Poloncarz joins Brown to make diversity pledge

Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz, standing next to Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown in his City Hall office, has again made a pledge to promote diversity and inclusiveness in institutions throughout the region.

Poloncarz, along with Brown, again signed the city’s Opportunity Pledge, a commitment to promote plurality, particularly within businesses and civic organizations, that was created in collaboration with Open Buffalo, a civic initiative that partners with advocacy groups throughout the region.

The county executive first signed the pledge months ago, but said he thought it important to reiterate his commitment. He also brought along with him the signatures of department heads from throughout his administration.

“We can send a message to people in our community that it is much better, much better to be building bridges between individuals of different backgrounds than, truthfully, to be building walls,” Poloncarz said.

The press conference comes as pressure is mounting on public officials to tackle longstanding issues of racial disparity in unemployment rates and the quality of jobs between whites and minorities, which are particularly pronounced in Western New York.

As politicians like Poloncarz and Brown have championed public spending that has contributed to falling unemployment and the strongest job numbers in more than a decade in the region, advocacy groups have been pushing to make sure that something is being done to help residents most in need of jobs and connect them with positions in emerging sectors.

Earlier this week, a coalition of clergy, advocates, and labor organizations announced the beginning of a push to do just that, centered around a report commissioned by the Partnership for the Public Good that details data on the disparities, identifies root causes and offers a list of policy changes.

Poloncarz, who early last year rolled out a health and human services plan to address issues tied to poverty, said the event with the mayor had been planned for months and was not in reaction to the report. But he did say that it is important, especially for a city mired in poverty, to make those connections and consider policies that could alleviate some of the inequities.

“It’s important that we take as many steps as we can within the budgetary constraints that we face, to try to make people’s lives better,” Poloncarz said. “It’s not easy. It’s not going to happen overnight. But if we sat back and did nothing it’d be shame on us because we do have a role and now is the time to do it.”