Resident urges Erie County to keep funding community programs and questions election vendor tied to $497,755 grant
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Summary
A public commenter asked county council to preserve funding for local community programs and raised reservations about using Dominion in connection with a $497,755 election-integrity grant that was listed for first read; council members did not vote and the grant remains at first read.
A resident told the Erie County Finance Committee she feared community programs could lose funding and questioned whether a pending election-integrity grant would fund equipment through Dominion.
"My name is Freda Tilburg, and I live in the city of Erie," she said during public comment. Tilburg urged support for Erie Black Wall Street, Pleasant Ridge, the DEI fund, summer jobs, MLK programs and community centers and said, "I don't know whether the money for the election integrity grant is for the new equipment, but I still have reservations about putting more money into Dominion, former dominion. I don't know if they're now a trustworthy organization or not." She added hopes "there's enough national oversight of them that they're trustful."
The clerk later read Order No. 2, a general-fund budget supplemental appropriation of $497,755 noted as additional grant revenue for a VA election-integrity program; staff said the item was on first read scheduled for 11/20. The committee did not take a final vote on the appropriation during the session and no mover or tally was recorded in the transcript.
Tilburg urged the council to consider overriding a veto she attributed to the outgoing county executive and to maintain investments in community programs, saying the initiatives "have made a big difference in the city." Committee members did not directly respond to Tilburg's request on the record during the session beyond noting the grant item was on the agenda.
Next steps: The $497,755 supplemental appropriation is listed as a first read; any council action beyond that would be recorded at a subsequent meeting.