Pat’s election to the County Legislature in November of 2009 came following retirement from a thirty-eight year career as a public school teacher and a 4 year term on the City of Ithaca’s Common Council, where she represented the First Ward from 2000-2003.
Following graduation from SUNY Cortland, Pat started teaching in the Lansing Elementary School in 1962 and later moved to the TST-BOCES as a Special Ed. Teacher. Pat taught at all levels of the public schools, ending her career in 2000 with 16 years at Ithaca High School. Teaching was a very satisfying and rewarding career for Pat and she continues to get pleasure from running into former students at various places and events in the community.
Pat’s service on Common Council was both challenging and controversial as the City expanded its tax base by adding commercial development on Elmira Rd. While a strong supporter of well-planned business development in the urban core of the County, Pat was also very committed to maintaining the vitality of Ithaca’s downtown business district and served as the City liaison to the Downtown Ithaca Alliance. In her fourth year on Common Council, Pat was elected by her colleagues on Council as Acting Mayor. She served as Mayor for about 8 weeks at various times when the Mayor was out of town, including during the Northeast and Midwest power outage during the summer of 2003.
Pat has been, for many years, a community activist around issues of human rights and social justice. She was one of the founding members of the Coalition for Community Unity (CCU), a grass-roots movement whose members worked to improve educational outcomes for historically underserved populations in the Ithaca School District. Additionally, she was one of the first faculty advisors of the Gay-Straight Alliance at IHS. Along with other district LGBT activists, Pat petitioned her union and the school district to provide health insurance benefits to partners of LGBT teachers. She helped to implement a gay-friendly program of pink triangles placed prominently on the doors of classroom teachers who wished to have their classroom known as a “safe space” for LGBT and Questioning students.
Pat has also been a strong union supporter, serving as her local’s President when she worked for the TST-BOCES, and as a member of the Executive Board and Negotiating Team for the Ithaca Teacher’s Association. She expects to bring her many years of experience in working to meet the needs of middle class and working class families to bear on issues before the County Legislature.
Pat grew up in Vestal Center, a rural community in Broome County. She learned to love the outdoors and spent many hours roaming the woods and fields around where she lived. Pat continues to value highly the independent spirit and strong work ethic of a rural lifestyle. She is strongly committed to protecting our County’s natural resources and, in keeping with her Girl Scout background, to leaving the area better than she found it when she arrived. Pat, and her partner, Susie, live on Scofield Rd. in Lansing where they delight in taking care of their year-and-a-half old granddaughter while her parents are at work. |
