When Democrat Adam Bello was appointed as Monroe County clerk in March by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Republicans immediately mounted a strategy to make sure he wasn’t elected in November. Their strategy failed, and now a Democrat holds the clerk’s office in a Republican administration.
Adam Bello beat Cheryl Rozzi 58 percent to 42 percent to continue in the position.
After former Monroe County Clerk Cheryl Dinolfo was elected as Monroe County executive last year, the clerk’s office was vacated. In New York state, clerk vacancies are filled by the governor. When Cuomo appointed Bello to the position, county Republicans moved quickly.
First, Monroe County GOP Chair Bill Reilich linked Bello to the I-Square project in Irondequoit — where Bello was town supervisor — stating that Bello was abandoning the project while it was in default. The ensuing chaos led to the discovery that the project wasn’t in default, that COMIDA investigated the claims after they had made them (a fact that cost Deputy County Clerk Justin Roj — who ordered the investigation after Reilich’s claims — his job and forced the resignation of four COMIDA members), and backtracking from Reilich and Dinolfo.
Two months later, the GOP tapped Greece Town Clerk Cheryl Rozzi to challenge Bello for the post. Both pieces of their strategy couldn’t stop Bello from winning the election.
Since his appointment, Bello has been a highly visible county clerk. Recently, Bello uncovered that clerks from previous administrations were waiving fees on passports and pistol permits for certain individuals, a practice that is against the law. Bello also uncovered that when Dinolfo was clerk, nearly 20,000 pistol permit applicants who chose to have their information private never had their paperwork processed.
Bello was elected as Irondequoit supervisor in 2013.