Mark Poloncarz Apologizes To City of Buffalo

It appears as if what was building up to be a big feud between two powerful elected officials in the Buffalo area isn't going to be as big as initially seemed.

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During one of his daily Press Conferences, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz had some very strong words for the way Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown and the City of Buffalo handled the once-in-a-lifetime blizzard that hit Buffalo and paralyzed the entire region for several days.

The Mayor is not going to be happy to hear about it, but storm after storm after storm after storm after storm, the City unfortunately is the last one to be opened and that shouldn't be the case. It's embarrassing, to tell the truth.
-Mark Poloncarz, Erie County Executive

In response to those comments by the County Executive, Byron Brown was quoted saying:

As tough and as strong as the County Executive can be on a news briefing, he did not say any of this to me. I want you to process this in your mind for a minute
-Byron Brown, Mayor of Buffalo, New York

Many around the region have slammed both the Mayor and County Executive for what appears to be dysfunction in our local government during a time when we should be presenting a united front.

It seems that the County Executive agrees with this assessment, at least in part, and along those lines, he has issued an apology to the City of Buffalo, Buffalo municipal workers, and Mayor Brown.

During his speech, the County Executive expressed his apologies to the families in Western New York who lost a loved one as well.

I lost my focus.
-Mark Poloncarz

It was additionally noted that the County Executive did text the Mayor, but they had not yet spoken. There hasn't been any statement regarding the content of their text conversations.