Biography

A Proven Community Leader & Well Respected Attorney

Major Accomplishments

• Created a fiscally sound smart growth Town environment positively leveraging the benefits associated with new construction and reuse of existing commercial properties coupled to enhancing the Town’s financial position.
• Assumed a leadership role in minimizing the impact of sprawl and maintaining the Town’s desired rural character.
• Held the line on governmental spending to below the inflation rate while providing all required services.
• Instrumental in drafting and enacting the historic preservation, right to farm, subdivision, adequate facilities and zoning local laws.
• Established a successful private law practice.

Public Service Experience

• Supervisor (Chief Executive and Chief Fiscal Officer) 2008 – Present
• Deputy Supervisor 2006 – 2007
• Councilman 2002 – 2007
• Town of Clarence – Clarence, NY
  • Represented 26,000+ residents. Lead responsibility for executive, administrative, legislative, and quasi-judicial functions with twelve department heads and a workforce of 100+. Fostered greater constituent involvement instilling a more participatory town government structure. As the Chief Fiscal Officer, effectively managed the $18.8+ million town budget. Facilitated in making Clarence, the oldest township in Erie County and having a total assessed value of $2.7+ billion, one of the most desired places to live in America. Installed multi-year budgeting to improve the financial planning capabilities while maximizing accountability for Town resources. Provided benchmarked government services to an area encompassing approximately 52 square miles without deficit spending. Instrumental in the development of a premier Youth Department.

Legal & Related Experience

• Private Practice Attorney
  • Successfully counseled individuals, corporations, and other entities in civil, commercial, bankruptcy, and regulatory matters.
  • Refereed and represented creditors in foreclosure proceedings.
  • Concentrated in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) matters as a neutral and advocate. ADR neutral panel member: Better Business Bureau; Community Dispute Resolution (CDR); Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC); Bar Association of Erie County Fee Dispute (panel chair); Erie County Department of Environment and Planning; Erie County Family Court; New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR); New York State Eighth Judicial District ADR Program (mediator); New York State Eighth Judicial District Matrimonial Fee Dispute (lead arbitrator).
• Continuing Legal Education Seminar Presenter
  • Commercial Litigation & Role of Alternative Dispute Resolution
  • Mediation & Settlement – See the Difference
  • How to Represent a Client in Mediation
• Law Offices of Scott A. Bylewski 2007 – present
• Law Offices of Barry H. Sternberg 2005 – 2007
• Law Offices of Peter D. Grubea 2005
• Nesper, Ferber & DiGiacomo, LLP 1999 – 2005
• Buffalo Financial Associates – Buffalo, NY
  • Financial Planner 1998 – 1999
• Honorable William M. Skretny, US District Court, WDNY – Buffalo, NY
  • Volunteer Law Student Clerk Summer 1997
• Honorable Mark G. Farrell, Amherst Town Court Justice – Amherst, NY
  • Lead Judicial Law Clerk 1997 – 1998
  • Judicial Clerk Extern 1997
• Robert M. Ciesielski, Attorney at Law – Cheektowaga, NY
  • Law Clerk 1996 – 1997
• Watson, Bennett, Colligan, Johnson & Schechter, Attorneys at Law – Buffalo, NY
  • Law Clerk 1996

Bar Admissions

• 2004 US District Court, NDNY
• 2004 US District Court, EDNY
• 2000 District of Columbia
• 1999 US Bankruptcy Court, WDNY
• 1999 US District Court, WDNY
• 1999 New York State

Education

• State University of New York at Buffalo, School of Law – J.D. 1998
  • Finance Transactions and Taxation Law Concentrations
• State University of New York at Buffalo, School of Management – M.B.A. 1995
  • Human Resources Concentration
• State University of New York at Buffalo, School of Management – B.S. cum laude 1995
• Canisius High School, Buffalo, NY 1990

Awards & Recognitions

• 2010 Bar Association of Erie County Award of Merit
• 2009 Business First’s 40 Under Forty Honoree
• 2008 Am-Pol Eagle Citizen of the Year for Politics
• Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow
• 1998 New York State Bar Association Law Student Bar Association Achievement Award
• 1997-98 Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities & Colleges
• 1996 International Who’s Who of Professionals
• 1995 MBA Student Achievement Award
• 1995 Carborundum Company Award for MBA Student Excellence in Human Resource Management
• 1994-95 Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities & Colleges

Professional & Community Associations

• Clarence Chamber of Commerce
  • Past Director
• Clarence Historical Society
  • Life Member
• Erie County Bar Association
  • Speakers’ Bureau and ADR (former chair, Law School Competition Subcommittee), Attorney/Client Relations, Commercial and Bankruptcy Law, and Municipal Law Committees
• Erie County Democratic Committee
  • 8th Judicial District Convention Delegate, Judicial Screening Committee, Town of Clarence Democratic Committee (Past Second Vice Chair)
• New York Fraternal Congress
  • Past President
• New York Guard
  • Captain, JAG, 209th Regiment, 65th Civil and Military Affairs Brigade
• Polish Union of America
  • Past National Director, Lodge # 86 (Secretary)
• Professional & Businessmen’s Association, Inc.
  • Member
• Rotary International – Eastern Hills Sunrise Rotary
  • Past President
• Rotary International – Eastern Hills Sunrise Rotary Foundation
  • Vice President (2003 – 2006)
• University at Buffalo, School of Management & School of Law Alumni Associations
  • Student Mentor

• Alternate Delegate to Association of Towns
• Liaison to Town Committees /Boards:
  • Planning Board and Zoning Codes
  • Service Organizations
  • Library
  • School Board
  • Cable TV
  • Clergy Association
  • Chamber of Commerce
  • Ethics
  • Discharge of Firearms
  • Fire Companies
  • Youth Department
  • Bicentennial Committee
  • Emergency Services
  • Recreation Departmentv
  • Recreation Advisory Committee
  • Law & Legislation
  • Capital Improvements
  • Computers
  • Historic Preservation
  • Arboretum Committee
  • Grants
  • Industrial Development Agency
  • Inter-Community Committee
  • Town Hall
  • Municipal Review & Town Environmental Quality Review Committees (SEQRA)
  • Clarence Center Community Association