Residents raise property assessment, voter-registration and immigrant-protection concerns during public comment

During the Jan. 28 public-comment period, several residents addressed the Erie County Council on a range of local concerns, primarily property assessments, upcoming petition circulation and protections for immigrants.

Why it matters: Public-comment remarks flag local grievances and civic priorities that can shape council follow-up, budget discussions and commission work.

Property assessments: A resident identified in the transcript as Mister Civetti pressed the council on property assessments, saying the county has gone about 10–11 years without a re-assessment and arguing that appeals procedures were unfair. He said: "10 years. Now we're going on 11 years since there was an assessment." He criticized the appeals process and the costs of challenging assessments, characterizing the situation as "taxation as far as I'm concerned without representation." Civetti asked the council to move faster on conducting an assessment.

Voter registration and petition circulation: Bridal Teffern (transcript spelling) urged residents to register and to join political parties if they want to participate in primary petition circulation beginning Feb. 18. He said: "February 18th is the beginning of petition circulation. We're gonna be electing county executive, a mayor of city of Erie, Erie City Council, Erie School Board... If you want a voice in the primary, you need to be registered in a political party." He also urged the council to continue legal challenges to the executive over the 2025 budget.

Immigrant protections and human-relations complaints: Teffern also implored law-enforcement offices not to cooperate with ICE or CPB in the absence of appropriate warrants and asked the Human Relations Commission to stand up for immigrants and for protections related to diversity, equity and inclusion. He said: "I am hoping that our sheriffs and our city and township police people do not, in any way cooperate with ICE or CPB... We need to stick up for our immigrants whether they are fully documented or not." He encouraged use of the Human Relations Commission complaint process.

Support for vulnerable populations and local economic development: Art Leopold urged the council to focus local resources on vulnerable populations, arguing that federal assistance may decline and that local governments must act. He said local action is needed "because the federal government is not going to be our help." Phil English, speaking as a candidate and a proponent of local economic development, asked the council to consider him for the Redevelopment Authority and described the authority's role in attracting investment.

Tax-collector compensation: A speaker identified as Bill, representing the Erie County Tax Collectors Association and a tax collector, asked the council to set compensation for elected tax collectors for the next four years and said the association's recommendations would appear on the finance agenda on Feb. 4.

Public-comment procedure: Speakers were given five-minute allotments; the record shows multiple citizens used the public-comment period to raise these issues prior to the council's business agenda.

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