News from Erie County

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News from Erie Co. & Albany; Not-so-much from D.C.

Items of interest related to our Erie County reform effort, our 2006 Regional Agenda, and Unshackle Upstate:

1). At the first meeting of the “new” Erie County Fiscal Stability Authority last week, Robert Gioia, who chaired the Partnership’s Erie County Stabilization Project, gave a presentation renewing the call for action on the 128 “Plan for Moving On” initiatives that Partnership volunteers recommended last year to reengineer Erie County. The message that the “ready-to-use” initiatives have not attracted a sense of urgency from the county administration or the legislature was well-received by the control board members, who are diving right in to evaluate the county’s (lack of) progress on the recommendations. We especially like Joe Goodell’s approach to the control board’s work.  When Joe, who was on the ECSP’s oversight committee, was appointed last month to the ECFSA, he told the media: "I'm not coming in with any givens, except, I'll have that [ECSP] report under my arm and that's where I'll start."   

In related ECSP news, we recognize and thank Assemblyman Sam Hoyt who worked with Partnership staff to get the ball rolling on three specific ECSP recommendations that require changes in state law.  He introduced legislation that would allow Erie County to make greater use of video arraignments, institute “best value” into the purchasing process, and receive greater reimbursement for housing state-ready prisoners and parolees. Partnership members and staff will be involved in two-phase advocacy on these bills – first to see them passed in the state legislature and second, to see implementation at the county level. The first step in the process was to find a champion for the ECSP initiatives at the state level, and Assemblyman Hoyt has taken the lead.  Kudos to him.

2). In March, the Partnership joined with Erie and Niagara Counties and the City of Buffalo to roll out the region’s 2006 collaborative agenda – a list of policy-related and funding requests made to our delegations in Albany and Washington, D.C. 

Our funding requests to Albany have made it through the veto/veto-override saga we’ve witnessed the last few weeks. Funding for a number of priority projects at the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus came through, as did more than $10 million to remediate brownfields and develop shovel-ready sites in urban areas.  This item in particular is a critical component of the Partnership’s NOW campaign, and we’re pleased to see the WNY state delegation shares this priority. 

Our federal items remain in limbo, at least for now.  The appropriation bills that would include our items have not yet been passed by either house. So no progress yet.  We’ll keep you posted. 

To review our full list of agenda items, go to http://www.thepartnership.org/Home/GainInsight/Advocacy

3). Don’t forget to have your co-workers, friends and family “tell Albany the state we’re in.” Go to www.unshackleupstate.com and, via the “contact Albany” button in the center of the homepage, you can help us flood Albany’s fax machines with pleas for help.  Consider the following:  One of our members pays $1 million annually for his company’s workers comp costs here in Buffalo and $150,000 FOR THE SAME NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES in a plant he has in North Carolina.  How are you supposed to thrive here?  Tell Albany we need to change that sort of barrier to economic growth NOW. 

As always, I look forward to your comments.

Sincerely,

Andrew J. Rudnick

Ps- In the coming days you may be called by a survey firm with questions about your Partnership membership.  We’ve commissioned the firm to enable us to serve you better.  Please take a few moments to answer the questions.  I appreciate your help and candid responses.  Thanks.