Why is it that two of County Executive Chris Collins’ top administrators have jumped ship within the first 7 months after coming to office?

First, it was Budget Director Beth Kornbrekke, who resigned after only five months on the job. Now, it’s Deputy County Executive Mark Davis, who’s resigning after 7 months on the job and had joined Collins in his pledge to accept $1 per month in salary for as long as the county control board remained hard. He’ll be replaced by Six Sigma implementation czar, Alfred Hammonds, Jr. No word on who or whether Hammonds’ position will be filled.

Collins pledged to run the county like a business, and the hard work of his administration has arguably only just begun. So, why have these key people begun bailing? Davis’ name had been floated as a candidate for NY-26, yet he couldn’t be bothered to stick around to see through the county’s negotiations with its public sector unions? That’s too bad.

At least in the city, we know that it’s Steve Casey who generally chases them away.

The County Control Board set up by now-disgraced former state Comptroller Alan Hevesi was supposed to bring Erie County needed “adult supervision”.

The problem is that the state put a bunch of petulant kids in charge of it. As former county Comptroller James Hartman argues,

The ill-chosen members of the Erie County control board do not understand their purpose. Every action they have taken in the past two years was intended to expand and perpetuate their role. They have done nothing tangible to help the county. In fact, their actions hurt the county. Let me explain:

First, they have continuously rejected proposed four-year financial plans. The legislation says that plans should be approved on the basis of “reasonable and appropriate” assumptions. Instead, the board believes it can require guaranteed results. By their strange logic, every government should have a control board because the future is uncertain.

More disturbing, having rejected the county-proposed plans, the board has ignored its statutory responsibility to develop an alternate plan. Consequently, the county has operated for two years with no approved financial plan. This ambiguity makes it harder for the county to get its credit rating upgraded.

Second, these board members have used bully tactics in trying to take over the county’s borrowing. The only reason for the control board to borrow would be if Erie County could not borrow for itself. Saving a few million dollars over 30 years is no reason for the county to give up its credit market access.

It either needs to be dismantled, or else the people populating the control board need to be replaced by Governor Paterson. The Control Board has done nothing to help the county’s fiscal house, and instead costs us $1 million per year that could be used to either pay back the taxpayers or for something that’s actually, objectively useful.

Paul Wolf had a great post up today about Community Development Block Grant monies and how they should be spent. He asked a simple question, “How would you spend it?”

Well, Geek and I spent some time kicking around how we would spend it, but we just kept coming back around to imagining how other local politicians and community leaders would spend grant money or tax rebates if they could. Here’s what we came up with:

We’ll give it to poor people and tax, err, institute a fee on it with a stamp - Eliot Spitzer

Give it directly to the poor, but don’t let them spend it on tobacco, lottery, or anything fun - Sam Hoyt

Give it to the people and track where and when they spend it - Byron Brown/Steve Casey

Not know how much you have to give them: Satish Mohan

I’d loan it to my brother - H. McCarthy Gipson

Hemp necklaces and mandannas for everyone! - Newell Nussbaumer

I’m opposed to giving these checks out, wait, hold on…this was my idea? Damn - Antoine Thompson

Audit it - Mark Poloncarz

Shove it down the throats of neighborhood activists - Brian Higgins

Figure out if there’s a more efficient way to distribute the checks via Six Sigma troubleshooting - Chris Collins

Put the money in a box and scream insults at it - Dale Volker

Double the payments and add in coffee breaks for everyone - Tim Kennedy

Use it to pay rent on an empty house in Kenmore - Michelle Iannello

Take the money home and sleep on the floor next to it – Mike Cole

Surround yourself with kids at the announcement - Tom Reynolds

Huh? I must have missed the meeting about giving out checks. - Mike Ranzenhofer

Ask my Mother what I should do - Ed Rath III

File a lawsuit to block the distribution of checks until an alternative can be researched and put up a billboard announcing it - The Waterfront Coalition

Lap dances for me and Victor! - Joel Giambra

Give the whole sum to Smokin’ Joe Anderson - Vince Anello

Whadda you got?

Erie County Executive Chris Collins has done a few things lately that I like.

First of all, he is adding something called “scrutiny” to requests for Erie County IDA tax breaks and incentives. Witness the example of Martin’s Fantasy Island. Not that I have anything against this family-friendly WNY institution, but does it really need an $87,000 tax break to help buy new rides that it’s already promoting?

Collins basically said, not if they’re not creating any jobs with the tax break, they don’t. And he’s right.

Secondly, Collins halted a decision that Giambra made to auction off older County office furniture and electronics and buy new stuff. Instead, Collins is going to keep the older stuff around and use that first, before buying anything new. Productivity might plummet if a county employee is forced to, e.g., use a computer with a pre-Pentium computer, but that’s not what’s at issue here. Fax machines, printers, phones, computers, monitors, and furniture can all be brought back into service if functioning.

He’s freezing spending on travel and office supplies; looking at staggering employees hours, so there’s no automatic overtime; and asking county employees to take county cars out of town, instead of putting in for mileage on their own vehicles.

Little things like this add up, and they represent a sea change in the way that the County looks at costs. These are simple, relatively non-controversial ways to save hundreds of thousands of our dollars. And we haven’t even implemented Six Sigma yet.

Lynn Marinelli was re-elected Legislature chair yesterday 8-7, garnering support from its three Republicans. While Chris Collins and others lauded the bipartisan nature of the vote, it underscores the fact that there is more to what’s going on in county politics than just Republican and Democrat. The Democrats on the legislature are split rather starkly.

One of the first items on the Legislature’s agenda involved the approval of a new post - Director of Six Sigma. The post and its associated perks and software will cost $200,000, and it is hoped that it will be paid for through a state efficiency grant that the Erie County Fiscal Stability Authority controls. Usually, such a proposal would be sent to committee for discussion, debate, and vetting. This wasn’t.

The exercise was repeated when the Legislature created a “space utilization position” at Collins’ request. The official will earn more than $100,000 in determining the best uses of work space in county-owned buildings. Collins expects the control board to underwrite that job as well.

All we need now is a $100,000 Director of Feng Shui, who will help implement the Chinese practice of placement and arrangement of county work space to achieve harmony with the environment.

Although I hope the control board comes through with that efficiency grant money, it’s still our money that’s going to pay for this. I hope Six Sigma starts showing results as soon as possible.

(Photo by Whitneyarlene via Flickr)

Chris Collins was joined today by Seneca Nation President Maurice John to announce that Erie County was discontinuing its action against the federal government, which sought reversal of the decision to allow the Senecas to complete their Buffalo Creek Casino project. From Watchdog’s report:

“Casino gaming already exists in Downtown Buffalo,” said Collins. In its current form, however, the casino is only attracting local visitors. The Seneca’s plans for a permanent casino will be a destination, helping to improve local tourism efforts. In addition, the casino plan also calls for a three acre public park. This green space will beautify the cobblestone district and improve quality of life for families living in that neighborhood.”

It’s interesting that we’ve replaced Giambra, who occasionally sided with the Joel Roses, Tim Tielmans, and Donn Esmondes of the world, with a completely different type of person. Obviously, Collins is bringing a new sort of mindset to the Rath Building. Where Giambra was a streetwise West Side politico, Collins is a millionaire amateur politician and resident of Spaulding Lake.

On the casino issue itself, I continue to oppose the Seneca Casino because I dislike the idea of carving out a sovereign enclave in downtown Buffalo, and there ought to have at least been some sort of plebiscite on the question. It is an interesting start to his tenure, though.

Click through here to listen to a podcast of the press conference. The full press release is after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

On Six Sigma:

On county cars & phones:

On negotiating with unions representing county employees:

Last week, Geek and I had an opportunity to sit down with Erie County Executive-elect Chris Collins, with video provided courtesy of the lovely & talented Marc Odien. Here are some excerpts:

Collins on the Waterfront:

Collins on the hiring process:

*Sniff* Why is the Buffalo News being so mean to Chris Collins? I mean, he’s not even been inaugurated yet, and already people are criticizing him. *Sniff*. Oh, the humanity!