Patrick Swanson is sworn in as Chautauqua County District Attorney during a ceremony on Jan. 1, 2017 in Mayville. (Image courtesy of Norman Green, Chautauqua County Democratic Party Chair)

MAYVILLE – Patrick Swanson (D-Fredonia) is now officially the district attorney for Chautauqua County. Swanson, who won a special election in November against Jason Schmidt (R-Fredonia), was sworn in as Chautauqua County DA on Sunday, Jan. 1 at the Mayville Courthouse by former DA and current County Court Judge David Foley. Swanson will finish the remainder of the DA’s term, which concludes at the end of this year.

Also sworn in on Sunday was Michael Sullivan (R-Fredonia), who will serve as Family Court Judge of Chautauqua County, finishing the term of retired judge Judith Claire. Swanson defeated Sally Jaroszynski (D-Falconer) in a special election in November.

Michael Sullivan

MAYVILLE – Fredonia area attorney Michael Sullivan has won the Republican primary for Chautauqua County Family Court Judge.

According to the Chautauqua County Board of Elections, Sullivan brought in nearly 1,355 votes, compared to the 958 votes received by the other candidate, Sherry Bjork of Frewsburg.

Republican voter turnout was about 10 percent of the total number of registered party members in Chautauqua County.

Sullivan was also the endorsed candidate by the Chautauqua County Republican Committee. He will square off against Democrat Sally Jaroszynski in the Nov. 8 election.

In the Reform party primary, Jarosyznski was the winner of Sullivan.

The race for Chautauqua County Family Court Judge is a special election, due to the recent retirement of  judge Judith Claire.

Sally Jaroszynski

MAYVILLE – The Democratic Nominee for Chautauqua County Family Court Judge has received an unfavorable rating for a local judicial commission – despite the fact that she received a favorable rating just two years earlier.

The Jamestown Post-Journal is reporting today that the Independent Judicial Election Qualification Commission has given Family Court Judge candidate Sally Jaroszynski an unqualified rating.  In 2014, when Jaroszynski ran for a newly created family court seat, she received a qualified rating.

The ratings from the commission are only given upon request from a candidate. When given a rating, the commission has the option of rating a candidate as highly qualified, qualified or not qualified.

FAILED TO DETECT EMBEZZLEMENT BY FORMER COURT CLERK

Jaroszynski is a local attorney who’s practiced law in family court for 25 years and also currently serves as justice for the Ellicott Town Court. She also served as one of the two Ellicott Town Justices between 2011 and 2015, when former court clerk Jennifer Piazza was found to have taken more than $34,000 in cash.

An audit from the office of State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, released in 2015, stated that both town justices “did not segregate the duties of the full-time Court clerk, who controlled all phases of the Court’s cash collection, recording and reporting process with minimal oversight. As a result, the full-time Court clerk was able to manipulate Court records and admitted to embezzling funds. Neither the Justices nor the Court clerks performed monthly accountabilities, and the Board did not consistently conduct, or retain anyone to conduct, the required annual audit of the Justices’ records.”

It’s not known if the audit from the state comptroller’s office played a role in the commission’s unqualified rating.

Jaroszynki is running against Fredonia area attorney Michael Sullivan and Sherry Bjork – who will square off in a Republican party primary next week.

The current race for Family Court Judge comes after Judith Claire retired from the bench in June.

In 2014 Jaroszynski unsuccessfully ran for the newly created second family court judge seat, losing to judge Jeffrey Piazza in the 2014 November election.

Several Republican candidate were in Lakewood Tuesday to open the party’s official 2016 election headquarters for Southern Chautauqua County. (Photo courtesy of Tom Reed for Congress)

LAKEWOOD – Congressman Tom Reed (R-Corning, NY 23) was one of several Republicans who showed up in Lakewood Tuesday night to help open the 2016 Election Headquarters for local GOP candidates. Reed was on hand to thank supporters in the area and acknowledge the fact that the county has the highest number of residents compared to any of the other ten counties in the 23rd district.

Congressman Tom Reed (R-Corning, NY 23) talks with a constituent during the opening of the Chautauqua County Republican Party’s 2016 Election Headquarters in Lakewood, NY.

“Chautauqua County is home to more than 130,000 people. I am proud to bring their voices to Washington because I truly care about these families,” said Reed. “We need to fight for fair policies to bring more jobs home to Western New York–I’m dedicated to you and your family.”

Besides Reed, other Republicans running for office in 2016 include incumbent State Senator Cathy Young (R-Olean, 57th District), and incumbent State Assemblyman Andy Goodell (R-Chautauqua, 150th District).

There will also be two special elections for two county-wide offices. Republican Mike Sullivan (Fredonia) is running for the Chautauqua County Family Court Judge seat that opened with the retirement of Judge Judith Claire. And Republican attorney Jason Schmidt (Fredonia) is running for District Attorney in a seat that was vacated when former DA David Foley left his post to become Chautauqua County Court Judge.

Chautauqua County Republican Committee Chairman Al Hendrickson says that he thinks the GOP will carry a very strong ticket in the 2016 Election.

“We couldn’t have a better team with Congressman Reed, Senator Young, Assemblyman Goodell, and County Executive Vince Horrigan – who’s obviously not running but he’s part of the team,” Hendrickson said. “As far as the location of the headquarters goes, it’s a great location. Convenient parking for anyone who wants to stop by. I’m happy with it.”

In addition, there is also a state-wide office up for election, with Republican Wendy Long (New York City) challenging U.S. Senator Charles Schumer (D-New York City) in his reelection bid for a fourth consecutive term in the upper chamber.

Several other town and village races are set to take place across the county, with a complete list of offices available at the Chautauqua County Board of Elections website.

Campaign sings for all candidates can be picked up at the GOP headquarters, which is located at 119 Chautauqua Ave. in Lakewood, N.Y.

Meanwhile the Democratic Party in Chautauqua County has yet to open a campaign headquarters in Southern Chautauqua County. However, Democratic candidate John Plumb, who’s challenging Tom Reed for the 23rd Congressional District, does have his campaign headquarters in Jamestown, where he was born and not far from his hometown of Randolph, NY.

His campaign spokesman says that anyone wishing for a campaign sign or to assist with the campaign can do so by visiting JohnPlumbforCongress.com, or follow the campaign on Facebook and Twitter.

Chautauqua County Family Court Judge Judith Claire

MAYVILLE – Chautauqua County Family Court Judge Judith Claire will be retiring from the bench later this year.

According to a report in the Jamestown Post-Journal, Judge Clair will close her 18 years on the bench on June 16. However, she will reportedly work to continue offering assistance to local families by continuing her work with trauma-informed care.

Claire will also continue to serve on the New York State Family Court Advisory and Rules Committee as well as trustee on the board for Chautauqua Institution.

Before becoming the county’s family court judge in 1998, Claire worked for the New York State Health Planning Commission, the Mental Health Information Service Appellate Division, and for 20 years in her private practice conducting trial work and spending much time in family court.

Young said negotiating the bill between the Senate and Assembly was arduous because assembly members from New York City were pushing to take judgeships slotted for upstate and have them go downstate instead. She credited area assemblyman Andy Goodell for his work in the assembly in fighting to keep the position from being eliminated in Chautauqua County and moved downstate.

Resources for the new pool of judgeships was included in the 2014-15 state budget. According to Senator Young, the limited number of Family Court judges available in Chautauqua County and across the state has impeded cases being heard and resolved in a timely manner.

Over 30 years spanning from 1983 to 2013, the number of Family Court filings in New York State increased from 366,644 to 690,928, while the number of judgeships increased from only 127 to 149.

Chautauqua County Family Court makes legal decisions regarding abused or neglected children, adoption, custody, domestic violence, foster care, juvenile delinquency, child and spousal support, and paternity. Currently, Judge Judith Claire is the only regular Family Court judge in the county.

Chautauqua County’s new judge will be elected in this November’s general election. Ballot petitioning for candidates will begin on July 11 and petitions must be filed with the county Board of Elections between July 21 and July 24. Petitions must be signed by either 350 registered voters enrolled in the party being petitioned, or by 1.75 percent of active enrolled voters of the party, whichever is less.

The Chautauqua Connections Children’s Coalition is a partnership composed of three organizations dedicated to the health of local children: Chautauqua Connections, Inc., the Chautauqua County Early Intervention Program and Chautauqua Tapestry.

The coalition’s mission is to create partnerships and foster communication to better support the social, physical, developmental and behavioral health needs of children from birth to 5 years of age. The keynote speaker will be Chautauqua County Family Court Judge Judith Claire. Vickie Rubin, who is the manager of the Early Childhood Direction Center of Western New York, and Susan Barlow, the executive director of Parent Network of WNY, will give a presentation on the benefits of successful collaboration. The forum is free to attend, and lunch will be provided at no charge.

For more information about the Chautauqua Connections Children’s Coalition or to register to attend the forum, contact Patrick Smeraldo at 499-4065 or at patricksmeraldo@gmail.com.