By MATT KRUEGER
The first salvo of what is ure to be a lengthy and heated battle over the Erie County executive seat came from Democratic challenger Mark Poloncarz Saturday.
The Erie County comptroller announced his candidacy in his hometown of Lackawanna, then went on a tour of Western New York to lambaste Collins for, as he put it, not representing the interests of all county residents.
“Chris Collins has failed as our Erie County executive,” Poloncarz said. “Chris Collins raised your taxes, he cut your services, and at the same time, he was willing and did give significant, multi-thousand dollar raises to his political appointees.”
Poloncarz’s tour stops included Depew, Amherst, Buffalo, Orchard Park and the Town of Tonawanda. At each stop, he took issue with Collins supposedly ignoring many of the communities in Erie County.
“You deserve a county executive who represents all of us, not just the select few,” Poloncarz said during his stop on Zubrick Road in the Village of Depew and Town of Cheektowaga. “You deserve a county executive who understands the only way to move this country forward is by ensuring all aspects of the community, urban, suburban and rural, are thriving.”
Poloncarz accused Collins of only looking out for the affluent communities like Clarence, where Collins lives, and ignoring many of the other municipalities.
Poloncarz’s stop on Zubrick Road was meant to illustrate that point, as the county has refuted all responsibility on the closed road.
Following a road collapse two years ago, the Town of Cheektowaga and Village of Depew have been trying to get help from the county, since it owns the land along Cayuga Creek on the north side of the road. The Depew Village Board sent a letter to Chris Collins in fall 2009 that received no response.
The issue with the road, which has been blocked off at the middle, halting its connection of Transit and Borden roads, has frustrated residents and officials from the town and village.
“We’ve been working with the county, the state and the federal government,” said Cheektowaga Supervisor Mary Holtz, who attended Saturday’s campaign announcement in support of her fellow Democrat. “Everyone’s been involved with this. With Depew’s old mayor and with the new mayor, we’ve been working on this for about two years now. The county has washed its hands of it.”
Poloncarz bashed Collins for not taking action on the construction project and pointed out Collins’ unwillingness to use federal stimulus money for it.
“Remember, we got over $100 million of stimulus money from the federal government that was provided to create jobs and restore our infrastructure,” Poloncarz said. “This is the type of infrastructure that should have been restored by Chris Collins. But Chris refused to do it. That stimulus money could have been used to create hundreds of jobs. Instead, he didn’t spend it. He used it to pad up the county surpluses to protect his own job come election season, and that’s wrong.”
Poloncarz continued his attack on Collins’ record of spending stimulus money, saying the county executive refused to spend any of it during the first two years. He said Collins is spending some of it now, only because it’s an election year.
In visiting Chestnut Ridge Park in Orchard Park, Poloncarz smacked Collins for cutting jobs in the Parks and Recreation Department.
“It’s a beautiful day,” Poloncarz said. “If you want to go to Chestnut Ridge Park, the swings aren’t even up yet, because they hardly have any employees in the parks anymore.”
In response to Poloncarz’s statements, Collins issued a brief statement this past weekend.
“Mark Poloncarz has built a record of being on the wrong side of taxpayers time after time.” Collins said in a press release. “Poloncarz has politicized the comptroller’s office with audits that provide no value to taxpayers and has proven incompetent at the basic functions of his job. That’s what happens when every decision you make is pre-approved by your party boss to better position your own political career. The hardworking taxpayers of Erie County deserve better and that’s why they know they can always count on Chris Collins to stand up for them.