Alair Townsend, from Elmira to Congress to Deputy Mayor of New York

Ideas and Lives

Alair Townsend describes her journey from growing in Elmira and attending Elmira College, the London School of Economics, and the University of Wisconsin to a career at the highest level of public service. She describes her role as staff director of the Subcommittee on Fiscal Policy and how it produced the first set of studies of the combined cash and in-kind welfare programs in the US. Alair tells stories of subsequent leadership positions at the first House Budget Committee and then as Assistant Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. This was only the beginning. Hired as the budget director of New York City, she explains how she was determined to keep the budget in balance. Asked to become Deputy Mayor for finance and economic development by Mayor Ed Koch, Alair led the effort to retain jobs in the city and to reach the outer boroughs. She capped her career by becoming publisher of Crain's Business Daily and now serves on many boards of directors.