I hope you are enjoying these last few weeks of summer. It is always with mixed emotions as we send our four boys back to school. The extra time spent with them is always enjoyable. The Erie County Legislature is also back in session, and there are several issues to address in these last four months of 2025. Spending is out of control under the leadership of Mark Poloncarz. He continues to add jobs and programs which come at a hefty cost for Erie County taxpayers. Whoever the next County Executive is will have to deal with a bloated government that has grown exponentially over these past fourteen years. It is not sustainable.
The Erie County Sheriff’s Office recently gave my colleagues and I a tour of the Erie County Holding Center and Correctional Facility in Alden. The Holding Center, built almost 100 years ago, is antiquated. The design makes the continued operation of this facility nearly impossible, and the cost of repairs for an aging structure is not truly feasible. The facility in Alden, however, is clean and has plenty of space to expand. It is expensive to continue operating two facilities, and it is not reasonable to continue doing so. Closing the Holding Center and centralizing all operations at the Alden facility makes the most sense long-term. The Sheriff’s Office is working with architects and other experts in the field to come up with a plan for the Alden site. This is the best possible option.
Our community mourns the devastating loss of some very special people. Dr. Kishore Divan and his wife Asha died in tragic car accident in West Virginia. Two family members visiting from India were also killed in the crash. The Divans were wonderful people who made a big impact on this region. Dr. Kishore Divan was the former president of the Hindu Cultural Society of Western New York and the founder of the India Association of Buffalo. He was a respected doctor who served this community for many years. I was also heartbroken to hear of the death of Daniel Bechtel following an accident. Daniel had been a classmate of my twins at Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary for several years. He was a great, kind and hard-working young man and his death is a tremendous loss to our Clarence community.
I was honored to recognize Coach Gary Sundown, who retired from the Akron Tigers lacrosse program, a program he helped build from the ground up and transform into one of Western New York’s most respected athletic institutions. Under his leadership the Akron Tigers amassed a record of 122-43, won 8 Section VI titles and two Far West Regional championships. The impact he has had on local high school lacrosse is unequaled.
I wish you all a safe return to school. I want to remind folks to be mindful of children at bus stops or out walking to school. Of course, don’t forget school buses make many stops, and you are by law required to also stop anytime they do.
If you have any county related concerns, contact my office at 716-858-8676 or by email at Christopher.Greene@erie.gov
