Erie County, NY–Today, Erie County Democratic Chairman Len Lenihan announced that the party’s executive committee has unanimously endorsed current Erie County Comptroller Mark Poloncarz in his bid for county executive.
Poloncarz announced his candidacy for Erie County Executive on May 7, 2010 in his hometown of Lackawanna in front of hundreds of supporters before taking to the road for a day-long tour of the county, speaking with residents about the issues unique to their individual communities.
Chairman Lenihan said, “Mark Poloncarz will be the county executive Erie County needs and deserves. The incredible response he received while announcing his candidacy with a county-wide tour shows that the people of Erie County want an inclusive leader who represents everyone, not a divisive figure like Chris Collins. As County Executive, Mark will bring all parties to the table in order to make this community better for everyone, not just the privileged few.”
“While Mark Poloncarz has truly been a taxpayer watchdog rooting out waste, fraud and abuse in County government, Chris Collins has built a record of raising taxes and decimating services residents rely on, all while giving significant raises to his patronage appointees. He hid stimulus dollars and called them a surplus come election season. Instead of creating jobs, Collins is just looking out for his own.”
Poloncarz said, “Six years ago, at the height of the worst financial crisis this community had ever seen, I was given the privilege to serve as your independent taxpayer watchdog and immediately took to the task of restoring fiscal stability to Erie County and respectability to the Comptroller’s office. While we were successful in righting many of those wrongs, the mistakes that created that ‘Red-Green’ budget crisis are being made once again by a county executive who cares more about getting himself re-elected than serving the people of Erie County.”
“I believe our best days are ahead of us, but only if we work together to guide our community forward. That is why I have entered this race, and I want to sincerely thank the executive committee members and a united Democratic party for their endorsement today. Together, we will return responsible government back to its owners – the residents of Erie County.”
The Erie County Democratic Committee is the largest political organization outside of the New York metropolitan area.