Commentary by Legislator Kathy Konst
Last
Thursday was a sad day for Erie County.
The Legislature failed to override the County Executive’s veto of the
Strategic Planning Act, a law I co-sponsored. This law would have enabled us to establish a county-wide
planning entity to serve as a clearinghouse for people and businesses trying to
navigate the mish-mash of zoning laws, codes and permitting requirements that
govern the region.
Contrary
to the County Executive’s remarks, this was a responsible proposal that would
help streamline the government process to make Erie County more
“business-friendly.” It is a
proven method outside Western New York.
We
in Erie County continue to compete for our economic lives. But individual towns and villages shouldn’t
be competing against each other.
Our real competitors are outside city-regions that have smartly and
strategically established themselves as both business and taxpayer friendly
across the nation.
The City of Buffalo is begging for big box
retailers and grocery stores.
Instead, developers try to force their plans on suburban and rural
residential neighborhoods. With
our Strategic Planning proposal, we had the chance to shake up the status quo. Twenty-first century opportunity
beckoned, but despite all the “smart-business” rhetoric we hear from the
Administration, we continued to respond with 20th century fear.
Our choice was simple. We only had to accept
something innovative and new, something that called for big region thinking and
business savvy partnerships to make smarter development decisions.
Instead
we chose to continue to bleed green, as in money. We bleed green in the form of greenbacks that come into our
pockets at the pace of a tortoise and vacate our pockets at the pace of a hare,
thanks to the continued burden of taxes we bear.
We
bleed green from our job base that goes downstate and other, more robust regions across the country −
places like Indianapolis and Phoenix that are not afraid of strong, but lean,
professionally-managed governments.
Finally,
we bleed green through the loss of farmland to subdivisions and strip malls,
and ever-dwindling green spaces that should be preserved for future
generations. These three ways of
bleeding green have converged into the constant hemorrhaging of people from our region.
Was
the Strategic Planning Act the only answer to our region’s backward slide? Of course not. But it was a step in the direction of
that bright future promised to us by our new County Executive. Fear mongers sabotaged our best hopes
by spreading falsehoods, feeding the fears of so many of the elected officials within
the 25 towns, 16 villages and 3 cities. However, the true intent of that
sabotage may have been simply the preservation of power at the cost of the
public good.
We’ve
often heard that if we keep on doing things the way we always have, we
shouldn’t be surprised at the outcome.
For decades we’ve complained about urban blight, suburban sprawl and
out-of-sight taxes for sewers, roads, water, schools and other services for the
new developments that are built on once quiet country lanes. We continue to complain about red tape,
zoning laws and regulations that stifle businesses that want to expand but are
thwarted at every turn.
Part
of the solution was before us, and we let it slip through our hands. Amherst vs. Buffalo, Lancaster vs. Hamburg,
and the fight goes on. When will
we learn?