PLATTSBURGH — It’s fitting that former Assemblywoman Teresa Sayward is the first person to have their name engraved on the Janet Duprey Distinguished Public Service Award plaque.
Sayward was elected Willsboro town supervisor in 1992 and served for 11 years before running for the State Assembly to represent New York’s 113th district (now 114th district) in 2002. A position she held until 2012.
During that time, she also became close friends with Duprey.
“Teresa’s probably my very best friend,” Duprey said before the third annual Women in Local Politics forum at Clinton Community College, hosted by CCC’s Center For Governance and Cultural Affairs Committee kicked off on April 23.
Last year, Duprey was surprised with the Janet Duprey Distinguished Public Servant Award, named in her honor, and will now give the award out annually.
Teresa Sayward’s daughter, Wendy Sayward, was there to help honor her mother as well.
“It’s a great honor to recognize our mom and such a distinguished public servant,” she said.
“As many of you know, my mother and Janet share many of the same political values throughout my mother’s political career, which started on the town zoning board. and led to the town board, town supervisor, county chair and ultimately, assemblywoman. She consistently spoke in her soft but determined voice, her perseverance and intelligence projected her voice in the day of the little voice, a public servant at heart.”
In her speech, Wendy Sayward listed off some of her mother’s accomplishments over the course of her career.
These included a new local water and sewer treatment plant in Willsboro; the revitalization of downtown Willsboro; the acquisition of Noblewood; and in 2002, awarded the title of outstanding local official by the APA local government review board.
“As assemblywoman of the second largest district in the state, she advocated for lowering health care costs and property taxes, supported state budget cuts and was a supporter of small businesses,” she continued.
“She was a multifaceted politician that stood up for beliefs in women’s rights and same sex marriage; she gave a compassionate speech on the assembly floor that led to the passing of the same sex marriage bill in New York state and national support on the issue.”
“A true self-made public official,” Wendy Sayward continued. “She’s the most amazing person we’ve ever known.”
“She wrote her future in pencil, editing along the way to achieve the greatness that she did, and she’s still erases to this day. We are blessed to have shared her with you all, but now it’s time for us. She now has more time to celebrate her greatest accomplishments: her husband Ken of 62 years, her four children, her eight grandchildren and 15 great grandchildren. We love you mom.”
“When you’re elected to office, you never know where it’s going to go,” Teresa Sayward said after receiving the award.
“We (her and Janet) had a grand time; we did. We did good work and we supported what we needed to support … and I can tell some stories about the fun we had while we were down there (in Albany). We were always working but there was always a little element of fun things that we were doing … we did a lot of good things.”