COMMENTARY
Rod Watson: Collins acting like man who would be king
I’m sure I voted in the last Erie County election. But for the life of me, I cannot remember a ballot line marked “czar.”
Yet we’re getting one as Chris Collins moves to control everything the county touches.
From tourism, to regional planning, to running cultural venues, there apparently is nothing Collins and his small band of Six Sigmites aren’t experts at. If you don’t believe it, just ask them.
From unilaterally ending the county’s role in the Women, Infants and Children program, to hiring a lobbyist without Legislature approval, to declaring pesky laws “null and void,” the businessman-turned- county executive is embarking on the governmental version of a hostile takeover.
Listen to Collins, and it’s clear he believes he has a mandate in a foundering community after a landslide victory two years ago.
“Everywhere I go, people pat me on the back and say, ‘You’re doing a great job; that’s what we elected you to do,’ ” he says.
But at some point, as he butts heads with the state-appointed control board, the Legislature, the comptroller, planning advocates, tourism officials and cultural leaders, the public has to wonder: Can one man be right all the time, about everything?
Collins says his litmus test is whether a decision makes this a world-class community attractive to residents, businesses and tourists.
That’s fine; that’s everyone’s vision. He needs to understand there are different ways of getting there.
One way is through a planning board to bring public pressure to curb sprawl and promote smart growth. Yet that widely backed bill will likely be vetoed as Collins keeps power with his own planners.
At the same time, he’s grabbing power at top cultural organizations, forcing them to sign new contracts and name his appointees to their boards. That includes demanding nearly half the seats at the African-American Cultural Center, which had the audacity to get the Legislature to restore funding that he had cut.
If it’s about accountability, use the Cultural Resources Advisory Board. If it’s about protecting tax dollars, establish fair criteria and fund only those that meet the standards. That’s what foundations do.
They don’t demand board seats and threaten artistic freedom, which is inevitable when, as one critic put it, “the heavy hand of a significant funder is at the table,” listening to every discussion and reporting back to the county executive.
Those contrasting examples epitomize the real issue. Collins contends that the planning board would add bureaucracy, yet has no problem adding bureaucracy to the cultural funding process. The common element in those contradictory stances? Control.
He reminds me of Jimmy Griffin, with more polish and better hair. The late Buffalo mayor also thought that his way was the only way.
Collins disputes that, pointing to people he gets along with and compromises he has made, while dismissing the “constant complainers.” But he freely admits he’s a “yes/no” and “black/white” leader who doesn’t get bogged down in gray.
While that may work running a business, government is all about the gray. It’s about compromise and recognizing that other people also were elected.
“I very clearly understand my role as county executive,” he insists.
But with him trying to oust the head of the Convention&Visitors Bureau, run candidates to seize other branches of government and bend cultural groups to his liking, I’m not so sure.
If Collins has his eye on a long political future, there’s one thing he should keep in mind: “King Chris” does not make for a good campaign slogan.
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