March 28, 2011
Rachel Kingston
No one has officially come out and declared he’s going to challenge Chris Collins for the job of Erie County Executive this November. But that isn’t stopping the two major parties from moving ahead and formulating their battle plans.
Collins on Saturday made the official announcement that he will seek a second term.
“The theme of my campaign is to hold me accountable for results,” Collins told reporters over the weekend. “Really, a referendum on running Erie County like a business is what I believe this election will be.”
“Bringing lean Six Sigma to government, to make it more efficient; delivering a balance sheet that’s resulted in the ‘hard’ [Erie County Fiscal Stability] Control Board going away; paying for recurring expenses with recurring revenue… We’re, today, the strongest county in all of New York State. Three years ago, we were the weakest county. That didn’t just happen by chance.”
The local GOP contingent is fully on-board with Collins’ judge-me-by-my-results strategy.
“I believe that he’s running on a record of achievement for the taxpayers,” Erie County Republican Chairman Nick Langworthy, who was on hand for Collins’ announcement, said. “So regardless of who the Democrats field as their candidate, that message won’t change one bit.”
“In his first election… Chris Collins won overwhelmingly, in one of the most historic landslides in the history of our community. I believe that he still has that strong support of people of all party affiliations. He crosses party lines. He’s really taxpayer-driven. And I believe he is a strong candidate for re-election.”
Democrats are designing a battle plan of their own, to counteract the Collins’ campaign messages of results and achievement.
County Comptroller Mark Poloncarz has often expressed interest in running against Collins .Erie County Democratic Party Chairman Len Lenihan tells WBEN that Assy. Dennis Gabryszak of Cheektowaga and others that are not ready to have their names made public could also run.
“This is a County Executive who said that he could do a lot of things, and frankly, has not followed up on the promises that he has made,” Lenihan says.
“The only reason the county has a balanced budget is because of President Obama’s stimulus money that came into the county the last two years. That money was also supposed to be used to create jobs in Erie County. Erie County is a county that desperately needs jobs. When the Democratic Congress and the Democratic President sent tens of millions of dollars here to create jobs, Collins used that to pad the county payroll. And that is the only reason there is a surplus. If not, we would be in a big deficit,” Lenihan said.
“The mission was supposed to be to create jobs. He was talking, four years ago… that he could guarantee, as a successful businessman, that he would bring jobs to this area. And we’ve continued to lose jobs. We’ve lost population.”
Unkept promises aren’t the Democrats’ only gripe with Collins. There’s something else about him that they are planning to target throughout the race.
“He is, frankly, a vindictive individual,” said Lenihan. “He has a hard time working with people. I know when County Comptroller Mark Poloncarz issued an audit somewhat critical of one of his departments, [Collins] responded by eliminating the auditors who actually do the work. This is a guy who’s got problems working with people, and that will be exploited during this election.”
Langworthy, however, demonstrated how easy it is to turn that argument around. He claimed Collins’ fiesty nature and take-no-prisoners style is the very thing that attracts voters to him.
“This community, four years ago, elected him because he was a bold and decisive leader. He was someone that would come in and ruffle feathers. They didn’t want someone to just be wallpaper,” Langworthy said. “We needed change. He’s brought that change. You may not hear the people that are his supporters out protesting, and carrying on, but they are the silent majority in this community.”
Democrats will be looking for someone who is, in their opinion, a better diplomat to run against Collins.
“Somebody who has a record… and is able to work with with people on a collaborative basis,” Lenihan explained. “The society we live in now, whether it’s public sector or private sector, is enormously complex. You need people who have the patience and the vision and the willingness to work with other people. Chris Collins has not shown that. Not only, not that skill – but not that interest. So I’d like to see someone who can work collaboratively with other people.”
“Secondly, someone who will focus on a vision for Erie County,” he continued. “And that, again, is creating jobs in the private sector. Somebody who understands the finances of the county from a long-term perspective; somebody who’s not going to take us on a short cruise, giving the impression of a surplus when in fact, it was papered over with Democratic stimulus money that was supposed to be used to create jobs.”
“There’s a lot of issues here, and we’re going to bring them forward in this campaign,” Lenihan asserted. “But we need somebody who can work with people, who has a vision for Erie County, and we will provide a candidate who would do that.”
Democrats aren’t ready to make an endorsement; Lenihan said that’s a month away, at least. He did say, however, that he personally has been approached by a number of people who’ve expressed an interest in running against Collins. Those people include two individuals who have publicly talked about the possibility of challenging Collins – Poloncarz, and State Assemblyman Dennis Gabryszak.
The Democratic Committee already has a solid platform, Lenihan said. It just needs to the find the right candidate, to fit into it.
“We’re ready to fight this one out,” he declared.