Why I Like Jeff Gasbarro for Ossining Town Justice

Judges must be impartial, fair, ethical and empathic. They must literally exercise “good judgement,” both on the bench and in daily life. That’s why I happily endorse Jeff Gasbarro for Ossining Town Judge in the Democratic primary on June 23. He’s got the goods to do the job as it ought to be done.

I first got to know Jeff in the spring of 2017, when we both served on the Village of Ossining's Downtown Redevelopment Working Committee (DRWC). I went on to discover that he was an attorney who had moved here a year earlier with his wife Claire. And that he did yoga.

I was immediately impressed with Jeff’s calm professionalism and easy-going leadership style. I must not have been alone, for when the time came to choose a board chair, he was selected as co-chair along with Justine Lackey. Jeff warned us he might miss a meeting or two that summer, as Claire was pregnant with their first child and due in July.

As co-chair, Jeff helped guide the committee through a summer of discussions, debates and brainstorming sessions. At the end of it, we emerged with a presentation that went on to win the 2018 Planning Achievement Award from the Westchester Municipal Planning Federation. Jeff emerged with a son, Leo. He now has another son, Felix. He and Claire remind me of my husband and myself, how we came to Ossining as young marrieds, bought our first home, had children, and made a life.

Jeff’s stint on the DRWC kickstarted his community volunteerism in Ossining . When a spot on the Planning board opened up in 2018, Jeff stepped up. Studying and approving building plans for the village “makes you really think about the direction the community is going in. If you approve a building people don’t like it will be there for a hundred years. The planning board has helped pushed projects in a better direction.”

Jeff’s values are Ossining’s values. While studying at Pace Law School, Jeff approached Riverkeeper, the local nonprofit that advocates for a healthy Hudson River, to offer volunteer legal advice “because I agree with their goals.” He worked in the Pace Land Use Law Center, writing case studies on how municipalities were crafting affordable housing ordinances. So it made sense for him to join the board of IFCA last year, our local affordable housing nonprofit, where he sits on the finance committee. This year, Jeff is helping to chart a course for the future by serving on the steering committee for Ossining Tomorrow, the 2020 comprehensive plan.

Jeff’s legal expertise will serve us all well as Town Judge. He has worked for 12 years in the court system, five as a court attorney in Brooklyn, where he advised judges, wrote decisions and provided the analysis that helped overturn wrongful convictions. He currently serves as principal law clerk for the Honorable Francesca Connolly, a former Town Justice who now sits on the State Supreme Court’s Appellate Division. Working for her in Westchester County Supreme Court, he settled and mediated cases, heard arguments, and managed chambers, which decided 100 civil motions a month.

Jeff’s knowledge of the law has been called “encyclopedic.” He literally helps write the book on jury instructions, as a reporter for the New York Civil Pattern Jury Instructions.

Growing up in Absecon in southern New Jersey, Jeff saw the power of the law first hand, watching his father, a small-town lawyer, fight the good fight. (His mother is a Lutheran minister.) Absecon is predominantly white, but there is a growing population of Indian immigrants. In the mid 1990s, they wanted to build a Hindu temple in Galloway Township—against the wishes of the white majority.

“My dad shepherded them through land use approvals and avoided litigation, arguing that to deny the temple would be clearly discriminatory. He’s against discrimination, and felt they had a right to religious freedom.” The temple was erected.

“People want to be treated fairly. They want their fair shake. I want to hear everyone’s arguments, give everyone a chance to be heard and make the right decision. As a judge, you have to be willing to make a decision, even an unpopular one--if it’s the right thing to do.”

Please vote for Jeff Gasbarro for Ossining Town Justice in the Democratic primary, by absentee ballot or at the polls now and on June 23.

Dana White

Ossining Village Historian

Candidate, Ossining Village Board of Trustees