Press Releases: 02/28/08 Mills announces Additional Springville HEAP Outreach 02/28/08 Mills Announces Orchard Park HEAP Outreach 02/15/08 Mills Announces Springville HEAP Outreach 02/05/08 Bee Column 02/08 01/04/08 Mills announces HEAP outreach efforts

John J. Mills - District 13 February, 2007 Mills comments on his 2007 agenda Last month, I was named Minority Leader for the Erie County Legislature. This means that I will act as spokesperson and leader of the Republican Caucus. I am honored that my colleagues have elected me to this position. I believe that my years of experience as a public servant and my year of experience as Legislator for the 13th District have prepared me to serve as Minority Leader. I look forward to pursuing an ambitious agenda of reform and re-engineering our county government. Although the title of Minority Leader may sound political, I do not believe that it has to be political. “Politics as usual” has no place in your county government. Instead, I believe a Minority Leader should lead a group of legislators to develop plans to make county government more effective, efficient and responsive to Erie County taxpayers. These plans should not be the subject of political battles, but should seek to make Erie County a better place to live, work and thrive. Once presented, the merits of the idea should be discussed and the plan refined, ultimately leading to a vote on the issue by the entire legislature. The practice of burying items in committee to avoid taking a stand on an issue must end. Similarly, the same process should be followed by the Majority Caucus. Only through cooperation and a focus on all of the taxpayers of Erie County, rather than special interests, can the Erie County Legislature succeed in improving county government. As you may know from last week's Orchard Park Bee article, the Minority Caucus has presented its “7 for 2007” plan. Essentially, it is a list of items that the Minority Caucus invites the entire Erie County Legislature to pursue. It is not an exhaustive list, but is the basis for its plan of re-engineering and reform. These items include: Continue to support the restoration, repair and maintenance of our county roads and properties. Work with the Hard Control Board to strengthen Erie County finances to the point that the Control Board will cease to exist. Form a non-partisan redistricting commission to explore how to reduce the Legislature from 15 members to 9. Eliminate District Offices while improving services to taxpayers. Clean up corruption in county government. Reform the application of the STAR program in Erie County. Add a Professional County Manager to County government while subtracting political patronage positions. As you can see, these items seek to reduce costs, increase accountability and responsibility and remove politics for county government. I believe that these proposals are necessary to improving the fiscal stability of Erie County and making it more attractive as a place to live and work. By working together, your Erie County Legislature can make these improvements to your county government. I would like to hear your thoughts on the state of the County. Please contact me at my District Office, located at 431 Main Street in East Aurora. My telephone number is 655-5650. You can also reach me by email at jmills13@erie.gov. Back to District 13 Homepage