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Claim: Control Board 'Jumped Gun' Going Hard

Monday, November 20, 2006 06:05 AM - WBEN Newsroom

WBEN Reporter Steve Schnepf
Exclusive WBEN Windows Media Audio

Buffalo, NY (WBEN) The Erie County Comptroller says he believes the county's fiscal oversight board "jumped the gun" when it voted to assume stronger powers and essentially go from a "soft" control board to a "hard" one.

And county Budget Director Jim Hartman says he thinks the board had been planning its move for months, because it "inexplicably" rejected four-year plans put together from the recommendations of the board's own consultants.

Comptroller Mark Poloncarz says he thinks the plans were essentially sound and that questions about it were "overblown."

Both men were guests of Dr. Kevin Hardwick on Sunday's "Hardline with Hardwick" show on WBEN. To hear Steve Schnepf's report, click on the audio link above.