Today’s
candidate interview is with Celia Spacone, Democratic Party candidate for Grand
Island’s Town Council. Celia, age 65, is running for one of two open seats on
the Town Council. The incumbents, Ray Billica and Chris Aronica, have chosen
not to run for re-election. The election will be held on November 7th.
life started in Niagara Falls. I’ve lived in Western New York my whole life, and I’m Italian-American. My father came from Italy when he was sixteen years old.
He became an American citizen. He is a U.S. veteran, who fought in World War II.
My father served in the Philippines and New Guinea and contracted malaria. He
survived it and is now 96 years old. My mother is from Niagara Falls, too. My
father had the first pizzeria in Niagara Falls. He then sold it and went on to
do other things. I have one brother, David Spacone. He used to live in Grand
Island with his wife Mary, and they now live in Orlando, Florida. They owned a
company, Softrek, which they recently sold.
grew up in Niagara Falls. I went to Prince of Peace Elementary and Madonna High
School, which is now Niagara Catholic. I
went to Buffalo State College and graduated in 1974, and I was certified for kindergarten
through twelfth grade. I started as a teacher because I always liked
children and working with children. I taught in Lockport for six years. In
Lockport, I started out with middle school English, then I became a reading
specialist. I taught there from 1974 until 1980.
As a graduate student in UB, I
supervised teachers as part of my assistantship. Then I started tutoring kids at
Wyndham Lawn, a residential facility for children and adolescents. I just
became more interested in their psychological issues, and so I decided to go
back to school and get a PhD in psychology. I became a licensed psychologist. I
did my internship at the Buffalo Veterans Administration. I liked the adult
population that I found so I got into working with adults. I got my first job
as a psychologist at the Buffalo Psychiatric Center.
was very challenging, and it was a different place back in 1985. We’ve made a
lot of advances since then. There were a lot more patients then. It used to be
more custodial. If you were there, you were there for life. Now there is more
of an emphasis on active treatment. The treatments are better now. We’ve
learned more about how better to treat the patients. We do a better job. It
gives hope to people with mental illness.
been at the Buffalo Psychiatric Center ever since, working in a lot of
different positions and then doing administration for about twenty years. I
liked it because I felt like, when you work with one person, you can help
change a life. But, when you work with an organization, you can change many
lives. It’s a different place, and I hope that I’ve helped make it a better
place
me about your life outside of work.
school. I went to grad school first, and my husband put me through, and then I
started working and put him through. My husband has a PhD in psychology.
He works with children and adolescents in a small private practice. He recently
retired from the Children’s Psychiatric facility in West Seneca. We have two
kids. Our eldest is a son, Justin, age 30. He is a mechanical engineer. He graduated from
RIT, and he lives in San Clemente, Calif. Our daughter, Andrea who is 27, is
working on her PhD in psychology, and she is at Fordham University in New York City.
This year, she is doing a clinical externship at the Manhattan VA. They are
good kids.
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| Celia and I walked together at the CROP walk on Sunday, October 9th. The CROP walk raises money for Church World Service to combat hunger, both abroad and in the local community. |
We
do adventure vacations once a year. This year, we did a five-day backpacking
trip into Yosemite. One of our best
family vacations was when we all hiked to the top of Mount Whitney, which is
the highest mountain in the continental United States. That was a backpacking
trip. That was a tough trip. At both Yosemite and Mount Whitney, we ended up
with hail. In 2013, we hiked Mount Marcy, the highest mountain in New York State.
It is in the Adirondacks. We go to the Adirondacks a lot. We have a cabin
there. We’ve been going up there for about thirty years. The kids learned to
ski and hike and enjoy the wilderness up there.
long have you lived in Grand Island?
lived in Grand Island for five years. The view from my living room is
breathtaking. I’m supposed to be doing a chore, and I just find myself standing
and staring out the window at the river. I love the river. It’s peaceful. When I
come over the bridge heading home, I take a deep breath at the top of the
bridge and relax.
I think that, in this race, it’s been wonderful because I’ve
met so many people. The people are friendly and kind. I’ve gone door to door,
and I’ve knocked on hundreds of doors, introducing myself and talking to
people. They’ve been friendly and open. It’s a safe community. I feel very safe
here. We used to come here to enjoy the parks, even when the kids were little.
We brought breakfast to Beaver Island and sat on the beach with the kids. Then
we’d come and enjoy the parks. We’d bike ride and walk, and we decided, why
don’t we just live there? So our kids asked why did you get a nice home after
we left, with the river and the pool? They come home and they kayak, and they
go swimming and they really enjoy it. In winter, we cross country ski out the
front door in the median. I’ve seen practically every mode of transportation go
by… snowmobiles, skiiers, bikers, horses, jet skis, sailboats, motorboats. A
biplane landed on the river once. Hang gliding. It’s amazing. I can see the
fireworks at the casino. It’s just an amazing place.
did you get interested in running for Town Council?
decided that I was going to retire. I’ve always wanted to do something to give
back to the community. I’ve always been interested in politics and how
political structures work… It’s like being in administration. You can have an
effect. Put in a regulation and law or program that impacts people’s lives for
the positive. I’ve always been on the periphery of politics, helped with
campaigning, etc. But there was an ad in the Island Dispatch saying that if you
were interesting in getting into politics, call this number and I did. After
hours of interviews, the Democratic Party decided to endorse me. I was honored
and humbled and a little bit awed by the potential responsibility. It kind of
took my breath away, but I decided that I’d been working for so hard for so
long, I wanted to do something different and this would be different.
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| Celia Spacone at the September 28th community conversation on the opioid crisis, which she moderated. |
I studied
systems theory as a psychologist. Families are a system, neighborhoods are a system,
communities are a system. A community is like a large extended family in many
ways. We have to learn to get along. We have to learn to listen to each other,
even when we have opposing views, because that’s where you can get real
compromise. If you listen to the other side, you find out what they really want,
and often there is a way to meet that need and still get your needs met. It’s a
big problem. We don’t listen to the other side enough. With true compromise, you
don’t get exactly what you want, but you get what you need. You get the essence
of what you wanted.
is your vision for Grand Island?
would be nice to see us more connected as a community. In talking to people as
I walk and knock on doors, this is a common thread.. We are spread out, and
that’s wonderful but sometimes we lose the human connection. So I think that we
need structures. We need a downtown that’s walkable and that has enough to do so
that it will bring people there and they can meet and talk and support each
other. My vision also includes keeping the environment healthy. Water quality
is critical. We need to focus on air quality and the vegetation, especially
trees. We have some crises that we have deal with. Our water quality… we are
looking at our antiquated sewers and problems with our trees. We’re going to be
deforested because of the emerald ash borer. I’d like for us to take on some of
these environmental issues on this island.
I’m
the executive director of the Buffalo Psychiatric Center. I know how to be
fiscally responsible and ensure that our budget is on track. We have a $4.2 million+ budget. To me, my vision is that
we do all of those things, but we don’t overspend and overtax. There are ways
to manage your budget and do what you need to do.
like to see a connected community, a good environment, and an economically
strong town.
I am loving these posts .Its so enlightening when we get a glimpse into why people go into public sercvice.
My favourite para in this beautiful post.Trying to brain stamp this.
We have to learn to listen to each other, even when we have opposing views, because that’s where you can get real compromise. If you listen to the other side, you find out what they really want, and often there is a way to meet that need and still get your needs met. It’s a big problem. We don’t listen to the other side enough. With true compromise, you don’t get exactly what you want, but you get what you need. You get the essence of what you wanted.
That is an interesting interview. I kind of like her life..she grew up in the Niagra area and backpacking in Yosemite..that is a dream life.
I am impressed by a woman my age hiking Mt. Marcy and knocking on hundreds of doors to listen to the people of her community. Anyone for more walkable communities has my vote.
I so appreciate your thoughtful read of who I am.
She is surely a power puff lady, I liked reading about her background the diverse things she did.
I love her story, Alice!! And as a retired therapist (retired early do to motherhood), myself, who stopped shy of going for a doctorate, I love hearing about all these caring helpers in her family. I liked hearing about the changes in her center, too. Great interview!
My husband was in Buffalo! Like the way you've covered her personal and professional life, giving a complete picture of her as a person.
Highly descriptive article, I enjoyed that a lot. Will there be a part 2?