Originally Posted - November 5, 2005

return home

The newspapers were filled this week with news of the upcoming election on Tuesday, Nov. 8.

Pictures of the candidates were displayed along with their biographies, their political afflilation, issues, political promises.

As we scanned the blurbs, we were particularly interested in the occupations and educational backgrounds of the candidates.

A farmer, corrections officer, lots of self-employment, retirees, salesmen, employees of the service industry.

And then we saw "purchasing coordinator for Washington County".

Whoa. Up came a red flag.

Robert Buck Jr. is seeking his third four-year term as Argyle town justice while employed as the purchasing coordinator for a county agency.

Isn't that a violation of the Hatch Act? Should town justices be in violation of the law while sitting in judgment of others? Do black robes and gavels give individuals the right to be above the law?

That's a major concern of ours…..those individuals wearing those black robes, who have the power to take away your liberty and forever change your life while playing part-time town justice, aren't obeying the law themselves. They don't even have to be attorneys and as the survey undertaken by the NYS Oaths Project showed, the majority of town and village justices in the New York State aren't even legally in office because they violated the Uniform Justice Court Act and Public Officers Law, failing to file their oath of office and bond.

In the case of Buck, the Oaths Project survey indicated that he's not even legally in office for the current term as he vacated the office ipso facto for failing to file both his oath and undertaking within 30 days of the commencement of his term. Belated filings aren't acceptable. http://www.trt-ny.org/Washington_Countyfoil_request.htm

And on top of that, it appears that Buck is in violation of the federal Hatch Act. Shouldn't a judge know the laws and comply with them? Shouldn't the public have a right to hold a judge to high standards at all levels of the justice system?

The Hatch Act applies to executive branch state and local employees who are principally employed in connection with programs financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States or a federal agency. The political subdivision of Washington County government definitely receives both federal and state funding and as purchasing coordinator for the county, it would appear that Buck has control over the expenditure of some of these funds and perhaps his own job is dependent on such funding.

The U.S. Office of Special Counsel enforces the Hatch Act and if a covered individual knowingly seeks partisan office in violation of the Hatch Act, he is subject to criminal penalties and the municipality or political subdivision which employs him must either remove the employee or forfeit a portion of the federal assistance equal to two years salary of the employee.

OSC clearly states that the Hatch Act (5 U.S.C. §§ 1501 - 1508) restricts the political activity of individuals principally employed by state, county, or municipal executive agencies in connection with programs financed in whole or in part by loans or grants made by the United States or a federal agency. An employee covered by the Act may not be a candidate for public office in a partisan election, i.e., an election in which any candidate represents, for example, the Republican or Democratic party. http://www.osc.gov/hatchact.htm

Covered state and local employees may not be candidates for public office in a partisan election, especially the office of town justice; use official authority or influence to interfere with or affect the results of an election or nomination, or directly or indirectly coerce contributions from subordinates in support of a political party or candidate.

Mr. Buck is seeking reelection as a Republican. That's partisan. He is employed by a county agency that receives federal and state funding. Not only has he apparently been masquerading as town justice in Argyle, in violation of the law, but he's been acting Hudson Falls village justice. Why Hudson Falls can't find a person who resides within the village to serve as their "acting" justice is unknown. Perhaps Mr. Buck is also in violation of Public Officers Law Section 3 which requires that a public officer live within the political subdivision where he is serving and from which he is paid.

Town justices should possess the utmost integrity---they can't be allowed to sit on their throne in their black dress and dictate to others when they are not only in violation of the law and don't have legal title to the office, but are actually engaging in criminal conduct by doing so and taking taxpayers money in a salary to which they are not legally entitled.

For these individuals who are sitting in judgment of others to claim ignorance of the Hatch Act and of the provisions for the filing of their oath and bond is wholly unacceptable. Ignorance of the law is no excuse, especially for a person who claims a judicial office.

Let's not forget that up in Essex County, the county attorney, Richard Meyer is destined to be the new Essex County Court judge but it was determined that he had violated the Hatch Act to seek the political office while in employment as the county attorney.

Ho hum, Mr. Meyer seems to have said as well as the Essex County Board of Supervisors. It was either ignorance on the part of Mr. Meyer or a deliberate violation of law. Either way, it's troubling and Meyer is not deserving of the public trust.

In our opinion, neither is Robert Buck. There have been far too many violations of the Hatch Act in the northern New York area that have come to light. How many others have gone unenforced?

If our justice system is to be trusted and maintain a high degree of integrity, we can't have a society of black robed lawbreakers holding court. 11-5-05

© 2005 North Country Gazette