(from Judy Tassone’s Facebook page)
For Judy Tassone, questions come first.
“I’ve got to know thoroughly what’s going on. I will not vote on an issue if it’s pushed through – if someone is trying to push something through. I want to know what is going on.”
(Judy Tassone, R-Liverpool)
Tassone, a Republican, is the county legislator in District 4. She is now running for re-election in November. Her opponent is Democrat David Stott. In 2009, Stott was the incumbent, defending agains Tassone. She won the seat by fewer than 150 votes. District 4 is in the central region of Onondaga County, including Geddes, the western part of Salina, Liverpool and Onondaga Lake.
Richard Lesniak, the Republican floor leader in the county legislature, describes Tassone this way:
“She’s somewhat quiet to begin with, but she’s opinionated. She will listen to every topic that is brought up, weigh its consideration and then voice her opinion from there.”
(Richard Lesniak, R-Baldwinsville, majority floor leader)
Tassone grew up in central New York and attended St. John the Baptist and Columbia College. She is retired from National Grid, where she worked for 20 years. Tassone was on the town of Clay’s Zoning Board of Appeals for 10 years.
Politics also runs in the family. Tassone’s husband, William, is the chair of the town of Salina Republican Committee. She is also the mother of two grown sons, five stepdaughters and the grandmother to 19 grandchildren.
“Let me tell you, holidays are fun because we all have it together and have a ball.”
(Judy Tassone, R-Liverpool)
For her re-election, Tassone is touting her record of looking after her constituents and being well informed of the issues. She also calls for lowering taxes.
Tassone describes her favorite part of being a legislator as solving the everyday problems of district residents. She encourages people to call her with their problems. For example, she describes answering calls to do anything from arranging for the county to fill potholes to cutting through red tape so a business owner could start an ice cream stand.
Family friend Richard Congel described Tassone’s passion for the nitty-gritty of local government.
“She looks at her job as taking care of her extended family or her — she calls them, my neighbors.”
(Richard Congel, family friend)
Colleagues in the legislature credit her with paying attention to detail. Republican floor leader Richard Lesniak said Tassone has the ability see the many sides of an issue.
“She’s not a person who makes a snap decision on things. She listens to both sides of it.
(Richard Lesniak, R-Baldwinsville, majority floor leader)
She gets similar praise from Democrat Marty Masterpole.
“She doesn’t want to fight with people on issues. But she does want to understand them and vote her conscience and try to do her job and I think she’s good at that.”
(Marty Masterpole, D-Syracuse)
One example was a bill to give part of the land near Onondaga Lake back to the Onondaga Nation. Tassone had lots of questions.
“It was a good idea, but the spot where it is — is more or less a dump. And what I was worried about with that was the Indians want to bring it back so they can use it for growing their corn or whatever. And I was worried that the taxpayers were going to have to pick up more money because it wouldn’t be clean for their specifications.”
(Judy Tassone, R-Liverpool)
Eventually, Tassone voted against the measure but it passed, 11 to 8. These days, Tassone is leading an effort to persuade the county to join Salina in buying a car dealership. She calls for turning the dealership into the village’s highway department. She says that could save citizens in her district around $27 million.
During this year’s election campaign, Tassone has come under fire for voting for a tax increase when she voted in favor of the 2011 Onondaga County budget. Tassone disputes the criticism. She says that she voted for a budget that contained more than $40 million in cuts. But County Executive Joanie Mahoney vetoed several budget items in a plan that raises taxes on many villages and towns. The legislators didn’t have the required 13 votes to override Mahoney’s veto. Tassone calls that a disappointment.
“That really upset all of us because we expected this to go through for the people.”
(Judy Tassone, R-Liverpool)
Election Day is November 8.
Reporting for Democracywise, I’m Matt Phifer.
(Matt Phifer is a senior with dual majors in broadcast and digital journalism and political science.) This story was corrected Nov. 3 to reflect the car dealership’s location in Salina, not Liverpool.
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