Deputy Director of Communications
Office of Westchester County Executive George Latimer
Joseph Sgammato got a crash course in working with national media when the coronavirus erupted locally, with Westchester an early epicenter. Sgammato — the deputy director of communications for the Office of Westchester County Executive George Latimer — was behind the scenes when his boss appeared on CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News.
Sgammato’s focus: bringing balance. “What will help get us through this time is calmly presented, factual information, and it is our job in the county executive’s communications department to provide this,” he says.
Sgammato, a native of Beacon, earned his JD at New York Law School and passed the bar in 2018. Always interested in politics, he began working for County Legislator Catherine Borgia, who was majority leader of the Westchester County Board of Legislators from 2014, while going to law school at night. He rose to press secretary of the Democratic caucus by 2016 and joined Latimer’s campaign in 2017.
“The story from my parents is that I watched Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention, and it went from there,” he says.
During his tenure in working for Latimer, Sgammato has been instrumental in drafting significant portions of both the Immigration Protection Act and Earned Sick Leave and promoting both laws; he also supported the county’s marketing campaign on Playland.
“I work every day to advance what the county executive’s message is and what we’re doing for taxpayers,” says Sgammato. “My job is showing exactly what we’ve got going on.”