Tony Sasso | The Beachside Resident

By: Tobin Bennison

Article Category: 20 Questions Leave a Comment

A dedicated (and, his wife says, “morbidly overextended”) community leader, Tony Sasso is an integral part of Cocoa Beach. And as a lifelong surfer and camper, Tony understands how important environmental issues are to beachside residents. In his capacity as Representative for Florida’s District 32, he’s has taken his local strengths to the state level, most recently guiding the important Clean Ocean Act through the passage gates.

Tony was first elected to public office as Cocoa Beach City Commissioner in 2001, where he served two terms. For the entirety of those terms, Tony worked on the purchase of the South Thousand Islands for preservation. He also supported the purchase and preservation of green space in Cocoa Beach with the development of Maritime Hammock on A1A. And, of course, he was a leading proponent of the Cocoa Beach Skate Park. He was elected to the Florida House in a special election in February and in his first session, earned a Freshman of the Year Award from the Florida Association of Counties and the Freshman Friend of Education Award from the Florida Education Association. He is currently running for his first full term in the Florida House.

Since 1986, he has been employed as an Inspector with the International Transport Workers’ Federation, and inspects foreign flag vessels to assist seafarers with employment, wage, safety, and health issues. His wife of 25 years, Athena, is a paralegal and freelance writer and editor. Their sons Tony and Ben are students at Flagler College.

We caught up with Tony at his office to ask some of our probing questions…

What is your favorite thing about living beachside?

Living in paradise makes it hard to choose one thing. My friends, the smell of salt in the air, opening the windows, surfing! I try to go over to my crosswalk every day, even if it’s just for five minutes. I never want to take the beach for granted. Oh — and the best thing about living in a small town is that even if you don’t know what you’re doing, everybody else does.

How did you first get involved in politics?

My neighbor came over to ask me to sign the height and density growth-management petition. I took a handful and walked door to door getting them signed. The rest is history.

As a Cocoa Beach City Commissioner you were pretty hands-on in municipal government. Did you have to amend your style for the state level?

It’s funny that you ask that. I brought my style with me. I just believe you can never be too hands-on or engaged if you are elected to represent people. I learned, especially during the hurricanes a few years ago, what a difference it can make in a community. That’s why I was so active as a Cocoa Beach City Commissioner and so far, no one has told me I can’t do that as a State Representative. So during the Fay flooding, I just jumped in the truck and drove to West Cocoa.

What did you give up when you got elected, and what did you gain?

I gave up personal time with family and friends, but gained a greater of fulfillment.

What do you enjoy most and least about campaigning?

I like meeting and talking to people the most. The thing I like least is the mostly untruthful negative attack ads.

You’re known as being one of the more environmentally conscious representatives out there. Tell us about your involvement in the recently passed Clean Ocean Act.

About four years ago it started when Sean O’Hare, Greg Gordon, Jim Waymer and I spent a Sunday touring a Royal Caribbean ship. Afterwards, the company VP o f Environment, whom I knew, asked why we weren’t looking at the gambling ships, and a bell went off in my head. I talked to our state legislator and Buzz Petsos, Cape Canaveral council member. I worked closely with the Surfrider Foundation doing events around the state to bring the problem into the light. I got a resolution from the Cocoa Beach City Commission, the Space Coast League of Cities, and the State League of Cities. Then I started going up to Tallahassee — a lot. Ultimately, this year, during my first session as a state legislator, the bill made it through the Environment and Natural Resources Council, on which I sat, and passed on the floor. Great timing!

What do you see in the District’s future, particularly in regards to the beachside areas?

The realist in me sees what most of us see: Some tough times ahead. The optimist sees a silver lining in those clouds. We have some great candidates running for office who really can make a difference and who care about responsible growth management. We also have some new alternative energy initiatives that can create new jobs.

What about the state of the Space Industry here? What needs to be done to ensure its longevity?

Statewide, we must keep doing what we did this session. We brought $15 million home to help fund pad refurbishment and life sciences, and to help bring in new business. We need to keep working with the federal legislators to keep this at the forefront. As the ranking Democrat in Brevard, I went to Tampa to meet with the Policy Director for Senator Obama. The objective was to get a Space plank in the platform. Ultima tely, because of this and the hard work of Senator Bill Nelson and others, Senator Obama came to Titusville and added Space to his platform, creating a “presidential space race,” which is good for all of us.

What are your priorities for the next legislative session?

Overall, my priority is to continue to represent my neighbors and my community, and not the 800-lb. gorillas (special interest lobbyists). In addition to essential space industry and high-tech initiatives, I will also continue to work for fair and sensible property tax relief and for fair homeowner insurance rates. We will have tough choices to make on the budget, which will call for thoughtful and compassionate consideration. We shouldn’t penalize our kids in schools and seniors in nursing homes. I will make decisions on what bills to sponsor in November, but one bill I committed to run is the underage drinking bill, which increases penalties for subsequent illegal sales of alcohol to minors, in much the way penalties now increase for subsequent sales of tobacco to minors. This bill was first initiated after two teen deaths in Titusville a few years ago.

Many of us get pretty jaded with politics, especially around this time of year. Are there any misconceptions about your work you’d like to dispel?

There really are some good, caring people running and in office.

How do you balance career, volunteer work, and the Legislature?