Erie County Legislature Republicans blasted Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz’s State of the County address, saying it was neither inspirational nor aspirational, provided no great vision for the future of Erie County, and was focused on the federal government while he should be putting all his attention on the betterment of Erie County.
Mark Poloncarz touted the strength of Erie County and how much it has improved since he has taken office, yet his county initiatives are all focused on issues indicating our region is not doing well. Homelessness, affordable housing, mental health epidemics and defending criminals in a climate of rising crime are all issues the government must address but are no indication our region is getting stronger. In fact, these are problems that have gotten worse in the fourteen years this Administration has been in office.
The County Executive spoke about building homeless shelters and providing legal assistance to the accused. He claimed Erie County was in great fiscal shape, but then tore into federal policies, the current Administration and its efforts to reduce the federal deficit, which is now more than $36 trillion. Spending in this country is completely out of control, and something had to be done. Yet this Administration has never met a dollar they didn’t want to spend. The County Executive should’ve been focused on how to make Erie County a better place to live.
He provided no great plans, no great vision. The Administration touts the town hall meetings he is now holding. He is in his 14th year in office. Now he comes to meet with residents? Where has he been? Many towns and villages in Erie County have felt ignored for the past several years by this County Executive. They want to hear bigger plans to grow our region and economy. That’s not what they got. Instead, they got a County Executive who spent half his speech airing his political grievances with the federal government and shared no big picture ideas for the region” said Erie County Legislator Chris Greene.
The Administration presented several projects and proposals in the address that require Legislature approval, as we are a co-equal branch of government. To date he has given us no information on how he plans to fund these ideas, all of which need legislators okay before moving forward. The Administration spent half of the State of the County Address focused on issues he has little to no control over, where he should have been laying out initiatives to help grow the region and the economy.
