Community groups ask Erie County to add line items for DiverseErie and Erie Black Wall Street in 2026 budget
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Summary
At a 2026 budget hearing, DiverseErie and Erie Black Wall Street representatives asked the Erie County Council for multi-year investments, citing economic impact, job creation and increases in homeownership; commenters also demanded earlier publication of budget action sheets for transparency.
Representatives from the Erie County Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Commission (DiverseErie) and Erie Black Wall Street urged the Erie County Council at a public hearing to include distinct line items in the 2026 budget to sustain and expand their work.
Gary Lee, introduced himself as chief administrative officer for the Erie County Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Commission (DiverseErie). He asked the council to consider a line-item investment for DiverseErie and described earlier public-sector investments and program outcomes: he said the commission received a $3,500,000 initial investment over four years and asserted it produced a $5,700,000 economic impact, supported 32 jobs, returned $195,000 in local taxes and yielded "a dollar 63 for every dollar reinvested" (reported as a 63% return). Lee also said DiverseErie helped seed a $1,500,000 small-business fund by contributing a $500,000 investment matched by county redevelopment and gaming revenue authorities and a community foundation.
Dr. Rhonda Matthews, associate director of Erie Black Wall Street, asked the council to revisit the group's funding request and sought a five-year investment totaling $5,500,000 (described as $1.1 million annually). Matthews cited program outcomes, saying the organization helped create 15 new homeowners since 2021 — described as roughly $2.2 million in home purchases countywide — and asserted the group's flagship Pathway to Homeownership program raised Black homeownership in Erie County from 1.9% to 5.5%.
Public commenters also pressed the council for better access to budget "action sheets" — detailed change lists that residents said are necessary to comment meaningfully on proposed line-item changes. Art Leopold and Freda Teffern asked the council to release these documents before deliberations; council members and staff responded that action sheets are a working, fluid document that can change during deliberations and may therefore be difficult to circulate in a finalized form before votes.
The hearing also included a request from Marcus Jacobs of Wesleyville for county greenways funds for a borough project; council members noted legal questions about using those funds.
This account is based on public comments recorded during the Erie County Council’s 2026 budget public hearing (see provenance).
