Here in lies the reason no one really wants to run for congress to replace Reynolds. Why spend so much time, effort and money when your job may only last one term. Problem is the rest of government around here continues to grow costing the ones that remain more.

Still bleeding
Latest Census look at population loss does not bode well for region’s future

Erie County’s continued population loss is more than just a numbers game, it is a financial game that this area is losing.

New population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau indicate that last year the county is believed to have lost 5,001 residents. That’s a continuation of a long slide as this area continues to lose population — and especially younger residents. An aging demographic, in addition to the overall population loss, is a sign of a regional decline in jobs and opportunity.

Just as Kathryn A. Foster, director of the Regional Institute at the University at Buffalo, pointed out to a News reporter, the state’s lower-than-average population growth — if borne out by the actual count of the 2010 Census — means New York could lose out to boom states on population-based federal financial aid and congressional representation. A struggling economy cannot afford, or sustain, any loss in public funding, or the legislative representation that might direct more money to vital project investments in restoring this region and reversing the trends.

Granted, the latest population numbers are still estimates based upon earlier estimates. There is the possibility of error. But what is especially troubling is the fact that Erie County had deeper losses than other New York State counties presumably facing the same possibilities of undercutting error. Only Albany County had an estimated net population gain since 2000, and the losses in every other county were smaller than the loss here.

Erie County’s population has fallen by 3.9 percent, from 950,265 to 913,338, and no county in the state lost more people over those seven years than the 36,927 who left this area. Not even Niagara County.

Even the unofficial results are startling. Newly sworn-in Gov. David A. Paterson, who verbally committed to maintaining his predecessor’s dedication to upstate and the Western New York economy, should keep a copy of these falling numbers. Revitalizing upstate remains a vital and urgent state project. Otherwise, the drain of population to high-growth areas in the country, including the Southwest, will hurt all of New York.