Mark Poloncarz was sworn in for a fourth term as Erie County executive, on Friday.
The Democrat has served as county executive since 2012 and says this will be his final term in the role.
He prevailed over Republican Chrissy Casilio to the position in the November election, and will work with a majority Democratic legislature in his final term.
His administration is responsible for overseeing a budget close to $2 billion in 2024.
Poloncarz used his inauguration speech to focus in on his administration’s handling of the budget and county finances during his time in office and mentioned the Bills stadium deal as well as improvements to county parks as highlights of his tenure.
But his speech also struck a note of foreboding, with Poloncarz warning of “dark clouds on the horizon” when it comes to “extremism” in the county and the country.
He specifically took aim at the cauldron of misinformation and events that led to the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol building in 2021.
That day, supporters of former President, Donald Trump, stormed the Capitol building in Washington D.C. in an attempt to stop the certification of President Biden’s electoral vote win.
“It is not hyperbole to say our nation is facing some of the most trying times in nearly a century,” Poloncarz said. “In this time, the greatest threat we face as a nation is not from some outside force. It comes from within, just like cancer untreated will eventually kill a person. There is a cancer that is threatening our Democratic Republic.”
Erie County almost tops the charts for residents arrested in connection with the Jan. 6 attack, only coming second to Franklin County, Ohio, according to the George Washington University’s Program on Extremism and its Jan. 6 defendants tracker.
Poloncarz directly addressed that fact, and those county residents involved.
“Just because you call yourself a patriot does not make you one. History will decide whether you are a patriot or traitor to our nation,” Poloncarz said.
