Republican Brian Shank re-elected chairman of Erie County Council

Republican Brian Shank was re-elected chairman of Erie County Council on Tuesday, raising concerns among Democratic members that partisan fights — and the blurring of lines between council and the Erie County Executive Brenton Davis administration — will continue.

Shank, who represents Erie County's 5th district, which covers Greene, Harborcreek, North East and Summit townships, was re-elected in a 4-3 vote. Shank, along with fellow Republican members Charlie Bayle and Ellen Schauerman, and swing voter Democrat Jim Winarski, voted in his favor.

Council members Mary Rennie, Andre Horton and Terry Scutella, all Democrats, voted against him.

Shank, who becomes the first council member to serve back-to-back terms as chairman since Joy Greco in the mid-1990s, according to County Clerk Julie Slomski, said it was a "privilege" to serve again as chairman.

"When peers vote for you to be the chairman, that is their way of saying, 'Hey, we appreciate you,'" Shank told the Erie Times-News after the vote. "I wish it had been 7-0 but unfortunately that doesn't always happen. And you know, in the world that we live in, it's a 4-0 and that's what it takes."

Rennie, who represents Erie County's 3rd district, which covers parts of the city of Erie and Millcreek Township, was unanimously re-elected vice chairwoman. A vote to make her chairwoman fell short when Shank, Bayle, Schauerman and Winarski voted against her.

Rennie said she is committed to make council a check on executive power and a law-abiding body.

"It's a new year but priorities really don't change," she said. "We vote on many different things on County Council and some of the things I suppose could be seen as partisan. But there are certain things that are never partisan. Good government is never partisan. Operating by the rules is not partisan. This is a year that we will be supporting authoritative government, legal government, operating by the rules and good government."

'This year is going to be very, very partisan'

Rennie and Horton have each called out Shank for having what they say is a closer working relationship with the Davis administration than with council and for changing positions to align more with the county executive's.

Shank previously voted in favor of funding the Savocchio Park project, the nonprofit MECA and the Erie County Gaming Revenue Authority's Building a Better Future Program. When Davis vetoed all three budget items in December, Shank changed his positions and voted against overriding the vetoes.

Shank defended his changing positions in a recent interview with the Times-News, saying "We are not robots and we're not computers. We are people. We have feelings. We look and read and investigate and we make decisions based on that."

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Shank has also sided with Davis on legally questionable actions, including the removal of board members from the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Commission; the use of American Rescue Plan funds toward Project Resolve; and vetoing items that would add or restore funds that council already cut from the adopted 2023 budget.

While Davis and County Solicitor Bill Speros have said these actions were in accordance with the law, council members like Rennie and Horton — as well as Council Solicitor Tom Talarico — continue to voice their doubts.

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"Speaking as the longest-serving member of council and watching our traditions and the rule of order be stripped away one-by-one in last year's administration — and in the end, it just seemed like our colleagues had marching orders — I just want to acknowledge that this year is going to be very, very partisan, which is very disheartening," Horton said.

Horton called on the public to hold council members to a higher standard and to ensure their votes are representative of their constituents' needs.

Council, Davis disagree over vetoes:County Council, Davis officials disagree over budget veto process, setting up potential legal showdown

Shank, who pushed back on the claim that he's "in the back pocket" of Davis, called for teamwork among council members in the coming year.

"I want 7-0 (votes)," he told the Times-News. "That's what we truly love because we all agree. But unfortunately, that doesn't happen. We have a lot of big projects coming up and we're going to need a lot of teamwork to get through those."

A.J. Rao can be reached at arao@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNRao.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Republican Brian Shank re-elected Erie County Council chairman