Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - While the major race on the ballot this November is the one for the White House in Washington, D.C., perhaps the most notable race locally this Election Day will be the one for Erie County District Attorney between Acting District Attorney Michael Keane (D) and his opponent James Gardner (R).
Thursday was a chance for both candidates for District Attorney to speak on a number of hot button topics in Erie County in the 40th annual St. Joseph's Collegiate Institute Political Debate on Kenmore Avenue in Buffalo.
For more than an hour, Keane and Gardner were asked questions of the students at St. Joe's on a number of local issues, and how each candidate would potentially address the issues in office as District Attorney.
Among some of the notable topics on the docket during Thursday's debate included the number of vehicle thefts locally, the New York State Bail Reform law, cashless bail, racial disparities, the fight against opioids and more.
Gardner was tabbed by the Erie County GOP to run for District Attorney after 14-plus years working as a prosecutor in the Erie County District Attorney's Office, as well as a law clerk for Erie County Court Justice Kenneth Case. He feels he's ready to take office, because he knows how it should run, and how crime should be prosecuted.
"I know how to manage lawyers, and I had a fantastic experience under leadership that was very effective in managing that office. I'm not daunted at all by the prospect of managing the Erie County District Attorney's Office. I think I'm entirely prepared for it. I think I have the experience to do it," said Gardner following Thursday's debate. "I know how the job needs to be done, and I'm excited for the opportunity. And I know that under my leadership, the office will return to being an agency that thoroughly and completely delivers justice to the victims of crimes."
While engaging in the democratic process on Thursday, Gardner was hoping to let voters know who he is, and to explain what it is he hopes to do when he's elected District Attorney.
"I hope my performance today accomplished that. I feel very optimistic about about the election coming up, and I think it was just, overall, a thrilling opportunity to be here and engaged in the democratic process. I really enjoyed it," Gardner said.
One of the reasons why Gardner decided to run for office as Erie County District Attorney this November is he's tired of instances where social justice rises to the matter of influencing the criminal justice system. The prime example was four years ago when the current administration in the District Attorney's Office made, what he calls, a political decision to prosecute two Buffalo Police officers during the George Floyd protests.
"I think they buckled under political pressure from the governor, from the Attorney General, and I believe the county executive, and they [proceeded to] charge two police officers for basically doing their jobs. And that is exactly the type of spineless leadership that we can no longer tolerate, and should no longer expect from the District Attorney's Office," Gardner explained. "This is for everyone to understand: It's a terrible thing to accuse somebody of a crime. You have to be right, and when you publicly accuse somebody of breaking the law, especially somebody who is a law enforcement officer, you have an obligation to know not only that you have enough to charge them, but you have to know whether or not you can prove those charges in a court of law. And any lawyer looking at that case, because it was all on video, knew immediately that that case was going nowhere. They did it because of a political consideration, and the Grand Jury did its job when they dismissed those charges immediately."
Gardner says he understands many of the voters' concerns in Erie County, with one of the primary issues being crime.
"No matter what part of Erie County you go to, crime is at the top of everyone's mind. You can't talk to a single person, you can't go to a single chicken barbecue without somebody coming up and telling me their car got stolen, their aunt's car got stolen, somebody they know, his car got stolen," he said. "There's no doubt about it that it is a hot button issue. And I think the reason why it's such a hot button issue is because not only of the disastrous policies that have come from Albany, but I think also some of the troubling decisions that this administration has made in prosecuting cases."
For those that may be voting for Gardner on the ballot this November, he believes those people are ready for a change in the District Attorney's Office.
"If they're voting for me, they're tired of the way things are going, they're tired of the way that crime seems to always go up. They're tired with the idea of every change in the criminal justice system seems to benefit criminals over law enforcement officers and regular people," Gardner said. "I think there's a palpable sense of frustration among the voters, not only here in Erie County, not only in New York State, but I think nationwide. That's why it was so important for me to make sure that the people of Erie County had a true choice. A true choice in this election, because this, the Office of District Attorney, is one of the absolute most important offices in local government. Its role is to provide justice to people, and I hope and pray that most of the Erie County residents never have need for our services, never have need for the Erie County DA, because it seems like we're only involved in, usually, the worst days of people's lives. But they need to know, and when I'm in office, they can trust that I'll be there behind them, seeking justice and making sure that crimes are getting prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."
One of the topics brought up during Thursday's political debate related to an ad released by Gardner's campaign that highlights an incident where Keane had been arrested many years ago while he was in college. While that case was supposed to be a sealed record, Gardner claims his campaign obtained the information through a FOIL request.
However, Keane claims the ad is false and misleading for people watching it, especially because it gives a sense that this incident happened recently rather than 40 years ago.
"I can't control the fact that I don't have a mug shot of Mr. Keane when he was arrested for driving while intoxicated and felony assault of a police officer. I think the voters need to know, the voters have a right to know who it is that we're talking about," Gardner said of the ad. "We live in a society, in a medium where television is an important part of it. They need to know who I'm talking about. I think it's entirely above board. I think the hand-wringing about the use of the photograph is overblown, mainly by my political opponents."
Despite how the message may be perceived by some, Keane is confident that the ad is not doing any harm to his campaign for the District Attorney's Office at all.
"I think he's intentionally trying to deceive the public. I think most people see through it," said Keane following Thursday's debate at St. Joe's. "Obviously I wouldn't be serving in this role if that had just happened the way he's presenting it. And it's deceptive, it's false, it's misleading. The difference between this campaign, the Office of District Attorney, is we are lawyers. We are under different rules and different obligations. We are not supposed to conduct ourselves in false and misleading ways, and I think the public has seen through it."
During the debate, Keane was openly accepting of the responsibility for his mistake 40 years ago when he was a senior in college. He feels when mistakes such as this are made, one has to be able to face the adversity and move on in order to become a better person.
"I hadn't even graduated from college yet. I went on to graduate from college, I then went and got my Master's degree in business administration, and then I went to law school. It was 40 years ago. A lot of people identify with the issue, identify that you make mistakes when you're young. And if you are strong and you're willing to be resilient, and you want to redeem yourself, you can do that. And quite frankly, I think I'm a great example of someone that took advantage and made full use of the opportunity I was given to redeem myself," Keane said.
Keane adds what Gardner did as an attempt to attack him in his ads was inappropriate.
"It's just political posturing, and his party doesn't know anything about the case. He's trying to score political points," he said. "The other charges were dismissed, there wasn't a plea deal. I pled to the non-criminal violation, driving while ability impaired. The other charges were dismissed, so Gardner's wrong, and he's trying to use this for political fodder."
For nearly eight months now, Keane has been serving as the Acting District Attorney after John Flynn formally stepped away from office to join Lippes Mathias LLP. He feels not much has changed from that point on, as the transition to his new role has been quite seamless.
"We've got dedicated public servants that have really been with me the entire time I've been back in the District Attorney's Office since 2017. John and I did the hiring together, we did the personnel moves together. The leadership team that's in place is, in large part, my decision. We really worked as a team, he and I did, so the transition has been pretty seamless, quite honestly," Keane noted.
He says for anyone looking to run an office like the Erie County District Attorney's Office, one has to be a strong leader.
"This is a big office. We're making very important decisions. I think it's the most important office in the entire county, and I'm ready for the task. I learned under a great leader in John for seven-plus years, and it's an important job," Keane said.
As for what he thinks people are voting for at the polls this November with the District Attorney's Office, it's about competence and experience in an office such as this.
"They trust in the work we've been doing in the District Attorney's Office. John Flynn had a great reputation, I was his right hand for seven-and-a-half years, and I think they're happy that we've done a good job," Keane said. "We work extremely well with our police department partners across this county, and that's why they're all supporting me. So that's why I think the voters are voting for me."
And that support for Keane extends well beyond those casting their ballots this November. A number of police organizations and others have already backed Keane for the work he has done in the District Attorney's Office dating back to his time as First Deputy District Attorney under Flynn.
"We have great working relationships with the police departments. I've talked about this a lot on the campaign trail, because we work together every day. They are on the ground floor, they are my partners in solving crime and in prosecuting people in Erie County, and we developed great working relationships," Keane noted. "One of the things that is maybe unknown is that the relationships between a lot of the police departments and the Erie County District Attorney's Office were broken back in 2016. John Flynn was the endorsed candidate of the vast majority of the police agencies as an outsider, running against someone in the District Attorney's Office. That was significant. That was because there was a problem. We fixed those relationships. I personally meet all the time with the chiefs of police in the towns and villages, with the commissioner of the Buffalo Police Department, with the Erie County Sheriff, and we also have relationships with all of the line officers and the organizations that represent them."
And while Thursday's opportunity to take part in the political debate at St. Joe's, Keane knew it was no place for political grandstanding, especially serving in a role such as the District Attorney.
"You can't stand up here and criticize the State Legislature and say how horrible they're doing, and then try to go down there and have a conversation with them, because they're not going to listen to us. So we have these conversations. All 62 District Attorneys across the state, who are members of different parties, we work together on criminal justice issues, we work together on public safety issues. Political affiliation has nothing to do with it. We do not do our jobs based upon what member of a party we are."
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