I hope all the moms had a wonderful Mother’s Day. It was great to see the weather cooperated, which gave us a beautiful day to celebrate all the moms. We thank you for all you do.
I recently attended the Erie County Executive’s State of the County Address. While I had hoped his address would focus on how we can work together to move Erie County forward, I quickly became disappointed when he turned his attention to the federal government and issues which he has no control over. The speech was neither inspirational nor aspirational, and there was no great vision for the future of Erie County. In fact, despite claiming our region is much improved, his county initiatives largely focused on issues indicating clear signs we are not doing well economically. Addressing homelessness, affordable housing, and mental health epidemics are issues the government must tackle, but when much of your address focuses on ways to tackle these issues, it is not a strong message that we are doing well.
The Republican Minority Caucus met with Mark Poloncarz in the weeks leading up to his address, where he told us the budget surplus would be about $10 million. However, it turns out the surplus was $26 million, with Erie County Legislature Democrats quickly allocating significant amounts from that surplus to organizations in their districts. This, despite the fact much of the sales tax revenue comes from towns and villages represented by Republican legislators. This lack of transparency and working together is incredibly troublesome. Erie County residents deserve better.
I’m pleased the Erie County Legislature voted in support of a resolution opposing wind turbines in Lake Erie. These turbines being pushed by downstate lawmakers would have a negative impact on our great lakes. The push for clean energy would be detrimental to our most treasured asset and we need to continue the fight to preserve and protect our great lakes.
It was a very positive development to see the Lancaster Town Board and the Lancaster Volunteer Ambulance Corps (LVAC) reach agreement on a new three-year contract. LVAC has been serving the Lancaster community since 1953, and this agreement was crucial to ensuring our residents are being delivered the necessary care.
The Erie County Charter Revision Commission, which meets every decade to decide possible changes to the charter, is wrapping up its series of meetings across Erie County. I’m pleased to see they have no plans to try and advance a request made by the County Executive to allow for a simple majority vote of the Legislature to extend the sales tax. This very proposition was rejected by more than 62% of the voters just 3 months previously, and for this Administration to try and force it upon them completely disrespected the will of the voter.
A reminder to look out for road crews who are now busy making much needed repairs to our infrastructure. A number of projects have already begun, with more getting underway soon. The federal aid project on William Street, from Transit to Bowen is set to be bid in the Fall of 2026, with construction in 2027. In the meantime, Erie County will be doing some micropaving work this summer in the worst areas. This project will improve the riding surface until the larger federal aid project is completed in 2027.
If you have a county related concern, please contact my office at 716-681-2071 or by email Frank.Todaro@erie.gov
