The Frankel Committee

Background:

During more than twenty five years of involvement in public and community service in the Rochester area, Sandra Frankel has established a standard of excellence that has earned the bipartisan respect and admiration of government, business, labor, education, and community leaders. Citizens know that they can count on her to address complex issues of critical importance to make their community a better place in which to live, work, raise a family, and run a business. As a finalist for the prestigious 2008 Athena Award of the Women’s Council of the Rochester Business Alliance, the community recognized her significant leadership and accomplishments.

Leadership, tireless dedication and a willingness to build consensus are trademarks of her career in government, education, as a speech language pathologist and community activist.

Supervisor of the Town of Brighton, New York, serves a developed, urban suburb of 35,000 people adjacent to the southeastern quadrant of the City of Rochester in Monroe County. Sandra Frankel was elected in 1991, despite a larger Republican than Democratic voter registration, and became the first Democrat and first woman to hold the office of Elected Executive/CEO in the town’s 177-year history. Under her leadership, the council changed from a Republican majority to an all-Democratic town board that has continued to win and govern successfully. In 1998, Democratic voter registration in Brighton surpassed Republican registration for the first time.

Frankel held the position of Vice President on the Boards of Education of both the Brighton Central School District and Monroe #1 BOCES, and she served as President of the Monroe County School Boards Association. As a six-year member of the Brighton School Board, whose schools are nationally recognized for excellence in education, she oversaw annual budgets of $35 million. As a 10-year member of the BOCES Monroe #1 Board of Education, which provides cooperative special, vocational, and technology education programs to the 10 eastern Monroe County school districts, she oversaw budgets of $50 million.

She has served on numerous community boards and commissions, including Greater Rochester Fights Back drug prevention task force, Early Childhood Intervention Council of Monroe County, Arts and Cultural Council of the Greater Rochester Area, Rochester Chamber Orchestra, Continuing Developmental Services Foundation, Children Awaiting Parents, Brighton Chamber of Commerce, Landmark Society, and as an Advisor for the Mosaic Partnership Program (formerly Bi-racial Partnership Program for Progress). She is a member of the Rochester Rotary Club and Brighton Kiwanis, and served on the Freedom Celebration Committee of the Rochester/Monroe County Freedom Trail Commission, which produced a major national conference in Rochester on Frederick Douglass and the Underground Railroad.

In 2007, Gov. Eliot Spitzer appointed Sandra Frankel to the Commission on Local Government Efficiency and Competitiveness. The 15 member commission, which included government and business leaders from across the state, developed recommendations to streamline local government for cost savings, increased productivity, and improved services, with the goal of making New York more competitive.

She is a member and past President of the Board of Governors of the New York Municipal Insurance Reciprocal (NYMIR), a not-for-profit insurance company that designed to meet the insurance and risk management needs of the approximately 600 subscribing counties, small cities, towns and villages, or more than 30 percent of the state's municipalities, that own the company.

Sandy has worked to strengthen cooperation between suburbs and city as a member of the Rochester Stewardship Council for the city's comprehensive plan update, "Rochester 2010: An Urban Renaissance". She has also demonstrated her belief that we must foster international understanding and respect by meeting with state and local government and community leaders from nations around the globe, and she served as a member of the executive board of the Istituto Europeo Di Integrazione Culturale "Robert Schuman" (USA) in cooperation with the European Parliament.

As Chief Executive Officer of the Town of Brighton, she has prepared annual budgets of approximately $20 million, kept taxes within the rate of inflation, and run a government that has improved the community’s quality of life and won the approval of voters in 9 elections. She understands how to forge consensus and is committed to open government and citizen participation. She knows the importance of education in building tomorrow’s workforce, the centrality of jobs and economic development to the future of our community and state, the imperative of fiscal responsibility and prudent management of essential services, the compelling need for strong public safety programs, the concerns of citizens about health care, and the value of preserving open space and protecting the environment for future generations.

In 1998, Sandra Frankel won the Primary Election to become the Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor of New York. She won 55 of New York’s 62 counties with nearly 51 percent of the vote in a three-way race, and 79 percent of the votes cast for Lt. Governor in Monroe County in the statewide Primary Election. As the first Democrat from upstate, western New York to win a statewide primary, she opened the door for Democrats from my region. She championed many issues, including the need for fiscal responsibility; economic revitalization and job creation; access to affordable quality health care for all New Yorkers; and support for education, public safety, and a safe environment. Although she and her running mate did not win the General Election, they ran a positive campaign with integrity and respect for the other candidates and for the voters. This campaign helped to put Monroe County on the map.

Sandra campaigned in New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania for President-Elect Barak Obama in the General Election, co-chaired Rochester Jews for Obama, and had a leadership role in the Rochester Women for Obama fundraiser. During the Primary Election, she was a New York State “Ambassador for Hillary Clinton for President.” In 2002, she served as state-wide co-chair of H. Carl McCall’s campaign for Governor, and in 2000, as Monroe County co-chair of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign for United States Senate. During First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton’s “Listening Tour” prior to running for the U.S. Senate, she stayed at her home in Brighton.

She holds a Bachelor of Science degree with Distinction from Newcomb College of Tulane University and a Master of Arts degree from Northwestern University, and did additional graduate studies at Stanford University and San Jose State College.

Sandra has worked in health care and education in the public and private sectors in New York, Pennsylvania, and California as a speech language pathologist for more than 20 years. She and her husband, Dr. Neil A. Frankel, retired, Xerox Corporation, have 3 grown children and 7 grandchildren.

Goals:

I am running for re-election because I want to continue to improve our community and people's quality of life. We have made great strides and I intend to keep the momentum moving in a positive, productive direction.

Open space preservation and environmental protection, affordable housing and strong neighborhoods, vibrant business districts, excellent schools, and a safe and healthy community are my team's goals. We want to keep Brighton a place that people continue to choose to live, work, and raise a family.

I believe that our efforts must contribute to the revitalization of the Western New York economy, and to make Brighton the best it can be.

Issues:

1. Continuing to meet the needs of the community in a time of economic challenge, so that we can maintain essential quality services and programs in a fiscally responsible manner.
2. Implementing "green" initiatives to create jobs and promote a cleaner, healthier community and planet.
3. Continuing our open, inclusive government that encourages citizen participation in the decision making process.

Grassroots Support:

Grassroots organizing has been the foundation of my political success. Volunteers have helped in every aspect of my campaigns including literature distribution, canvassing door-to-door, phone bank calling, fundraising, issues development, communications and media relations, networking, volunteer coordination and outreach, marching in parades, attending events, and so much more. I will continue to involve community volunteers in my campaign this year, as I have in the past. My political campaign relies on volunteers and has no paid staff.

DFA Values:

Fiscal Responsibility:
•Fixed a major fiscal problem inherited from the prior administration, stabilized Brighton's finances, cut taxes in four budgets, and earned a high level Moody's credit rating upgrade to Aa3
•Built a strong financial foundation that enabled us to implement shared community goals
•Initiated cooperative work agreements with the City of Rochester, Brighton Central School District, towns of Pittsford, Irondequoit and Greece, and worked with the County of Monroe, to provide more cost-effective, efficient, and quality services--fire protection in West Brighton, assessment services, building inspection and plan review, purchasing, 911, and road construction and maintenance
•Conducted and updated the first town-wide revaluation in 40 years to restore fairness and equity to the assessment rolls, and maintained the roll with periodic updates
•Developed recommendations for cost savings on the New York State Commission on Local Government Efficiency and Competitiveness
•Led the New York Municipal Insurance Reciprocal, which meets the insurance needs of local governments efficiently through inter-municipal cooperation

Social Responsibility:
•Created a new town-wide park system of more than 425 acres, including Corbett's Glen Nature Park, Buckland Park, Meridian Centre Park, and the Lehigh Valley Multi-Use Trail, doubled recreation programs, protected environmentally sensitive areas, and passed an $8 million parkland acquisition and development referendum with four-to-one public support
•Renovated and more than doubled the size of the public library to promote lifelong learning and to support our community’s commitment to excellence in education
•Instituted “Community Policing” and other innovative public safety programs, expanded the police department, and closed a dilapidated crime-ridden motel
•Strengthened fire and ambulance services
•Repaired dangerous neighborhood sidewalks with an award winning program, and instituted an aggressive road, sewer, and drainage construction and maintenance program
•Established an historic preservation law and commission to designate local landmarks, and created an arts council and an annual arts festival
•Worked with the University of Rochester to develop a regional complex for medical/health care services along Westfall Road, and to expand optics and laser technology research in West Brighton
•Adopted an economic development and design guideline plan that revitalized the town’s main retail/commercial corridor, filling vacant storefronts; created a Business Improvement District to reduce the cost of exterior renovation for businesses; supported the establishment of Empire Zones; beautified the town center; and initiated a cooperative plan and program for Monroe Avenue in partnership with the City of Rochester and the Town and Village of Pittsford
•Championed the successful naming of I-490 within Monroe County as the “Erie Canal Expressway” to promote tourism and recreational use of the canal as a community asset
•Updated the Comprehensive Plan with a vision for the future--promoting economic development, preserving open space, and protecting and strengthening neighborhoods
•Established policies and programs that ensure quality affordable housing as a valued part of our housing stock
•Re-codified the Town Code for the first time in 20 years with new business-friendly laws that respected nearby residential neighborhoods, and continued to amend the code to implement the Comprehensive Plan and strengthen demolition regulations
•Diversified our workforce to reflect community demographics, and required staff sensitivity training to promote understanding and respect for people from different cultural, racial, ethnic, disability and sexual orientation perspectives
•Led the town council in the adoption of non-discrimination personnel policies for same-sex, provided domestic partner benefits for Town employees, and chaired the New York State Democratic Party's task force that led to the party's adoption of non-discrimination policies and equal treatment under the law, including marriage equality for New York State
•Put Brighton at the forefront of fighting global warming and climate change in Monroe County with an aggressive environmental program that has earned community-wide praise; provided strong stewardship of our environment by planning and implementing "green" initiatives; adopted a tree protection program that earned the Town of Brighton recognition as a Tree City U.S.A.
•Led the school board in supporting girls who have an aptitude and interest in advanced mathematics and science programs but who face challenging social pressures; advocated for parents of children with special needs to ensure appropriate educational settings and services; championed the establishment of a special elementary school program for gifted and talented children who were not engaged in standard educational programs; and focused the district on addressing problems of substance abuse among students