4 County Reps, Including Chair,

Review Personnel Files In Probe

COOPERSTOWN – At this hour, an informal group of four county representatives is reviewing two boxes of personnel files provided by Sheriff Richard J. Devlin Jr. in response to a subpoena in an ongoing investigations into activities at the county jail.

County Rep. Ed Frazier, R-Unadilla, who chairs the county board’s Public Safety Committee that is leading the investigation, county board chair Kathy Clark, R-Otego, and county Rep. Keith McCarty, R-East Springfield, and Andrew Stammel, D-Town of Oneonta, met after the monthly county board meeting to review the documents.

Clark has not yet addressed whether her husband, retired state trooper Bob Fernandez, intends to challenge Devlin in next year’s sheriff election.

Frazier said yesterday this afternoon’s meeting is intended to determine whether Devlin fully answered the subpoena, with the outcome determining what steps to take next.

County Attorney Ellen Coccoma said that, since the four do not constitute a quorum of the committee, the gathering was not considered an official meeting.