Western New York Independent Living held its annual Meet the Candidates event for Erie County on October 15 to give the disability community a chance to question candidates. Every fall, the independent living center invites candidates listed on local ballots to speak at this event.
This is a live blog and will continue to be updated as the event continues.
County Comproller Candidates
Incumbent Erie County Comptroller Kevin Hardwick opened his time by explaining in plain language his position, how it works and what he is in control of. Hardwick, a Democrat, openly discussed the recent conflict between his office and the County Clerk's office over auditing.
"I stuck to my guns and said we're going to respect the county clerk's office," Hardwick said, defending his approach to the situation.
During questioning, he was asked how many people work in his department and how many are people with disabilities. Hardwick said there are 40 positions, including his, but some positions are vacant. He added that he believes they have "a couple" of employees with autism.
Hardwick admitted that his department could be criticized, like other departments, for not doing more outreach to the disability community for hiring for their office.
When asked by BTPM NPR what priorities he has for work that applies to the disability community specifically, he said that auditing could free up funding that could go towards resources or reducing taxes, and that they have control over who they audit. He expressed that they have interest in auditing the Niagara Frontier Transportation Agency (NFTA) and specifically their paratransit program. However, they have several other audits they have to complete first.
"It's on the list. It's in the queue. One of the problems is that we've been bogged down in a number of audits that we've done. The clerk's office gave us a hard time, you know, way too long in that audit, and that stops other things from being done," Hardwick said.
Christine Czarnik, Hardwick's opponent for comptroller, said that the issue of the NFTA's paratransit program is also one she is interested in investigating.
"You found some money, what about it?" one attendee asked Czarnik, a Republican, about how she would treat the results of audits differently than past comptrollers.
Czarnik said she would educate the legislature, comparing Erie County to other counties or municipalities, to see if this area is in line with the norm. Added that she sees "big growth in administration" over the past few years. She wants to look at new positions that have been added in past years, and wants to look at what jobs are "patronage jobs" versus ones that are "serving the public."
City of Buffalo Mayoral Candidates
Independent Michael Gainer was the only Buffalo Mayoral Candidate to appear at this general election Meet the Candidates event, which is meant to give candidates an opportunity to appeal to the disability community specifically.
Back in June, all five candidates running for the Democrat ticket in the primary appeared at a special Meet the Candidates event, including Democrat Sean Ryan, who won that election. Ryan did not appear at Wednesday's event for the general election. Additionally, Republican James Gardner did not attend or speak at this event.
Gainer opened his remarks by saying he wanted to be "fully transparent" that he did not previously know what services WNYIL provides, but wants to learn more about independent living and what disabled constituents need.
He spent most of his opening remarks focusing on his work as a business owner and on his efforts working with the push to restore Humbolt Parkway.
"We may need to elect somebody that's not a politician, right?" Gainer said in his opening remarks, adding, "that can think differently about bringing people together and solving the most pressing needs of our community."
Gainer shared during questions that he sees the lack of city-wide sidewalk snow clearing an issue, especially for pedestrians and disabled people.
"That is not how we communicate to our neighbors that we respect you, that you are a human being that has dignity, where we care for you," Gainer said of sidewalks not being clear of snow.
Gainer emphasized that at the core of many issues, is stigma and a need for more community education around disability.
County Legislature Candidates
William Respress, a Republican running for District 1 Erie County Legislator, focused much of his opening statement sharing a personal story. He disclosed that he lives with a speech disability and worked with a speech therapist growing up. He shared that he improved his speech over several years and was ultimately able to enlist and serve in the U.S. Navy.
Respress shared that in many ways, he believes he breaks from the Republican Party's national positions, including on removing funding from vital programs that serve the disability community. During questioning, Respress elaborated that if elected, he would both advocate to the federal government and would like to "instead of pulling all that money from waste to waste" he would try to save money and reallocate it to "where it's useful."
Respress will face Democrat Lawrence Dupre on the ballot.
County Legislature District 2 Candidate Betty Jean Grant mainly shared during her alloted time that she wants to make vacant apartments in public housing into temporary three month housing for unhoused people. A lot of her pitch to the disability focused on reducing homelessness, issues with housing and affordable housing. Also on the ballot for District 2 is incumbent Taisha E. St. Jean Tard.
County Legislature District 5 Candidate Christina Coyle-Lenz also leaned into her personal experience as a way of understanding the audience, sharing a bit about a mobility issue with her hand and a story of caring for a loved one as they aged. She also emphasized her varied careers and a degree in creative services. Coyle-Lenz, a Republican, committed to focusing on website, public building and event accessibility for the county. She is running against incumbent Legislator Jeanne Vinal, a Democrat.
Dupre, St. Jean Tard, and Vinal did not attend or speak at the event.
