BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) When Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz announced the return of a mask mandate Monday, during a virtual news conference, he said it was being done in conjunction with emergency powers provided to him under the New York State's public officers' law.
Poloncarz went on to say that the state of emergency still exists in Erie County. "We kept it in place so that we could deliver faster vaccine delivery and testing. We didn't think we'd need it for the situation we're in today, but we do. The emergency powers and the state of emergency is still in existence," he added.
There is some head scratching going on. Back in June of this year, the Erie County Legislature voted to rescind the emergency powers granted to Poloncarz a year earlier. Minority leader Joe Lorigo tells WBEN the resolution that was approved removed the County Executive's "county" authority which dealt mainly with spending and budgetary issues.
"Unfortunately, the County Executive still has emergency authority under New York State public officers' law," said Lorigo. Adding, the county attorney, at the time, said removal of the broader authority, had to come from the state legislature.
"At this point, we have one man making decisions for the entirety of Erie County without any real check or balance or legislative process. And that's a problem," said Lorigo.
It's Lorigo's understanding that the way to remove it is through a concurrent legislative resolution which means a resolution from both houses of the state legislature.
"The County Executive enjoys making these decisions unilaterally," said Lorigo. "He has a four phase plan ready to go and he never discussed any of these options with the legislature. We were told after the press conference about what was happening. This is not the way the legislative process is supposed to work. There are eleven county legislators elected for a reason," he added.
The Minority Leader's next concern is overtime. With health sanitarians and even the county health commissioner checking on mask wearing at public establishments, Lorigo wants more oversight.
"I've been calling for a discussion on overtime in both the administration and sheriff's office since June of last year (2020). I had an agreement with the Legislature chair in June to have a conversation, which was scheduled, but immediately canceled and no further discussion," said Lorigo.
Does the current situation in Erie County still qualify as an emergency situation with vaccines widely available and anti-viral treatments soon to be available? Lorigo thinks it's a valid legal argument. "At what point is this something that we're living with? he asked. "At what point is this something that is part of our day to day lives, and not some emergency that is arising on a cyclical basis so the county executive can maintain hold of unilateral power," he asked rhetorically.
