Joel Giambra

[2] Giambra attended Grover Cleveland High School and Erie Community College.

Investigations into the mismanagement of a highway garage and exorbitant prices paid for county office furniture to a Giambra campaign contributor[3] preceded the 2005 budget problems.

Then-New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer initiated a lawsuit against the furniture company for the overcharges.

[3] Giambra proposed this "red budget" of $940 million which eliminated services, and after failed negotiations to raise the sales tax in a "green budget" of $1 billion,[5] a modified plan was adopted which laid off 2,000 county employees[3] and closed many county services, including the Parks Department.

[6] The Buffalo News published an Op-Ed agreeing with Giambra's statements that drug legalization should be studied further.

[9] Conservative Party Chairman Michael R. Long "flatly reject[ed] Giambra who...[has made] significant donations to [Democrats such as] [Gov.

Andrew] Cuomo, Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and 2016 presidential nominee Hillary Clinton [and supports] abortion rights, same sex marriage, gun control and marijuana legalization.

Giambra married Michelle Lettieri in 1982, and they have four children, Gabriella, Nicholas, Dominic, and Joel.