Another local leader is speaking about the latest developments in the probe of alleged wrongdoing related to the Buffalo Billion. Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz stated his support for the probe but also expressed concern for the possible negative impact it may create on some of the projects.
Two former aides of the governor, Joseph Percoco and Todd Howe, are now under the microscope of U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, who is investigating alleged wrongdoing in the process by which contracts were awarded for Buffalo Billion projects including SolarCity.
"If there were improprieties or fraud, or something to that effect, it needs to be investigated," said Erie County Executive Poloncarz. "It's disappointing if it's the case."
Poloncarz was asked about the latest developments in the Buffalo Billion probe, which include a round of subpoenas issued Friday. Governor Andrew Cuomo's executive chamber was among the recipients.
Also on Friday, the governor announced his office has hired an independent investigator to conduct an internal probe.
"It's good to see that he immediately took action, with regards to an internal investigation," Poloncarz said about Cuomo's announcement. "He basically said let the U.S. Attorney's investigation continue. You need to get down to the facts of it.
"In the end I think he'll feel the same way as everyone else. If there were some bad apples out there and they did things that were wrong, they broke the law, then they need to be held accountable."
Previously, Bharara's office issued subpoenas to Cuomo's economic development agency, to SUNY Polytechnic and to two Buffalo-area developers, LPCiminelli and McGuire Development.
SolarCity is the largest investment in the Buffalo Billion, which Poloncarz explained is a one billion dollar investment by New York State that is matched fivefold by the private sector. Poloncarz, while supporting the ongoing probe, is worried that it may create a negative impact on local economic development, including Buffalo Billion projects not under scrutiny.
"There's many other areas of the Buffalo Billion that have not even closely been related to the issues associated with the construction of the facility for SolarCity," he said. "I wouldn't want to see those negatively impacted, because I think everyone agrees that those are good projects moving forward. There's been no allegations of improprieties associated with contracts awarded to any of those."
