Broome County Legislature District 7: Matthew Pasquale v. Matt White

WSKG | By Celia Clarke

Published October 22, 2026 at 1:48 PM EDT

District area: District 7 includes parts of the Village of Endicott and parts of the Towns of Maine and Union.

Term: Two-year term

Each candidate was asked to limit answers to 100 to 150 words. WSKG cut answers at the 150 mark. If you would like more details about a candidate’s answer to a question, their contact information and/or website is provided in this Voter Guide.

Candidate: Matthew Pasquale

Incumbent - First elected to the legislature in 2008

Party affiliation: Republican, Conservative

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WSKG Q&A

The county has hired consultants to develop a strategy for shifting from using hotels to a shelter for homeless residents. Shelters are a temporary remedy. Should the county legislature be working to move people from temporary to permanent housing? If yes, what should the legislature do? If no, why not?

Moving individuals from temporary shelter into permanent housing should remain an important objective. That responsibility, however, is shared across several levels of government. Counties administer many social-service programs, but the state and federal governments establish much of the funding structure and program requirements. The Legislature can support appropriate County initiatives through its budget and resolution responsibilities and can work with municipalities, nonprofits and housing organizations to identify additional housing opportunities. Still, the availability of permanent housing is largely affected by municipal land-use decisions and state and federal programs. The County should help bring the appropriate partners together and use its resources responsibly while recognizing that it cannot independently control every part of the housing system.

Besides homelessness, county residents are also coping with a broader housing crisis. Rents have risen significantly and according to New York state’s Homes and Community Renewal, home prices in the state have risen 50-80 percent in the past 11 years. Should more Broome County municipalities become “pro housing communities” to be eligible for state funding meant to address the housing shortage?

Municipalities should determine for themselves whether participation in the state’s Pro-Housing Communities program is appropriate. Towns, villages and cities have the primary authority over zoning, comprehensive plans and land-use regulations. The County does not exercise those same powers. Local governments should weigh the potential benefits of state funding against their infrastructure capacity, housing needs and existing development plans. Broome County can be helpful by sharing information, coordinating regional planning and assisting with infrastructure issues. But the County should be careful not to overstep its authority. Decisions about how a particular community grows should remain primarily with the local government and the residents who live there.

New York counties are set to absorb a total of $168 million in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) administrative costs a year due to federal funding changes to the program.. Should the state play a greater role in supporting this program at the county level?

SNAP is primarily a federal program, with administration shared among federal, state and local governments. Recent federal changes have reduced federal support for certain administrative costs, while New York’s existing cost-allocation system leaves counties responsible for additional expenses. This creates a challenge for local governments that have limited control over the program itself. The appropriate response should include discussions at the state and federal levels about how these costs are funded. Broome County must continue administering SNAP as required by law, but the County cannot independently change federal policy or the state formula determining how costs are distributed. It is important that those broader responsibilities remain with the governments that control them.

A recent state regulatory audit raised serious concerns about the fiscal management of the county’s Industrial Development Agency (IDA). The legislature appoints the IDA board but has no authority over the agency board or leadership. Do you think that should change?

Transparency and accountability regarding the IDA are important, particularly when a state review raises concerns. At the same time, we need to recognize that the Broome IDA is legally separate from Broome County government. It is a public benefit corporation created under state law and has independent authority over its officers, employees and operations. While the County Legislature appoints IDA board members, that does not make the agency a County department. The Authorities Budget Office has an established oversight role involving these entities. If additional authority or oversight is desired, it should be examined within the framework established by state law rather than assuming the Legislature already possesses powers that it does not.

What, if anything, do you think the county could do to make the legislature’s work more accessible and transparent to the public? Do you think all of the legislature’s meetings (including committees) should be recorded and made public?

Public access to the Legislature is already significant. Regular sessions are open and livestreamed, and the public can access legislative documents, budgets, agendas and resolutions online. Meetings are recorded, with audio available through the FOIL process. Committee meetings and the extensive annual budget process are also open to the public and streamed. The County has attempted to maintain online video archives but has encountered technical limitations involving the website, storage capacity and older chamber technology. I support continuing to improve access rather than assuming that one particular technology solution is the only answer. We should keep looking for practical ways to make government information easier for residents to find and review.

Much of New York is considered a childcare desert. Should the county legislature be taking action to address access to care for Broome County families?

Childcare is an important issue for working families and for employers trying to attract and retain employees. But it is not an area controlled solely by County government. New York State sets much of the regulatory and financial structure, while counties administer certain assistance programs. Broome County is participating in a state pilot designed to expand access for younger children and is partnering with the state to develop approximately 200 additional childcare spaces at Oakdale Commons. The County should remain engaged and support these efforts where appropriate. At the same time, we should recognize that the state has a major role in determining how childcare is funded, regulated and expanded.

The state’s new Local Cops, Local Crime Act includes a ban on local law enforcement agencies having certain official partnerships with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)? Do you agree with this? Why or why not?

My role as a County Legislator is to ensure that County government follows the law and that County departments act within their legal authority. Where state or federal law requires or permits cooperation with other law-enforcement agencies, the County should comply with those requirements. That can include matters involving criminal investigations and valid court orders. The appropriate approach is to follow the laws governing the County rather than substituting individual policy preferences for established legal requirements. County law-enforcement agencies should continue operating within the authority granted to them.

A recent report from the Office of the New York State Comptroller found a rise in the number of municipalities across the state that have proposed to override the state’s property tax cap. With counties facing funding cuts and rising costs, would you be open to overriding the tax cap in Broome County?

The County has demonstrated that it is possible to manage rising costs without relying on a property-tax increase above the statutory cap. The 2027 budget will mark the eighth consecutive year of property-tax reductions. At the same time, the County has shared a record amount of sales-tax revenue with municipalities to help address their financial pressures. We have worked collaboratively to control expenditures, strengthen the County’s financial position and retire debt. Those efforts are preferable to treating a tax-cap override as the first solution when costs increase.

The legislature regularly gets reports from the county executive and they are available to the public. Do you think the legislature should get regular reports from some other departments as well? (e.g. Department of Social Services, sheriff’s office, district attorney, etc.) If so, why and how often should they get reports? If not, why not?

I believe the Legislature already has several mechanisms for receiving regular information from County departments. Annual reports from numerous departments and programs are publicly available, and department heads routinely attend committee meetings to discuss ongoing programs and initiatives. Each department also participates in the annual budget meetings, where legislators can review current operations, priorities and financial plans. The Legislature’s Daylight Legislation further strengthened access to financial information. Rather than creating a separate
reporting requirement for every department, the existing committee and budget structure provides regular opportunities for questions, oversight and public accountability.

Some municipalities have citizen boards for better law enforcement accountability. They do not have any disciplinary authority but they can receive and monitor citizen complaints and review internal investigations. Do you think Broome County should have some form of citizen law enforcement board? Why or why not?

There are existing avenues for residents to raise concerns about law enforcement, including the New York State Attorney General’s Law Enforcement Complaint Portal. Local agencies also have procedures for receiving complaints and reviewing concerns. Because those mechanisms already exist, the question is whether creating another County-level board would provide something substantially different. I believe law-enforcement accountability is important, but any new structure should have a clearly defined purpose and authority and should not unnecessarily duplicate existing systems. My experience has generally been that law-enforcement professionals take their responsibility to the community seriously.

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Candidate: Matt White

Party affiliation: Democratic, Working Families

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WSKG Q&A

All levels of government should be working together to move people from temporary to permanent housing. Not only is it good for the individual, but it reduces the work load on already overtaxed agencies, and ultimately saves taxpayer money in the long run.

County legislature should be working on a way to fund the startup costs of permanent housing. There will be a balloon of cost on the front, but in the long run the taxpayer will save money.

The legislature also needs to learn to understand how people got homelessness, what the root causes are, and how to fix them. Simply giving a person a roof over their head isn't enough. We need to also improve and simplify access to mental health counseling, job training, food, and clothing.

The pro housing community designation allows us access to tens of millions of dollars in grants each year. Why wouldn't we want this? We would still retain control of our neighborhoods the same way we always have - through zoning, planning, and village boards.

Residents are already struggling with the current cost of living. We need all of the state and federal funding we can get for this program and any other we can.

Clearly, there is a need for change. The IDA has been haphazard with their use of funding for years as shown in the audit. Our taxpayers can't support the additional burden of mismanaged funds on top of the ever increasing cost of living. Either the IDA needs to change, the county legislature needs to change, or both.

In a democracy all government meetings should be made public. I recognize that there is occasionally a need for an executive session, but in general terms any meeting that affects the taxpayer should be available to the taxpayer.

Much of New York is considered a childcare desert. Should the county legislature be taking action to address access to care for Broome County families?

Childcare is an absolute must. Children who are better raised become better adults in the long run. Having affordable childcare also opens up the world to parents, who would then be free to go to work, events, and fundraisers in the community.

My concern is with the current implementation of ICE. As we've seen by the repeated shootings from ICE agents, they are not as well trained as our local police officers. Our local police are armed and deal with any issues that arise, but there have been far fewer injuries or fatalities.

I would need to look into this more before providing an accurate answer. In general, I absolutely do not want to raise taxes on the working class. We're already struggling with the cost of living.

In general terms, the legislature should definitely get reports on the state of the county on a somewhat regular basis. There's a general belief that government (at all levels) is slow to act. Receiving regular reports would allow the legislature to become aware of issues sooner and start to implement a solution faster before a problem gets out of hand.

My only concern is how those reports get generated. If it's just a few button clicks, that's great. I would not want to burden agencies with spending hours (or possibly days) each month gathering data for a report.

Has there been a need expressed for this? If the residents feel there is a need, I'm open to it.