Cyr changed his voter registration outside of his elected jurisdiction on January 1
By Andrew Harris, pictured is Cyr
The Allegany County Legislature met this Wednesday in open session and Chairman W. Brooke Harris opened the meeting with this statement:
“The Board is aware of the possibility that one of its members has vacated his/her seat. Until the County receives guidance from outside counsel regarding its obligations, we will conduct business as usual. In the interim, and in the interests of clarity and accurate recordkeeping, we will perform “roll call” votes whenever necessary. Should it be determined that the seat has indeed been vacated, the County will follow all laws applicable to the required nullification of those votes.
To be clear: there is no Board action that has taken place in this matter, nor does the Board desire to take any action. If a vacancy has occurred, that former member is solely responsible for the actions that triggered the vacancy.
The County’s primary obligations are to ensure that all local, state, and federal laws are followed, and that the residents within the district in question have lawful representation on this Board.”
The statement by the Chairman begged some questions: Who? Why? What happens next?
On the first day of the year, Adam Cyr formally changed his voter registration address to a new residence outside of the District III, where he was elected as a county legislator. That change of address was noted by the county government at multiple levels.
According to NYS law, when Cyr relocated to a residence outside of District III and changed his voter registration address to that new location, his seat automatically became vacant. State law reads an elected seat is permanently vacated when an elected official dies or:
d. His ceasing to be an inhabitant of the state, or if he be a local
officer, of the political subdivision, or municipal corporation of which
he is required to be a resident when chosen;
Adam Cyr, as a first term Allegany County legislator, has been a vocal and high profile politician. He placed advertisements throughout the county with “Cyr for Treasurer: Doesn’t confuse effort with results” political signs and billboards. We asked him the obvious questions, Why did you do that ? Will you resign or will you challenge any effort to legally remove you from the legislature?
Cyr responded in short order, explaining his reason for changing his address and his intentions moving forward:
“A lot of residents of Allegany County have a second home in Florida or warm states, some have them in New York for hunting camps or skiing. I purchased a second home in Andover in Allegany County.
My current home in Wirt is our family homestead where I have lived after my father for 20 years. The home needed a major renovation of the heating and water system. I was concerned this might take well over a month, so I talked to my attorney about the move and the state laws regarding a move within a county during a term. Since I was moving, I wanted to be transparent with where I lived. However, the work to my home in Wirt was completed in three weeks and we are moving back to our main house. As a result, I changed back to the Bolivar mailing address, where I continue to pay taxes and still have utilities.
I did receive a notice from the county and the chairman when I first changed my address and they have been very helpful and upfront on the steps I am taking. They wanted this resolved by Jan. 22. Fortunately, the work was done on my house and I was able to move back before the date they wanted to know where I was going to live.
I am looking forward to meeting more people when I start to gather signatures to run for Allegany County Treasurer and I’m looking forward to continuing my term on the Allegany County Legislature.”
Kind Regards,
Honorable, Adam B. Cyr
Based on our own legal analysis and confirmed by multiple sources, the law is not complicated because it states plainly the elected official “is required to be a resident” of the jurisdiction where elected. If you die, or move out of the jurisdiction which elected you, the seat is automatically vacated. Both circumstances are final, you can’t be resurrected and you can’t just move back.
Allegany County has sought a legal determination on the matter from outside independent counsel, meaning from an attorney not employed by the county, or with potential conflicts of interest. Once that independent counsel provides the legal advice to the county they must act, and appear prepared to do so.
Cyr could resign, but he appears unlikely to do so based on the statement above.
Assuming that independent counsel finds that Cyr did automatically vacate his seat when he changed his legal address, the Allegany County legislature will announce that the seat has been vacated and begin the process of filling the seat.
County officials expect that legal finding from the independent counsel to be provided in the coming days.
