Kennedy working hard to ensure key proposals are adopted

After seeing the impact the past years budget process has had on his constituents, Erie County Legislator Timothy M. Kennedy (D-South Buffalo) has focused his efforts to put measures in place to protect his constituents and the citizens of Erie County from future harm. Legislator Kennedy is currently co-sponsoring several pieces of legislation that will make certain this happens.

“I have been fighting for my constituents and I will continue to fight to ensure they receive the services they are entitled to and Erie County stays on course to correct it’s fiscal problems.” Kennedy said, “As we move forward through the 2005 year I will continue to make strides to improve the operation of our government. I am joining other legislators by co-signing several pieces of legislation that will ensure this happens.”

Legislator Kennedy is currently working with other legislators on various pieces of legislation that include the creation of a Charter Review Commission, mandating the early release of the County’s budget and the auditing of Erie County’s books.

The proposal for the creation of a Charter Review Commission will be essential to open up the County Charter for review and change. This will allow legislators to adjust the County Charter to match the current needs of Erie County. The last time the charter was reviewed was 1981. Kennedy stated this piece of legislation would be key to make sure the charter represents “today’s” Erie County.

The Early Release of the Budget proposal will mandate that the County Executive release a tentative budget annually on or before the 15th day of October. This will allow the legislature to have more time to review and modify the budget. Kennedy stated by adopting a practice such as this, we would avoid a last minute budget passage this county experienced in the eleventh hour on December 8th.

The final piece of legislation will call for Alan G. Hevesi, New York State Comptroller, to audit the County’s fiscal practices and books. Kennedy stated by having the State Comptroller Hevesi come in and audit the books, we can finally get accurate budget numbers, assess the damages and correct practices that got us here in the first place.

Legislator Kennedy stated he would put forth the same effort toward the adoption of these proposals as he did for his resolution creating a Citizens Budget Review Commission. Due to Legislator Kennedy’s persistence in gaining support for the resolution, it was recently signed by the County Executive and sent to Albany to be filed as a law.

“I am extremely happy of the unilaterally bi-partisan support received for the Citizens Budget Review Commission,” Kennedy said, “We need to see more of that cooperation from all parties in the future to ensure we can take appropriate steps and put in place legislation such as this to right this fiscally challenged county.”

Legislator Kennedy is currently in the process of researching contingency plans to generate more funding to reinstate probation officers and restore school nurses.

Legislator Tim Kennedy represents the 2nd District of South Buffalo, The Old 1st Ward, The Valley, Sloan, Kaisertown, Seneca-Babcock, Clinton-Bailey, South Cheektowaga and East Lovejoy.

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