Baynes resigns as control board chairman on doctor's orders
A ‘suffering’ Baynes must part from board
Every chance he got, Dr. Laszlo L. Mechtler urged his patient to resign, to get far, far away from the stress of Erie County politics.
For three years, the patient put him off, until Mechtler issued a final ultimatum: Step down from Erie County’s control board or find another doctor.
Monday, Anthony J. Baynes heeded his advice and resigned after three years on the state-imposed oversight panel, two as its chairman.
“I’m the one who sees him suffering,” Mechtler said of Baynes’ three traumatic brain injuries. “I asked him three years ago to come off the control board.”
Baynes’ health problems are hardly a secret. The surprise was his announcement Monday that he’s finally listening to his doctor’s advice.
“He told me I had to step down,” Baynes told The Buffalo News.
Baynes’ legacy of leadership is a control board that, during his tenure, went from fractious to united and, in the eyes of his supporters, from weak to strong.
At his urging, the Erie County Fiscal Stability Authority exerted its will whenever it felt the need, often using its wide range of powers to reject the decisions of Erie County’s elected officials.
“Nearly 100 percent of our votes, while I served as chairman, were unanimous,” Baynes told The News. “When I became chairman, we became a united board.”
Baynes made no secret of why he’s stepping down. He has suffered three separate brain injuries, all traumatic, the most recent when his car was rear-ended in 2003.
He gets migrainelike headaches, requires frequent therapy and last year collapsed during a control board meeting. The attack was later attributed to a change in his medication.
Mechtler said his annual suggestion that Baynes step down was based on his firm belief that his work on the control board is a major factor in his declining health.
“Unequivocally,” Mechtler said. “His quality of life has been affected.”
This year, Baynes offered his doctor a compromise. He agreed to hand over the day-today operations of his shipping logistics company to his management team.
“He feels a great responsibility to the community,” said Mechtler, a neurologist at Dent Neurological Institute. “His response to my advice was to step way from his company instead of the control board.”
Baynes said that he informed Gov. David A. Paterson of his plans to resign last week but that the two men did not talk about a successor.
Until he decides, Vice Chairman Robert M. Glaser, managing director of the Freed Maxick & Battaglia accounting firm in Buffalo, will serve as interim chairman.
Baynes was appointed to the board in 2005 by then-Gov. George E. Pataki and a year later was made chairman when then-Chairman Edward V. Regan resigned.
“I respect Anthony Baynes and his work on behalf of the community and the Erie County Fiscal Stability Authority,” said County Legislature Chairwoman Lynn M. Marinelli, D-Town of Tonawanda.
Baynes, who has been mentioned as a possible candidate for political office, said that he has every intention of regaining his health and that some form of public service may be possible. His doctor agreed, suggesting that all Baynes needs is six months of treatment away from the pressures of public life.
“I’m already blessed,” Baynes said of his recovery from three brain injuries. “I don’t know why I can’t get better again.”
