BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Carl Paladino has two months until a hearing in Albany, called by the state education commissioner, which will address petitions to remove him from the Buffalo Board of Education.
The petition accuses Paladino of revealing confidential information from the board's executive sessions in December and October, which had to do with pending litigation and teacher contract negotiations.
Paladino says the information was not subject to confidentiality and that he made it public because he wanted to prevent crime or fraud.
The State Education Commissioner can remove Paladino after the hearing if she finds Paladino violated the law.
The furor to remove Paladino from the school board began in December, when newsweekly ArtVoice asked noteworthy Western New Yorkers, including Paladino, what they would like to see happen in 2017. Paladino's answers to the wishlist included Barack Obama catching mad cow disease and Michelle Obama "[returning] to being a male and [letting] loose in the outback of Zimbabwe where she lives comfortably in a cave with Maxie, the gorilla."
Saying "I certainly am not a racist," Paladino says he wrote those answers as a joke and never meant to send them to the paper; instead, he was going to email them to friends.
Protests have since popped up during board meetings and even outside his home, calling to "Can Carl."
The hearing is scheduled for June 22 at 9 a.m. in Albany. It will be open to the public, but attendance will be limited due to space issues. An attendance process will be announced by the state closer to the hearing.