Former councilwoman Jodi Giglio took the oath of office as a member of the New York State Assembly yesterday at Riverhead Town Hall.
Family Court Judge George Harkin administered the oat to Giglio, who placed her hand on a Bible held by two of her children, Jacob and Jessica.
In remarks following her swearing-in, Giglio thanked her family and friends and supporters. She grew emotional as she reflected on her years of service on the town board.
“My family can probably attest to the fact that I’ve always take my job seriously — and sometimes, even put the town above the needs of my family,” Giglio said.
She vowed to fight for her constituents in Albany and “fight for what’s right to make our lives better… It’s been an honor and privilege to serve you,” Giglio said.
The town board presented the outgoing councilwoman with a proclamation and a plaque and a bouquet of flowers.
Giglio was first elected to the town board in 2009. She was re-elected in 2013 and in 2015 was nominated by the Republican Party for supervisor, narrowly besting the then-incumbent supervisor Sean Walter at the party’s nominating convention. After defeating Walter in a party primary election, her supervisor hopes were dashed in the general election, when she lost to Walter, who ran on the Conservative party line, in a three-way race.
Giglio was re-elected again in 2017 to her third and final term as councilwoman, term-limited by town code, which restricts council members to 12 consecutive years of service.
In a Q&A with RiverheadLOCAL this week, Giglio listed as her most important accomplishments on the town board: balancing the budget, completing the EPCAL recreation trail, working to implement strict sanitary requirements within watershed areas and upgrading the town’s computer systems.
She said the first things she plans to tackle in Albany are a COVID recovery plan, correcting bail reform, adopting a farmers’ rights act, restoring state funding for schools and hospitals and authorizing infrastructure projects.
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