By Denise Jewell Gee
February 15, 2012

Democrats in the Erie County Legislature are poised to appoint David J. Shenk county comptroller Thursday.

Shenk, Boston town clerk and an Army reservist, got the support of the Legislature’s six Democrats on Tuesday when they submitted a resolution to appoint him to the unexpired term left vacant when Mark C. Poloncarz became county executive.

Chairwoman Betty Jean Grant, D-Buffalo, said she expects the appointment to pass at the Legislature’s Thursday meeting. The Democrats control the Legislature with a 6-5 majority.

Shenk, 42, a Democrat from the Town of Boston, was the recommended candidate of a nine-member screening panel of business professionals and community leaders set up by the Erie County Democratic Committee.

“I think the recommendation from the board was probably the tipping point,” Grant said.

Shenk has been the Boston town clerk and tax collector for 20 years. He is a sergeant first class in the U.S. Army Reserve and has a bachelor’s degree in management from Houghton College.

Democratic and Republican legislators last week publicly interviewed four candidates who were the finalists in the Democratic Committee’s selection process. The other candidates were George F. Hasiotis, Richard C. Pawarski and Daniel J. Ward.

The County Charter gives the Legislature the power to fill the vacant county comptroller’s post but stipulates that the appointee must be from the same party as the predecessor.

Shenk, if his appointment is approved Thursday, would serve in the position until a special election is held in November to fill the unexpired term. There will be another election for a full term next year.

The appointment of Shenk could pave the way for a Democratic primary. Hasiotis has said he was committed to running for county comptroller even if he didn’t get the Legislature’s appointment.

Erie County Republican Chairman Nicholas Langworthy said the GOP is in the process of recruiting a candidate to run for county comptroller in November.

“We’re certainly privately talking to people,” Langworthy said. “And we’ll have an excellent candidate that we run for this office that has the qualifications necessary to do the job.”

http://www.buffalonews.com/city/communities/erie-county/article731819.ece