthermore, we are currently exceeding the fifteen percent minority business enterprise participation goals, as well as local minority, women. and apprentice workforce requirements contained in the construction agreements.
For generations, the Bills have served as a source of pride, unity, and community spirit. As we prepare for the stadium to open for the 2026 NFL season, it’s important to remember that Erie County will be OUT of the football business when the new stadium opens.
The county’s $250 million investment in the project signifies our final direct expense for football in the Erie County budget; any cost overruns for construction will be borne by the Bills. When the stadium is completed, ownership will transfer to NYS, who will maintain and service it for the life of the lease.
That means our county residents will no longer incur new annual football-related costs, which this year alone will total 7.5 million dollars, but they will enjoy plenty of football action at One Bills Drive.
I thank Frank Jones, Jeremy Toth, the Law Department staff, DPW Commissioner Bill Geary, former EEO Director James Blackwell, and the many other team members who collaborated to make this deal a reality and are seeing it to completion.
I also thank my legislative partners, Chair April Baskin, Majority Leader Tim Meyers, and Minority Leader John Mills, who joined me in negotiating the strongest and most valuable community benefits agreement ever agreed to by an NFL team. Let me repeat that, ever. Thank you!
You’ll recall that when I took office, arts and cultural organizations were begging for crumbs from the prior administration, which devalued them as essential parts of our local economy.
Today, we have strengthened our arts and cultural organizations in many ways, including with $14 million in cultural capital grants to help these organizations grow in the future.
Providing capital project funding to arts organizations is not just an investment in culture; it is an investment in the vitality and vibrancy of our communities. Organizations ranging from the Colored Musicians Club, the Hispanic Heritage Cultural Institute, to the North Park Theater, the Penn Dixie Archeology site and many more are benefiting from this funding.
In addition, unlike most other counties, we provide millions of dollars annually in operating grants for cultural organizations. Arts organizations serve as hubs of creativity and expression, enriching the cultural landscape and enhancing the quality of life for residents.
These investments contribute to local economic growth by attracting visitors, generating tourism revenue, and creating jobs in related industries. Thank you to my partners in the Legislature for supporting these incredible organizations that improve everyone’s quality of life.
We continue to help children, working families, and seniors live and thrive with our Live Well Erie initiative.
Since its inception in 2019, Live Well Erie has partnered with more than 150 community organizations spanning every corner of Erie County. Within the Children’s workgroup, the Live Well Erie team is now implementing the countywide deployment of the Ages and Stages Questionnaire. This tool helps to identify social, emotional and developmental delays in young children, facilitating the connection of families with available services to address such delays at earlier ages.
Elsewhere, Live Well Erie is an important partner in the SMART Collaborative to enhance mental health services for students by dismantling barriers to ensure equitable access to mental health resources countywide. It is all part of our effort to give children a chance to reach their full potential. Thank you to our community partners and our partners in education who are involved in this important work.
Sadly, while we are offering more healthcare options for our citizens, following the Dobbs decision, states across our nation are restricting a woman’s choice, preventing them from seeking an abortion, even when their life is at risk.
I am proud to live in New York, a state where we respect a woman’s right to choose, and equally proud that our Department of Health’s Family Planning Clinic on William Street counsels and assists women in making the right choice for them. It's their choice, not anyone else's, and we will stand with them no matter their decision, just like any caring, compassionate community should.
It’s one of the lesser-known services offered by Erie County, but it’s an important service that we will continue to do so, regardless of what others do nationwide. Thank you to Dr. Gale Burstein and the team at the Family Planning Clinic for your essential work.
Some of the same states that are restricting a woman’s right to choose are denying the existence of climate change. We know all too well the impact climate change has on our region with what used to be a once-every-century storm that occurs almost annually.
That’s why we are working to make Erie County more climate-resilient while reducing our carbon footprint. Just last month, we unveiled the county’s Community Climate Action Plan, which will strengthen local climate planning efforts and help immensely in obtaining grants and potential funding to advance these efforts.
This Plan serves as a roadmap for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, enhancing resilience to climate impacts, and transitioning towards a more sustainable future.
Because of the Plan, Erie County secured a $5.2 million US Department of Agriculture Community Forestry grant, which will power a five-year project to create climate benefits by increasing the tree canopy in disadvantaged communities.
Many partners in these efforts, as well as community organizations, are as committed as we are to preserving a healthy and green Erie County for the future. I thank them for joining us in getting it done, and I also thank Deputy Commissioner Bonnie Lawrence for her leadership in seeing this award-winning Plan through to completion.
Because of the work that went into enacting this Plan, many more grants and opportunities will be available to Erie County in the coming years.
Erie County is continuing to make our parks and park play spaces more accessible and inclusive, as we have invested millions in inclusive playground facilities at all our heritage parks and are currently completing the construction of one such playground at Tow Path Park in Black Rock, the first truly inclusive playground to be built in the City of Buffalo.
These new play venues are loved by children and parents of all abilities and are tremendous additions to our parks.
Inclusive playgrounds foster empathy, understanding, and acceptance among children from an early age, laying the groundwork for a more compassionate and equitable society. We are proud to bring more of them to Erie County parks.
In the downtown core, the Buffalo Convention Center is enjoying new life and business following a $6 million investment that has brought new light to the business district. A striking new facade has enhanced the entire Franklin Street corridor and has been shown during national Bills’ games broadcasts, putting our community in a new “light.”
At the same time, a newly reconfigured door entry and improved lobby logistics improve visitors’ experiences from the moment they walk through the door.
It’s brighter, warmer, more welcoming and more functional. Tour groups are noticing that conference it, as well. Bookings are up at the Center, including a July convention we all want to check out: the upcoming American Cheese Society’s National Conference!
Speaking of cheese, agriculture is essential to the county's economy. We have been working to raise the profile of local growers and producers while protecting vital farmland for the future.
As such, earlier this month, our Department of Environment and Planning held a series of public forums centered on updating the county’s Agricultural and Farmland Protection Plan.
The existing Plan was completed in 2012 and must be updated to address the challenges of 2024 and beyond. This will give our farming community the local support and structure they need.
In our communities’ business districts, small businesses are experiencing increased sales thanks to my administration’s Storefront Revitalization program. This program invests $15 million in local small businesses to renovate and redesign their storefronts, work that they may not have been able to afford otherwise.
With grants of up to $40,000, hundreds of local businesses have brightened and improved their storefronts and are putting their best foot forward, beautifying business districts across the county.
The results are incredible.
I've spoken to many small business owners thrilled with the work and thankful for the boost. They were hard-pressed during the days of the COVID-19 pandemic, and this is just one way we are helping them recover and build back better for the future.
Speaking of building back better, our RENEW Plan has invested nearly $90 million of American Rescue Plan assistance and $30 million from the county surplus to increase our workforce and invest in our neighborhoods.
One such RENEW Plan success story has been the Erie County Healthcare Careers Grant Program, which assists residents in furthering their education in a needed healthcare field, addressing their childcare and transportation costs.
I am proud to say 559 residents have participated or are currently enrolled in the program, 118 of whom currently have full-time employment in their chosen healthcare field. This program is helping to meet the exceptional demand for more healthcare workers in our county. Additionally, the program is so successful the Biden Administration highlighted it as a best practice for local governments during a recent workforce development summit.
Thank you to our partners Jackie Hall of the Workforce Investment Board and Lavon Stephens of the Workforce Development Consortium, as well as Commissioner Marie Cannon and your team at the Department of Social Services for your continued support and advocacy for this important program, as well as Biden Administration for investing in communities nationwide.
Erie County is moving forward in all sectors with initiatives that will strengthen, connect, and prepare us for the future.
But there’s more to come.
For decades, Erie County has borne millions of dollars in extra costs associated with defending individuals charged with crimes who cannot afford an attorney. In societies founded on principles of justice and equality, the right to legal counsel is fundamental, yet it remains inaccessible to many due to financial constraints.
It's a fundamental constitutional right that the county takes very seriously. However, no county office provides such a defense. Instead, for decades the county has outsourced this critical work to external agencies who offer this mandated service.
At the same time, N.Y. counties that have an established Public Defender’s Office, like Monroe and Albany, can directly oversee this critical service while taking advantage of state aid and other grants to subsidize it.
Due to new state mandates, Erie County will spend nearly $40 million on indigent defense this year. Just down the Thruway, Monroe County spent about $9.3 million in local share for their Public Defenders Office last year.
We often hear about how the private sector can provide a service at a lower cost than the government. However, providing legal defense services appears not to be one such area.
With that in mind, I am establishing a working group to research, plan and lay the groundwork to create an Erie County Public Defender's office.
While establishing this office will be an enormously complex task, it will serve three goals: improving the quality of public defense in Erie County, providing much-needed oversight to the indigent defense agencies, and finding efficiencies to save taxpayer dollars.
This move could eventually save Erie County millions of dollars every year, while providing the legal counsel that all Americans are entitled to.
Moreover, a robust public defender’s office plays a crucial role in promoting social justice and equity within communities by addressing systemic disparities in the administration of justice.
Public defenders not only navigate legal proceedings but also connect clients with vital social services, mental health resources, and rehabilitative programs, thereby addressing the underlying factors contributing to their clients criminal justice system involvement.
This way, we can work to decrease recidivism, improve outcomes for individuals in the justice system, and serve residents better and more cost-effectively. I look forward to working with the members of the legal community and Legislature to see this goal come to fruition.
While we examine ways to save money and provide better service in our handling of public defense, we will revisit an idea I called for as county comptroller: creating a countywide system of property assessment.
The current assessment system in Erie County is a hodgepodge approach that results in property assessments swinging wildly between municipalities. Evaluations are performed by a small group of (often overworked) people who work independently of each other on their tasks.
Some municipalities have not reassessed properties in decades, while others are more current, giving a distorted picture of property values in Erie County. This also results in the state mandating the implementation of an equalization system that no citizen truly understands.
This balkanized system creates unfairness across the county, resulting in some property owners paying more than they should, essentially underwriting other property owners. This has partially led to the recent homeowner frustrations we have witnessed across our county.
Additionally, Erie County has more assessing units than many states do, proving it can be done cost-effectively.
By establishing an Erie County Assessor’s Office, like Tompkins and Nassau County, we can bring a much-needed solution to this maze by streamlining property assessment processes, promoting fairness, and enhancing transparency in valuations countywide.
Consolidating assessment functions under a single countywide authority will eliminate duplicative efforts, reduce administrative costs, and ensure consistency in property valuations.
It will also eliminate one of the key reasons municipalities don't reassess regularly: local officials are afraid of the community pushback to reassessments, even though the New York state equalization process leads to annual changes in home value for taxing purposes.
Reassessment of properties does not mean tax levies are raised. Instead, it ensures an equitable redistribution of the property tax among all.
It is high time that we had a countywide Assessor's Office to improve fairness, equity, and accuracy. Let’s make it happen.
We make history daily as we build a better Erie County for the future. Our community is a historic place.
Erie County recently celebrated its bicentennial, and several other notable historical anniversaries are on the horizon: the Erie Canal will celebrate its bicentennial next year, the United States will celebrate its 250th birthday in 2026, and the City of Buffalo will celebrate its bicentennial in 2032. These are all noteworthy historical events and will undoubtedly spawn numerous events and commemorations around the area.
To help better prepare for for these historical events, I will create and impanel a new Erie County Historical Commission to plan and coordinate a diverse range of activities, such as exhibits, lectures, and other events, to engage residents and visitors in celebrating and learning about our shared history.
Composed of volunteers, the Commission will offer guidance and support to event organizers to ensure that these historical events are presented in a meaningful and impactful manner that resonates with audiences of all ages and backgrounds.
The first task I will ask of the Commission is to assist local educators in preparing for September 17, Constitution Day, also known as Citizenship Day. This day commemorates the September 17, 1787, signing of the Constitution. Every educational institution that receives federal funding is required to hold an educational program about the U.S. Constitution on that day.
The Commission will assist local educators by preparing age-appropriate materials for schools, thereby teaching our young about the Constitution and engaging them to be more civic-minded at a time when it is clearly needed.
Our local and national history is rich and diverse, everyone can enjoy it. Empaneling a historical commission ensures that all avenues of enjoyment are pursued.
To better protect our natural assets and to give our youth more job and career opportunities, we will create Erie Corps, a project similar in spirit to the Civilian Conservation Corps created by President Franklin Roosevelt as part of his New Deal.
FDR’s CCC was designed to supply jobs for young men and help families during the Great Depression. CCC workers conserved and developed natural resources in rural lands owned by federal, state, and local governments, including Chestnut Ridge Park and the county’s forests.
Our Erie Corps will create seasonal jobs for 18- —to 22-year-old county residents living at less than 200% of the Federal Poverty Level. They will work on various projects throughout our Parks system, implementing both the Parks Master Plan and the recently announced Erie County Community Climate Action Plan.
Thanks to WIB and DSS Summer Youth Program funding, Erie Corps will provide a career path in environmental and conservation efforts and include paid training. This is another way we invest in our young people while moving Erie County forward.
I thank Parks Commissioner Troy Schinzel and AFSCME Local 1095 for working to make Erie Corps a reality. A resolution to launch this program will be introduced to the Legislature tomorrow.
Along with these efforts to create a better-prepared and more resilient community, we are working in numerous other ways to grow our workforce, promote public health and safety, and keep Erie County on the path to a prosperous future.
While the unemployment rate in Erie County is low, as our economy has grown, so has our construction industry, and good-paying jobs are plentiful. Building trades jobs on large projects, like the Bills stadium and the wastewater treatment facility, are available. We want local workers to fill them, earning wages that will stay in Erie County.
To get more local individuals employed in construction, we will work with Legislator Howard Johnson and our Buffalo Building Trades Council on career recruitment events for the building trades. Recruiting individuals into the building trades provides stable, well-paying employment that can serve as a pathway out of poverty.
By offering training programs and apprenticeships in the building trades, individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds can acquire valuable skills in high demand in the construction industry.
This is a win-win idea that will put more people to work in good-paying jobs while helping to fill available construction jobs, and I thank Legislator Johnson for working with us to make it happen.
In 2023, we distributed over one hundred lifesaving AEDs to youth sports organizations, churches, community centers, and other groups so that they might have these devices in moments of need. We are planning on expanding that effort this year.
Through the Citizen CPR Foundation, we will apply for the American Heart Association’s HEARTSafe Community certification. This program is designed to improve sudden cardiac arrest outcomes by employing training, preparation, and response protocols.
There are currently over six hundred HEARTSafe communities across the U.S., and we will join that list as we work with community partners such as the Bills Foundation, Highmark, and others to protect public health and safety. Erie County will be at the forefront of the local push to safeguard public health.
Another area where Erie County can be a leader statewide is shifting away from fossil fuels to alternative energy. In 2024, we will begin a pilot program to shift our heavy-duty diesel vehicles from petroleum diesel to renewable diesel.
Renewable diesel is not biodiesel. It is a second-generation biofuel that is refined to be chemically identical to regular diesel and avoids the issues that biodiesel is prone to have in cold weather.
Renewable diesel can cut lifecycle carbon emissions by up to 90% and lower overall lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions by 65% versus fossil fuel diesel. In our transition to a decarbonized future, electric vehicles currently lack the range, charging, and performance required for heavy-duty applications like snow plowing. This is where renewable diesel can be a game changer.
Additionally, renewable diesel can be made from various sources, such as soybeans and fryer grease. Right now, Erie County companies are collecting fryer oil used for making chicken wings and pizza logs to turn it into renewable diesel. That means chicken wings will quite literally power our Erie County snowplows!
States like New Mexico and California have already transitioned heavy-duty vehicles to renewable diesel, but they can't say chicken wings power their trucks! We led local governments in meeting the goals of the Paris Climate Accords, and Erie County will be at the forefront once again in creating a greener, cleaner environment through our transition to renewable diesel.
Not long ago, I was honored to deliver my fourth Inaugural Address at the Buffalo Convention Center. Central to its theme was the concept of good government working for its true bosses, the people. Good government is characterized by transparency, accountability, and responsiveness to the needs of its citizens.
It operates with integrity, fostering trust and confidence among the populace, and is committed to upholding the rule of law and protecting fundamental rights and freedoms.
My administration has promoted good government throughout my time in office. The results show that Erie County is better off than it was by almost every metric, and we continue to improve.
This was all possible because people voted for a government that worked for them. They put their faith in county government to do the right thing, govern appropriately, and create a community that is fair, equitable, and accessible to all.
If we want that to continue, we all have a role to play.
Our democracy, our way of life, is on the ballot this year. Twisted extremist ideologies gather and grow today, right here in Erie County and across America.
For example, earlier this month, a Lancaster man was charged with two felony counts of making a terrorist threat and two misdemeanor counts of aggravated harassment for threatening to kill Attorney General Letitia James and Judge Arthur Engoron unless they dropped the case presently pending against the former president.
As I noted during my inaugural, only Franklin County, Ohio, had more individuals charged with a January 6 insurrection crime than Erie County. None of this should happen in a democracy. It certainly should not happen in our community, but it is due to the spread of disinformation across traditional media, social media, and the internet, especially social media.
Friends, social media is not real. It does not represent the true will of the people. If what you read on social media last year truly represented what a majority of county residents’ believed, I would not be standing here today delivering this address; my opponent would be.
To quote President Obama: Democracy is not a spectator sport. We must all understand the urgency of the task before us if our republic is to survive and the promise of the coming days to flourish.
The future is ours if we are brave and strong enough to claim it. There are many ways to do so, from joining community organizations to running for office, to just making your voice heard by rebutting the lies that are being spread by too many of our fellow citizens.
Talk to people about the promise and potential our community and country have, not the poison spread by others. Remind them our nation has faced difficult times and has come out stronger.
Let people see that you believe in the common good: a shared future that includes people of all colors, creeds, ages, and abilities. A community we are proud to call the New Erie County.
The next generation is watching, seeing how we respond to the issues of our time and what type of community and country we leave to them.
Erie County is undoubtedly in much better shape than when we inherited it. The state of Erie County is strong, but all of this won't matter if the bedrock democratic principles of our nation are tossed to the side and the rule of law is ignored.
This is not a time of inaction, of dismissing the genuine peril at our doorstep.
Instead, it must be a time of common purpose to strengthen the democratic values and institutions that tie us together as Americans.
As your County Executive, I promise to you, I will do precisely that, and I ask you all to do the same.
Thank you for joining me here today at our world-famous AKG Art Museum and thank you again to Janne Siren and his entire team for their hospitality.
May God bless and keep our county and country safe and democratic.