Department News
Public Policy Club hosts NYS Senator Griffo
The guest speaker for the Public Policy Club’s annual breakfast this fall was New York State Senator Joseph A. Griffo, which was held Wednesday in the MVCC Board Room on the third floor of Payne Hall.
Sen. Griffo discussed with the students how he discovered he wanted to enter into public service with the goal of improving the quality of life in society while attending SUNY Brockport.
To this end, he was elected to the Oneida County Legislature in 1989 and then ran and won the position of mayor in the City of Rome in 1991. He held this position for three terms before becoming Oneida County Executive in 2003.
He took his current position in 2006. “I was always a critic of Albany and how it treated local governments. I thought the best way to fi x this was to change the system from within,” said Sen. Griffo.
Sen. Griffo represents the 47th District which encompasses portions of Lewis, Oneida and St. Lawrence counties, or about 300,000 people. There are six colleges and universities in his district.
“I really like to come into the classroom and forums like this to inform students of what is going on in their government. That is what this is. This is their government and the more they understand how it works, the more it can do for them,” said Sen. Griffo. He encouraged the students to take advantage of internship programs in local and state government as well as traveling abroad to learn fi rst-hand how different governments work.
“The rewarding aspect about public service is to make a difference in people’s lives,” he told the group.
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