4 February 2005
Spectator
Erie County lunacy (and why Sam Hoyt bailed out)
IT'S UNLIKELY WILL ROGERS KNEW ANYTHING ABOUT ERIE COUNTY GOVERNMENT ...
but, hot damn, he could have been thinking us when he wrote "no one ever went broke under-estimating the intelligence of the American voter." The continuing tragi-comedy being played out in County Hall is something to behold. Don't you love Al DeBenedetti holding vote on the sales tax the same way Lucy held the football for Charlie Brown? No matter how many times she yanked it away when Charlie tried to kick it, Charlie would take her word for it the next time and try again. Better than the actual fact of DeBenedetti's slight of hand are the reasons he spouts for approving and disapproving the sales tax increase. This morning, the Spectator heard him say, he retracted his vote because the county executive wasn't serious about reducing patronage. So let's see, Al ... you can't reduce patronage so you do the next best thing and reduced the professional work force by 3,000 while patronage remains intact. Yeah, that makes sense.
But Al is not alone in his lunacy. Consider Barry Weinstein who sees the $12 million in new sales tax revenue that will be shared among Buffalo and other localities as the problem. He said today he won't vote for the tax increase unless the county got the whole sales tax pie AND the county executive found $30 million in budget cuts. A little history might be order at this point : The last time the county was in a bind - a $75 million bind - it raised the sales tax "temporarily" to cover the impending shortfall. The temporary tax has been renewed every year hence and the county has collected over $1 BILLION to cover that $75 million hole. Not bad. In the meantime, other counties around the state latched onto sales tax increases to punish the poor to keep patronage rolls filled. The difference in every other county in New York State is that the state legislature mandated that counties share some of their increased revenues with the major municipality in their jurisdiction. Notice I said "every other county." Erie remains the only county that DOES NOT share the revenue, nor would it be mandated to share any of this new one percent. The only reason any sharing was on the table in the first place was a deal between the mayor and the county executive whereby Masiello would round up five Democrat votes for the tax increase while Giambra got five Republicans. When push came to shove, though, Masiello had to deliver all the votes because Giambra couldn't get a single Republican - not even Dr. Weinstein - to sign on. If there were any real cojones among the Dems, they would have withheld their support for the tax until the vote was unanimous, removing the increase of the sales tax issue as a looming campaign issue. Now, they have just become one faction of the gang that couldn't shoot straight.
The Erie County Legislature has done something that the Buffalo Common Council couldn't do in a million years. It made Buffalo lawmakers look like statesmen compared to their county counterparts. Well, most council members anyway. We can't forget that Jimmy Griffin was the mental giant that allowed the county to keep sales tax revenues in the first place.
And keep in mind - the consolidation commission wants guys like Barry Weinstein to be in charge of Buffalo's future! Can you imagine that? Weinstein resists the notion that $200 + million in sales tax revenue should be shared with the city. Buffalonians should be chomping at the bit with that prospect. The county legislature doesn't regulate police protection, fire service, sanitation service, or schools. But Bill Greiner and his Whiz Kids want them to manage the city. Wow! When the city got into trouble, it got slapped with a control board. With the county floundering in its own folly, their reward is to get another $125 million to play with. That's seems about right.
WATCH FOR HOYT TO EMERGE AS THE DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR COUNTY EXEC
The price of Sam Hoyt's withdrawal from the '05 mayoral race was a promise that he would be the Dems choice for county exec next time.
Copyright 2004 by Buffalo Report, Inc.