Payment to remove car items is issue
By Denise Jewell Gee
When Chris Collins was Erie County executive, he trucked around the county in his own Buick crossover that was equipped with county emergency lights and a radio in case an emergency situation developed.
Now, county officials want that equipment back, and an impasse has developed over who should pay to remove the items from the privately owned car.
Collins has told county personnel staff that he wants to take the vehicle to a private dealership to remove the emergency equipment and repair any damage that occurs when the work is done.
That’s because Daniel Neaverth Jr. — the county’s new emergency services commissioner whom Collins fired a year ago — would oversee county employees who would remove the emergency equipment.
The disagreement delayed the issuance of Collins’ final paycheck of $2,153.87, as officials withheld the money in an attempt to get him to return the equipment — a tactic that isn’t allowed under state labor law.
“I’ve made a very direct offer,” Collins said. “You pay to take the equipment out and you can have the equipment.”
Collins said he told officials he didn’t want Neaverth or his employees working on his personal car.
He believes Neaverth dislikes him because he deleted his job — an issue raised during the campaign when Neaverth complained he was ousted from his county job by Collins as a political attack.
Collins contends county officials were in violation of labor law when they withheld his final paycheck while waiting for the equipment to be returned.
“His newfound interest in labor law does not preclude his obligation to return county property to its rightful owner, the taxpayers of Erie County,” said Peter Anderson, a spokesman for County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz. “And indeed, the withholding would not have occurred if Mr. Collins had acted responsibly and returned all county property in his possession upon leaving office.”
County officials, who had been withholding the check “pending resolution of this matter,” mailed it Wednesday, Anderson said. The check was sent after Collins put the county “on notice” it was violating labor law.
Collins said he never sought reimbursement for the miles he put on his personal vehicle while conducting county business and is adamant he shouldn’t have to pay to uninstall the county radio and lights.
“Why should I incur the expense?” he said. “I drove my own car for four years with 90,000 miles on it, paid every expense, every repair, every gallon of gas that went in it. I saved the taxpayers a lot of money on my nickel driving my personal vehicle and paying for all costs associated with it.”
The equipment highlights an issue that has long made for political hay in the county: Should the county executive drive a county-owned car?
Joel Giambra had the county buy a new Chevrolet Suburban and hired a driver. Before that, Dennis Gorski drove a Pontiac.
Collins drove his own vehicle while in office but had the emergency equipment installed. He said he used the equipment rarely and recalls using the lights only once, on the night that Flight 3407 crashed in Clarence Center.
Poloncarz plans to drive his own vehicle and won’t have emergency equipment installed.
“Mark Poloncarz would never install these sorts of things in his own personal vehicle, especially at taxpayer expense,” Anderson said. “Because they’re not necessary.”
Anderson said the Poloncarz administration believes Collins should pay to remove the equipment from his car. “Simply put, he’s got county property,” Anderson said. “And since he doesn’t work for the county anymore, the county wants it back.”
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