The problem with transparency if you are an elected official is that, when your right to claim it is diminished, anything else you say or do might be subject to greater scrutiny. Erie County Sheriff John Garcia’s handling of his Narcotics Chief D.J. Granville accidents left more questions than answers. Now there is a new issue: the case of the missing oath card.
We have a thing about such matters in these here United States. When someone is elected to public office our federal and state constitutions and a variety of individual laws specifically spell out the requirements that those officials must swear allegiance to. The actual words and schedule for when the oath must be taken are dictated in law. In many cases we expect to see the oath-taking in public.
John Garcia was re-elected as Erie County Sheriff last November for a term which began on January 1. State law required him to sign an oath card and file it with the Erie County Clerk’s office by the end of January. Garcia’s spokesman says that the Sheriff took the oath on January 5th and sent it through interoffice mail to the Clerk’s office. The Clerk’s office has no record of the filing. Garcia’s oath of office finally appeared on the Clerk’s website on April 23. The same claim of filing in January but not having it on the Clerk’s website until last week applies to Undersheriff Bill Cooley.
Unfortunately, there is no way to conclusively determine what happened or did not happen with the sheriff and undersheriff’s oath cards they say were filed in January. Since the consequences of not filing an oath card include vacating the office that someone has been elected to, most elected officials go out of their way to make sure such documents are hand-delivered.
There is a provision in the state’s County Law which exempts sheriffs from the possibility of losing their offices for failure to file the oath. That exemption does not apply to undersheriffs, so the consequences for Mr. Cooley are not clear. Here is what the law says:
“Until the sheriff, county clerk or district attorney shall take and file the required oath, he shall not perform any duties of the office, nor be entitled to any compensation.”
That seems to leave in question the official actions of the sheriff and undersheriff between January 1 and April 23, while prohibiting compensation. The lawyers will need to figure that out.
More on oaths
State law provides an alternative process for oath filing for most town officials. The standard procedure is to file oaths of office with the town clerk.
There is, however, an exception to that procedure. Town justices, upon assuming office, are required to file their oaths of office with the county clerk. In the 2025 elections in Erie County nine town justices were elected. Eight of those officeholders filed their oaths of office with the County Clerk. The town justice elected in the Town of Brant, Chad Kaczmarek, did not file his oath with the Clerk’s office; he filed with the Clerk after two previous elections. That may be a matter for the state’s Office of Court Administration to resolve.
Some town officers took the extra step of filing with the town clerk and the county clerk. There were 14 town supervisors elected in Erie County last year. Only one, Shawn Lavin from Amherst, filed with both the town and county clerks.
Gold stars go to the Town of Newstead, where all four town officers elected in November filed with the County Clerk.
It might help with these matters if the County Clerk’s office took a more proactive role in this process. A letter to all appropriate elected officials after annual elections advising them of their responsibilities would help make sure that the law is followed.
One more question, if a story develops in county or local government that might affect an officeholder retaining his/her job, why wouldn’t the Buffalo News report on it? Investigative Post’s Geoff Kelly broke this story last Monday evening. Ch. 7’s Michael Wooten interviewed Kelly. A week later, not a word about the story has appeared in the News.
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An important upcoming event
Investigative Post Editor Jim Heaney will interview John Kaehny, co-founder and executive director of Reinvent Albany, one of the state’s leading reform advocates. Buffalo is considering revising its city charter to promote more efficient government and Kaehny will offer his take on how charter revisions in other cities have played out. An astute observer of state government, he’ll also explain how Albany too often works to benefit donors and special interest groups and what can be done about it.
The program will take place at Big Ditch Brewing, 55 E Huron St., Buffalo, on Thursday, April 30, at 7 p.m. Price is $10, which includes a free beer ticket.
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The state budget
As often happens, the state’s 2026-2027 budget, due on April 1, is late again. Among those left hanging now are municipalities who seek and count on the continuation or expansion of state aid. John Kaehny might have something to say about it at Investigative Post’s program on Thursday.
Here is Albany-area Assembly member Phil Steck’s observation on the subject:
“Rather than funding overall improvement in our infrastructure, the state has opted for ‘The Hunger Games’ grant-based programs where municipalities compete for scarce dollars for these projects, keeping with the general philosophy of the New York state budget as a giant amalgam of partially funded programs that do not meet the need but are used to convince the public that we are working on the problem.”
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