The From the Lobby podcast features a behind-the-scenes look at politics and government from New York State to Washington, DC with Jack O’Donnell, an Albany insider and Managing Partner of O’Donnell and Associates, a top lobbying firm that helps clients all over the country cut through government red tape.
Don’t be stuck on the sidelines. Get a front-row seat to what’s happening in politics with Jack! From the issues that affect taxpayers and business owners to the history of the budget process in New York, Jack has the knowledge and depth of experience to cut through the rhetoric and tell you what’s really going on.
Summary of this Episode
Guests
- Dustin Reidy: Albany County Legislator
- Alec Lewis: Vice President and Director of Campaigns at O’Donnell and Associates
- Joanne Pasceri: Director of Communications at O’Donnell and Associates
Major Topics Covered
• Dustin Reedy, Albany County Legislator, discusses political strategies and predictions for 2024 NY House races.
• Reedy emphasizes the importance of authenticity and clear communication in successful campaigns.
• He shares his motivations for running for office and accomplishments as a county legislator, including gun violence prevention efforts.
• Reedy explains the role of an Albany County legislator, including budgeting, oversight, legislation, and community engagement.
Full Transcript of the Episode
Note: This is a generated transcript. Please excuse any typos.
Joanna Pasceri 00:06
Welcome, everyone, and thanks for joining us from the lobby with Jack O’Donnell. Today we’re turning to a longtime campaigner, now elected official to share his key political strategies and the importance of public service, and also some predictions on next year’s hot election cycle. Politics is our game on this podcast that gives listeners the inside track with Jack, a Top New York lobbyist and Managing Partner of O’Donnell and Associates, a government relations firm helping leaders and businesses reached their goals. I’m Joanna Pasceri, Director of Communications at the mic for Jack is our Alec Lewis, Vice President and Director of campaigns at O’Donnell and Associates, a political expert who was a key player on campaigns that led to consecutive super majorities in the Senate. Alecs’ special guest is Dustin Reidy, Albany county legislator representing a portion of the town of Guilderland, a position he’s held since 2020. Alec is going to talk to Dustin about his career in campaigns and advocacy, his take on the upcoming congressional elections and 2024, and the work that he’s doing in the Albany County Legislature. Hi, Alec and Dustin, and welcome to the podcast.
Alec Lewis 01:21
Joanna, it’s great to be with you today. And Dustin, welcome to the podcast.
Dustin Reidy 01:25
Hey, thank you so much, Alec. Thank you, Joanna, it was a pleasure to join you here in the lobby this morning.
Alec Lewis 01:32
Dustin, you’ve had a long career working in advocacy, outreach and campaign management. And we met in 2017, when you had founded NY 19 votes, and you helped build a community amongst the many engaged activist groups at that time. And you’ve also run congressional campaigns for Congressman Paul Tonko in the capitol region. So when you look at New York state being at the epicenter of the national house map in 2024, what’s your take on the various races?
Dustin Reidy 01:57
Well, I think we have work to do. But I am hopeful and optimistic that we will be delivering the House Majority through the congressional seats here in New York, and running for office at any level. I think any candidate, you have to show people who you are, and you have to communicate who you’re fighting for, and how you’re going to fight for them. So I think if you look at Antonio Delgado’s race in 2018, which flipped the only majority rural district here in the 19th congressional that year. If you look at both of Pat Ryan’s successes last year, and if you look at Congressman Tonko, who outperformed expectations, here in the 20th congressional, the common thread you’ll find are candidates that were authentic to who they were communicated that to voters, and they showed them that they were going to fight for them. You know, I’ve had the honor of serving as Paul’s campaign managers as 2020. And from working for him, what I see him do every day is tirelessly show constituents he’s there to listen, to advocate and to lead on issues that help their bottom lines, and, and the standing up and fighting for their values. Now, in the, you know, with our opponents, I think what you see in the Republican Party currently, is a party obsessed with banning books, banning women from having control of their bodies, and banning facts from the public marketplace of ideas. And these are individuals that are both dangerously out of touch with voters and I think folks can tell that they don’t actually believe half of the things that they’re saying, but they’re willing to either lie to themselves or lie to voters to gain power. So for Democrats that are running, you know, we need to be loud on the fact that labor are the you know, that we’re supporting labor unions and organizing rights, that abortion is healthcare, you know, these are just two examples of a message for a party that’s going to fight to increase your personal freedom and independence, while making sure you’re getting a fair shake out there, out there in the world.
Alec Lewis 04:09
And you’ve spent many years working with candidates and campaign organizations to fight for the values that you have believed in. But ultimately, you decided to run for office yourself in 2019. So what ultimately motivated you to do that? And what did you learn as a first time candidate after spending so many years in a campaign organizing management role?
Dustin Reidy 04:30
Well, I think the lessons that many of us learned and some of us were re-energized. You know, going back to 2016 to the blue wave in 2018 is the need to have more people at the local level leading. And so, you know, I’ve spent quite a quite a long time helping manage outreach campaigns both for candidates for organizations like Planned Parenthood and labor unions. And after 2018 When we flipped in the 19th congressional that year, I looked at the best way to make an impact, and decided to go and run for the county legislature to bring the energy and what I’ve learned to the local level. And, you know, serving in my first term coming in in January of 2020, right before the start of the COVID pandemic, it is certainly been an interesting journey. And one I did not expect to, you know, be a part of like any of us. But, you know, I ran on being a pro labor union legislator, I’ve ran on bringing some new energy into local governments, I think I’ve made good on on my campaign platform. During the pandemic, I was proud to help stop price gouging by third party food delivery apps, and part of our economic recovery Task Force, I was part of our legislature giving out $500,000 in grants to local businesses hit hardest by the pandemic. And, you know, I also co sponsored a county Clean Air Act in my first year, you know, the biggest challenge on the county side of government is seeing where you can affect change, you know, some of our most important local issues in terms of development and zoning, you know, what is being built, where and how it’s being belt built, you know, that’s at the municipal level. And some of our biggest issues, you know, are really taken up by the state and federal levels. So I think the biggest challenge in the county legislature is finding how you can help make an impact and make things better. And, you know, while it was not something I intended on focusing on, you know, I ended up and I’m very proud to be a leader at the local level in the fight against gun violence. You know, I introduced and helped pass three different pieces of legislation, so we passed a bill banning firearms and dangerous weapons from county buildings, requiring a safety warning and information, where and when firearms are sold. I think my proudest accomplishment, this past November, I introduced and helped pass the Discover Act, which working with our Sheriff’s Department provides funding for county gun buyback programs, we started a tip line giving a reward for information leading to the seizure of illegally possessed firearms. And this this piece of legislation was unanimously co-sponsored by every member of the legislature, including every Republican legislator. And so being able to make an impact on and do something to take on this epidemic of gun violence we face, do it in a purely and truly bipartisan manner. I did not expect to pass something like this. When I first ran, I’m incredibly proud to do so, and, you know, so I’m hoping that if I do get the opportunity to represent Guilderland, again, in the election in November, you know, I’m hoping to continue to continue to fight for our unions continue to do work on on gun violence.
Alec Lewis 08:20
So you answered a lot of what I was going to ask you next in terms of how you felt you were looking to accomplish goals for yourself in a second term for Albany County. But just from a pure process standpoint, county government is a level of government that many people don’t really understand how it works. Can you fundamentally describe from your perspective what the real role of an Albany county legislator actually is? And you touched on it a little bit, but what is the county legislator really do in relation to town and village government or state and federal government? Can you help lay that out for our listeners?
Dustin Reidy 08:53
Oh, absolutely. And I think there’s there’s three major parts of the county legislature. We are a part of the budgeting process. You know, every year, the county executive and the different departments of our county will put together a budget. We have different committee meetings going through each department. Ultimately, the county executive submits a budget, and it is our job to pass that budget, make amendments to it or vote it down to send it back to the county executive, so we are we have a huge part in the process of how our money is spent here in Albany County. We have a, you know, a kind of regulatory advisory role in that in the in the month to month, whenever a department makes a request for any money to be spent any funding, you know, certain programs, they’re going to take up, you know, we have to approve those. So we have a role in sort of managing advising, you know, being a watchdog and investigatory body in terms of how our county departments and our county as a whole is working on behalf of our residents here. And, you know, from from that role, we can also introduce and pass legislation that affects the county as a whole. But I think is, you know, may be the most important part is, it’s our job to be out in the community, you know, showing up at events, talking to residents, talking to constituents, you know, it’s our job to be out there talking to folks to see what what can be fixed, what can be made better, what are we doing well, that we should know about and, you know, to work to, you know, improve upon or, or extend, you know, there’s no official requirement as a county legislator that you go to your fire department, you know, chicken barbecue, or go to your Altamont village, you know, a garage sale that they have every year, but, you know, going to events of being out there, that’s where that’s where you’re gonna get your best ideas. And that’s where you’re gonna get the most necessary ideas, information, you need to represent people.
Alec Lewis 11:19
Well Dustin, I can’t thank you enough for sharing in great detail, the level of work that goes into being a county legislator and the intentionality that you have in approaching your work. So I can’t thank you enough again for joining us from the lobby. And I’ll hand it off to Joanna to close in our program.
Joanna Pasceri 11:35
Thank you, Alec and Dustin, for that quick conversation on Albany County, New York politics, and good government. And for more great political insight. Be sure to sign up for our Monday morning memo. It’s Jack’s weekly newsletter on what’s really happening in politics. Get it sent right to your inbox, subscribe on our website, just head to odonnellsolutions.com. That’s odonnellsolutions.com. And for daily updates, follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, threads and Instagram at O’Donnell and Associates. Thanks for listening, everyone. We’ll be back from the lobby with Jack O’Donnell.
