Growing up the daughter of a grocery business owner, Sandy Frankel learned at an early age the hard work and dedication it took to lead. Sandy’s idealism and desire to make positive change found further roots in our country's civil rights movement. Growing up in Florida, Sandy experienced first-hand the destructive nature of prejudice. These early experiences have always inspired her to fight for equity and fairness in government and in society.
Knowing she wanted to help people, Sandy went on to educate herself at Tulane University and Northwestern University where she would become a Speech Language Pathologist. In the 1970’s, Sandy and her husband Neil moved to Rochester when Neil began his career with Xerox. Since then, the Frankels have called Monroe County home. They raised their three children here and are blessed with nine grandchildren.
Community has always played an important role in Sandy’s life. She served as a school board leader in Monroe County before her 1992 election as the Brighton Town Supervisor. For 20 years, Sandy led the community as the CEO of one of the county’s largest towns. During this time she earned the bipartisan respect of government, business, labor, religious, and education leaders.
As Brighton Town Supervisor, Sandy established a tradition of open, cooperative, responsive, and inclusive government. Brighton residents learned to count on Sandy to address complex issues, making their community a better place to live, work, and do business. During her public service, Sandy demonstrated an impeccable record of integrity and honesty in government.
Sandy made the tough decisions that restored Brighton’s fiscal integrity and stability, and fixed a structural budget deficit. She accomplished this while keeping average property taxes less than the average rate of inflation since 1993, cut property taxes five times, and earned a high level Moody’s credit rating upgrade to Aa2. Through her leadership Brighton secured millions in grants to accomplish major community goals like creating a town-wide park system, building a new library, investing in infrastructure improvements, strengthening public safety services, and revitalizing neighborhoods. Property values, public services, and quality of life improved dramatically.
Sandy’s leadership, executive experience, and vision extend well beyond the Brighton borders. The hallmark of her public service has been working across party lines with diverse groups and individuals. As a member of the Stewardship Council for the City of Rochester, Sandy worked to strengthen ties between the suburbs and the city.
She successfully led a bipartisan, community-wide effort to designate Interstate 490 as the “Erie Canal Expressway”, branding Monroe County as an Erie Canal Community and helping to stimulate economic development, promote heritage tourism, and encourage recreational use of its historic waterway. Sandy served on the New York State Commission on Local Government Efficiency and Competitiveness, and she championed inter-municipal cooperation to save tax dollars and enhance services without compromising quality or local control.
Sandy has also chaired the New York State Democratic Party’s Task Force on Domestic Partnership and Civil Union, demonstrating her ability to bring people together to reach consensus on issues of justice, fairness and equality.
In 1998, Sandy was the Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor of New York. She won the statewide Primary Election, helping to put the Rochester region on the map. Sandy championed many issues, including the need for fiscal responsibility, support for education, and improved public safety.
Sandy has served as president and continues to serve on the Board of Governors of the New York Municipal Insurance Reciprocal, a not-for-profit company serving the property, liability, and risk management needs of nearly 900 local governments, including counties, cities, towns and villages in New York State.
As a community advocate, she serves on not-for-profit boards that support the arts and culture in our community, promote adoption of children in foster care, and advance the needs of women, children and families.
Sandy Frankel has the proven leadership and successful experience to manage the difficult challenges ahead. She will lead Monroe County in a new direction toward open government with integrity, financial stability, and a future that will empower a new generation to live, work and raise their families in our community.