The Erie County Legislature voted in favor of re-appointing Erie County Water Authority Commissioner Jerome Schad by a vote of 6-5 Thursday. Schad was censured by New York State in June 2018 “based on the historic issues with transparency and accountability at the Erie County Water Authority”.

Schad was one of two applications for the position who interviewed at the Legislature last week. As a result, the Minority Caucus and Tom Loughran introduced a resolution requesting a moratorium on voting to approve the position in order to collect more resumes. The resolution, which can be found here, failed by a 5-6 vote. The Buffalo Niagara Coalition for Open Government also asked for the Legislature to extend the deadline for applications and they also asked to broaden the search.

Legislator Joe Lorigo said, “This is an example of the Majority Caucus upholding the status quo and working to protect a party boss. The ABO report clearly outlines the need for reform at the water authority and removal of Schad as a result. We had an opportunity to appoint an industrial engineer with a track record of fighting for transparency.  Instead, the Majority kept the status quo and reappointed the only commissioner in the history of the Water Authority ever to be censured.  Today, the ratepayers were dealt a blow to transparency and accountability.”

Legislator Ed Rath said, “I am disappointed the majority of legislators do not support an extension on the process of appointing a commissioner. The ABO report gave us a roadmap for reform, and part of their guidelines were to remove Jerome Schad who was present at the time the report was conducted. We have seen a number of problems with patronage at the water authority and it’s time we seek to appoint new members who will work toward accountability.”

Legislator Lynne Dixon said, “As the ABO report points out, there are a number of problems that exist within the Erie County Water Authority. First and foremost, I believe it is important that we remove the politics from the authority if we are serious about reform. Instead of reappointing the same commissioner who was censured by New York State, our resolution sought to broaden the search for a commissioner who could bring about positive change as necessary.”