A COUNTY ON THE BRINK FROM A FAILURE OF LEADERSHIP
By: Mark Poloncarz
Date: February 17, 2005
After years of declining population and the usual negative news it appeared at the end of 2004 that Erie County's future might be back on the right track. Geico was coming to Amherst and bringing 2000 jobs with them. Downtown Buffalo was seeing a rebirth - from the announcement of the coming of Bass Pro Shop, to the anticipated Outer Harbor redevelopment, and the return of empty nesters living in the downtown core - a feeling that 2005 would be a grand year. Then County Executive Joel Giambra's prior tax cuts and free-wheeling spending came back to haunt him and the county such that we are faced with a fiscal crisis that could alter the community as we know it.
As we all know now, instead of sitting down with others and addressing the red ink that was about to flow, the county executive proposed two budgets, the "Red" and "Green" budgets, that were both no win situations. His Red budget would cut county services to the bone and basically eliminate all discretionary spending, including the ending of regional support for Buffalo and Erie County's tremendous cultural organizations. On the other hand, his Green budget would continue county spending at past levels, but at the cost of a one percent increase in the sales tax, a result no one wanted to see take effect.
So know we find ourselves two months later, after weeks of bickering and unsuccessful back room deals, in the same position as we were last year - with no budget in place and a county on the brink of fiscal ruin. The county executive originally placed the blame for our current financial instability on the mandates New York's Medicaid system places on its counties. While there is no doubt that the State of New York must alter its Medicaid program, the root cause of the county's current predictament can be placed just as easily elsewhere - excessive tax cuts without respective reductions in spending. Some will call this a failure of fiscal management. I call it a failure of leadership.
Nobody wants to raise taxes, just as I hope no one wants to see our local social and cultural institutions close their doors. But these are the decisions we now face because many in Erie County's leadership failed to act. When it became apparent years ago that Erie County was heading towards a budgetary disaster neither our County Executive nor Comptroller Nancy Naples acted approrpriately. Instead of entering a period of fiscal restraint the county executive continued to propose excessive budgets like there was no tomorrow. Instead of warning about the upcoming fiscal disaster, as an independent comptroller should, Nancy Naples stuck her head in the ground like an ostrich, hiding from the truth. If you are a true independent watchdog, as the comptroller claims to be, then you must put the needs of our citizens ahead of your own political goals. That means admitting problems exist and must be immediately addressed even if conflicts with the message your political campaign consultants are trying to paint.
So what are we left with? A county executive who floats new tax increase proposals like lead balloons - one day it's a 1 percent increase, then 7/8ths, and the next a 3/4 percent increase - and a county comptroller who only starts to cry wolf when the wolf has gobbled up all it sees. It is quite clear that if Erie County is to move forward it must do so under new leadership. Leaders whose only goals should be the advancement of our community. Leaders who are politically courageous enough to admit that things are not as rosy as we wish we them to be.
There is no easy fix to the situation we face. No answer exists that will appeal to all. But before we can address the problem we need a guiding hand that is responsive to the needs of the people and is not afraid to roll up one's sleeves and attack this crisis head on. I do not have all the answers, but I am willing to tackle these difficult issues because our current leaders were unwilling, and now are unable to do so. The future of not only Erie County but also western New York hangs in the balance, and I for one will not sit on the sidelines and watch as the community I love is torn apart because our elected officials are incapable of leading.
© Mark C. Poloncarz, 2005.
The opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author and do not represent those of the WNY Coalition for Progress.
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