Poloncarz Believes Erie County Can Serve As “Laboratory” For New Policies

January 29, 2016
State of Politics
By Ryan Whalen

The Erie County Executive’s Office told me earlier this year, in his second term, Mark Poloncarz’s administration planned to take a more regional approach. When I sat down with him, Friday, Poloncarz gave me an example from last year to explain what that meant.

In 2015, Erie County became the first county in New York State to pass a microbead ban. Poloncarz says he spoke to county executives across the state pushing them to do the same.

“Last year we focused on microbeads. Not only were we able to pass a strong microbead ban here in Erie County but it’s basically the entire ban that’s going to be in effect in 2018 for the entire United States,” he said.

Poloncarz also said the President’s new proposed rules for equal pay are similar to the executive order he signed in 2014. Leading up to his March 10th State of the County, Poloncarz said he plans to introduce even more initiatives he believes will be held up as examples.

“We’re going to take a lead once again on a number of issues at the State of the County, announcing some of them in the run-up to the State of the County, including issues associated with ethics reform, issues associated with protecting our environment, issues associated with ensuring that we can continue to focus on issues of poverty in this community and better serve our constituents,” he said.

While the County Executive said his constituents are his main concern, he appreciates the ability the job gives him to affect change on a broader level.

“Erie County is a good example of the United States. We have a strong urban area, a very strong suburban core and we also have a very large rural area. It’s like a small state. We have more population than five states. We have a budget that’s nearly 2 billion dollars when you add in all our accounts which is similar to some of the smaller states,” he said. “So I look at that, if you can succeed and get it done in Erie County, you can get it done in New York State and you certainly can get it done in the United States.”

Poloncarz said he’s not in it to make a name for himself. Rather, he said he’s always looking for new, good ideas from others and believes he should share his as well.