Strive for the most efficient government possible.

That is what Erie County Comptroller Mark Poloncarz said is the goal he has set for himself and the employees who work in his office as they focus on their purpose of serving as the taxpayer’s independent watchdog.

Poloncarz, as the county’s chief fiscal, accounting, reporting and auditing officer, said recently in a face-to-face interview that he is proud to serve as an independent source of financial information to all branches of county government and the public.

“In my office the goal is to reduce the fat and aim towards ensuring an efficient, good government,” said Poloncarz, a Lackawanna native whose parents both worked for the former Bethlehem Steel Corporation. “I am dedicated towards creating a more efficient comptroller’s office and helping to restore fiscal stability.”

In analyzing the state’s current fiscal crisis, Poloncarz said it is quite obvious to him how New York has been able to accumulate such a massive budget deficit.

“New York State has been on a spending spree for a long, long time,” said Poloncarz. “It now has become time for them to pay the piper.”

While he understands the perception many taxpayers have about Erie County’s finances given the well-documented budget crisis of 2005, Poloncarz is hopeful that people will be able to realize that stabilization has taken place in recent years and Joel Giambra and the “red or green” fiscal fiasco is well behind us.

“We will now have four straight years of balanced budgets and have restored fiscal discipline to county government,” said Poloncarz, who took office in 2006. “Joel Giambra is gone. Every one of the county legislators but one from that time period have moved on. Things have definitely changed for the better.”

Poloncarz said it was unfortunate that for years county officials had a “spend and borrow now” approach towards running the government, procedures that eventually erupted with public outcry and financial uncertainty when Giambra’s red/green budget proposal failed miserably in the court of public opinion.

“The previous administration, many of our county legislators and other county employees simply didn’t ask enough questions or the right questions,” said Poloncarz. “It was like a high-speed train traveling at 150 miles per hour heading towards a brick wall and no one did anything to try and stop it until it was too late.”

Poloncarz’s opinion about the Erie County Fiscal Stability Authority is quite obvious.

“Some of the control board’s actions have significantly and negatively affected the county, particularly our residents,” said Poloncarz. “I think at this point it’s becoming an expensive boondoogle for county taxpayers. Do we really want to saddle our community for 20 or 30 years with another state authority? I don’t believe that is in the best interests of taxpayers for the long term.”

Poloncarz said he can justify the need for the control board in the first couple of years following the county’s fiscal meltdown.

But three straight years of having a surplus shows the county has a financial plan in place that features a balanced budget not handcuffed with any type of a deficit.

“People ask me all the time ‘what are they doing’ when talking about the control board and I have a hard time answering that,” said Poloncarz. “They have declared control periods and aggressively pursued borrowing for one reason — to lock itself into existence for the life of the bonds. I don’t believe that is something county taxpayers want to deal with years from now.”

Poloncarz is closely tracking the current economic climate and remains hopeful that funding will be made available through the federal stimulus bill to pay for projects that “have essentially been put on hold” for the past few years.

Repairs to Ralph Wilson Stadium, road reconstruction work throughout the county and infrastructure improvements to area bridges and buildings are among the items that would benefit from access to the federal funding.

Poloncarz proudly promotes the “whistleblower” services offered to residents for anyone who thinks waste, fraud or abuse are taking place in county government and makes no secret about his pride in being a watchdog.

“I’m not a ‘yes man’ and I think it’s important to call out wasteful spending and irresponsible behavior,” said Poloncarz. “I like to look at things in a way where my office helps to identify problems and then make recommendations on how to fix them.”

(Daniel Meyer is a columnist for the Weekly Independent Newspapers of Western New York. Comments can be sent care of The Sun, P.O. Box 590, Hamburg, NY 14075 or via e-mail to: meyersmusings@gmail.com)

© 2009 Weekly Independent Newspapers of Western New York