Schofield bows out for Troy position
Figure in voter fraud case was offered by city GOP
TROY — Jason Schofield, a former Rensselaer County elections commissioner who pleaded guilty to voter fraud, will not fill a job as an assistant to the city clerk, bowing out a day after city Republicans faced an avalanche of criticism for picking him for the post even though he still faces sentencing.
Schofield was set to be voted into the $38,391-a-year role by Republicans on the council, but he withdrew his name from consideration Saturday, according to Tom Casey, the incoming GOP majority leader. Schofield did not return a phone call seeking comment.
“I just wanted to help the guy. He didn’t have a job and I feel bad for him,” said Casey, who on Friday backed Schofield’s appointment and expressed his belief that the former elections commissioner pleaded guilty to a dozen felonies merely to avoid the cost of going to trial.
The job is among a handful that the city council controls. Casey said City Clerk Maria DeBonis suggested Schofield for the post, but added that “we all know him. We’re all Troy people.” Schofield, he said, is not being considered for other political appointments.
Word of Schofield’s appointment drew criticism from Troy Democrats, who questioned the decision to hire a felon who awaits sentencing in an ongoing investigation of voter fraud in Rensselaer County. Three top officials in County Executive Steve McLaughlin’s administration face indictments tied to the probe.
Though the council controlled Schofield’s appointment, the situation created an uncomfortable situation for mayor-elect Carmella Mantello, a Republican council member who takes her new office on Monday. Schofield worked on past campaigns for Mantello, and Democrats suggested she should use her sway to scuttle the appointment.
“It concluded in the right way for the people of Troy,” Mantello said Saturday, declining to discuss the matter further.
Incoming Council President Susan Steele, a Democrat, cheered Schofield’s withdrawal. “Our Republican colleagues on the council should have never considered his appointment in the