Sandy Galef
{{short description|Former Member of New York State Assembly}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2023}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Sandy Galef
| image = Sandy Galef.jpg
| caption = Galef in 2013
| alt = Sandy Galef, a white woman with white hair and wearing a red jacket, stands in front of a microphone.
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1940|05|07}}
| birth_place = La Crosse, Wisconsin, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| party = Democrat
| spouse = Steven Galef (married 1963-1998)
| children = 2
| alma_mater = Purdue University {{small|(B.A.)}}
University of Virginia {{small|(M.A.)}}
| state_assembly = New York
| district = 95th
| predecessor = Incumbent
| term_start = January 1, 2013
| term_end = December 31, 2022
| successor = Dana Levenberg
| state_assembly2 = New York
| district2 = 90th
| predecessor2 = George Pataki
| term_start2 = January 1, 1993
| term_end2 = December 31, 2012
| successor2 = Redistricted
| office3 = Minority Leader of the Westchester County Board of Legislators
| term_start3 = January 1, 1984
| term_end3 = December 31, 1992
| office4 = Westchester County Legislator
from the 9th District
| term_start4 = January 1, 1983
| term_end4 = December 31, 1992
| office5 = Westchester County Legislator
from the 2nd District
| term_start5 = January 1, 1980
| term_end5 = December 31, 1982
| signature = Sandra R. Galef Signature.png
| birth_name = Sandra Risk
}}
Sandra Galef (née Risk; born May 7, 1940) is an American politician who served as a member of the New York State Assembly for 30 years.{{r|official biography}}{{r|News12 retirement}}
Early life and career
Galef was born Sandra Risk in LaCrosse, Wisconsin on May 7, 1940. In 1944, she moved with her family to Westchester County in New York.{{r|official biography}} She received a B.A. from Purdue University and an M.A. in education from the University of Virginia, and began her career as a teacher in a rural schoolhouse near Charlottesville, Virginia.{{r|official biography}} Then, Galef moved back to New York, where she worked as a teacher in Scarsdale, New York.{{r|Galef reflection}} In 1963, she married Steven Galef, a former Westchester County legislator and attorney, with whom she had two children; she remained married to Steven until his death in 1998.{{r|husband obit}}
Legislative career
In 1980, Galef was elected to the Westchester County Board of Legislators, where she represented the 2nd and 9th Districts and served as the minority leader from 1984 until 1992, when she was elected to the Assembly.{{r|official biography}}{{r|Feron 1983}}{{r|Whitehouse 1983}}
Galef was elected to the 90th Assembly District and began her term in 1993.{{r|official biography}} During her time in the Assembly, Galef chaired the Real Property Tax Committee, the Libraries and Education Technology Committee, and the Subcommittee for Rural Health, and was a member of the Corporations, Authorities, and Commissions Committee, the Election Law Committee, the Governmental Operations Committee, and the Health Committee.{{r|official biography}}
In 1997, Galef introduced an amendment to make the language of the New York State Constitution gender neutral. Galef argued that the gendered language of the Constitution was "old-fashioned" and that a change to gender neutral language was "symbolically ... important". New York voters adopted the amendment in November 2001.{{r|McKinley 2001}}{{r|McGrath 2001}} In 1999, Galef was an early supporter of charter schools in New York.{{r|Feld 1999}} Galef also supported several good government causes, including measures to build consensus with Republican members of the assembly,{{r|Hare 1999}} campaign finance reform,{{r|Wallace 2000}}{{r|Wiessner 2007}}{{r|Fixing Albany}} and staff budget parity between the majority and the minority in the Assembly.{{r|Scott 2007}}
In December 2022, Governor Kathy Hochul signed a bill introduced by Galef that allows city and town clerks to issue a one-day permit to a non-ordained individual to officiate a specific wedding in New York.{{r|Dollinger 2022}}
Throughout her legislative career, Galef hosted two television shows, "Dear Sandy" and "Speakout with Sandy Galef", on public access television.{{r|official biography}}
References
{{reflist|refs=
{{r|n="official biography"|r={{cite web |title=Biography |url=https://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/Sandy-Galef/bio/ |website=Assemblywoman Sandy Galef |access-date=7 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221204052705/https://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/Sandy-Galef/bio/ |archive-date=4 December 2022 |url-status=dead |language=en}}}}
{{r|n="News12 retirement"|r={{cite news |last1=Galindo |first1=Nadia |title=Longtime Assembly Member Sandy Galef Retires |url=https://longisland.news12.com/longtime-assembly-member-sandy-galef-retires |access-date=7 April 2023 |work=News 12 Long Island |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407013510/https://longisland.news12.com/longtime-assembly-member-sandy-galef-retires |url-status=live |archive-date=7 April 2023 |language=en}}}}
{{r|n="husband obit"|r={{cite news |last=Bonnett|first=Cara|title=Former Legislator Steven Galef, 'Voice of Reason,' Dies at 58|newspaper=Review Press Reporter|location=Bronxville, N.Y.|date=2 July 1998|page=8|url=https://news.hrvh.org/veridian/?a=d&d=bronxvillereviewpressreporterBRONXVILLE19980702.1.8&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-------|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408155822/https://news.hrvh.org/veridian/?a=d&d=bronxvillereviewpressreporterBRONXVILLE19980702.1.8&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-------|archive-date=8 April 2023|access-date=6 April 2023 |language=en}}}}
{{r|n="Galef reflection"|r={{cite web |last1=Galef |first1=Sandy |title=Reflecting on the Road I Traveled |url=https://riverjournalonline.com/news/sandy-galef-reflecting-on-the-road-i-traveled/29154/ |website=River Journal Online |access-date=16 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220202135854/https://riverjournalonline.com/news/sandy-galef-reflecting-on-the-road-i-traveled/29154/ |archive-date=2 February 2022 |date=2 February 2022 |url-status=live |language=en}}}}
{{r|n="Feron 1983"|r={{cite news |last1=Feron |first1=James |title=Led By Mrs. Galef, Democrats Plan Challenge to G.O.P. |work=Westchester Weekly, New York Times |date=4 December 1983 |pages=1,6 |language=en}}}}
{{r|n="Whitehouse 1983"|r={{cite news |last1=Whitehouse |first1=Franklin |title=9th District: The 'Fair Fight' Campaign |work=Westchester Weekly, New York Times |date=25 September 1983 |page=1 |language=en}}}}
{{r|n="McKinley 2001"|r={{cite web |last1=McKinley, Jr. |first1=James C. |title=Voters to Decide on Gender-Neutral Constitution |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/15/nyregion/voters-to-decide-on-gender-neutral-constitution.html |website=New York Times |access-date=23 April 2023 |date=15 May 2001 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230423195053/https://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/15/nyregion/voters-to-decide-on-gender-neutral-constitution.html |archive-date=23 April 2023 |url-status=live |language=en}}}}
{{r|n="McGrath 2001"|r={{cite web |last1=McGrath |first1=Darryl |title=Six State Constitutions Use Gender-Neutral Wording |url=https://womensenews.org/2001/12/six-state-constitutions-use-gender-neutral-wording/ |website=Women's eNews |access-date=23 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230315050327/https://womensenews.org/2001/12/six-state-constitutions-use-gender-neutral-wording/ |archive-date=15 March 2023 |date=9 December 2001 |url-status=live |language=en}}}}
{{r|n="Feld 1999"|r={{cite news |last1=Feld |first1=Jayne J. |title=Charter Schools May Take a While to Catch On |date=4 January 1999 |work=Journal News |location=White Plains, N.Y. |language=en |page=B1}} {{ProQuest|896767182}}.}}
{{r|n="Hare 1999"|r={{cite news |last1=Hare |first1=Mark |title=A State Legislator Calls for Consensus, and Is, of Course, Voted Down |work=Democrat and Chronicle |date=19 February 1999 |location=Rochester, N.Y. |language=en |page=B1}} {{ProQuest|911515264}}.}}
{{r|n="Wallace 2000"|r={{cite news |last1=Wallace |first1=Jeremy |title=Campaign Spending Comes into Question |work=Journal News |date=30 July 2000 |location=White Plains, N.Y. |page=A1 |language=en}} {{ProQuest|908677043}}.}}
{{r|n="Scott 2007"|r={{cite news |last1=Scott |first1=Brendan |title=Bonacic Bill Aims to Shake Up Legislature Patronage |work=Times Herald-Record |publisher=McClatchy-Tribune Business News |date=19 April 2007 |location=Middletown, N.Y. |language=en}} {{ProQuest|465145907}}.}}
{{r|n="Wiessner 2007"|r={{cite news |last1=Wiessner |first1=Dan |title=Lawmakers Raise Cash, Then Give It to Other Politicians |work=Journal News |date=30 July 2007 |location=White Plains, N.Y. |page=B1 |language=en}} {{ProQuest|442944150}}.}}
{{r|n="Dollinger 2022"|r={{cite web |last1=Dollinger |first1=Arielle |title=Saying 'I Do'? 1-day Wedding Officiant Permit Cuts Cost, Hassle |url=https://www.newsday.com/lifestyle/fashion-and-shopping/officiant-marriages-wedding-permits-lxw3jhr3 |website=Newsday |access-date=23 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230228110421/https://www.newsday.com/lifestyle/fashion-and-shopping/officiant-marriages-wedding-permits-lxw3jhr3 |archive-date=28 February 2023 |language=en |date=20 January 2023 |url-status=live}}}}
{{r|n="Fixing Albany"|r={{cite news |last1=Randolph |first1=Eleanor |title=Fixing Albany: Two Ways to Boost Democracy |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/26/opinion/fixing-albany-two-ways-to-boost-democracy.html |work=New York Times |date=26 May 2003 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230423212931/https://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/26/opinion/fixing-albany-two-ways-to-boost-democracy.html |archive-date=23 April 2023 |page=A14 |language=en |url-status=live}}}}
}}
{{Authority control}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-par|us-ny-hs}}
{{s-bef|before=George Pataki}}
{{s-ttl|title=New York State Assembly, 95th District|years=1993–2022}}
{{s-aft|after=Dana Levenberg}}
{{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Galef, Sandy}}
Category:Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly
Category:Legislators from Westchester County, New York
Category:Politicians from Westchester County, New York
Category:Women state legislators in New York (state)
Category:Place of birth missing (living people)
Category:Politicians from Yonkers, New York
Category:Purdue University alumni
Category:Curry School of Education alumni
Category:21st-century American women politicians
Category:21st-century members of the New York State Legislature
Category:20th-century members of the New York State Legislature