A popular pastime in Japan is called shinrin-yoku, or “forest bathing,” which is taking time to connect with nature through the five senses. We know that green space contributes to physical well-being and has a restorative effect on mental health.
In Erie County many of us depend on our public parks for interactions with nature. But decaying conditions at Chestnut Ridge and other parks, highlighted in a report released Wednesday by County Comptroller Stefan Mychajliw, don’t paint a picture of bliss and relaxation. Restrooms with shattered windows and missing stall doors, dilapidated park shelters and vandalized picnic tables are among the sights awaiting visitors to Chestnut Ridge, in Orchard Park.
The buck stops with County Executive Marc C. Poloncarz, as he knows from his days as county comptroller, when he criticized then-County Executive Chris Collins for the condition of the parks. The current comptroller is happy to turn this issue into an election-year “gotcha,” but we’re not going to referee a political sparring match. Our chief concern is that the problems get fixed.
Mychajliw accuses the county executive and the parks department of mismanagement. He says the county has hundreds of thousands of dollars that it has borrowed to repair the parks that are going unspent. In the past five years, Erie County has borrowed more than $10 million to make park improvements. Mychajliw says nearly a third of that money was unspent as of the end of June. A Buffalo News analysis of the data showed a quarter of the funds were not spent or designated for any purpose in the budget.
Poloncarz says the problem is not spending, but lax bookkeeping at the county Department of Parks, Recreation and Forestry. He said he is not sure how much money is unspent, but said he will demand a full accounting.
Comptroller’s Office officials say the discrepancy points to a violation of county policy.
There are more than a little politics at play here.
In 2011, Poloncarz was county comptroller and was running to unseat Collins as county executive. “Things are not in good shape when you have wires hanging from the walls, when you have walkways that are falling apart,” Poloncarz told The News that year. “If you go around the parks, they’re in terrible shape.”
Poloncarz even took photos of deteriorating parks with his cellphone and posted them online. Mychajliw, who was Collins’ campaign spokesman, was paying attention. Now it’s Mychajliw taking and publishing the videos to social media.
Also, Poloncarz is up for reelection this year. Mychajliw’s chief of staff as comptroller is Bryan Fiume, who happens to be managing the campaign of Poloncarz’s Republican-endorsed opponent, County Legislator Lynne Dixon.
Mychajliw continued his park-shaming Wednesday by announcing he found unsafe levels of lead in decayed or broken metal playground equipment at several of the parks.
Dr. Gale Burstein, the county’s health commissioner, said she has directed a health inspector to work with parks employees to test all equipment and shelters in all county parks with a lead-detecting X-ray gun.
If lax bookkeeping in the parks department is to blame for unaccounted for spending, things need to tighten up. Poloncarz is hoping that will happen when Troy P. Schinzel returns to his role as parks commissioner, a post he held from 2012 to 2015.
The Comptroller’s Office report says the county has accumulated $350,000 in needless interest payments due to the unused money borrowed since 2015.
Poloncarz says the county will sort out the accounting “down to the nickel.”
That needs to happen. The nickels used to keep the parks in shape come from taxpayers, who deserve clean and safe parks. That’s the issue, not a political fight between officeholders who don’t like each other.
