February 15, 2012 - 2:00 PM
The Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens in Lackawanna glows during its "Night Lights at the Gardens" event late last month. The light show continues through Saturday. (Robert Kirkham / Buffalo News)
Maybe next year.
That was the message Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz had for the Botanical Gardens in response to its request for operational funding from the county.
Poloncarz, in a letter to Botanical Gardens CEO David J. Swarts, called the Legislature's restoration of arts and cultural funding in the 2012 county budget a "remarkable achievement," but said there would be no more allocations for operational funding this year.
"Nevertheless, I regret to inform you that because of the fiscal challenges facing the county, I am unable to recommend to the Legislature additional funding for cultural organizations this year above what has been included in the adopted budget," Poloncarz wrote to Swarts on Feb. 12.
Continue reading "Poloncarz: Arts and cultural funding set for year" »
January 6, 2012 - 12:04 PM
The inner office of County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz is taking shape, and you'll recognize a few names from the campaign trail.
Several new aides for Poloncarz attended Thursday's Legislature meeting, where a restructuring of the county executive's office that added several jobs was approved. Among those who will be added to the county payroll with the new administration:
*Heading up his inner office staff will be Jennifer Hibit as chief of staff. Hibit served as Poloncarz's campaign manager.
*Mark Cornell, who has been Poloncarz's spokesman in the Comptroller's Office, has moved up to the 16th floor as director of communications. He'll be handling both communications and policy in that role.
*Peter Anderson, who handled media requests for the campaign, will serve as a spokesman for Poloncarz. Anderson was a host on several community cable shows for Time Warner, including "Crossroads" and "All That Matters."
*Joseph McMahon is going to serve as an intergovernmental liaison.
*Brian Bray, who has previously worked for the Common Council, the Erie County Water Authority and the Erie County Legislature, will serve as Poloncarz's legislative liaison.
*Jeffrey Sheridan will work as a policy aide to Deputy County Executive Richard Tobe.
--Denise Jewell Gee
