| A story in today's Buffalo News highlights the need for accountability in government.
In Erie County, not all county employees get to park for free. Because the offices are located in downtown Buffalo, there is limited parking for county employees that is free. The system to award free parking has been not-so transparent and has many flaws.
So if you can't park for free, why not just make your own "official business" placard to put in your window?
Erie County auditors examining the odd patchwork of parking for county employees downtown found that some workers have devised a way to beat the system and park free.
They create an "Official Business" placard, post it on the dashboard and park their personal vehicles wherever they wish.
The city's Parking Enforcement Bureau admits it doesn't ticket those vehicles when parked in proximity to important county buildings, even when the placard is on private cars that don't move throughout the day.
"If you can get a good laser printer, put "official business' on it, and put the county seal on it, you can pretty much park wherever you want," County Comptroller Mark C. Poloncarz said Wednesday, after his auditors completed a review of parking in and around the county- government complex.
He said that his auditors in recent months found official-business placards on privately owned cars parked around the Erie County Holding Center, Rath County Office Building and Old County Hall.
They also found no apparent connection to official business, aside from the fact the owners work for the county or some government agency.
There is a lot wrong with this system. However, with no policy in place for the limited free parking that is available, it was bound to be a disaster. But now you have county employees making their own placards, which is a problem. In fact, it should be illegal to create a document like that. It misrepresents reality (also known as fraud) and it has led to parking enforcers to NOT ticket these cars because, based on what they know, the cars are there for "official business."
Comptroller Mark Poloncarz wants more accountability and oversight. But he has been met with resistance from the County Executive's office, who actually stooped to a low by resorting to name-calling in the Buffalo News piece.
The county executive's office responded Wednesday by accusing the comptroller of again focusing on tedium.
"Once again, Erie County taxpayers have been shortchanged by an unqualified comptroller more focused on politics than on protecting taxpayers," spokesman Grant Loomis said. "For the last five months, the comptroller has spent an undisclosed amount of manpower and taxpayer resources on a political fishing expedition that will not save one penny of taxpayer funds.
"Chicken Little" - as Collins has dubbed Poloncarz - "has now become Inspector Gadget," Loomis said.
Calling someone "unqualified" is a personal insult and one that shouldn't have a place in government, regardless of politics. Claiming that the comptroller is "more focused on politics" is laughable, considering it is the county executive who listed Poloncarz as an obstructionist when Collins was recruiting candidates to run against Poloncarz and two Erie County legislators.
Also, the claim made by Loomis that Poloncarz "has spent an undisclosed amount of manpower and taxpayer resources on a political fishing expedition that will not save one penny of taxpayer funds" is an interesting take. This parking fiasco probably won't save the taxpayers money, but rather, if the situation is fixed, it could produce revenue. A clear cut parking program will make it known who gets free parking and who doesn't. Those who don't get free parking will have to pay.
There are ethical questions involved, especially with county employees using the county seal in an inappropriate manner. If that's not serious enough for the county executive to care, then maybe a serious review needs to be done of his job performance and his belief in a "culture change." Apparently, this is a long-standing practice. So if Collins isn't willing to change a long-standing practice, he must not be a big fan of changing the culture. |
