The 18th Annual Jim Perry Progressive Leadership Awards will be held on Thursday, May 20th from 6:00 to 8:00 pm. Each Thursday leading up to the event, we’ll introduce you to one of this year’s honorees. The second in this series of posts is Judith Mazza.
Whether you are a New York State Senator or an aspiring would-be candidate for local office, you probably have visited Judith Mazza and her partner, Maureen O’Brien in their South End Albany home to check the pulse of Albany politics and to find out if you “measure up” to Judith’s tough standards and principles.
Judith is a ‘democrat’ in the original sense of the word. She is committed to social justice, honesty, fairness, equality. She believes in accountable and transparent government. Judith is a real “doer.” Judith started “doing” politics before she started elementary school. Her mother’s (Margaret Gaffney Mazza) passion was running Democratic political campaigns in Onondaga County. Judith was her youthful, able and eager assistant.
Judith first became involved in local Albany politics in 1989. She was an early supporter of C.A.R.E., a city-wide grassroots organization that helped elect the first independent candidates to the Albany City Board of Education.
Also in 1989, Judith was a founding member of the First Ward Improvement Committee, which was organized to deal with an unresponsive (and non-responsive) First Ward Alderman. The Alderman eventually resigned. The group re-organized as the First Ward Committee for Responsible Government, first to block the Mayor’s preferred replacement candidate and then to run an independent progressive candidate. Ever since 1993, the First Ward has had progressive, independent representation on the Albany Common Council. Judith was instrumental in this happening, first by managing both of Carol Wallace’s successful campaigns to be elected from the First Ward and more recently by being Dominick Casolaro’s campaign manager for his City Council races. She has also managed George Infante’s campaigns for the Albany County Legislature from the First Ward. Judith has worked hard in support of candidates for other political offices that she believes are principled and committed to social justice and good government.
In the summer of 2009, Judith convened the first meetings of a group that became Albany Neighborhoods First. This group issued a critical assessment of state of the City. Albany Neighborhoods First suggested specific goals and actions the City could take to reverse the decline of all of our neighborhoods and ensure a solid future for Albany and its residents. The release of an Albany Neighborhoods First white paper stimulated policy discussions of these issues during the Fall 2009 Albany City election campaigns.
Judith is a former member of the Board of the Capital District Chapter of Citizen Action, a former six year member of the Albany Citizens’ Police Review Board, and a former First Ward Leader. Judith was a founding member of the AIDS Council of Northeastern New York.
Judith is presently Vice President of the Second Avenue Neighborhood Association, a Democratic Committee person, and a Board Member and Group Facilitator of Caring Together (local Ovarian Cancer support group).
Judith is employed by the New York State Health Department AIDS Institute as the Director of the HIV Comprehensive Case Management Program.
Please join us on Thursday, May 20th in support of Citizen Action of New York and this year’s honorees: Norma Chapman, Judith Mazza, Vera “Mike” Michelson, and Joe Seeman.
This year’s event will be held at The State Room, 142 State Street, Albany, NY from 6:00 to 8:00 pm.
