County residents will have two candidates to choose from when filling the vacant seat on the Onondaga County Court bench, which consists of three judges. Judge Anthony Aloi and Judge Joseph Fahey currently hold the other two seats on the bench, which has jurisdiction over the fifth judicial district. The third seat was left vacant after Judge William Walsh resigned.
Gordon Cuffy is a candidate running on the Democratic party line and Tom Miller is a candidate running on the Republican, Independence, Conservative and Veteran party lines.
Eagle Newspapers recently interviewed the candidates to get an idea of what each candidate represents. Their answers are featured below:
Gordon J. Cuffy
Community Involvement: I am an alumnus of Leadership Greater Syracuse, and a former board member of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central New York. As a member of the Attorney General’s Office, I participated in the Onondaga County Bar Association’s Talk to a Lawyer program at the Southwest Community Center. As County Attorney, I involved county attorneys in the Talk to a Lawyer program.
What makes you qualified to serve as Judge?
I have fourteen years of experience as a prosecutor. During that time I presented cases to the Grand Jury and handled homicides, violent and other felony cases. In addition, I was an appellate lawyer who wrote legal briefs and argued cases in appellate courts. As County Attorney I manage a law department with forty employees. I am also counsel for both the Onondaga County Legislature and the County Executive. I have been a civil litigator and have been an adjunct professor at Syracuse University College of Law since 1997.
Why should voters elect you?
I have been a public servant in this community for 22 years. My wife and I chose to live and raise our daughter in Onondaga County. I have been a prosecutor in both the District Attorney’s Office and the Attorney General’s Office with 14 years of experience.
I have been the Onondaga County Attorney since 2008. I supervise 24 attorneys in my office, and the attorneys are required to make independent judgments each and every day. I require my attorneys to make decisions that are both legally sound and ethically correct. That is the principle I have tried to follow throughout my career and will be my guiding principle as a judge.
I am a person who grew up in a low income neighborhood and has worked hard throughout my life, for example, I worked fulltime during the day and went to law school at night. During the course of my career, I have learned by interacting with a broad spectrum of people. My personal and professional experience provides me with the temperament and qualifications to be County Court Judge.
Thomas J. Miller
Community Involvement: Fayetteville-Manlius Little League Coach; Fayetteville-Manlius Little League Board of Directors; Fayetteville-Manlius recreation league basketball coach; speaker/lecturer at Fayetteville-Manlius and Manlius Pebble Hill high schools Stop DWI Program; speaker/lecturer at Syracuse University; speaker/lecturer for the Onondaga County Bar Association; speaker/lecturer for the NYS Magistrate’s Association; speaker/lecturer for the Onondaga County Magistrate’s Association; and Onondaga County Bar Association Board of Directors – elected Vice President 2011.
What makes you qualified to serve as Judge?
Experience. As a practicing lawyer for over 30 years, I have appeared in County Court on a regular basis in hundreds of cases. I have been involved in several major felony trials and homicide trials in County Court.
As a Village Justice for nearly a dozen years, I have presided over countless cases hopefully, fairly and impartially without advocating for one side or the other, as a lawyer does.
Why should voters elect you?
Through my years of experience before the bench as a lawyer and behind the bench as a judge, I believe I have developed the skills to understand the law, to realize that being a judge is more than a 9-to-5 job, but rather is an identity and an obligation to be a positive role model. Through my experience, I know the difference between an individual who has made a mistake due to an addiction or mental health issue, and an individual who has chosen crime as a career path and will deal with each appropriately.
Voters can be assured that I have the right balance of experience as a lawyer for 30 years and as a judge for almost 12 years to understand the law and to apply it fairly and impartially while protecting and balancing the rights of defendants and victims.
