The question of who will be Monroe County’s next Public Defender could be headed to court after a special meeting Tuesday evening of the Monroe County Legislature.
Sixteen of the 29 legislators made the special meeting which was called by a majority of legislature members the day before. Fifteen of them voted to name Julie Cianca the county’s public defender. But not so fast. Republicans on the legislature say the meeting was illegal.
The legislature has been divided over this issue and there has been no PD since January. Most of the Democrats on the legislature favor Cianca, who was a staff attorney in the public defender’s office. Republicans and Democratic Legislature President Sabrina LaMar favor Buffalo Defense Attorney Robert Fogg, LaMar’s personal choice. He would be the first Black public defender named in Monroe County.
Legislators voted back in September to send the issue to their Public Safety Committee. But that committee, controlled by Republicans, voted down Cianca and supported Fogg. The legislature then refused to vote for Fogg, as the parties split over his appointment. Things have been at a stalemate since.
Leg President Sabrina LaMar sent a letter Tuesday to the leader of the Democratic Caucus, Yversha Roman, telling her the legislature’s parliamentarian had ruled the special meeting invalid. She said it contained agenda items in violation of the rules of the legislature, since the Public Safety Committee had rejected Cianca’s nomination. Most of her letter consisted of legal precedents for why that was the case.
Democrat and Chronicle Reporter Gary Craig Tweeted that this could “end up with a question of who is willing to go to court.”