Chrissy Casilio Statement on Mark Poloncarz’s State of the County Address

Endorsed Republican Candidate for Erie County Executive Chrissy Casilio issued the following statement in response to Mark Poloncarz’s State of the County address this afternoon:

“For the eleventh year in a row, Mark Poloncarz has presented a State of the County Address that is long on rhetoric, short on facts and attempts to mislead county residents into believing that our community and our government are in far better shape than we know them to be.

In bragging that he has accumulated a nearly 100 million dollar surplus on the backs of county taxpayers, he tries to hide that a surplus of this magnitude was either accumulated by overtaxing people or mismanaging projects and programs intended to serve the community. Either way, it disqualifies him from earning the ability to continually serve.

Now he says he wants to use this surplus to fund countless new initiatives. These are bold promises for an administration with a long history of not finishing what they started. Whether it’s the long-abandoned new convention center, the still incomplete Bethlehem Steel Redevelopment Project, or the ErieNet Rural Broadband for All initiative that has yet to serve a single school, business, or resident, Mark Poloncarz continues to show us he’s great at announcing things, but lousy on delivering the finished product.

And despite the ravages of inflation and continuing struggles businesses face after the pandemic, his speech didn’t include any relief for taxpayers or meaningful initiatives to revitalize our economy.

Now that the speech is over, here’s what taxpayers and residents know to be true. Over the course of his 17 years in county government, Mark Poloncarz has increased county spending by almost $1 billion and raised property taxes by 39%. From the mess at our community college to the mismanagement of recent storms and lack of appropriate oversight of overtime for his hand-picked commissioners, Mark Poloncarz has mismanaged numerous departments and programs in county government. And he wasted $360 million in federal stimulus monies that failed to help improve our economy after COVID.

Mark abused his power and abdicated his responsibility during COVID. People died. The praise for healthcare workers is disingenuous, especially when he aided in the release of hundreds of nurses, which led to deadly shortages in ERs and critical care units.

Today, he promised us more of the same. It’s time for voters to let Mark Poloncarz know that Erie County deserves better.