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.

Joel Giambra (at center in beige suit) speaking at Italian Festival, Buffalo, NY, 2000