It has become abundantly clear that through his open antagonism and name-calling and his personal support of a Republican challenger, Erie County Executive Christopher Collins is out to get rid of County Comptroller Mark Poloncarz. My question is why?

In my view, Poloncarz has been a very effective and independent taxpayer watchdog, looking out for our interests in County Hall. Looking at his Web site, I see more than 30 audits, investigations of waste, fraud and abuse, multiple credit rating upgrades and new ideas and initiatives that save the taxpayers money, such as Poloncarz’s report on stopping Medicaid fraud.

After a lack of warnings by the prior Republican county comptroller before the county’s 2004-2005 fiscal meltdown, I believe the county needs an aggressive watchdog.

Michael J. Lukasik

Kenmore

Copyright 2009, The Buffalo News