Chris Collins is the county executive of Erie County—and there’s talk that some day down the road he might run for governor. Right now he says he is backing Rudy Giuliani who has yet to announce his intention to run.

Collins was elected in 2007 with one line on the ballot (Republican) in a county while his opponent had four lines and outspent him  three to one. He got 64 percent of the vote. The first thing he did when he took office was fire 21 of the county’s 25 commissioners.

He took away 250 cell phones and Blackberrys from public employees. Only five commissioners are allowed to have take-home cars.

Collins himself, drives his own Buick. He pays for his own gas. Evidently, he doesn’t  believe he needs bodyguard protection like Westchester County Executive You-Know-Who. His cell phone is his own.

He has two people in his office who handle media relations. You-know-Who has six.

Erie County has one million residents, close to the population of Westchester. But Westchester’s budget of $1.8 billion is abou twice the size of Erie.

Collins’ credo is run government like it’s a business, which he claims he has done with success. His slogan is lead by example.

Rob Astorino, who is running against Westchester County incumbent You-Know-Who seems to be holding Collins and his accomplishments in Erie County up as a model to follow. That may sound like a stretch because Erie is way out in the western New York  rust-belt and has been in economic decline for quite some time. When Collins took over the reins of government, there really was nowhere for Erie to go but up.

Nevertheless, Astorino earlier today introduced Collins to a round table of Westchester business leaders in White Plains, touting him as a rare example of a political leader who is succeeding in an uphill battle to streamline government.

Clearly, Astorino sees hope in Collins’s underdog election victory. But whether or not that can translate into a similar upset over the entrenched and very well-heeled Andy Spano, aka You-Kow-Who, remains to be seen.

In any case, the race in Westchester seems to be tightenting. An indicator of just how tight it’s getting is evidenced by the increasing level of nastiness. If Spano was genuinely secure, it’s doubtful he would release a mailing that attacks Astorino’s pro-life stance—and Spano did just that.

Collins talked at length about his efforts to reel in Erie’s public unions, with whom he said he has fought “tooth and nail.” Astorino may not be as successful in that area, but he has pledged that he will require all non-union employees to pay for health care.

In a brief interview following  the round table, which included leaders from the Business Council of Westchester and the Westchester County Association, Collins said that he managed under  a “limit test of what government should do and shouldn’t do.”

For instance, he’d unload Playland Amusement Park, which annually operates in the red.

“Absolutely, in a heart beat.” he said. “It’s not government’s role, I don’t believe, to do that type of thing—especially if it’s not making money. If it’s making money, that’s a whole different discussion  about quality of life and so forth.”

Astorino chimed in that 65 percent of Playland’s patrons are from outside Westchester, “So you have a minimum of $5 million taxpayer subsidy” for 35 percent of the population,” he said.