Town Board to be challenged to eliminate two members

Kevin Gaughan of Rupp, Baase, Pfalzgraf, Cunningham and Coppola LLC, is calling on municipalities to reduce the size and cost of government.

He will speak about his research during the Monday, Dec. 3 Amherst Town Board meeting. It is one of 45 municipal meetings where he will speak.

Gaughan said he will ask the Amherst Town Board to consider reducing its size by two members.

He recently published a study revealing that Erie County has more elected officials than any other like-sized community in America. With 439 politicians presiding over 45 local governments, the Buffalo region has twice as many politicians as Indianapolis, five times more than Charlotte, N.C., and eight times more than the Baltimore region.

"We've lost over 40,000 residents in recent years," Gaughan said. "And endured the painful closing of hospitals, churches, public libraries, beaches and pools. All because our economy lacks the strength to support them. And yet our political community remains unchanged."

The Town of Tonawanda and the Village of Depew recently joined Buffalo and Erie County in reducing the size of their legislative bodies. In addition, Orchard Park, Hamburg, and Cheektowaga residents have urged their town boards to consider Gaughan's proposal of eliminating two legislative seats through attrition, he said.

Gaughan's study, available at www.thecost.org, was conducted in collaboration with students from the University at Buffalo School of Law and was supported by the John R. Oishei Foundation, the Margaret L. Wendt Foundation and the Paul W. Koessler Foundation.

Future presentations, including one for the Village of Williamsville, will be announced at a later date.