Erie County Legislature: 5th District
Terranova-Fudoli contest in Lancaster highlights contrasting priorities
Published: November 03, 2009, 6:12 pm
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Two candidates with different priorities are in the midst of a court dispute about whether the Democrat’s name will be on the ballot for the 5th District Erie County Legislature seat representing Lancaster and nearby towns.
An opening was created when Democratic Legislator Kathy Konst resigned in August to take over as county environmental commissioner. Diane M. Terranova, 52, a Legislature liaison in the office of County Comptroller Mark C. Poloncarz, was then appointed.
Democrat Terranova wants to win the four-year term and keep clinics open, protect libraries and repair roads and bridges.
Republican Dino J. Fudoli thinks the Legislature should be reduced from 15 seats to 11, the pay should be cut in half and the business climate in the county improved.
The lawsuit, scheduled to be heard by the Appellate Division of State Supreme Court this morning, was filed by Terranova in an effort to have her name replace Konst’s. While Terranova won a State Supreme Court decision, the Republican commissioner of the Erie County Board of Elections, Ralph M. Mohr appealed.
“It just opens up the flood gates for all kinds of substitutions . . . late in the game,” Mohr said of the last-minute ballot change.
But Fudoli, 38, wants a formal opponent. “If it was up to me, I would say, ‘Put her on the ballot,’ ” he said.
A Lancaster resident, Fudoli earned a business bachelor’s degree from Canisius College and manages about 40 rental units in several buildings.
If elected, he said, he would save government money by encouraging collaborations, such as the arrangement County Executive Chris Collins made with Catholic Charities to run the Women, Infants and Children program.
And he would try to forge ahead with a commission’s recommendation to cut four Legislature seats, an idea disliked by the Democratic-controlled body.
A legislator’s work is part time, he said, and the $43,000 salary also should be cut. “Things are tough. People can’t pay their bills. Running for office was supposed to be a civic duty, it was never supposed to be a career,” he said.
For Terranova, also of Lancaster, the job with its meetings and constituent work is full time. An optician with an associate’s degree from Erie Community College, she has not had time for her one-day-a-week stint at an optical shop since being appointed to fill the seat. “You’re going to have to be wealthy to become a legislator,” said Terranova, a former license and tax worker in the Lancaster town clerk’s office.
“I’m concerned that our citizens wouldn’t get the help that they need,” she said, thinking that legislators who were paid less would then spend less time addressing constituents.
While she thinks the Legislature could be reduced by two seats, cutting more would be too much, she said.
“The Erie County residents deserve to have their voices heard,” she said. “I have 62,000 people in my district now. I can’t imagine being able to service all those people . . . I don’t see how you can by reducing from 15 to 11.”
mkearns@buffnews.com
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