Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Admitting that it very much remains a works in progress, the Erie County Legislature approved a policy that spells out who can, and who can't use the county-designated hospitality suite at Highmark Stadium.
The bulk of the policy comes from input suggested by Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz and county lawmakers like Taisha St. Jean Tard.
What was paramount was there would be no freebees, especially for county officials, and that who uses the suite will be a very transparent process.
"This is a step forward," St. Jean Tard said. "I'll be interested to see how it worked out one year from now. If something is wrong, we will have to fix it."
The Buffalo Bills designated one suite to the county in return for the legislature allocating $250 million towards the development of Highmark Stadium. The $250 million is part of a $850 million total public sector support for the new stadium.
The $2.2 billion stadium, which is 97% complete, will be turned over from the county to New York State on June 1. It is scheduled to open this summer.
County lawmakers approved the hospitality suite policy by a 7-4 count.
"We should know what the true use is for," said Legislator Jeannie Vinal, who opposed the suite-use policy.
Three of the regular season home games will see the 16-person suite used by either Visit Buffalo, the Erie County Industrial Development Agency or Empire State Development. The suite can only be used for courting new economic business for the region.
The remaining pre-season and regular season games will see the suite used by nonprofits groups, who will be chosen by a lottery run by Poloncarz's office.
Regardless of who uses the suite, their name must be submitted to the legislature and reports must be filed every 30 days.
No county officials can use the suite and if a county employee makes a casual visit to the suite - assuming they have their own ticket to the game - it can only be brief appearance.
Any county employee caught in the suite must pay full retail price for their own seat and 1/16 of all food and beverage costs.
Each agency using the suite must pay for its own food and beverage.
The suite can not be used for political fund raising purposes.
A motion presented by the legislature's four Republican members that banned all elected officials from the suite was shot down by the Democratic majority.
"What bothers me is that there is no ban on elected officials and everything is being run through the county executive's office," said Legislator Lindsay Lorigo. "Allowed elected officials in there is a bad look."
County lawmakers approve a suite usage policy on Thursday
County lawmakers approve a suite usage policy on Thursday
