Questions Collins’ Claim That Parks Are in ‘Best Shape Ever’

ERIE COUNTY, NY – Today, Erie County Comptroller and County Executive Candidate Mark Poloncarz questioned Chris Collins’ claim that Erie County’s parks and beaches are in “the best shape ever” during a press conference held at Riverview Park in Buffalo. Poloncarz used a multimedia presentation to show the crumbling conditions of Erie County’s parks and beaches, thereby refuting Chris Collins’ claim that the county park system is in “the best shape ever.”

Yesterday, the Poloncarz campaign visited seven of 12 county parks on – Isleview, Ellicott Creek, Chestnut Ridge, Riverwalk, Bennett Beach, Wendt Beach and Como Lake – and witnessed firsthand how neglected our parks have become under the Collins administration. Shelters are crumbling, grass is overgrown, rusty nails are sticking out, windows are broken, toilets are overflowing – the list goes on.

“Instead of agreeing to the series of debates I have called for, Collins is hiding behind his misleading campaign commercials that tout how he has ‘fixed’ our broken parks and beaches, going so far to say they are in the ‘best shape ever,’ ” Poloncarz said. “I personally went down to Bennett Beach, where I believe he filmed his commercial, and Wendt Beach Park and although the beaches and the water were lovely, the parks did not look good: boarded-up buildings, exposed wires, bathrooms in terrible shape, potholes, broken glass and garbage and overgrown weeds. Is this how we want to showcase our county? Chris Collins has neglected our parks and it shows.”

Poloncarz video recorded his tour of Wendt Beach Park, which can be viewed on his campaign YouTube Channel. Additionally, pictures of the complete seven-park tour showing the real condition of our parks can be viewed on Poloncarz’s Flickr site.

The Erie County parks system was developed as part of the Works Progress Administration, which was designed to put people back to work during the Great Depression. Ironically, as we work to recover from a nearly as disastrous recession, the Collins administration slashed more than $1.3 million from the parks budget, a reduction of 21 percent from 2010 funding levels, while hoarding stimulus funding that could have been used to restore our parks. Additionally, Collins has laid off nearly 40 parks employees almost all of which are attendants, maintenance workers and lifeguards — the people responsible for making repairs and keeping our families safe while enjoying these public spaces.

“The level of neglect and disrepair our once beautiful parks and beaches have endured under the Collins administration is disgraceful, but not as disgraceful as trying to mislead the public about their condition in an attempt to win back the votes he has lost over the past four years,” Poloncarz said. “Instead of saying the parks are in the best shape ever, he should be apologizing to the public for the terrible condition they are in. If Collins ever bothers to acknowledge my request to debate, I look forward to discussing the management of Erie County’s parks and ask him exactly which parks and beaches he seems to think are in ‘the best shape ever,’ because it isn’t any of the ones we have visited.”

The Poloncarz campaign invites Erie County residents to show Chris Collins the real state of the county’s parks by emailing photos of what they believe to be the worst conditions in Erie County’s parks to information@markpoloncarz.com.

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