Know Your Neighbor: Anthony Amiano, College Student/Legislative Aide, Valhalla
When Anthony Amiano decided to volunteer for a political campaign the first time, he received all sorts of questions and quizzical looks while handing out palm cards and knocking on people’s doors.
That was during Rob Astorino’s campaign for county legislator in 2003. Amiano reached out to the future county executive and gubernatorial candidate to see what he could do to help when he was all of 10 years old.
He doesn’t exactly know what sparked his interest, he just wanted to be involved.
“I got a lot of questions,” Amiano recalled. “Are you his son? Always the age thing. Why? Why is this 10-year-old here? But I think people see this is my passion.”
Just over 10 years later it’s still Amiano’s passion and he’s still answering the age questions. But now it’s different. Last Tuesday he won a seat on the Valhalla Board of Education, just shy of three years after graduating from the district. With his victory, it is believed he will be the youngest elected official in Westchester when he is sworn in on July 1.
During the run-up to the school board vote, the age questions didn’t bother him. Amiano said he made sure he was well-versed on the issues and demonstrated his seriousness to voters and how he could benefit the board.
“Going into this, yes, I thought the biggest obstacle would be the age, being only 20,”Amiano said. “But I found when you talk to people, show them you know the issues. When you communicate your message and have that broader conversation, age is just a number.”
He decided to run not only because of his interest in the legislative process but his love for the district. He was junior and senior class president in high school and served as newspaper editor and felt he could provide a fresh voice from the perspective of a relatively recent graduate.
Given that the majority of any property taxpayer’s bill pay for the schools, often little-known school trustees are the most important public servants, he said.
“Public education in New York is under such stress, I mean fiscally, policy-wise,” said Amiano, who would like local school boards to work more collaboratively. “You look at Common Core, APPR, the veterans tax credit. There are so many issues coming down the pike from Albany.”
It has helped that while going to college–Amiano just completed his junior year at Manhattan College–he has gained practical experience as the legislative aide for County Legislator Michael Smith.
During the school year Amiano has worked 17.5 hours a week for Smith at the Board of Legislators and full-time during the summer, although his responsibilities often extend beyond the hours he is paid for. Amiano said the ability to listen to the public’s concerns and questions in Smith’s district and acquainting himself with the issues and legislation at the county level was good preparation for his school board run.
“You work with so many different people and you work with such a spreadsheet of issues, from a park in Sleepy Hollow to the Miller House in North Castle, so it has truly been a great experience,” said Amiano, a communications major with a concentration in public relations and a minor in government.
For Amiano, who worked on all of Astorino’s county executive runs and Smith’s campaign in 2011, both have served as a sort of role model. Astorino was a year older than Amiano is now when elected to the Mount Pleasant Board of Education. Smith served for six years as a Valhalla trustee before becoming county legislator.
For now, at least, he deflects any consideration that races for other offices might be in his future. It’s a possibility but Amiano, who lives with his parents and younger sister, Valhalla High School student, doesn’t know what other opportunities may arise.
“But I never want to close that door because if you asked me a year ago or two years ago, ‘Would you run for the school board?’ I don’t know what my response would have been,” he said. “It probably would have been no but things have a funny way of coming together. I’ll never close the door but I don’t know right now.”
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/