Working to increase perspectives, decrease costs
CHRIS COLLINS Erie County Executive
In my campaign for county executive, I pledged to bring common sense to Erie County government. As I pass my first month and a half in office, I am pleased to report that my administration is applying common sense to every issue that comes before us. Common sense starts with asking the right questions and not accepting the answer "because that's how we've always done it."

While the county certainly has large financial obstacles to face in the coming years, I think it is also important to focus on small, largely symbolic spending. As county executive I am not using a county vehicle for personal use, and I am using my own personal cell phone.

Erie County pays for more than 830 cell phones, and certain employees have county take home vehicles. I have asked my commissioners and department heads to justify all of the cell phones and county vehicles assigned to their departments. There are certainly county employees who perform vital services around the clock, 365 days a year. It is important that these professionals have the tools they need to do their jobs safely and promptly.

However, common sense tells me that an employee who spends the vast majority of his or her day in a county building and is not on-call after hours should not need a county cell phone. It is my hope that after reviewing the justification worksheets, we will be able to cut the number of county cell phones by half and offer pool cell phones for employees to sign out when they are leaving the office on business. I am also confident we will be able to reduce the number of county take home vehicles and instead have people use a county pool vehicle while conducting off-premises county business.

While I work to make both large and small changes to the way county government operates, it is also my intention to invite more Erie County taxpayers to help me find solutions.

The office of county executive has the ability to appoint more than 400 people to volunteer board positions. It is my hope to appoint as many fresh faces as possible in a deliberate effort to generate new ideas and perspectives. To open up the board appointment process and make selection transparent, a full list of board appointments is now available on Erie County's Web site www.erie.gov. There is a link on our home page that will allow you to view a complete list of boards with descriptions, the number of appointments I make to each board, and an online application form. There is no formal deadline for submission because board terms vary in length and appointments will be made on a rolling basis. If you feel you have expertise or insight to share or have a passion for a particular issue impacting our community, I would encourage you to apply and help me reform Erie County government.