By Joyce Kryszak
Buffalo, NY – Erie County Executive Chris Collins gave his first state of the county address Wednesday morning before a packed auditorium at the Albright Knox Art Gallery.
Collins says there has been real progress during his first three months in office. The county executive says he's delivered on his campaign promises to improve efficiency and accountability, and to make government more transparent and inclusive. But Collins says the county's unions need to be part of the process by renegotiating new contracts. He says employee benefit packages are simply unsustainable.
Collins also chastised the legislature, saying it should not undermine negotiations by offering side deals. And he repeated his call for a full merger of ECMC and Kaleida.
Click the "listen" icon above to hear Collins' address now or use your podcasting software to download it to your computer or iPod.