Published: October 03, 2008 12:05 am      

ERIE COUNTY: Walking in circles to get nowhere

Sometimes you can sit in on an Erie County Legislature meeting, watch the legislators go around and around on an issue and come out thinking the process was tedious, but something was accomplished.

That’s not what happened Thursday. Don’t get me wrong, things were accomplished, but those went through without much dispute. The one thing that sparked an intense circular debate was something no one would even remotely disagree on — helping people poisoned by lead paint access records to prove it.

A group of Democrats put forth a resolution that would provide for a Buffalo law firm, at the firm’s expense, to store records that document the presence or absence of lead in houses after the state-mandated seven year storage period is expired. The debate that ensued was like all the worst tendencies of a legislative body ground up and distilled into its purest form.

To their credit, our local representatives stayed mostly out of the fray. But nearly all of the rest had something to say, and stood up three or four times to say it, repeat it and then rephrase it so they could say it again. Legislator Michael Ranzenhofer, R-Clarence, said the situation was just another power struggle between the legislature and the county executive that has nothing to do with keeping the records. He and Legislator Edward Rath III, R-Williamsville, argued that the move might not even be legal if it flies in opposition to state laws.

Legislator Thomas Mazur, D-Cheektowaga, argued back that there is a power struggle going on, but that it’s between the poor who need the records and those who would see the documents destroyed. Majority Leader Maria Whyte, D-Buffalo, Legislator Robert Reynolds, Jr., D-Hamburg, and others painted the issue as an all-or-nothing attempt to make sure people have proof if they’ve been poisoned by lead.

If you haven’t been enlightened at this point, we’re in the same boat. How does a private law firm storing government records help the poor have better access to them? Why would a law firm want to foot the bill for something like this if it wasn’t in its own money-making interest? Who would want to see such records destroyed in the first place? None of these questions were adequately answered in what felt like an hour of discussion.

Those and other concerns led Minority Leader John Mills, R-East Aurora, to push the resolution back to committee. His argument was that no one disagreed with people having access to the records, but that the county attorney, who opposes the proposed public-private arrangement, and the Government Affairs committee should examine the situation in more detail to come up with an agreement everyone is comfortable with. With only three days having passed since the resolution was clocked in, Mills said he would like to spend more time on the issue.

That might sound like a compromise people could live with, especially since it’s usually the Democrats clamoring for more review when County Executive Chris Collins sends over requests for appointments or variable minimum salaries. But instead of adopting a “now you see we were right” approach, taking a breath and digging into the situation in more depth, the Dems opted for an “if you can do it, so can we” stance. It’s hard to blame them for it, but it’s still not encouraging. Especially when the Republicans couldn’t have railroaded anything through the legislature without the support of Democrats. People need to be careful who they blame, because it seems yesterday’s enemies are today’s co-sponsors.

The measure went on to pass 12 to 3, breaking strictly along party lines, and is sure to continue in dramatic fashion now that the legislators expect Collins to comply.

Contact reporter Daniel Pye at 693-1000, ext. 158.