Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Another endorsement has come for State Sen. Sean Ryan in his run for Mayor of Buffalo, as Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz announced his personal endorsement in his campaign. This comes three weeks ahead of the Democratic primary election on June 24.
As a longtime public servant serving the communities of Buffalo and Erie County at large, Poloncarz’s support highlights the growing momentum behind Ryan’s campaign and his vision to "Build a Better Buffalo", grounded in accountability, collaboration, and progress.
"I believe we have reached a critical junction in the history of our community. I'm very proud of the work that we've done in Erie County, but we can only have a strong county if we have a strong City of Buffalo. We can't have weak parts of our county and expect the rest of the community to be strong. That's why I'm endorsing Sean Ryan to be our next mayor," said Poloncarz during his endorsement announcement on Tuesday outside the Buffalo Zoo.
"I've worked with Sean for many, many years. I know his experience is key. The next mayor of the City of Buffalo is a very important one because of the financial issues that the city is dealing with. I sit on the Buffalo Fiscal Stability Authority, it is a substantial deficit. As a percentage of its budget, the deficit, I believe, is even greater than the deficit that was faced by Erie County when it had the Red-Green Fiscal Crisis in 2005, a time in which I was elected to become the County Comptroller to help clean up that mess. We cleaned up the Red-Green Fiscal Crisis, we did it by structuring balanced budgets that were using real revenues, and addressing it with cutting expenses. And unfortunately, what we've seen over the last few years, especially in the City of Buffalo, is a knowledge that this deficit is growing, and actions that really didn't make a difference being taken."
Poloncarz calls this mayoral election a "generational election", and feels the voters who go to the polls this year are making a decision that's going to impact not just the city, but also Erie County for decades to come.
"I know he's the strong leader who can go in there and make the tough decisions that are necessary to ensure that we're providing the services that the people of the City of Buffalo deserve and should have, but we're doing it in a way in which we can have balanced budgets," Poloncarz said.
This endorsement from Poloncarz is personal as a nearly 30-year resident of the City of Buffalo. He says Erie County cannot make any kind of endorsement in a race such as this.
"He has the knowledge, he has the experience, and he has the plan to move this city forward to address the structural deficit that exists financially, while still ensuring that the services that the public deserves, and should have are provided in the most economical manner possible," Poloncarz added. "It's not easy governing. The decisions I make in county government, not everyone are going to agree with. The same thing happens with the City of Buffalo mayor. But if you have a strong mayor who is making the correct decisions for our community, the whole community benefits from it. That's why I'm here today to support Sean. I will be voting for him in the Democratic primary in three weeks from today, and I'm asking all Democrats to join me to do the same so we can have a stronger City of Buffalo moving forward."
Ryan is honored to have the endorsement of the county executive, and points back to the several years work together in the past in county government to help craft a budget coming out of the Red-Green budget debacle in order to form a foundation for Erie County being on sound, fiscal footing.
"Erie County is not in a mess, Rochester is not in a mess, Syracuse isn't in a mess. Buffalo is the only place it's in a mess, and they're in that mess because of bad decisions by leadership. We have to come out of it, because we have to give the people of the City of Buffalo the basics that they need," Ryan said during Poloncarz's endorsement on Tuesday. "We have to plow our streets again. We have to fix our potholes. We have to invest in our cultural institutions. All that has gone by the wayside because of bad management and bad leadership."
It is Ryan's goal as mayor to put the city back on track to grow and to prosper in all areas of the City of Buffalo.
"We have over 10,000 vacant residential lots in the City of Buffalo, and we have a housing crisis. I have a housing plan to put thousands of new builds back on the market to be affordable to the people who live in the City of Buffalo. Buffalo needs to go on the path of progress, and that's what I plan on doing as the mayor of the City of Buffalo," Ryan said.
Poloncarz joins a growing list of endorsements backing Sen. Ryan’s campaign that already includes 26 organizations.