Mesi to head new Senate office in Buffalo
Ex-boxer to make $70,000 a year
Published: April 14, 2009, 12:30 am
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Joe Mesi, the former heavyweight boxer who lost his bid for the State Senate last fall, is going to the Legislature after all. Mesi has been hired to run the new Senate majority office in Buffalo at $70,000 per year, according to Senate spokesman Austin Shafran. He will head an office that could include as many as 10 staffers working from a yet-to-be-determined location.
“It will serve as a liaison for the majority leader with the local community, working with local community groups,” Shafran said. “It’s another mechanism of community outreach to make sure we’re meeting the needs of the broader community.”
The spokesman for Majority Leader Malcolm A. Smith of Queens said the office will serve a different function than a previous operation maintained by Senate Republicans when they held the majority. While the GOP version centered around communications, Shafran said Democrats plan to make it a more representative presence of the majority conference in the community.
“It will be not only an adequate voice but an enhanced voice,” he said, explaining the regional offices planned for around the state will perform differently than the district offices of individual senators.
“Now we are able to bring to local groups much more with regard to decision-making than previously because we will have direct contact with them,” he said.
Shafran said the majority also will establish offices in Rochester, Syracuse and Long Island. He said existing staff in Albany and New York City will perform the same functions there.
Various Senate officials have indicated the office will employ anywhere from five to 10 staffers; Republicans usually employed two or three in the Buffalo office.
Mesi was unavailable to comment Monday. He apparently beat out two other contenders for the job — former County Legislator Joseph Desmond and former Deputy Elections Commissioner Al Thompson.
However, several other positions are still expected to be filled in the new office, Shafran said.
rmccarthy@buffnews.com
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