Jason Schofield sentenced, still employed in Rensselaer

RENSSELAER, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- The former Rensselaer County Elections Commissioner, Jason Schofield was sentenced Monday in a voter fraud case. He avoids jail time, getting one year of probation, and has to pay fines totaling $3,200.  But as NEWS10 has learned, he has kept his controversial position with the City of Rensselaer.    

“Jason is a good man,” said Rensselaer City Mayor, Mike Stammel.

Stammel hired Schofield when he was still awaiting sentencing in the voter fraud case. Rensselaer Common Council members said they did not know about the hire and believed the clerical position would give him access to personal information. Today's sentencing did not bring the two sides closer together. “He made a mistake; He admitted his mistake. He was sorry for his mistake. And the guy just wants to work and maintain a living,” said the mayor.

Council President, John DeFrancesco said, “I don't know what he's actually done to improve his situation. If he was in a different type of position, like down at the DPW or something, driving a truck or otherwise, that's fine.”

Over the past few months, the council had voted to reduce the salary for the clerk’s position that Scofield holds, but the mayor vetoed that. The council then voted to abolish the position; a move again vetoed by the mayor. Schofield remains on the city’s payroll. “They just move the money around and it's just a shell game that they're playing. Let's stop playing the games. Let's get back down to running the city and do what we need to do in order to move forward. This it's not politics. It's a person's life they're playing with,” stated Stammel.

The council president says the council is acting accordingly, “We try to do what's right. I go by the books. I make sure that I don't do anything the wrong way. And if he [Mayor Stammel] doesn't do something proper, then we come after him. And that's just the way it should be.”

The mayor said this is just politics and now is the time to move on by saying, “You know, it's too bad because we have a lot of other serious things here in the city that we need to address rather than them trying to be the mayor from afar.”

But council president DeFrancesco said the council is left in the dark by the mayor’s office when it comes to Schofield’s paid position. “When we abolished the job months ago, we also asked for information. We've never received that information. So, the rules are not rules in Rensselaer,’ said DeFrancesco.

For now, Schofield remains employed by the City of Rensselaer and is being paid his full salary.