Three candidates are vying for the seat previously held by Nancy Naples, who resigned earlier this year.

They are Democrat Mark Poloncarz, a Buffalo business and finance lawyer; Republican John Canavan, an accountant with almost 30 years experience in business, including high-level management positions; and Democrat Robert Whelan, a retired judge and Buffalo comptroller who lost the Democratic primary but has the Conservative endorsement. Poloncarz calls himself “someone who will work to create better, more efficient government, but is not afraid to criticize when risky schemes are proposed that have put us into the situation we’re in today.”

As an attorney with Kavinoky, Cook LLP for the past eight years, he’s represented private companies, municipal entities, and local and state authorities in business proceedings.

As comptroller, he said he will keep the public informed on the county’s financial matters.

“If you see a flicker of a flame, you’ve got to watch it. If it becomes a little bit larger, you’ve got to let the public know before it becomes an inferno,” he said. But he and Canavan have a different view on the control board. Poloncarz feels it should remain a soft board and legislators should fix the problem, whereas Canavan encourages the hard board.

“I think we should make these decisions on our own,” Poloncarz said. “It’s bad for business to have a control board here.”

Canavan, meanwhile, feels a hard control board would help implement new controls. He doesn’t feel it will require less from the comptroller.

“The control board is much like the parent who’s found out his child isn’t doing well in school. He’s going to take away privileges and sit down at the table and say, ‘Do your homework.’ He’s not going to do the child’s homework,” he said.

The 52-year-old has an extensive background in business and finance.

After earning a degree in business from Drexel University in Philadelphia, he was hired by Deloitte and Touche in 1976 as an auditor.

He later became a certified public accountant and earned a master’s in business administration. Since then he’s held high-ranking positions with major corporations. Canavan moved to Buffalo in 1997 after marrying Karen Kemp, who is chief financial officer for Delaware North Companies and a Western New York native.

He’s worked in commercial real estate since coming to the area.

Of his bid for comptroller, he said: “I was looking for something to do that is more community oriented and this is a great challenge.”

Whelan previously served as Buffalo comptroller from 1976 to 1989 and was later elected to State Supreme Court, where he served on the bench until 2003.

Contact Stacey Shepard at (716) 693-1000, Ext. 114.

Copyright © 1999-2005 cnhi, inc.