5 years ago
A powerful state lawmaker says Erie County can solve its present financial problems by looking into the past. Now, he's starting a movement to bring back the old Board of Supervisors.
It's been nearly 40 years since the Board of Supervisors ran Erie County Government. State Senator Dale Volker believes it's time it made a comeback.
"We've gotten to the point here where this system doesn't work," Senator Volker said, referring to the recent political gridlock that brought a control board to Erie County. "And we have such confusion here."
Senator Volker is recommending the county do away with the legislature and the office of the county executive, both of which were created in 1968.
Taking their place would be the supervisors of cities, towns and villages from across Western New York. They would direct an appointed county manager, as they did decades ago.
"The most efficient governments are, ironically, the towns and villages because they're closer to the people," Senator Volker said.
Senator Volker says he will make his pitch to the county's charter review commission, which will decide if it's worth pursuing.
Commission Chairman George Arthur knows a thing or two about the board of supervisors. He served on it in the mid-1960s.
Reporter: "Do you think something like that would fly again?" Arthur: "I'm not going to answer that right now. I don't want to prejudge. [All I'll say is] we will debate [it]. Whatever is in the best interest of the taxpayers of the County of Erie, that's what we're going to do."
Legislature Majority Leader Lynn Marinelli opposes the change.
"The Board of Supervisors is the reason the county has 12-hundred miles of roads, none in the cities," Marinelli said.
Those are roads which the county must pay to plow and maintain. The reason it happened, according to Marinelli, is because the Board of Supervisors gives too much power to the outer-ring suburbs.
She also believes a board with potentially more than 50 members will have a more difficult time reaching a consensus than a 15-person legislature.
Reporter: "If it's something the charter review commission does like?" Marinelli: "Then put it forward."
If the charter review commission likes the idea, it would recommend it to the legislature, which would then vote on it. If approved, the measure would end up as a question on the ballot, meaning the voters would have the final say.
Theoretically, it would only take a couple of years to implement.
Reporter: "Do you think your recommendation will ever fly?" Volker: "I'm not sure it won't."
WGRZ
