Early on a dreary Saturday morning in the Pine Plains firehouse, Lisa Ambrose talked about her reasons for running for Pine Plains highway superintendent, what she understands the job to be and why she thought she was the right person for the job.
Ambrose said she had never given the position much thought until someone approached her and asked, “Why don’t you run?” She thought about the suggestion and decided, “I would absolutely be interested in this position.” She said that she felt a lot of support from her husband, Robert Ambrose, who is a member of the Pine Plains Town Board, and from what she described as the very close circle of friends among firefighters and members of the rescue squad.
For over 20 years Ambrose has been a volunteer firefighter and emergency medical technician (EMT) in Pine Plains, and for the last six years she has had a paying job with Northern Dutchess Paramedics. (Her husband also works as a firefighter.) She thinks many of the issues she faces in her firefighting and EMT work, such as an awareness of environmental, safety and traffic conditions, will cross over to work with the highway department.
Asked why she thought she was the right person to run the department, Ambrose, who has been endorsed by the Republican Party, described herself as a “doer and go-getter,” eager for the challenges of the new job. She said she is familiar with the demands and complexities of the highway superintendent position from watching her husband maintain and repair roads, in routine and emergency conditions, for the New York State Department of Transportation.
When asked how she understands the post, Ambrose paused and then very deliberately said, “It is a job that requires dedication,” because public safety, and the well-being of highway department employees, are at stake. She said she plans to work closely with the four-person maintenance crew and with highway superintendents from neighboring towns to build her knowledge. She added that past superintendents have already offered their help to her.
Ambrose said she knows a lot about heavy equipment and the materials that they carry from her current volunteer work and from the job she had many years ago with Amenia Sand and Gravel. With regard to the paperwork required of a highway superintendent, Ambrose said she gained relevant skills through her current job in the Department of Capacity Management at Vassar Brothers Hospital, where she also learned about human resources and customer service. Although she knows that there is no formal requirement not to hold another job, she said she would leave the hospital and serve as a full-time superintendent.
Ambrose feels competent with regard to the driving required on the job. “I love driving,” she said, proudly noting that she has piloted large fire trucks. If elected, Ambrose said she plans to take the Cornell Local Roads classes, a program sponsored by the state for municipal employees who deal with local highways, and to obtain a commercial driver’s license. That license will allow her to drive all of the department’s trucks. The town does not require that the superintendent have this license but members of the town administration and others close to the work have told her that it is helpful, especially in emergency conditions, when extra drivers are needed.
Ambrose said that winning a four-year term as highway superintendent would increase her sense of connection to the whole town, and that she would also be “doing it for me.” Although the job is often identified as men’s work, Ambrose sees it as one in which she, as a strong and independent woman, has a lot to offer.
Ambrose grew up in Millerton, went to school at Webutuck and Dover, and moved to Pine Plains in 2002. She lives with her husband, their son Ryan, 16, and daughter Lauren, 14. Of her time with the Pine Plains firefighters and rescue squad members. Ambrose said, “It is a family affair.” Robert is what the organization deems a lifetime member of the department, and their son recently joined.
The election is Tuesday, Nov. 7. Early voting is from Oct. 28 to Nov. 5. Information about early voting can be found here.