By ERIC DUVALL

 As of Saturday, the race is on for Erie County’s top job and the candidates wasted little time in tossing a few elbows.

Democrat Mark Poloncarz, in his second term as county comptroller, made formal his entering the race with an announcement in his hometown of Lackawanna. He then toured the county with supporters in tow, stopping at the Veterans Memorial in the Town of Tonawanda.

While there, Poloncarz ripped his Republican opponent, incumbent County Executive Chris Collins, saying “it’s time to serve the people of Erie County, not rule over them.”

It was Poloncarz’s opening salvo in what likely will be a bitter race between two elected leaders who have tangled in the past. Two years ago, Collins revoked parking spaces for several of Poloncarz’s top auditors. They responded by releasing a blistering audit on Collins’ handling of county parking spaces, which Poloncarz said the executive used to reward political allies and punish those who had defied him. The county executive responded, saying that Poloncarz had misused county resources to conduct a political smear campaign against him.

Collins renewed that theme Saturday, saying “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.”

The candidates themselves provide a contrast. Poloncarz sought to buffet his humble roots as the son of a Lackawanna steelworker and a nurse.

“I didn’t grow up with a silver spoon in my mouth,” Poloncarz told his supporters. “ … it’s more like a steel spoon.”

Collins, by contrast, is a wealthy businessman who makes his home in a well-to-do Spaulding Lake neighborhood in Clarence. Politically, that has translated into portraying himself as the politician capable of running Erie County much like his successful business ventures.

Poloncarz pledged to go after fraud in the county’s Medicaid system and referenced a plan to do so that he put forth as comptroller, saying “I will implement these recommendations.”

He attacked Collins for his oversight of federal stimulus money, which the comptroller said Collins held in reserve to buffet the county’s savings account, rather than create jobs or stop funding cuts to the county’s library system and cultural institutions. Poloncarz also criticized Collins for seeking raises for his top appointees — a move Collins has defended, saying the county needs to pay for the best talent.

“You can’t say you can’t afford to pay librarians when you’re giving raises to your top political patrons,” Poloncarz said.

One issue to watch will be the amount of money the two campaigns spend. Collins is expected to raise significantly more money for the race, in addition to his personal wealth. As of his January filing, Collins’ campaign committee, Collins For Our Future, had $1.2 million in the bank.

Asked about the disparity, Poloncarz said he is “confident I am going to raise what I need to be competitive.”

“I don’t need to match the county executive, dollar-for-dollar,” he said.

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