April 12, 2012 - 8:21 AM
The News features a live chat on Politics Now weekly at 1 p.m. Thursdays. Today's is hosted by Denise Jewell Gee, with the focus being on Erie County politics and the happenings at County Hall.
The schedule for other Politics Now chats is: First Thursday of month: Aaron Besecker on Buffalo City Hall; third: Tom Precious on Albany; fourth: Jerry Zremski on Washington. The News' Bob McCarthy also joins the chats when available.
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March 8, 2012 - 5:30 PM
What's the meaning of "minimum qualifications?"
When it comes to certain Erie County jobs, it turns out, not much.
This was the question on the mind of Erie County Legislator Edward A. Rath III when the county's new Central Police Services commissioner came to answer questions before the County Legislature's Public Safety Committee last week.
John A. Glascott, right, a former Cheektowaga police captain who challenged Sheriff Timothy B. Howard in the 2009 election, is on the job, but still needs formal confirmation from the full Erie County Legislature.
Glascott has had a long career in law enforcement that started at the Attica Correctional Facility. He started working for the Cheektowaga Police Department in 1978. Since 2009, he has worked as the department's captain of information technology and finance.
What he doesn't have is a bachelor's degree.
Glascott, of Cheektowaga, earned an associate degree in applied science in criminal justice from Erie Community College and attended the FBI National Academy for training, according to his resume.
Rath wanted to know whether it mattered that the county's job description for Commissioner of Police Services listed one of the "minimum qualifications" as "graduation from a regionally accredited or New York State registered college or university with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice or related field."
Glascott, addressing Rath's question, said he earned the associate degree before getting tied up raising a family and working long hours for the Cheektowaga Police Department. He told legislators that his 40 years in law enforcement should make up for "the fact that I didn't take an art history course back in the day."
Legislator Timothy R. Hogues, who serves on a Central Police Services board that vetted Glascott, said the question came up in the interview process and that the board determined the "minimum qualifications" was only a recommendation.
Reached after the meeting, John Greenan, the county's commissioner of personnel, said that is the case. The job of central police services commissioner, he said, falls under the category of "unclassified service" in the state's civil service law. That's the category that includes elected officials and certain types of appointments.
"By law," Greenan said, "there are no qualifications for the job."
It doesn't appear legislators will hold up Glascott's confirmation when the Legislature meets next week.
Glascott received unanimous approval from the Legislature's Public Safety Committee, which included Rath's vote.
Committee votes almost always sail through the full Legislature.
Photo Credit: (Derek Gee/ Buffalo News)
February 9, 2012 - 9:42 AM
The News features a live chat on Politics Now weekly at 1 p.m. Thursdays. Today's is hosted by Denise Jewell Gee, with the focus being on Erie County politics and the happenings at County Hall.
The schedule for other Politics Now chats is: First Thursday of month: Aaron Besecker on Buffalo City Hall; third: Tom Precious on Albany; fourth: Jerry Zremski on Washington. The News' Bob McCarthy also joins the chats when available.
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February 5, 2012 - 9:00 AM
Every Sunday, we'll publish a quick Q&A with someone from the local political world. Instead of touching on the latest in policy issues and proposed legislation, the intent is to catch a glimpse of the person behind the title. The interviews are done via email.
Erie County Legislator Betty Jean Grant dances as results trickle in on election night in November. (Derek Gee/ Buffalo News)
Betty Jean Grant
The Basics:
Age: 63
Party: Democratic Party
Job Title: 2nd District Legislator and Chairwoman, Erie County Legislature
Family: Married to George E. Grant since 1970. Three daughters and four grandchildren.
Town: Buffalo
Education: Bachelor of Science in elementary education; Master's degree in special education
Salary: $52,000.00
February 2, 2012 - 3:48 PM
Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz has barely memorized his new telephone number since taking office Jan. 1, but is already raising money for 2015.
Postcards have been arriving in Democratic mail boxes touting a Feb. 8 fundraiser at Sonoma Grille in Snyder to benefit the county executive's campaign kitty. The tariff on the Poloncarz event is a hefty $500, showing the new county executive is serious about retaining his office.
--Robert J. McCarthy
December 19, 2011 - 5:45 PM
With no appointee named yet to fill the job of county comptroller, Mark C. Poloncarz has made temporary arrangements to run his office when he leaves it Jan. 1.
Poloncarz, who will move from the county comptroller's office to county executive, has named one of his deputies, Lorne H. Steinhart, to serve as acting county comptroller in January until the Erie County Legislature appoints someone to the job.
Steinhart, who has been deputy comptroller of accounting since October 2008, previously worked as vice president of marketing and business development at EMS Healthcare Informatics in Clarence. He earned an MBA from Canisius College in 1994, according to his resume.
County Democratic Chairman Leonard R. Lenihan earlier this month named a search committee to accept resumes and make a recommendation for county comptroller to the Legislature. That person will face an election in the fall to keep the job.
--Denise Jewell Gee
December 15, 2011 - 11:49 AM
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo's pre-election rally at an Amherst union hall last month for county executive candidate Mark C. Poloncarz never really produced the kumbaya effect sought by statewide Democrats.
Erie County Democratic Chairman Leonard R. Lenihan, for example, was never even invited onto the podium after feuding with Cuomo's party people for months. And Mayor Byron W. Brown made it clear he attended only because Cuomo asked him.
Since then, it is clear there will be little thaw in the frosty relations between Poloncarz and Brown. The county executive-elect threw some obvious jabs at Brown by naming a potential mayoral rival in 2013 -- former FBI honcho Bernie Tolbert -- to his transition tean. In addition, he recruited former Corporation Counsel Alicia Lukasiewicz -- forced out of City Hall by Brown -- to the panel.
This week the rift became even more obvious when Poloncarz named Richard M. Tobe as his deputy county executive. Tobe was also forced out of his City Hall economic development post in 2008 -- a move of which the county executive-elect clearly disagrees.
"It had less to do with Rich Tobe and more to do with the mayor, including his executive assistant deputy mayor," Poloncarz said at this week's announcement, referring to Tobe's resignation and Deputy Mayor Steven M. Casey.
The deputy mayor, considered Brown's political point man, this week dismissed any suggestion of a rift between City Hall and the Rath County Office Building.
"We look forward to sitting down and working with him," Casey said of Tobe. "If it has to do with jobs, we will work together with anybody.
"You don't see anybody on our side picking a fight," he added.
Casey said Brown on Dec. 9 sent a letter of congratulations to Poloncarz, suggesting the two men meet soon to discuss mutual goals.
--Robert J. McCarthy
December 13, 2011 - 5:10 PM
Chris Jacobs says he's created a committee to help choose a new first deputy county clerk.
Jacobs, a Republican who campaigned on a no-patronage job promise, announced Tuesday he is accepting resumes for his top deputy clerk.
The job of first deputy clerk, which is responsible for many of the day-to-day operations in the Erie County Clerk's Office, is currently filled by John Crangle. Crangle, who plans to retire Dec. 31, has also served as acting clerk since Kathy Hochul won a special election for the 26th Congressional District. He is also Tonawanda Democratic chairman.
Jacobs has named Lee Wortham, a former executive vice president of The Bank of New York, to head the search committee. The group will also include John Leonardi, CEO of the Buffalo Niagara Association of Realtors; Trey Barrett, of the Niagara Frontier Automobile Dealers Association; Melanie Marotto, real estate attorney with Colucci and Gallaher; and Kevin Horrigan, director of public affairs at People Inc.
The committee will accept resumes until Dec. 23 via e-mail at Eriecountyclerkrecruitment@gmail.com. A full job description is available online at www.erie.gov/clerk.
Jacobs, in a news release announcing the formation of the committee, said he campaigned on a promise to "de-politicize the hiring process."
“The individuals I asked to volunteer on this committee are all highly professional and represent industries that deal with the Clerk’s Office on a regular basis, and I’m confident they will recommend well qualified candidates," Jacobs said.
--Denise Jewell Gee
December 6, 2011 - 1:27 PM
December 5, 2011 - 12:49 PM
There's been plenty of talk of Shakespeare in the chambers of the Erie County Legislature lately.
On Tuesday, the Legislature expects to put money behind all that talk.
A bipartisan budget deal that came together Friday would give $931,841 to dozens of theaters, galleries and other cultural organizations shut out of the Erie County budget last year.
That's $45,000 more than what the Greater Buffalo Cultural Alliance requested last month when it asked county lawmakers to return to funding amounts allocated in the Legislature's adopted 2010 budget.
Legislators added three organizations -- the Colored Musicians Club, Langston Hughes Institute and the Michigan Street Preservation Corp./ Nash house -- to the list.
Here's the breakdown of what the county's Finance, Management and Budget committee approved on Friday:
The full Legislature will vote on the proposal Tuesday. It will then go back to County Executive Chris Collins, who could veto the measure. Legislators on Friday said they did not anticipate a veto.
View all of the Legislature's proposed budget amendments on the table here.
--Denise Jewell Gee
Denise Jewell Gee joined The News in 2007. She covers Erie County government and writes a weekly column for the City & Region section.
A native of Schenectady, Robert J. McCarthy came to The Buffalo News in 1982 following a six-year stint at the Olean Times Herald. He is a graduate of St. Bonaventure University, and has been covering local, state and national politics since 1992.
Tom Precious joined The Buffalo News in 1997 as bureau chief at the state Capitol, where he covers everything from statewide politics and state government fiscal affairs to health care, environmental and municipal government matters. Prior to The News, he worked for news outlets in Albany and Washington, DC.
Jill Terreri is an Amherst native and has covered politics and government in upstate New York since 2003. She joined The Buffalo News in June and covers City Hall.
@jillterreri | jterreri@buffnews.com
Jerry Zremski, The Buffalo News Washington bureau chief, has reported from the nation's capital since 1989 after joining The News as a business reporter in 1984. A graduate of Syracuse University, Zremski is a former Nieman fellow in journalism at Harvard University. In 2007, he served as president of the National Press Club.
