Erie County Legislators Joe Lorigo, Chris Greene, Frank Todaro, and John Mills have introduced a resolution to remove County Executive Poloncarz’s temporary executive authority that was granted to him at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The purpose of granting executive authority was to expedite decisions and spending during the very beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic as case numbers quickly rose. Since then, the number of COVID-19 cases has gone down and the local economy is beginning to re-open with the introduction of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Legislator Lorigo said, “We haven’t even received the next round of funding from the federal government yet and the County Executive is already talking about using it to fund pet projects that are not directly related to the pandemic. Thanks to the diligence of Erie County residents, we’ve made huge progress in slowing the spread of the virus. The urgent spending power isn’t something the County Executive should have anymore. We aren’t in the same situation we were a year ago and as the oversight body of county government, the Legislature needs to be part of the conversation. I hope my colleagues across the aisle will agree it is time to move on and get back to the appropriate legislative process.”