Empire Page - INY Biographies

John Durso, Jr., Executive Director of the New York Affordable Reliable Electricity Alliance

2011-04-17T17:00:00Z

Recognized by City Hall in 2009 as one of New York’s “Rising Stars: 40 Under 40 - The Next Generation of Political Leaders in New York”, John Durso, Jr. serves as Executive Director of the New York Affordable Reliable Electricity Alliance (New York AREA); a respected energy policy coalition of utilities, labor unions and business organizations in New York and throughout the Northeast Corridor.

A leading voice on energy issues such as supply, infrastructure and sustainability, Durso was invited by the Obama White House to participate in a November, 2009 White House Clean Energy Forum on Public Health. Mr. Durso is also a frequent media contributor whose energy policy expertise has been featured in Reuters, Associated Press, Crain’s as well as in newspapers and both television and radio news programs across New York State.

Prior to joining New York AREA in 2008, Durso most recently served as Director of Communications to Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks. He is a graduate of Siena College in Loudonville.

Heather Briccetti

2011-03-15T03:47:00Z

On January 27, 2011, Heather Briccetti was appointed acting-president and CEO of The Business Council of NYS, Inc.

Briccetti joined The Business Council as Vice President of Government Affairs in December of 2007. Prior to joining The Business Council, Heather was a consultant and lobbyist for Powers and Company, where she advised clients on a range of state and federal government relations issues.

Briccetti previously served as an assistant counsel to the state Senate majority, working on a range of issues, including economic development, budget reform, and consumer protection. She also worked for the Assembly majority for several years, serving as a legislative aide and Counsel to the committee on Racing and Wagering.

She has also served as special counsel in the office of the state Attorney General, where her responsibilities included coordinating activities between the bureaus in the Attorney General's office and the state Legislature and the Governor's office. Briccetti has worked in private practice as a founding partner of the Sweeney & Wollowitz and as chief public defender in Rensselaer County.

She grew up in Syracuse, New York. Briccetti received her undergraduate degree from the State University of New York at Binghamton and her law degree from Albany Law School. Briccetti now lives in Troy, outside of Albany, with her three sons.

Carole Kraus

2011-02-23T21:22:00Z

Carole Kraus resides in Ulster County, 2 hours north of New York City. Raised in Kentucky, she attended U of Wisconsin and graduated from Emory U in Atlanta.

In the 70s, she lived in France where she studied oenology and assisted in wine making in Bordeaux. On return to the US, Carole worked for corporate fine wine companies through much of the 80s.

Her entrepreneurial drive took her next into the visual arts, first as private dealer and now as a private advisor to art collectors.

When she moved from New York City to her home in Kripplebush she encountered people who were devastated by excessive property taxation. At a community meeting she met many locals like a woman who described a life of hard work, successful child-rearing and financial desperation brought on by sudden increases in yearly school property taxes. Her home, purchased 20 years before for $50,000, was now valued at $125,000. Her taxes were based on current assessment. She was soon out of a home and a renter when she could no longer pay those taxes.

The injustice was appalling; a citizens group was formed to look at the inequity. While continuing work as an art advisor and teaching English as a second language, Carole engaged with a small group of Ulster County residents to push property tax reform onto the New York State policy agenda. Shortly after, the group joined forces with others in the state to form the New York State Property Tax Reform Coalition, volunteers advocating for property tax relief and reform.

Mayor Ed Koch

2010-09-30T21:21:00Z

Edward I. Koch saved the City of New York from bankruptcy and in doing so restored the pride of New Yorkers. During his three terms as Mayor from 1978-1989, he restored fiscal stability to the City of New York, and he was responsible for placing the City on a GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Practices) balanced budget basis. He created a housing program which, over a ten-year period, provided more than 150,000 units of affordable housing financed by City funds in the amount of $5.1 billion. He created for the first time in New York City a merit judicial selection system and selected some of the most outstanding public servants to serve in his administration.

Prior to being Mayor, Mr. Koch served for nine years as a Congressman and two years as a member of the New York City Council. He attended City College of New York from 1941 to 1943. In his last year of college, he was drafted into the Army where he served with the 104^th Infantry Division. He served in the European Theater of Operations, received two battle stars, the Combat Infantry badge, and he was honorably discharged with the rank of Sergeant in 1946. In that year, he also attended the New York University School of Law. He received his LL.B. degree in 1948 and began to practice law immediately thereafter.

He is currently a partner in the law firm of Bryan Cave LLP. He hosts a Friday evening call-in radio program on Bloomberg AM 1130 (WBBR) and is also a commentator on that same station. Mr. Koch appears weekly on NY1 television with former Senator Alfonse D’Amato. He lectures around the country, writes a weekly commentary, and his weekly movie reviews are published in The Villager

Additionally, Mr. Koch is the author of numerous books which include Mayor, Politics, His Eminence And Hizzoner, All The Best, Citizen Koch, Ed Koch On Everything, Giuliani Nasty Man, I'm Not Done Yet: Remaining Relevant, Buzz: How to Create It and Win with It, and two children's books which he co-authored with his sister, Pat Koch Thaler: Eddie, Harold's Little Brother, and Eddie's Little Sister Makes a Splash. His most recent book is entitled The Koch Papers: My Fight Against Anti-Semitism.

Howie Hawkins

2010-08-31T02:19:00Z

Howie Hawkins has been an organizer in movements for peace, justice, labor, the environment, and independent politics since the late 1960s.

The Green Party has nominated Howie to run for public office many times. His 2005 campaign for Mayor of Syracuse put the issues of living wages, public power, and sustainability on the city's agenda. His 2006 campaign for US Senator called for an end to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, single payer health care, and a rapid transition to renewable energy to stop global warming. He received 41 percent of the vote in his 2009 race for 4^th District Common Councilor in Syracuse in a campaign emphasizing living wages, green jobs, and a municipal bank to finance community-owned businesses.

A former Marine, Howie helped organize opposition to the Vietnam War and was a leader in the anti-apartheid movement to end US corporate investment in the system of racist labor exploitation in South Africa.

After attending Dartmouth College in the early 1970s, Howie worked in construction in New England and helped organize a workers cooperative that specialized in energy audits, efficiency retrofits, and solar and wind installations.

He was a co-founder of the anti-nuclear Clamshell Alliance in 1976 and the Green Party in the US in 1984.

Howie moved to Syracuse in 1991 to develop cooperatives for CommonWorks, a federation of cooperatives working for an economy that is cooperatively owned, democratically controlled, and ecologically sustainable. As a board member of the Southside Community Coalition, he is currently helping to develop a community- and worker-owned food cooperative in his inner city neighborhood where no grocery stores remain.

For the last decade Howie has worked unloading trucks at UPS, where he is a member of Teamsters Local 317 and active in Teamsters for a Democratic Union, US Labor Against the War, and the Labor Campaign for Single Payer Healthcare.

Howie’s articles on politics, economics, and environmental issues have appeared in Against the Current, Green Politics, International Socialist Review, New Politics, Peace and Democracy News, Resist, Roll Call, Society and Nature, Z Magazine, and other publications. He is the editor of the 2006 book, Independent Politics: The Green Party Strategy Debate.

Thomas P. DiNapoli

2010-08-26T15:01:00Z

On February 7, 2007, Thomas P. DiNapoli was sworn in as the 54th Comptroller of the State of New York. Since taking office, Tom has fought to protect taxpayers -- aggressively identifying government waste, holding public and private institutions accountable, and working to restore the public’s trust in the Comptroller’s office.

As Chief Fiscal Officer for New York State, Tom has demonstrated his fierce independence and a strong commitment to reform, standing up to both parties with honest talk about our state’s fiscal challenges. He has also shown an unwavering commitment to the growth, integrity, and non-partisan stewardship of the New York State Common Retirement Fund.

Through his audits and oversight, Tom has targeted more than $2 billion in wasteful government spending – fighting to ensure federal stimulus dollars go to the job-creation measures for which they were intended; cracking down hard on waste, fraud, and abuse of state funding; and giving every New Yorker with an Internet connection unfettered access to how their tax money is spent.

Tom has a long and storied career in public service to New York State. Born in Rockville Center, Tom grew up in a union household. His mother, Adeline, was a civil servant, serving as a records clerk for the county police department. His father, Nick, served his country in World War II. After the war, he worked as a cable splicer for the phone company. For a time, he served as a shop steward for his union.

Tom first gained recognition in 1972, when, at the age of 18, he decided to run for the Mineola Board of Education. Frustrated with the lack of attention students were receiving, he went door-to-door to talk with voters about issues that needed to be addressed. The voters then elected Tom as a trustee to the board, making him the youngest person in New York State’s history to hold public office. He served on the board for 10 years, eventually becoming its president.

Tom attended and received a degree from Hofstra University. Afterward, he went to work as an operator for New York Telephone. He would rise within the company to manage a division of more than 100 people.

Tom also worked as an aide to Assemblywoman May Newburger, and in 1986, he succeeded her as representative of the 16th Assembly District, which covers northwestern Nassau County. Tom served 20 years in the Assembly, and during his tenure he chaired the Environmental Conservation Committee, the Local Governments Committee, and the Governmental Operations Committee. During his legislative career, he fought to restore fiscal responsibility in Nassau County, prevent fraud and mismanagement in school districts, and clean up the State’s water supply.

Tom also served for a time as chairman of the Nassau County Democratic Committee; it was during this period that the party captured the County Legislature for the first time in 80 years.

Joe DioGuardi

2010-08-11T15:29:00Z

Accountability has been the hallmark of Joe DioGuardi’s distinguished career in accounting, public service, advocacy, education, and corporate governance. The son of immigrants, whose industriousness and entrepreneurial spirit enabled them to build a better future, Joe is no stranger to hard work or unflagging persistence. He has tackled serious problems in his community, the business arena, and Congress. He obtains solutions, frequently overcoming obstacles by thinking ahead of the issue at hand.

As a Certified Public Accountant, Joe has spent his professional life promoting sound accounting principles and practices in government, and has demonstrated his dedication to professional integrity and personal service in accounting. He has consistently exemplified vision, leadership, and commitment to the core principles of public service, both locally and nationally.

Joe currently resides in Ossining, New York, with his wife, Shirley Cloyes DioGuardi, a writer, human rights activist, and former book publisher.

Children: Kara DioGuardi, a songwriter, music producer, and judge on “American Idol; John DioGuardi, a senior counselor at the Phoenix House, a drug rehabilitation center.

Dan Donovan

2010-08-04T16:39:00Z

Daniel M. Donovan, Jr. was elected Richmond County District Attorney in November 2003, becoming the first Republican elected District Attorney in New York City in over fifty years. He was overwhelmingly re-elected in 2007 with nearly 70% of the vote, with the endorsement of the Republican, Conservative and Independence parties.

A native Staten Islander, Dan Donovan was educated in local schools and attended St. John’s University where he earned a BA in Criminal Justice. He later attended the Fordham University School of Law as an evening student where he was a member of the Fordham Law Review and earned his JD, with honors, in 1988.

Prior to being elected District Attorney, Dan Donovan served the people of New York for over two decades. District Attorney Donovan began his career as a prosecutor serving eight years under Manhattan District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau where he prosecuted major narcotics cases throughout the city and served as senior trial counsel. After leaving Morgenthau’s office, Donovan began serving his native Staten Island in 1996 as Chief of Staff to then Borough President Guy V. Molinari. In January 2002, Mr. Donovan was appointed Deputy Borough President, serving under Borough President James P. Molinaro.

In 2008 Dan’s record of service was recognized by his peers as he was elected President of the New York State District Attorney’s association. Additionally, the Association of the Bar of the City of New York awarded its 2006 “Diversity Champion Award” to Donovan for increasing Diversity in the Das office and for raising the office’s standards. Donovan similarly received a Diversity award from the Asian-America Bar Association of New York.

Jay Townsend

2010-07-07T14:50:00Z

Jay Townsend is a husband, father, and small businessman whose disgust with the course of our nation and decline of New York led him to enter the race for the United States Senate against Chuck Schumer.

The eldest of five children raised on an Indiana farm, he has lived in New York for nearly 30 years; residing upstate as a Cornell University graduate student, in New York City as a young entrepreneur, before settling in the Hudson Valley when he formed The Townsend Group, a market research and consulting firm that provides advertising and consulting services to companies and public figures.

While pursuing a Master's Degree at Cornell University, Townsend was one of 10 graduate students awarded a fellowship by the NY State Senate. Assigned to the staff of the Senate Finance Committee, he helped formulate political strategies to deal with New York City's fiscal crisis. At age 23, he was hired to serve as a legislative aide to a United States Senator.

After completing his graduate education at Purdue University, Townsend was hired as an analyst in a New York City market research firm. At age 32, he became a partner, supervising the work of 13 employees in a company with clients in several states. In 1993, he formed The Townsend Group, Inc, located in Cornwall-on-Hudson, NY. He has thrice won national awards for his innovative advertising campaigns.

Long active in the Cornwall community as a volunteer and civic leader, Townsend is the former Senior Warden of St. John's Episcopal Church, where he spearheaded the most successful capital campaign in church history, helped lead community outreach efforts to aid the underserved, staff area soup kitchens, send supplies to wounded soldiers at Landstuhl, Germany, and provide assistance to impoverished children in South Africa.

Mr. Townsend has lectured on politics and public policy at the United States Military Academy, the Marketing Research Association, the Marist Institute for Public Opinion, and numerous colleges and universities. He has been a frequent guest and commentator on FOX News.

Townsend earned B.S. and M.S. degrees from Purdue University in 1976 and 1982. He resides with his wife, Rebecca, and their sons in Cornwall-on-Hudson, NY.

Bennett Liebman

2010-05-26T12:16:00Z

Bennett Liebman is the Executive Director of the Government Law Center of Albany Law School. From July 2007 through December 2007, he served as the Acting Director of the Government Law Center. He has served as the Coordinator of the Government Law Center’s Program on Racing and Gaming Law since the program was established in February of 2002. He teaches courses on Sports and the Law and Government and Gambling.

Mr. Liebman is a summa cum laude graduate of Union College and a cum laude graduate of New York University School of Law. He also serves as a public appointee on the board of directors of the New York Racing Association.

Dr. Scott Noren

2010-05-18T00:37:00Z

Dr. Scott Noren is an Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeon practicing in Ithaca, NY. He was born in Park Ridge, Illinois on April 7, 1960. He is a second generation American with a predominantly Ukrainian-Jewish background. He graduated from Niles West High School in 1978 and then attended the University of Illinois at Chicago achieving a Bachelor’s degree in Biology.

He then completed his Dental School training at Loyola University of Chicago in 1990. He did a one year General Dental residency at Cook County Hospital in Chicago. He then completed a one year Oral Surgery Externship at LSU in New Orleans, LA. Following this, Noren did his Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery Residency at Truman Medical Center in Kansas City, MO, completing this in 1997.

Noren entered the US Army active duty and spent 6 years serving his country. He was a medical whistle blower while on active duty. Following active duty, he did two Oral Surgery Associateships in Duluth, MN and Saratoga Springs, NY respectively. He then purchased an Oral Surgery Practice in Ithaca, NY in 2005, a practice that had been there for over 40 years.

Dr. Noren and his wife Michelle have three children aged 12,13,and 14. Scott also has a grown daughter living in Illinois.

Brian Houseal, Executive Director, Adirondack Council

2010-04-20T18:27:00Z

Brian Houseal became the Executive Director of the Adirondack Council in 2002. Houseal holds a BA degree from Colgate University, and completed graduate degrees in Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning at Syracuse University and the College of Environmental Science and Forestry at the State University of New York, Syracuse campus.

Houseal has extensive international conservation experience throughout Latin America and the Caribbean region, where a variety of organizations have supported his work, including: the US Peace Corps, UNESCO, US Agency for International Development, and the World Wildlife Fund. Before coming to the Adirondack Council, Houseal worked for 15 years as a Vice President of The Nature Conservancy’s International Program, where he directed the Mexico Program. One of his major achievements while at the Conservancy was to design and direct the ‘Parks in Peril Program’, which has successfully protected over 65 million acres of critically threatened parks and reserves throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.

Brian is a past Board member of the Adirondack Economic Development Corporation, and serves on committees for the Lake Champlain Basin Program, and Northern Forest Center, among others.

Brian and his wife Katherine have been seasonal visitors to the Adirondacks for over 30 years, and are now full-time residents of Westport, a village in the eastern part of the Park on Lake Champlain. He has great admiration for Adirondack wilderness because he can still get lost in it, and often does.

Karen Scharff

2010-03-15T00:10:00Z

Karen Scharff has been the Executive Director of Citizen Action of New York since 1984. Citizen Action is a statewide grassroots organization that empowers New Yorkers to fight for social, economic and racial justice, with a focus on policy change at the state level. Citizen Action plays a major role in local and statewide policymaking, with 7 offices, over 20,000 activists, and a track record of success on equitable education funding, progressive tax policy, funding for after school programs, expansion of health care coverage and voter participation. Ms. Scharff was one of the founders of the Alliance for Quality Education. She co-chairs AQE’s statewide board, and played a leading role in developing and implementing AQE’s successful campaign to establish a new more equitable funding formula and billions of additional dollars for underfunded schools. Ms. Scharff also serves on the Executive Committee of the Working Families Party. Ms. Scharff graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. from Harvard University in 1979.

Brian McMahon

2010-03-01T17:09:00Z

Brian T. McMahon has served as the full time Executive Director of the New York State Economic Development Council since January 1, 2000. Prior to that he served as the Director of Economic Development and Manufacturing for The Business Council of New York State, Inc.

NYSEDC is the principal organization representing more than 900 economic development professionals, which include the leadership of Industrial Development Agencies, Empire Zones, Local Development Corporations, commercial and investment banks, underwriters, bond counsels, utilities, chambers of commerce and private corporations. The purpose of NYSEDC is to promote the economic development of the state and its communities; encourage sound practices in the conduct of regional and statewide development programs; and, develop education programs that enhance the professional development skills of NYSEDC members.

NYSEDC also leads NY’s marketing activities for the biotech sector. Through its subsidiary NY Loves Bio, NYSEDC coordinates trade show, external communications, and public policy activities to expand and market NY’s life science strengths and assets nationally and internationally.

Brian McMahon is a director of the New York Business Development Corporation, the Council of Development Finance Agencies, and has served on numerous community boards, including the Wilton Wild Life Park and Preserve and the Albany YMCA.

Brian McMahon grew-up in Corning, New York, and graduated from SUNY-Albany in 1977 with a degree in Political Science. He resides in Saratoga Springs, New York with his wife Kim.

Warren Redlich

2010-02-05T02:59:00Z

S. Warren Redlich is the founder of two successful small businesses --- the Redlich Law Firm he founded in 2003 and SpinJ Corporation, which develops and manages websites. SpinJ's largest website is Town-Court.com, a directory of traffic courts used by 150,000 people a month.

Born in Long Island, Redlich grew up in Guilderland, an Albany suburb. He was elected to the Town Board there in 2007, unseating two long-time Democrat incumbents in a town with a large enrollment advantage for Democrats.

He has a B.A. in Mathematical Economic Analysis from Rice University in Houston, an A.M. from Stanford, and a J.D. from Albany Law School.

After law school, Warren taught English in Japan for a year. While not fluent, he speaks Spanish, Japanese, and some French.

In the past, Redlich has worked in Albany for an insurance company and clerked for a Fulton County judge.

Warren represented the Ron Paul campaign before the New York State Board of Elections in 2008. He was a candidate for NY’s 21st congressional district in 2004 and 2006.

As a Guilderland Town Board member, Warren proposed a pay cut for himself and other elected and appointed officials. He twice voted to freeze his own pay.

Warren and Heather Redlich were married in 1995. They live in Guilderland with their two children.