Suzanne Dugan was born in Saranac Lake to Kathy and Bill Dugan. She is the youngest of five siblings and attended Saranac Lake public schools from kindergarten through 12th grade. Graduating in 1982, Dugan went on to attend Siena College, from which she graduated magna cum laude. She earned her J.D. cum laude from Albany Law School of Union University in 1989.

Dugan began her career as a judicial clerk with the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court. She joined the firm of Cohen Milstein in 2011 after more than 20 years of service in government, including as special counsel for ethics for the Office of the New York State Comptroller where she created and oversaw a vigorous and dynamic ethics program for 2,500 employees and provided advice and counsel to the state comptroller, acting as the sole trustee of the third largest public pension plan in the country. She also previously served as counsel and acting executive director of the New York State Ethics Commission.

Dugan currently serves as special counsel to Cohen Milstein, where she leads the firm’s ethics and fiduciary counseling practice, which she helped found. She serves as fiduciary counsel for public pension plans from coast to coast, including some of the largest institutional investors in the country, and provides guidance on fiduciary responsibility, ethical duties, strategic governance and compliance issues. She consults with governmental entities and other clients on design and implementation of comprehensive ethics programs and provides fiduciary and ethics training to boards of trustees of pension plans and government entities. She assists in conducting investigations and structuring recommendations, providing an additional layer of oversight and accountability. Dugan also serves as an outside ethics officer to municipalities across the country, evaluating and investigating complaints of unethical conduct, providing objective and independent guidance, and working to ensure a culture of ethical leadership.

Dugan is the president of the National Association of Public Pension Attorneys. She is also a member of the Board of the Clifton-Park-Halfmoon Public Library for which she has dedicated over a decade of service.

Richard Meyer (Photo provided)

Among her other accomplishments, Dugan has served as an adjunct law professor and writes frequently on ethics, fiduciary responsibilities of pension trustees and the role of pension fund attorneys. In 2014, Dugan won the Burton Award, a legal writing award run in association with the Library of Congress, for her article, “Ethics and Fiduciary Issues for Public Pension Plans: Lessons Learned.” She has also been a board member of the Capital Region Chapter of the New York Civil Liberties Union, and on the board of Planned Parenthood Mohawk Hudson.

She currently lives in Clifton Park with her husband Todd Kerner. They have two grown children, Kathleen and Jacob.

Richard B. Meyer, a Saranac Lake native and 1972 graduate of Saranac Lake High School, has built a distinguished career in law and public service spanning over four decades.

He is the son of Lenore Meyer, a former SLCSD home economics teacher, and William Meyer, who operated a Main Street drug store for over 30 years and helped establish North Country Community College.

Meyer was an active student leader and four-sport athlete at Saranac Lake High School. He played alto saxophone in the high school band, competed in football, skiing, basketball and baseball, and served as student council president his senior year.

After graduating from Colgate University in 1975 and Albany Law School in 1978, Meyer maintained a private law practice for 22 years. He served two terms as Saranac Lake village attorney (1981 to 1987 and 1995 to 2001), helping guide the federally mandated restoration of the Lake Flower Dam and acquisition of the Berkeley Green, while authoring numerous local laws governing the Village’s infrastructure and services.

From 1987 to 2005, Meyer served as Essex County Attorney, providing legal guidance to the 18-member board of supervisors and more than 25 county departments and agencies, playing a significant role in major initiatives including the county’s solid waste management system, first county-wide property tax revaluation, and construction of a new courthouse and a public safety/jail facility. Along with three other members of the board of supervisors, he successfully negotiated state takeover of the county landfill with a $300,000 annual subsidy. Meyer also co-authored state legislation completely revising the state real property tax foreclosure procedure, and wrote “New York Real Property Tax Law: A Primer on Collection and Enforcement,” a handbook for county officials. As president of the County Attorneys Association of the State of New York (1991 to 1993), he transformed the organization into a non-profit tax-exempt entity and substantially increased its financial condition. Over his 26-year career in private practice and as County Attorney, Meyer argued over 60 officially reported appellate cases.

Meyer demonstrated his commitment to education by serving on the Saranac Lake Central School District Board of Education from 1999 to 2004, including multiple terms as president. He previously led the successful “Save A Seat For Me” campaign to install theater seating in the high school auditorium.

Elected Essex County Judge in 2005 and re-elected in 2015, Meyer served 19 years presiding over county, family and surrogate’s courts, averaging over 2,500 cases annually. Designated as a New York State Supreme Court Justice beginning in 2008, he created the only Veterans Treatment Court in the Fourth Judicial District and operated specialized treatment courts for substance abuse, mental health, and domestic violence cases, providing alternatives to incarceration. He rendered thousands of decisions throughout his judicial career, with over 30 official and 50 unofficial opinions reported.

Throughout his career, Meyer has pursued continuous professional development, earning fellowships in science and technology adjudication, completing specialized training in digital forensics through the U.S. Secret Service, and earning certifications as a certified Information Privacy Professional in 2025. He has presented numerous legal education programs, served as a mock trial competition judge, and received a Highly Qualified Rating from the Independent Judicial Election Qualification Commission in 2009.

Meyer is married to Gail Cagwin Meyer, a retired SLCSD biology teacher, and is the father of two sons, Charles and Sam. Rick helped to coach his sons’ T-ball and little league teams. An expert downhill skier and former high school and collegiate racer, he also taught the boys to ski.