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02232005
Letter to Erie County Officials
Last week I sent you an email that said Partnership members were telling us -- loud and clear -- that it is time for the private sector to take charge of Erie County’s budget mess. Like so many others in this community, we are fed up with the inability of our elected officials to agree on a way to close the current budget gap, and achieve a long-term restructuring of county government that prevents this same scenario from ever taking place again in the future.
Thus, we are sending a letter today to Erie County Legislators, the County Executive and Comptroller Nancy Naples informing them that the Partnership’s independent budget review is about to begin. You'll find a copy of that letter below.
At yesterday’s monthly Partnership board meeting it was agreed that this project is the necessary next step for us to take on behalf of the business community – and all of Erie County for that matter. We also discussed political action in which we must engage targeted at this fall's Erie County Legislature elections, focusing on the September primaries.
Finally, the Partnership board discussed assisting, as much as they can, those cultural, economic development and community institutions that have been adversely affected by the current budget mess. I'll ask you, too, to continue the generous pro bono, financial and volunteer help you offer so many not-for-profits in Erie County, and to increase those efforts if at all possible. We all know how important these institutions are to our quality of life in Buffalo Niagara.
I'll continue to keep you posted, and look forward to your comments.
Sincerely,
Andrew J. Rudnick
President & CEO
February 23, 2005 Letter to County Officials:
Clearly, the 2005 Erie County budget process is not something anyone in our community wants to see repeated next year -- or ever again. Thus, at the urging of many of our 3000-plus members, representing more than 200,000 private sector employees, the Partnership is undertaking a thorough analysis of Erie County fiscal matters to produce valuable, independent information for you and your colleagues to use during 2006 budget deliberations.
More to the point, the goal of this project is to provide you with a politics-free, outside perspective developed by people who have experience dealing with challenges similar to those facing county residents today. I've been heartened by the individuals who have stepped forward to volunteer their time for the good of Erie County. Those who have joined the oversight committee thus far represent business and labor, not-for-profits and culturals, people who vote for Democrats and those who vote for Republicans – and we are open to your suggestions for additional participants.
Members so far include:
Robert Gioia - Chair of the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo Board of Directors, former NFTA Chairman, Principal, Strategic Investments
Dianne Bennett – Of Counsel, Hodgson Russ Attorneys
Joseph Goodell - acting volunteer Executive Director of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, retired CEO of Outokumpu American Brass, Who Does What? Erie County volunteer
Mark Hamister – CEO, Hamister Group of Companies, Chair of the Giambra Transition Committee
Mark Jones – President, Buffalo AFL-CIO Council, past President of American Federation of Musicians Local 92
Charles Mitschow - retired Regional President of Marine Midland Bank, co-chair of the Buffalo Financial Planning Commission I & II
Jennifer Parker - President & CEO, The Black Capital Network
This project would be organized, staffed and funded by the Partnership. We will appoint a project manager to direct the initiative and request that Erie County provide a project liaison. We will begin with a survey of county government officials to get your views and opinions on the different facets of county government. From that point forward, the project manager and oversight committee will meet periodically with Erie County elected officials – and potentially our state delegation -- to update you on the project’s progress, and will consult technical advisors from the county and other governments to access specific expertise as needed.
We will follow a very aggressive timeline. In early March, Phase I will commence with a review of the county’s finances to determine how much of 2005’s gap can be attributed to Medicaid, how much is due to other expense increases, and what the gap is projected to be over the next three years. This baseline analysis will be completed by May 1, 2005.
In May, Phase II would begin, with the support of community volunteers recruited throughout March and April. By September, Phase II will yield its final recommendations to include which services the county should continue to provide, which should be handled by other governments or private entities, and how service delivery systems in Erie County can be made more efficient. Hopefully, with county officials having been part of the process from day one, a consensus will emerge to support these recommendations.
Again, our promise to the Legislature is to provide you with a non-partisan, anti-bureaucratic analysis of the county’s finances that will once and for all verify the current budget gap, determine future gaps, and provide specific recommendations for how to provide services to county residents, now and in the future, in a fiscally-responsible manner. We hope you will be supportive of this endeavor, as our community needs your leadership now more than ever.
Sincerely,
Andrew J. Rudnick
President & CEO
Cc: County Executive Joel Giambra
Erie County Legislature
County Comptroller Nancy Naples
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