By Denise Jewell Gee
In the end, it didn’t take a mechanic to resolve the latest conflict in Erie County government.
Former County Executive Chris Collins on Thursday returned county-owned emergency equipment from his personal vehicle after removing the light, radio and siren himself.
The items had been a point of contention between Collins and the new administration of County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz after the county withheld Collins’ final paycheck in an attempt to expedite the equipment’s return.
“Supposedly, I’m going to be getting my check, and they’ve got their equipment,” Collins reported after personally returning the items Thursday to the county’s fire training facility on Broadway. “And this was much ado about nothing.”
A spokesman for the Poloncarz administration confirmed that the issue had been resolved.
“Apparently, the removal process is so easy that he could do it himself,” Peter Anderson said. “It should be the end of the matter.”
Collins had previously told county personnel officials that he did not want county employees assigned to work under a man he had fired, Daniel Neaverth Jr., to touch his vehicle. Instead, he told them he would take it to a mechanic at a local Buick dealership to remove the items, and he wanted the county to pick up the tab.
The offer didn’t fly, and the issue boiled over after the county sent Collins a written notice that his final paycheck would be withheld until the equipment was returned.
How was it resolved?
Collins said he decided Thursday to “tinker” with the vehicle to see if the items could be removed. As it turned out, he simply unplugged the connections, and the radio and siren came free. With the removal of two nuts under the hood, he removed the light bar.
“I no longer have county equipment,” said Collins, who returned to private business after leaving the county executive’s office. “I do have a maze of wires in my car that I’m going to have to deal with at a later date, and some drill holes here and there, but the equipment has been returned.”
County employees initially installed the equipment in the vehicle, Anderson said.
County officials had said late Wednesday that the former county executive’s final paycheck — totaling $2,153.87 — had been mailed. The check was sent after Collins noted that the county could not withhold an employee’s final pay under state law.
“Why they decided to blow it out of proportion, I have no idea,” Collins said. “But I needed this hanging around like a hole in the head.”
http://www.buffalonews.com/city/communities/erie-county/article707106.ece