Collins Transition Team - Buffalo Niagara Partnership

In my communiqué to you shortly before last month's local elections, I cited the Partnership's focus on issues of importance to the business community (i.e. to our members!) and on helping winning candidates in whatever ways we can so that those issues get addressed as quickly and completely as possible. Chris Collins' decisive victory in the Erie County Executive election clearly places the issue of improved management of Erie County government/more efficient and effective delivery of county government programs and services as a - if not the - priority for our members, as residents, business owners/operators and taxpayers. It also presents the Partnership with a huge opportunity to utilize the 2005 efforts, and resulting recommendations, of our Erie County Stabilization Project's (ECSP) 150 volunteers and staff to help Mr. Collins - via both his transition team and the Collins administration which will follow it - achieve his platform of improved county government management

And so, we're "on the case." Specifically, at Mr. Collins' direct request, we have distributed copies of the ECSP report, "A Plan for Moving On" to each transition team sub-committee chair. We also have been in contact with them regarding the detailed ECSP recommendations for the particular area(s) for which they are responsible and have provided them with the names of the ECSP volunteer/staff persons who worked on those recommendations and who have committed to help the Collins team now. By the way, several Partnership board members are members of the transition team, including Jim Sampson who also was an ECSP steering committee member. In addition, both Partnership and BNE staff are members of the transition team sub-committee on economic development.

At our invitation, Mr. Collins met with the Partnership board last week at our November meeting. Among other things, he noted he has 30 to 50 particularly key jobs to fill in his new administration; and he expressed a strong desire to do so with people who share his vision of bringing business practices to county government. Thus, Mr. Collins asked for our assistance in identifying such interested, willing, and capable business-minded people. So, if you - or someone you know in, or beyond, your organization - fits this description, please respond to this email with a resume' etc. and we'll send it to the transition team. A list of available positions has been posted on www.erie.gov.

One final note - while all this good/noble work is underway, the Erie County legislature is enacting a county budget for 2008 and seemingly doing so blind to the experiences of the past several years. One example, while CUTTING the allocation for the convention and visitors bureau (and thus continuing to curtail the CVB's significant business development impact), the legislature ADDED funding for interns for their district offices (offices which the ECSP report recommended be eliminated..). Clearly, the county legislature's Democratic majority still believes the role of county government is more about employing people than it is about providing programs and services. How sad.