One of the points of emphasis by the Republican candidate for Erie County Comptroller is her level of professional experience.
If elected, Christine Czarnik wants to leverage her accounting background and add to the number of people in her office with similar expertise.
“First thing is to get the politics out of the office and restore professionalism. I will make sure that my appointees have accounting and financial backgrounds," she said. "These positions within county government are actually very well paying, and the benefits are good, too.”
She believes the pay offered will be enough to win over accountants instead of entering the private sector.
But current county comptroller Kevin Hardwick is less convinced of that potential. The appeal for the comptroller’s office must come from advantages other than the salary, he said.
“If you're just coming out of college and you have an accounting degree and what you want to do is make money, you're not going to land at the Erie County comptroller's office, because we can't compete with private firms," Hardwick said. "However we can, we can try to make up for that in other things, in work environment and work family.”
Czarnik says she also would cut down on administrative roles, like the special assistant and public affairs assistant. Election Day is Nov. 4, but early voting begins on Saturday.
