The early days of fall have been a busy time for my administration as we continue to reform county government to make it more responsive to the needs of hardworking taxpayers.

In early September, I was proud to again lead the effort to continue reforming the Erie County Industrial Development Agency (ECIDA).  With bi-partisan support, we ended the practice of no-bid contracts for professional services at the ECIDA, and began a new era of transparency and fairness.  Under our plan, all professional services will be subject to review and open to competition.  It will protect the taxpayers’ investment, and ensure that merit, not politics, determines who does the Agency's work. 

My administration delivered another win for county taxpayers last month when the Erie County Fiscal Stability Authority unanimously supported my position and vetoed a $900,000 giveaway of taxpayer dollars to AFSCME workers.  This past summer, the members of the Erie County Legislature Majority irresponsibly voted along straight party lines to give the AFSCME union – one of their biggest donors - $900,000 in taxpayer funds to settle a labor impasse.  We fought that effort on principle and we won.

But our biggest reform win was our most recent.  Last year during my campaign, I made a pledge to the voters and reformers of this community that I would suspend or repeal the Apprenticeship Law.  This law prevented contractors without apprenticeship programs from competing for county construction work, and as a result, harmed local business, drove up the cost of county projects on average by 20 percent, and wasted taxpayer dollars.  Simply put, it was the most anti-business, anti-taxpayer law on Erie County's books and I vowed to get rid of it during my tenure as County Executive. 

I am proud to announce that we fulfilled that key campaign pledge just nine months into this term.  Because we recognized early on that the Legislature Majority lacked the political will to stand up to the special interests that had donated to their campaigns and funded their re-election efforts, I decided we had to get creative. 

 In July, my Administration submitted new rules and regulations regarding the Apprenticeship Law to the Legislature.  These new rules were effective July 21, 2008 and allowed non-apprenticeship law contractors to compete for county work given New York State’s moratorium on new apprenticeship programs.  The Legislature Majority had 60 days to vote and block this change and it failed to do so.

Our rules waive the apprenticeship requirement for contractors that cannot obtain an apprenticeship program because of Albany's moratorium.   Moreover, we have waived the requirement for contractors who determine that the size of a project makes utilizing an apprenticeship program burdensome.  We are introducing fair and competitive bidding to the process and letting the nation know that Erie County is open for business.