About Joe Ruggiero

Joe Ruggiero brings a unique strength to this race—he has worked in both the private and public sector. He understands government must support the private sector, but not be controlled by special interests.

Joe Ruggiero, running for Dutchess County Executive

Joe Ruggiero is a lifelong Dutchess County resident whose family moved from the Bronx to Wappinger in 1971 seeking a better quality of life. He graduated from Wappingers Central School District and Dutchess Community College. Joe holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering from the State University of New York Institute of Technology. He, and his wife, Stephanie, and son, Michael, reside in the Town of Wappinger.

A Career in Public Service 

Joe entered public service in 1994, serving four terms as Wappinger Town Councilman and three terms as Town Supervisor of Wappinger. He passed tax breaks for seniors and veterans, and allowed seniors to deduct medical costs. Joe provided relief to hundreds of property owners by overhauling antiquated zoning laws. He expanded the Town’s infrastructure, overhauled the Master Plan, and enhanced the protections for public drinking water. 

In 2008, New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli appointed Joe an Assistant Comptroller for the State of New York. Joe helped establish a compliance unit for the retirement system to protect the retirements of thousands of workers. He encouraged local governments to share services to lower costs for taxpayers. 

Since 2010, Joe served as Executive Director of the New York State Bridge Authority where he maintained the lowest tolls in the nation with no federal or state tax subsidies, and successfully developed public-private partnerships that generated millions in non-toll revenue. Joe initiated alternative revenue sources, like leasing broadband fiber over the bridges, generating millions in revenue without taxing commuters. He developed a twenty-year capital plan for $600 million to invest in critical infrastructure and provide quality jobs to Hudson Valley residents. 

Leadership in the Private Sector

After graduating college, Joe Ruggiero began his career as an engineer in telecommunications industry designing fiber optic networks. This led to several management positions in the metropolitan New York area, including NYNEX (Bell Atlantic) and Metro Media Fiber Networks. In 2001, he worked for a telecom company in lower Manhattan and was an eyewitness to the attacks of September 11th. It was after this that Joe decided to enter public service full-time and ran successfully for Town Supervisor.

Joe understands the challenges facing Dutchess County families. He will fight rising energy costs and ballooning property taxes to assure a better quality of life.

Joe Ruggiero will fight for taxpayers by getting government spending under control with strong fiscal management. Joe knows that to improve everyone’s quality of life, government needs to deliver services efficiently and effectively.