Ousting Paladino from the Buffalo School Board: State Finalizes Hearing Details

The Buffalo Board of Education is trying to oust member Carl Paladino, the businessman and politician known across New York for his blunderbuss approach. He's resisting. State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia is holding a hearing about it in Albany June 22.

There's a lot of public interest, so the state is setting up a live-feed and a viewing room in Albany, at Chancellor’s Hall at 89 Washington Ave., SED officials announced Wednesday. Doors to the viewing room will open at 8:15 a.m. each day of the hearing.

Want a seat in the hearing room itself? They'll be granted through a lottery. If you'd like to request a seat in the hearing room, email JuneHearing@nysed.gov by 5 p.m. June 14. Those granted seating through the lottery will be notified by email by 5 p.m. June 19. These seats will be granted for the duration of the hearing and are non-transferable. Individuals must show a government-issued ID and sign in to enter.

The hearing will not be recorded and no audio or video recordings will be allowed, even in the viewing room.

The proximate cause of Paladino's fight with the Buffalo school board is that he talked publicly about closed-door contract negotiations with the teachers union against board policy. It's something school trustees usually play close to the vest.

But it is other stuff he said that caused all the controversy.

In late 2016 Paladino was asked by the western New York weekly ArtsVoice about his wishes for 2017. He said he hoped then-President Barack Obama would have sex with a cow and die of mad cow disease and then-First Lady Michelle Obama would "return to being a male and let loose in the outback of Zimbabwe where she lives comfortably in a cave with Maxie, the gorilla.”

Protesters demanding his ouster began disrupting school board sessions. The board filed a petition for his removal, at first over the remarks but then about the policy breach. He's suing. The costs and documents are mounting, the Buffalo News reported.

"He has a long history of feuds and flame wars, and a documented penchant for racist internet memes," BuzzFeed reported in an article after Paladino became co-chair of President Donald Trump's New York primary campaign in April 2016. His recruitment of New York Republicans was exemplified by an open letter that read, in part, "This is our last request that you join 'Trump for President' and try to preserve what's left of your pathetic careers in government."

Paladino was nicknamed "Crazy Carl" by the New York Daily News during his 2010 run for governor.

Recently he declared March "Stop Blaming White People Month."