Canandaigua Supervisor Lloyd Kinnear's career is on the line
Lloyd Kinnear does not shy away from political fights, with his tart tongue and strongly held beliefs.
But the Canandaigua town supervisor is also in a court battle that could cost him his political career, stemming from his arrest in September on a charge of driving while intoxicated.
Slated for a pretrial hearing today, Kinnear said he's fighting an unfair public perception that he's guilty of the charges. And in his typical bluster, he's critical of how DWI cases are handled in Ontario County.
"The program is about making money for the sheriff's department. That's what DWI is in Ontario County," Kinnear said.
He said that if the county "was actually serious about taking care of DWI drivers, they would offer a diversion program," like the one in Monroe County that can result in second offenders pleading to reduced charges.
Kinnear, 45, emerged as a high-profile public figure after being elected supervisor of Canandaigua in 2005 on a promise of "straight talk, not fast talk."
His mouth, however, has sometimes worked faster than his mind, creating a sense of divisiveness, if not defiance, in public debate and resolution of issues.
That's what happened last month when, at a Town Board meeting, Kinnear responded to a question about a state bidding law that could cost Canandaigua money by blaming a "blind guy in Albany," referring to Gov. David Paterson.
Although this Republican supervisor has been praised for helping bring the town's property tax rate down to zero, Kinnear has often found himself on the short end of a 3-2 majority on an all-Republican Town Board trying to pave the way for more controlled growth that is protective of Canandaigua Lake.
Town of Canandaigua Republican Committee Chairwoman Yvonne Chavez recently called for Kinnear to step down, saying that he was "unable to set aside personal differences" with other board members and has failed to provide leadership.
Kinnear, who said others on the committee don't share her views, blames his political opposition on the board for intruding on the supervisor's authority and seeking costly proposals. Next month, he is supposed to tell the town Republican Committee whether he'll run again.
DWI woes
But Kinnear's DWI case puts him in a difficult predicament. "It would be premature to announce my candidacy because I don't want to give the impression to the D.A. or anybody else that I am going to 'beat the rap.' I don't want to have any false hopes," he said.
Kinnear rejects any suggestion that he has an alcohol problem.
"There may be a perceived problem. There is not a problem with drinking," he said.
The backdrop to the current case is Kinnear's 2005 DWI misdemeanor conviction, which resulted from an Aug. 2 arrest and a guilty plea two days later.
But in his pending case, Kinnear has much more to lose, since state law bars a public official convicted of a felony from continuing to serve in office.
Kinnear's latest DWI arrest resulted from an incident about 11:30 p.m. on Sept 5. The Mazda Kinnear was driving swerved off Strong Road in East Bloomfield before coming to a stop in a ditch, according to the Ontario County Sheriff's Office. He was subsequently indicted on charges of felony DWI.
Since his earlier conviction occurred within 10 years of his latest arrest, state law requires that Kinnear automatically be charged with a felony for his second offense.
Kinnear has filed a motion to suppress the results of his breath test, which court papers show recorded a 0.16 percent blood-alcohol level, twice the legal limit.
Ontario County District Attorney Michael Tantillo says in the court papers that Kinnear took the test after consulting with a lawyer, Michael Jones.
Tantillo said that Kinnear's case is being treated no differently from any similar situation. His office rarely allows a DWI defendant who has a DWI conviction during the past 10 years to plead to less than a felony.
"Most people arrested and convicted of DWI get the message and we never see them again," said Tantillo.
Responding to Kinnear's criticism, Tantillo said that the county, which has had the highest DWI conviction rate in the state for 24 of the past 25 years, is absolutely serious about DWI, and that fines from DWI cases go to the county's STOP-DWI program, which funds treatment and other initiatives to reduce drunken driving.
Kinnear's roots
Making sweeping statements is not new to Kinnear but rather the consequence of how he tends to frame issues.
"I look at things pretty much black and white. There is very little room for gray," said Kinnear, who credits his stepfather, Steve Swetz, a former state trooper, with showing him the need to define issues clearly.
Kinnear graduated from Cornell University in 1986 with a bachelor's degree in agricultural economics. He worked as a salesman and then as a manager for American Power Conversion Corp. until he and his wife, Melinda, an engineer who had worked for NASA, bought a 60-acre farm in the town of Canandaigua in 1991. They raise livestock and poultry as well as sell fresh eggs.
He also became active in the Farm Bureau and helped start the Canandaigua Farmers Market, serving as its first president.
That Kinnear's strong-mindedness can turn to defiance became evident three years ago. As Kinnear tells it, he was warned by the state Department of Agriculture and Markets in 2003 and again in 2006 that he could be fined for not refrigerating eggs that he sold at the Canandaigua Public Market. The requirement is that eggs be refrigerated at 45 degrees or colder as a safeguard against salmonella enteritis, which can result in food poisoning.
Rather than comply, he dropped out of the market after a federal inspector visited his farm. Kinnear feared the market might be shut down if he stayed.
"There is no way you can refrigerate eggs at 45 degrees when you are selling over 100 dozen of them in three hours. That was a ridiculous rule," he said.
Kinnear entered politics in 2005 when, in the supervisor's race, he defeated incumbent Democrat Sam Casella.
An admirer of Ronald Reagan, Kinnear has decorated the inside of his office with quotes by the late president. But the era of good feeling that Reagan brought to government can't be found at Town Hall.
"I am very demeaning of government," he said.
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