Chris Collins: making it work from the bottom up By Christopher Schobert; photo by kc kratt January is not always a time of new beginnings in the world of local politics, where incumbents can reign for decades. This year, however, we are seeing a major change in Erie County: Republican Christopher Collins takes the oath of office. Spree spoke with the new county executive in mid-November, just as his transition was getting underway. Spree: How do you plan to implement the “Six Sigma” philosophy you’ve discussed? And how do you answer critics who call it a top-down model that doesn’t mesh with government? It’s the opposite of top-down—it’s a bottom-up structure. It’s basically a training-based methodology of training workers. Where do things go wrong? Where are we wasting time or money? How do we take away any chance for error? Doing that, you’re going to be more efficient. The best example is, if you walk into a company that has a suggestion box, they are not an empowered, Six Sigma company. A suggestion box would indicate top-down. Bottom-up would never have a suggestion box, because the minute empowered employees see something wrong, or an opportunity to do things better, they will bring it up and implement it just as part of their everyday job. I think it’s nothing short of common sense. Funding for the arts is a very important issue, especially to Spree readers. How important is the arts community to Western New York, and will you support government funding for cultural organizations? The depth and scope for a community our size is something that differentiates us from other parts of the country. It’s a way we can help recruit people, and, in the case of cultural tourism, we have some unique opportunities ... We’re talking about it being a percentage of the property tax. At the end of the day, making sure they’re funded is the only thing that really matters; that they have the funding they need to hire good people as executive directors and [meet] their infrastructure needs. How do you think the Democrat-majority legislature will respond? We all want the same thing, which is an efficient, cost-effective government where savings made in one area can be returned to the taxpayers for better services or reductions in debt or taxes. Efficiency can help drive that. I don’t expect any issues with the legislators on that, and I’ve already spoken to the control board; they’re very supportive of using New York State Efficiency Grant money. The beauty of it is there’s money available today to implement Six Sigma, and the cost of training and bringing in skilled trainers, without being a burden on Erie County taxpayers. Is regionalism a dead concept in Western New York? Or are there elements you would like to see introduced to county government? I have zero focus on convincing any town, village, or city to pass a referendum and go out of existence; that’s not going to happen. It’s not on my agenda, and that’s a big difference between Joel Giambra’s agenda and mine. He was hoping we would end up as the greater metropolitan Buffalo area. I don’t see that as being practical or realistic, so I’m not going to spend any time on it. I’ll spend my time on consolidation of services. There has been much discussion about whether or not the Buffalo Bills will be able to stay in Western New York long-term, and there’s even been talk of some type of waterfront stadium. What are your thoughts on the Bills’ future? All of this talk is encouraging. We have a big waterfront. Where a domed stadium with a retractable roof would go, I don’t know. But I view the thought of that happening in downtown Buffalo as a positive, as long as we find the right place. Who’s going to pay for it? That’s the question. At the end of the day, New York State is going to have to play a role in keeping the Bills here. What about the economic aspect? Is it economically vital to make sure the Bills stay? It’s emotionally a very important aspect of our county. What’s the saying, it’s priceless? I’d put the Buffalo Bills in the priceless column. How will you help accelerate development of the Buffalo-Niagara Medical Campus? In some cases, the impetus is already there ... UB is looking to move some operations down into that area. The Hauptman-Woodward Building is a crown jewel, and an example of what we’re trying to do. I’m confident that without me having to personally do much other than continue to voice my support, this is an initiative that’s passed the incubator stage and is moving forward. One of Giambra’s proposals was merging Erie Community College’s North and South campuses in a new, larger downtown campus. Is this in your plans? Today, the county does not have the money, period, to build a new campus downtown. If that’s reality, why don’t we focus on making sure the infrastructure of the north and south campuses is put back into better repair than it is today? I’m not going to wish upon a star that someone is going to drop a quarter of a billion dollars in our lap. You live in Clarence, outside of the urban center. How will you convince Buffalo residents that their priorities will be addressed? We’re one county. We need to encourage the development and redevelopment of the city of Buffalo. From the county’s perspective, we all win as the city gets redeveloped. My campaign was not suburban dweller versus city dweller. I happen to live in the suburbs, but I have three businesses in the city, and I’m redeveloping a property in Allentown. I’m part of the downtown community. Christopher Schobert is associate editor of Buffalo Spree. Back to the Table of Contents Back to Top