The Erie County Legislature is responding to the high volume of road complaints it is receiving by calling on County Executive to create the “pothole hotline” that he promised to implement when he ran for the position in 2011. I sent Mr. Poloncarz a letter encouraging him to create the tip line as soon as possible to provide constituents direct access to the County Executive Office, which oversees the Department of Public Works, to report road issues.

I agree with the County Executive’s 2011 stance that this hotline is necessary and this will provide constituents the necessary avenue to report issues. By doing so we can get DPW crews assigned to repair them as soon as possible. There is no reason that residents shouldn’t have a proper method for reporting concerns. My hope is that this hotline is set up immediately, the phone number widely published and that reports are answered in an efficient manner. The City of Buffalo has been operating its 311 system, which allows for reports to be made by calling 311 or online, for some time now. I believe Erie County would benefit greatly from a similar system.

In the meantime, please direct your road concerns to my office at 858-8850 or email john.mills@erie.gov. I will be happy to look into all issues for you and direct them to the County Executive so we can address them efficiently.

In another matter, I am pleased to announce that at the Feb. 26 session, the Legislature approved a resolution to allow the South Town Gardeners to place a Blue Star Memorial Marker in Chestnut Ridge Park at the Flagpole Garden (proposed Honor Garden) near the Casino. The popular markers honor those who served, those who are serving and those who will serve in our proud armed forces, and I hope our many park visitors will take a moment to reflect at the memorial once it is installed.

We also approved a resolution to add the county’s golf courses, Grover Cleveland and Elma Meadows, to County Clerk Chris Jacobs’ Thank-A-Vet program. Veterans who possess the discount card can receive a percentage off at the golf courses, along with discounts at thousands of local business. For information, please visit www.erie.gov/clerk. This is just another opportunity for us to thank and honor our veterans for their service. Hopefully we have a long, dry spring and summer season that allows them to enjoy many rounds of golf. They earned it.

I also wanted to recognize the partnership between Erie County and Albright Knox Art Gallery to deliver thousands of educational art kits to middle school students throughout the county. My company, J. Mills Distributing, is honored to be working on this project to deliver the large pallets of kits to the schools. I have seen the response from the students and it is great to see them excited about art.