BUFFALO (AP/WBEN) - Over the weekend, the New York Times and the Washington Post reported that Larry Schwartz, New York State's vaccine czar, has been asking county leaders about their level of support for Governor Cuomo.
One Democratic county executive, who was not named by the newspapers, was so disturbed by the call from Schwartz that the executive filed notice of an impending ethics complaint with the public integrity unit of the state attorney general's office on Friday, the newspapers reported.
The executive feared the county's vaccine supply could suffer if the executive did not indicate support for Cuomo, the Post reported.
Naturally, that raised questions as to Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz's conversations with Schwartz. After his office produced a statement when the story came out, Poloncarz addressed the concerns with local media Tuesday during his weekly COVID press briefing.
On February 27, Poloncarz called for the New York State Attorney General's Office to be given full power to perform an independent review of the sexual harassment allegations made against Cuomo.
Poloncarz said he's had three conversations with Schwartz since March 1.
On the evening of March 1, Poloncarz said he received a call from Schwartz, which was not surprising to the county executive because he has spoken with Schwartz about vaccine issues throughout the past year. Poloncarz said he noted the "serious allegations" against the governor, and he added that if the allegations were proven to be true by the AG's Office, the governor would have to consider resignation. According to Poloncarz, Schwartz said he "understood."
Later in the call, the two apparently discussed vaccine issues, and specifically, the number of Johnson & Johnson doses Erie County could expect to receive.
"At no time during the conversation did I feel like I was intimidated, nor did Larry ask me to support the governor in exchange for vaccines," said Poloncarz. "In fact, he did not even ask me to support the governor - he knew where I stood."
The next conversation, according to Poloncarz, took place on March 7, and he said the conversation was quite similar to the one they had the week prior. The next and last time the two spoke was on March 11, and Poloncarz noted Schwartz called him to discuss an issue related to vaccines being administered by the Erie County Department of Health, and no other matter was discussed.
Since then, the county executive stated that he has not individually communicated with Schwartz, though they were part of a conference call with Schwartz and other county leaders on March 15.
"At no time during my conversations with Larry Schwartz did I feel intimidated or asked to offer my support for the governor, nevertheless, in exchange for vaccines," Poloncarz said. "I was not part of the conversations that other county executives had with Larry - I do not know exactly what was said during those calls - I only know what was said to me.
"However, if any executive feels like the calls were inappropriate or asked to do something they felt was unethical, they should report the call to appropriate authorities," he continued. "Based on published reports, it appears that has happened."
Schwartz served as secretary to the governor from 2011 until 2015 and has advised Cuomo off and on since then. He returned last spring to assist the administration with the response to the coronavirus pandemic.
