Joel Giambra
Joel Giambra is the
County Executive in
Erie County,
New York State,
United States. The county seat is
Buffalo, where Giambra currently resides.
Giambra was born and raised in Buffalo. He lived in the Lakeview Housing Project, near the east bank of the
Niagara River. He attended Grover Cleveland High School and
Erie Community College.
He served as a Buffalo Common Councilman and Buffalo City
Comptroller earlier in his career. He was a
Democrat who became a
Republican in
1999 to run for
County Executive. He was seen as a future statewide candidate and in
2002 was considered by
Governor George Pataki as a running mate for
lieutenant governor, before Lt. Gov.
Mary Donohue was nominated for reelection. He won a closer than expected re-election in
2003 against a weak Democratic rival, and his
administration started to experience many problems.
Investigations into the mismanagement of a
highway garage and exorbitant prices paid for county office furniture preceded the
2005 budget problems. In addition, it became clear that he was providing many lucrative jobs to both close friends and relatives. In order to appeal to voters, Giambra lowered or declined to raise county taxes for years, financing his budget partly through the use of surpluses from the previous administration and monies from the tobacco settlement. The county was then forced to accept either massive reductions of services or increases in taxation.
Giambra proposed a so-called "red budget" which eliminated services, and after failed negotiations to raise the
sales tax, a modified plan was adopted which laid off 3000 county employees and closed many county services, including the Parks Department. In
2005 a
Control Board was implemented by the state to monitor county
finances. This, coupled with an investigation into
patronage positions, led to Giambra's announcement that he will not seek reelection in
2007.
Following the adoption of his red budget, Giambra has seen his popularity drop and this has led to the retirements of several local politicians who are tied to him. In the 2005 election, candidates vied to distance themselves from him. Many county legislators either chose not to run for re-election or were defeated by new candidates, radically changing the political make-up of the legislature. A recent poll has shown that Giambra is detested by 90% of the general public of Erie County. Another recent poll reported that 80% of the county's residents would like him to resign before his term expires. There is no procedure for a
recall, thus the residents of Erie County must retain him until his term expires or he resigns.
*
Personal information and pictures of Giambra 
