January 5, 2012
By JAMES FINK
Following through on a campaign promise, new Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz used his first executive order to seek outside legal counsel to handle negotiations between the county and the Buffalo Bills.
The Bills' lease for Ralph Wilson Stadium expires in July 2013, but Poloncarz said he wants to start talks with the team as soon as possible.
The Bills are currently reviewing what renovations may be needed for the 39-year-old stadium - one of the oldest in the National Football League. Preliminary estimates peg the work in the range of $130 million, with the bulk of repairs focused on structural concerns. There have been some whispers of plans to add more luxury suites, boxes and seats, as well.
The cost of renovations will likely be shared by New York state and the county.
"The Bills are a regional asset, but it is up to Erie County to negotiate with them," Poloncarz said.
Erie County has traditionally retained outside legal counsel to handle the Bills talks. In 1998, Hodgson Russ LLP was retained to negotiate the deal, which resulted in more than 35 documents and 1,000 pages of paperwork. Those talks resulted in New York investing $68 million in renovations for the stadium.
Under executive order, Poloncarz asked Erie County attorney Michael Siragusa to issue an RFP for the legal services within two months. Ideally, the firm will be selected by mid- to late March, Poloncarz said.
"I want lease negotiations to begin as soon as possible," he said. "There is only one more year left on the lease."
The RFP process will be open to all law firms, although Poloncarz said he expects the bid will be awarded to a local firm. It will be based on a number of factors, including the firm's experience and how much it would charge for negotiations. Payment will come from the county's risk retention fund.
Legal services for Bills talks was one of five executive orders Poloncarz signed Jan. 3, his first official "workday" as county executive.
The others were:
He asked Siragusa to submit a report on how frequently Erie County farmed out legal work to outside counsel in recent years.
Poloncarz, the former Erie County comptroller and himself an attorney, said he suspects it was far greater than many anticipate.
Part of that is a result of the county attorney's office having just 12 lawyers on staff, with one immediate opening, compared to when it had 25 attorneys. Paralegals also were cut from the staff in recent years.
Poloncarz said he wants the report to include the current backlog of cases and their status.
"I want to know who has these cases and what's their status," he said. "Maybe we can settle some of these cases."
He said he's not opposed to using outside counsel - the Bills lease talks being a prime example - but he said much of the legal work can be kept in-house.
The backlog of cases runs the gamut from "slip-and-fall" injuries to more complex legal issues.
Ordered a Medicaid Fraud and Abuse Task Force to be convened within 45 days in an effort to recover funds from Medicaid providers who may have overcharged or abused the system.
The task force mirrors ones used in Monroe and Onondaga Counties that found cases of fraudulent Medicaid billing practices and returned millions to those respective counties.
"If they find any bad apples, we will go after them," Poloncarz said.
The county executive wants the current affirmative-action manual updated. It was last done in 1981.
"We shouldn't be 30 years behind the time," he said.
Ordered all county employees, including Deputy County Executive Richard Tobe, to use swipe cards when entering and leaving the Rath Building or their respective workplaces. The system was not mandated for executive-level employees in years past.
"Everyone will use it, so there is no question when they are working," Poloncarz said.