By News editorial board
November 10, 2011
Congratulations to Mark Poloncarz. His stunning victory over Chris Collins’ well-financed campaign invited comparison to David versus Goliath. It was the blue-collar kid from Lackawanna, the son of a steelworker and nurse, versus a blue-blood CEO from Clarence.
The victory was only the second time a Democrat in predominantly Democratic Erie County has won the county’s highest office. The sound defeat of this county executive signals that voters want the services and support for our quality of life that Collins cut — from rodent control and day care to libraries and smaller cultural organizations. These are items that Poloncarz said the county could have funded.
Collins deserves enormous credit for putting the county’s financial house in order after the chaos of the red budget/green budget. His fiscal discipline served the taxpayers well, although he somehow failed to understand the importance of the library system and took a wrong turn in supporting a new taxing district.
As politicians are wont to do, many promises were made during the campaign, and for a county population recently given a tough course on running-government-as-a-business, expectations are high that those services will be restored without raising taxes.
In his interview with The News editorial board, Poloncarz answered concerns that he would be a tax-and-spend liberal by pointing to $30 million in potential cost savings identified by the comptroller’s office. He said, “I plan on implementing as many of those as I possibly can in the first year, alone.” He added that if Collins had implemented those savings, he could have funded libraries, arts and culturals, rodent control and more.
As for taxes, Poloncarz said, “Well, I certainly have no interest in raising them. … from a practical standpoint I just don’t think it can happen now … with the tax cap.” That cap limits the increase in property taxes to two percent a year.
Poloncarz’s heavy reliance on unions for contributions and campaign workers raised concerns that he would be forced to pander to unions as county executive. But he told the editorial board, “I have been willing to stand up against unions. I have told them when I think they’re wrong. … If they think I am going to give the keys to the candy store to labor just because I have their support, they’re wrong.”
These promises helped Poloncarz win the election. In order to move the county in the right direction, Poloncarz has to remember that being a public servant means working on behalf of the public.
And now the hard work starts.
http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial-page/buffalo-news-editorials/article626617.ece