The intersection between the pandemic and politics took a prominent position on Tuesday when Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz spent much of his weekly Covid-19 press briefing talking about his conversations with the governor's vaccine czar, Larry Schwartz, who has been accused of calling county executives to assess their loyalty to the governor.
Poloncarz also defended against calls made Tuesday by some Erie County legislators to have his emergency spending powers revoked, especially now that $178 million in federal aid is expected to flow into county coffers.
In a detailed recounting, the county executive said he had three conversations with Schwartz this month, during which the topic of the sexual harassment allegations against the governor repeatedly came up, as well as conversation about vaccine availability. He said no direct or implied threats were made, nor was there any lobbying for him to support Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Schwartz has been accused of making calls to county executives and trying to tease out their thoughts on the governor's situation and the allegations against him, and then going on to talk about vaccine availability. Schwartz, who served as a top political aide, has been criticized for bringing up Cuomo's political circumstances, even though he is now in an administrative policy role to ensure vaccine doses are fairly distributed.
According to two Democratic county executives, Larry Schwartz placed calls to them in recent weeks, inquiring about their loyalty to the governor.
Poloncarz said he'd known Schwartz a long time and that, while he didn't consider Schwartz a friend, their relationship was cordial.
In his conversation with Schwartz on March 1, Poloncarz said Schwartz asked him how he was doing, and Poloncarz immediately volunteered his concerns about the governor, the need for an independent investigation, and the possibility that Cuomo may need to resign if the allegations are found to be true.
In the same conversation, the two also talked about the woman who accused Cuomo of touching her and asking to kiss her at a wedding, which Poloncarz called "creepy," but not a workplace harassment issue.
Afterward, they talked about Covid-19 vaccine coming to Erie County, particularly the supply of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
"He wasn't sure how many were coming at that point, and I was told to expect notice later in the week, as usual," Poloncarz said. "At no time during the conversation did I feel like I was intimidated, nor did Larry ask me to support the governor in exchange for vaccines."
The two men spoke again on March 7, when Poloncarz returned a call from Schwartz.
"The conversation was similar to the one we had the week before," Poloncarz said. "I noted I had not changed my position. He did not ask me to support the governor."
Finally, on Thursday, Schwartz called Poloncarz to ask about vaccine usage levels related to the county's transfer of some of its vaccine doses to hospitals.
"I told him I would get back to him after we looked into it," he said. "No other matter was discussed."
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Erie County did not receive any less vaccine last week than in prior weeks. Poloncarz also said he does not believe the 5,010 doses the county is getting so far this week has been affected in any way by his conversations with Schwartz.
But he said he never felt as though he was being intimidated or tested on his loyalty to Cuomo, and referred to his longstanding relationship with Schwartz. But he also acknowledged that Schwartz's round of calls to county executives was likely not "the smartest decision" and could have been perceived by others differently.
"In all likelihood, Mr. Schwartz should not have made those calls, just because of the assumption by some people that he was trying to intimidate individuals or was trying to get the support for the governor in exchange for vaccines," he said. "I did not feel that way."
Poloncarz separately addressed a push by Republican-supported members of the Erie County Legislature to revoke the emergency spending authority granted to him by the governing body a year ago.
At the time, the Legislature unanimously granted Poloncarz the authority to create an emergency account, initially funded by up to $5 million in county surplus money, to respond to the public health crisis.
Watch Poloncarz's weekly Covid-19 media briefing:
Since then, however, Poloncarz has used that budget line as the bucket for all federal stimulus money related to the county's Covid-19 response. That includes the $160 million the county received last year, and would include the $178 million the county is set to receive this year, Legislature Minority Leader Joseph Lorigo said.
"The county should not be able to go and spend that money without proper legislative process," Lorigo said. "We are no longer in an emergency situation. We are living in the pandemic, dealing with the pandemic as part of our daily life. Government needs to get back to the table and do the business of the people."
Poloncarz responded that his emergency powers are not granted to him by the County Legislature, but by the state and public officers law. His independent spending authority is also limited by the County Legislature to allow him to sign contracts of up to $250,000.
"The Legislature only meets one day a week," he said. "Some of us are working seven days a week. We can't wait, in an emergency situation, for the Legislature to meet once a week for a committee, and once a week for a full session the following week ... This is a global pandemic. We're still dealing with it."
He used as an example the rapid turnaround to open the Delavan-Grider Community Center as a pop-up vaccine hub that scheduled appointments for 1,100 people from undervaccinated communities. That decision was made on a Saturday, and appointments were being scheduled by Monday.
Lorigo responded that the Legislature can meet in special session within 48 hours, as necessary, and criticized Poloncarz for making unilateral decisions for spending Covid-19 stimulus money, such as spending more than $5 million in CARES Act money to renovate the former Ticor Building as office space that serves as a new home for the Health Department's epidemiology team.
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The Legislature is not looking to rescind his authority, Lorigo said, just restore spending oversight. With a new infusion of federal money coming in from the American Rescue Plan, that should be a priority, he added.
"Giving Mark Poloncarz a blank check of $178 million to spend as he sees fit is ludicrous," Lorigo said.
Poloncarz said that the legislators are looking to slow the Covid-19 response.
"The Minority Caucus, the Republicans, want to make it seem like Covid-19 has gone away. It hasn't," he said. "When it's gone, I'll be glad to give up the powers. I'd like to take some time off."
