For Bill Magnarelli, the Veterans Day parade means a lot.
After all, he recalls, he created it three years ago when almost no one showed up for the traditional remembrance. As a member of the Army Reserves for six years, he was outraged.
“I literally went back to my law firm, got on the phone, and started calling high schools to see if I could get any interest from any of the bands of the area helping me put together a parade the following year,” recalls Magnarelli.
The parade episode is symbolic of his interests and influence as the state Assemblyman from the 120th Assembly District, say Magnarelli, D-Syracuse, and others who know him well. He and they cite his positions on key Assembly committees and his deep Syracuse community and political roots as the reasons for those interests and influence.
Magnarelli is seeking his fifth term representing the 120th Assembly District. His challenger is Republican Rick Guy, a former member of the Syracuse Common Council. The 120th Assembly District covers the city’s Northside, Westside, Eastwood, Strathmore and Valley, as well as the towns of Van Buren and Geddes.
Election Day is Nov. 2.
Democrats dominate the district’s voter enrollment, giving Magnarelli an advantage. As of April 2010, the district has 74,774 registered voters, according to the state board of elections. Of that, about 43 percent—or 32,119—are Democrats. About 25 percent—or 18,889 voters—are registered Republicans. Unaffiliated voters number 18,494—or about 25 percent.
Democrats have controlled the Assembly since 1975. They hold 107 seats. Republicans occupy 42 seats with one vacancy.
In his campaign for re-election, Magnarelli, 60, is stressing his support for veterans and for education, as well as his family’s traditions in political and civic work.
His cousin Armond Magnarelli was a former Common Council president and respected political figure in Syracuse. “My brother Tom and I used to go around putting up his signs when we were in high school,” Bill Magnarelli recalled.
He launched his own political career in 1995, also by election to the Syracuse Common Council. In 1998, he won the 120th Assembly District seat in an open race without an incumbent.
Magnarelli talks passionately about his family. He’s a husband, a father of three, a grandfather, a son and a brother. He waited, he said, to enter politics until his youngest daughter graduated from high school. “I can’t think of anything better than sitting around the kitchen table and having dinner with my family,” he said. “That’s the best!”
In addition to his political career, Magnarelli has been a real estate lawyer at Scolaro, Shulman, Cohen, Fetter & Burstein law firm for the last 31 years.
Barry Shulman, a Republican and the firm’s president and CEO, praises Magnarelli for a commitment to public service. “Bill has genuinely wanted to help people,” Shulman said.
He has deep attachments to Syracuse University, he says. At age 7 in 1956, Magnarelli saw his first SU football game — with football legend Jim Brown scoring all of the points. He earned a bachelor’s degree in history and his law degree from SU. As a student, he was a member of a boisterous group of basketball supporters, called “The Zoo,” who would sit behind the visiting team’s bench to rattle the opposition with screams and cheers. He’s owned the same seats in the Carrier Dome since it first opened in 1980. Now he brings his family to football games there.
“I bleed Orange,” said Magnarelli.
He was the first in his family to go to college, he said, citing that as a reason for his support for educational programs. For example, he helped launch Syracuse’s version of “SAY YES,” a national program aims to boost graduation rates among inner-city youth. It provides tuition breaks to high school and college students.
In the Assembly, Magnarelli chairs the Veterans’ Affairs committee and previously chaired the Ethics and Guidance, and Education committees. He is also a member of these committees: Economic Development, Job Creation, Commerce and Industry; Education; Health; and Oversight, Analysis and Investigation.
Sandy Galef, a Democratic assemblywoman for the 90th Assembly District in Westchester County, speaks highly of Magnarelli. He was chosen for the “important” and “difficult” role of ethics committee chair a few years ago as a testament to his character and reputation, she said.
“That would not have been offered to him if he hadn’t been a very ethical person himself,” Galef said. “I think he’s proved himself over time about his competency and skills.”
This year, she looked to him to assure that veterans services would remain in her area. As chair of the Veterans Affairs committee, Magnarelli put together a resolution that committed the state to maintain services for veterans at hospitals around New York, Galef said. “He’s always thinking about his constituents and thinking about the state,” she said.
And the Veterans’ Day Parade?
As Magnarelli remembers, he was shocked in 2007 to discover few people at the War Memorial in Downtown Syracuse for the event that day. His calls to the high schools for bands paid off. This year, the Veterans Day Parade will be on Sunday, Nov. 6. It usually features about 50 organizations and more than a dozen marching bands.
Said Magnarelli: “We were able to get that.”
(Rebecca Shabad is a senior broadcast journalism and political science dual major.)
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