D'Amato Hopes to Prioritize Public Safety

The following is the seventh in our eight-part series of council candidate profiles for the Nov. 8 election. Each day, Tri-Boro Patch will bring you a new profile so that you know who you can vote for and what issues they are most concerned with. On election day, we will bring all of the profiles together for you in one article so you can make an informed decision.

In Blomingdale, four candidates, two Republicans and two Democrats, are running for two council seats. This is a profile story of one of them.

Democrat John D'Amato has lived in the since 1959.

Having grown up on Knolls Road, D'Amato said he played recreational sports throughout his childhood and that meeting the recreational needs of the borough's youth now remains a priority of his if elected to his first term on the Bloomingdale Council.

D'Amato has a lengthy history with the borough. He was a member of the first graduating class of the in 1972 and has been a member of the since 1978. He is also a former chief of the fire department.

Professionally, D'Amato is a supervisor for Cablevision and works out of Warwick, NY. He and his wife, Kathleen, live in the borough with their two sons, Bryan, 18, and Michael, 20, two dogs and a cat.

D'Amato said he decided to run for council this year so that he can help make changes he would like to see for the borough.

"I like to get involved," he said. "I don't like what's going on and the only way to change things is to get involved."

His first priority, if elected, is to help alleviate the tax burden.

"To get them to be at least stabilized, we need to work hand-in-hand with the mayor," he said. "Jon Dunleavy has a good eye for the future."

Another priority of D'Amato's is to work with department heads monthly to see what cuts could be made and what services the borough could be sharing. This includes having a borough official research grants and write grant applications, he said.

"There's a lot of money to be had out there," he said.

D'Amato also said he will pay attention to the needs of the borough's public safety officials. Specifically, he referenced approaching the council in May requesting more officers.

"He knows what he needs. We need to respond to that," D'Amato said.

D'Amato said he hopes to educate the community about what the borough's police and fire officials do on a regular basis and how hard they work to keep residents safe.