SUZANNE SWANSON '80 

County Legislator 

Westchester County Chair 

Suzanne Swanson never envisioned herself in politics, until she was drafted by her local Democratic Party to run for the seat of County Legislator and won. She even became the tie vote for chairman of the board. All this for a woman who had previously tried to restrict her political involvement to "behind the scenes" roles.

Swanson says as soon as she was elected, she realized what a difficult job she had undertaken. Yet, she has come to love her job, and with almost nine years under her belt, is now considered one of the board's "long-timers.” She will continue to serve the 50,000 people of her district for as long as they choose to re-elect her, she says. 

Swanson serves as Westchester County Chair of the Special Committee on Education, is a member of the Westchester County Board of Health, and liaison to the EMS Council of Westchester. She is vice chairman of the legislative committee on Public Safety and Criminal Justice, and is a member of the committees of Budget and Appropriations, County Officers and Departments, and Health, chairing the latter for the majority of her tenure on the board.

Her list of civic affiliations is lengthy. She serves as chairperson of the Grasslands Fire Advisory Commission and sat on the Mt. Pleasant Planning Board. She has served as campaign chairman for two town supervisors, worked on the Mt. Pleasant Youth Task Force and Bicentennial Committee, and sat on the board of the Mt. Pleasant PTA.

But her roots are in a far different discipline. Soon after becoming a registered nurse in 1965, she took a job as a relief charge registered nurse at Northern Westchester Hospital. She continued in that position for 10 years, then decided to concentrate her efforts on her family and her vice presidency of D.C.Swanson, Inc., the plumbing and heating contracting business her family owns. She still maintains that position.

While her children were young, Swanson decided to start taking classes while they were in nursery school. She enjoyed the educational challenge Merey College presented and graduated cum laude in 1980 with a degree in Behavioral Science.