Meet Joanne Yepsen
By Nancy Muldoon
Joanne
Yepsen, County Supervisor grew up in a house where politics was only occasionally discussed at the dinner table. However, family and doing things for others was the overarching theme in the household she grew up in. Joanne moved from Hamden, Connecticut in 1976 to attend Hartwick College in upstate New York and hasn’t left since.
She spent a lot of time engaging herself in the community when she arrived in Saratoga in 1985.
For sixteen years she raised money for Skidmore
College, and make no mistake about
it folks, Ms. Yepsen’s fundraising skills in this town are legendary. Ask
around.
Ms. Yepsen claims she came into the position of County
Supervisor completely through years of community service. She also served as President of the Arts Council for two
years.
Joanne sees public service as community service at a
legislative level. She has taken that foundation to her work with non-profits and as an elected official, to be the voice for those she represents.
She says the only drawback to her
current job is that there aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done
while she simultaneously runs her own business and raising three kids.
In 2001, when she left Skidmore,
Yepsen started her own fundraising consulting business and when she first ran
for public office in 2005 she had some concerns that if she became too
political it could negatively affect her business. But to her pleasant
surprise, the result was just the opposite. It allows her to work with her existing
clients in a more sophisticated way now that she’s had more experience in
politics.
On the issue of paid parking County
Supervisor Joanne Yepsen says that there are so many cities that attract
shoppers, restaurant goers, and tourists that charge for parking and she thinks
that Saratoga should be able to figure the parking situation out so that it’s a
win-win situation for everyone involved.
“I’m not sure that
we’ve been written up as the no charge parking city in national news.”
Ms. Yepsen says that the beauty of
her job as Supervisor is that there is no typical day for her. She spends a lot
of her day answering phone calls and responding to the needs of individuals who
need her assistance.
Supervisors are elected by the
people to represent their municipality on the County level. Yepsen is driven to
being in touch with the concerns and the cares and quality of life of her
constituents. Her work takes her to the site of the issues whether it is at the
Veterans Home in Ballston Spa or City Hall in Saratoga
Springs. Like most women she accomplishes a lot of
work from home where her computer and paperwork are.
Yepsen admits that she operates as County
Supervisor with no staff, no office
and no budget which she says can be a plus or a minus. And ‘no parking spot’
she quips. Her cell phone is her office, and Joanne prides herself on being
accessible getting back to people right away. Because she has no office, Yepsen
says that she can get a lot done in a day.
She adds that most
of the County Supervisors
are usually the towns Mayor, except Clifton
Park, Corinth,
Mechanicville and Saratoga Springs.
Yepsen laughs when I ask her if its tough being the only
woman in City Hall and she admits that we need more female elected officials in
office all over the country.
Eleanor Roosevelt is someone that Joanne strongly identifies
with. “She took on challenges that were way before her time, and she did them
well, and it set the path for so many of us to say, we can do this.”
Joanne is currently reading is Ted Kennedy’s memoir entitled
True Compass.
Yepsen says she admires the Kennedy work ethic and values
that we don’t see too much in America
these days.
Ms. Yepsen wants to ask Citizen Nancy readers as to why so
many people in Saratoga don’t
attend the City Hall meetings or don’t vote? She is curious as to why people
don’t call her or other elected officials and wonders if it’s because they
don’t think it will make a difference?
Or is it because they are just too busy?
If you have any questions or would like to contact Joanne
Yepsen, your County Supervisor
directly you may reach her at 526-5272.