Smyth touts experience in county executive race
E. Greenbush Democrat to face winner of MeyerMcLaughlin primary
TROY, N. Y. » When Andrea Smyth heard 16- year incumbent Rensselaer County Executive Kathleen Jimino was not seeking re- election this year, she knew a Democrat would now have a better shot at winning the seat than when the popular Republican held the job.
“The excitement that is rising among Democrats, I don’t think is a false positive,” Smyth, 55, observed during a recent sitdown interview. “I think that there is an enrollment trend that is interesting. Countywide judicial candidates trend towards Democrats being elected, so in this county, people vote the person more than the party in many instances.”
Earlier in the year, Smyth received the endorsement of the county Democratic Committee, and she believes she is best qualified for the job.
Smyth grew up in rural Dutchess County and is a graduate of Arlington High School, the University of South Florida and the Rockefeller College Graduate School of Public Affairs & Policy at the University at Albany. She has a bachelor’s degree in public relations and a master’s degree in public management and has worked for some of Albany’s most influential groups, including the New York State Association of Counties, the New York Public Wel-
fare Association and the Home Care Association of New York State. She is currently executive director of the New York State Coalition for Children’s Mental Health Services and owner of A Smyth Advocacy, a government relations and strategic planning firm she started in 1999.
A lifelong healthcare advocate, Smyth has decades of policy and budgeting experience.
“I’ve been in public policy for my whole life, and this is the type of job that is about management and human services, so it really appeals to me on a personal level because this is the type of job that you kind of build your whole career towards,” explained Smyth.
Smyth admitted the current administration under Jimino has done some good work, but she also feels she can improve the county even more.
“Nobody can thank Kathy Jimino for her great public service and her long- term commitment more than I,” said Smyth. “She is a fantastic manager and a great budget analyst, and we need to build off of that.”
Smyth said that she has several goals to help improve the county if she is elected in November, when she will face either Deputy County Executive Chris Meyer or Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin, who will will face off in a Republican primary Sept. 12.
“One of my top goals is to move us up from 40th in terms of health quality in a recent Robert Wood Johnson poll to 20th in four years,” said Smyth. “I think we could do that, so my goal is to make Rensselaer County right up there with the other counties. My four top priorities are health and safety, infrastructure, jobs and property tax.”
Smyth and her husband, Ron Massaroni, have lived in East Greenbush since 1994 and have three children, Tess, Quinn and Jack. Smyth is also active in the community, having coached soccer, served on the Board of Directors of both the East Greenbush Soccer Club and Sunshine Day Care Center and taught faith formation classes at Holy Spirit Church. She currently serves on the Citizens Fiscal Advisory Committee and the Rensselaer County Democratic Committee.