QUEENSBURY---Earlier this month, Nathan "Bud" York (left) of Warrensburg, a 30-year veteran of the New York State Police, announced his candidacy for the office of Warren County Sheriff, challenging incumbent Larry Cleveland (right) of Queensbury, a Warrensburg native, who is seeking his third term.

York retired from the State Police on Feb. 21. His last position was senior investigator of the Bureau of Criminal Investigation. supervisor in charge of all major criminal investigations for the State Police in Warren County from his Queensbury office.

York unveiled his website this past week, outlining his campaign platform which includes fiscal accountability, the elimination of unnecessary management personnel in the sheriff's department and pledging more integration and cooperative efforts between the sheriff's department and state police. http://www.budyorkforsheriff.com/index.cfm

In advocating elimination of wasteful spending and fiscal accountability, York points out that the under Cleveland's administration, the sheriff's total budget has increased 91% in seven years. Personnel services have increased 95% and he questions if Warren County really needs monogrammed chairs for the 911 center.

York notes that from December 2000 through December 2006, Cleveland transferred $806,400 from his unused budgeted monies to a capital projects fund account rather than returning the surplus back to the taxpayers and the general fund. The capital projects fund can only be used by Cleveland and the sheriff's department and has been in existence since 1985, York says. Presently, Cleveland's slush fund contains $351,327 of tax dollars.

Under Cleveland's administration, he has created numerous lieutenant positions and has increased the number of sergeants in the patrol and investigative divisions to 12. Cleveland just recently created a new lieutenant's position in the investigative division that had historically, for the past eight years, been handled by a sergeant. This creation of a new management title, coincidentally to the husband of the receptionist who handles calls for the self-storage business owned by Cleveland and Major John Shine, resulted in an additional annual cost of approximately $14,0000 at the present contractual agreements.

In addressing the issue of long-existing gender discrimination in the sheriff's department, York notes that two females in the Warren County Corrections Department have filed complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against Sheriff Cleveland for a number of equal employment violations related to Cleveland's failure to promote them after they had passed numerous promotional exams. No females have held any positions of authority during the present Sheriff's tenure, York says, and notes that as a result of the EEOC complaint, one female was just recently promoted. The matter is still pending in the negotiation stage with a possible trial date to be set if the county does not settle with the aggrieved parties.

York advocates that if he is elected sheriff, he will end preferential promotional practices within the department under Cleveland's administration. Cleveland has promoted John Shine, his business partner and good friend to the number three position in the department, allowing only him to take the promotional exam. Cleveland changed the qualifications for that particular promotion twice which made Shine the only one eligible to take the exam after he flunked the first exam. York says this practice is unfair to other department members and exhibits poor leadership.

Public safety must be prioritized, York says, an investigator since 1988. He says mistakes were made during the Ethan Allen investigation, the tour boat that capsized on Lake George in October 2005, resulting in the deaths of 20 people.

"There is a serious morale problem at the department that is extremely detrimental to its members and in turn to the public safety, York says. "Many of the problems are a direct result of the present leadership".

York says that the Sheriff's unwillingness to permit qualified people to handle the Ethan Allen tragedy caused a great deal of embarrassment to the members of the department. "The officers of the sheriff's department strongly disagreed with the sheriff when he stated to the national news media that he did not have reasonable grounds to require the boat captain (Richard Paris, retired state trooper and long time friend of Cleveland's) to submit to a chemical test. Conversely, they knew that Article 49B(2) of the Navigation Law gave him the authority", York says. "They further believed that if the Sheriff thought he did not have the authority to require a sobriety test then why did he not ask the captain to voluntarily submit to the test so that it could not be brought up later as a possible cause of the accident".

"He blew in my face" is not an accepted test for intoxication", York says. "When 20 people died in an accident, it is basic police 'investigation 101' that you test the operator of the vehicle or vessel. His poor leadership has caused more questions than answers to this tragic event".

York says he would integrate the State Police and sheriff's road patrol to enhance coverage in the county. "If the two major police agencies in the county worked more as a team than as competitors, less money would be spent from the county budget to protect and serve its citizens", York points out.

A sheriff must promote safety over politics, York says. "When there is a major investigation or event happening in the county, all police entities should be apprised so there is not an officer safety or public safety issue. It should not matter who controls the investigation as long as it gets professionally investigated".

"I believe the Warren County Sheriffs office is spending more taxpayer dollars than is necessary", York continues. "When the present sheriff took office in 2000, his budget was approximately $6.9 million. His 2007 budget totals approximately $13.3 million. This is a 91% budget increase!"

York has said that if he's elected, he will appoint Robert Swan of Chestertown as undersheriff. Swan retired from the sheriff's department in 2004 as investigative sergeant and now works as a part-time investigator for the Warren County District Attorney's office. York says Swan will be "invaluable helping the department to transition into new leadership that fosters a spirit of cooperation with all police entities, including parole officers and Federal law enforcement as well".

As the campaign progresses, York says he will post updated news and information about his campaign on his website. 3-25-07

© 2007 North Country Gazette