When decisions are made behind closed doors, public meetings become political theater.
Every single member of the Cattaraugus County Legislature belongs to the same political party.
New York courts have made clear: when an entire legislative body is made up of one party, holding “private caucus” meetings can violate the New York Open Meetings Law.
If all the real discussions are happening in private, what’s left for the public meeting?
This practice in Cattaraugus County needs to stop. Government works best in the open — not in the back room.
All fifteen legislators are Republicans. They meet in closed caucus before the public session to go through the resolutions and ask their questions there. The February meeting ran from 5:00 to 5:07 p.m.: eleven resolutions, each read by title, then a vote.
Read the full story: County legislators hold one of the quickest meetings on record — Olean Star, February 12, 2026.
What the law says about closed meetings is on our Open Meetings Law page.
