BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz responded to multiple issues 7 News has been requesting interviews for. He spoke with reporters following a news conference in front of the Rath Building on Tuesday.
With the school year getting underway this week in Western New York, Sweet Home and Maryvale schools are welcoming children from families seeking asylum. Poloncarz said schools will have additional ENL teachers for students and added this was an all-hands-on-deck effort.
"Everyone worked very hard to ensure the resources were there and everyone could handle it," he said.
In response to the current asylum seeker situation in Western New York, Poloncarz said that this is not a county issue, but a national one. He said he has been speaking with staff from the White House and was given assurance that President Joe Biden's administration is working on a plan to assist.
In Cheektowaga, a lawsuit looms over what will happen with the three hotels housing asylum seekers. The town is seeking special use permits from the hotels in order to be in compliance with the town code and allow the asylum seekers to remain. Poloncarz said his office is monitoring this situation. 7 News' Kristen Mirand asked Poloncarz about this.
"We're very worried that if Cheektowaga won its lawsuit, theoretically these people will be homeless," he said, "We'd have to figure out a plan but right now I'm hopeful Cheektowaga and DocGo will be able to resolve this."
The county executive also addressed two recent accusations against him.
In August, Poloncarz was named in a Buffalo Police report about a domestic dispute.
SEE: Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz allegedly involved in domestic dispute
Days later, the Erie County Comptroller's Office shared a memo stating an email was recently sent to the office, alleging a county committee, chaired by Poloncarz, improperly awarded a $60,000 grant to the Italian Cultural Center in North Buffalo. The story was first reported Thursday by the Buffalo News.
SEE ALSO: Complaint claims Poloncarz improperly gave $60K to Italian Cultural Center
According to the news, the woman said the grant was inappropriate because Poloncarz was in a relationship with the leader of that cultural group.
"In regards to the grant, it was a very long process. If you talk to any of the organizations that apply for grants it's a very intense process," Poloncarz said, "I'm disappointed these accusations were made because there's no merit to it."
