A convicted felon who played a central role in the Buffalo Billion scandal is now a finalist to land a job as the public face of Niagara County government.
Kevin Schuler is one of two candidates county legislators are scheduled to interview Monday for the job of public information officer, who acts as spokesman for county government and fields media requests.
The county’s 2020 budget proposes the PIO job pay $79,003 a year. The new salary amounts to a nearly $10,000 raise.
Schuler was the longtime political fixer for Louis Ciminelli, a prominent developer and influential Republican until his fall from grace. Schuler’s testimony helped the federal prosecutors convict Ciminelli on charges related to a bid-rigging scandal that stained Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Buffalo Billion economic initiative.
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