Sweden's Zyra elected head of Monroe County Legislature

He may have been recently elected to head the Monroe County Legislature but Sweden's Wayne Zyra, a Republican, wants residents in the towns of Clarkson, Hamlin and Sweden to know he is still their representative.

"I'm extremely honored to have been chosen to serve in the leadership position of the legislature," Zyra said. "But my constituents in the towns I represent need to know I am still their representative and I will continue to be involved in their concerns."

Being in the leadership position of the legislature, Zyra explained, allows him to not only work with other legislators but to become more involved in the administration of the county government. "I'll be able to work for the community on a broader basis."

Zyra replaced westside legislator Dennis Pelletier as president of the legislature. Pelletier was recently appointed head of the Monroe County Water Authority. And while the votes for the seat were divided along party lines, Zyra promised cooperation.

A resident of the town of Sweden since 1976, Zyra has been active in politics beginning with the Sweden zoning board, moving to the planning board where he served for 14 years. He eventually led the town board for four years and was a county legislator for the past four years. "Being elected president of the legislature is the pinnacle," he said.

While the position of a legislator may be qualified as a part time one, clocking in at about 15-20 hours per week, Zyra said in general, "it's a full time position. We are always available to address concerns."

One of the major hurdles facing the county is overcoming the shrinking job base in the community. "We are losing a lot of our young people because there are simply no jobs available for them," Zyra said. "I see that as a major initiative."

Being able to regain some of the lost manufacturing jobs is not something that Zyra sees as a solution. "Stimulating the environment so we can get business growth in this area is what we need. Rochester needs to look toward the high tech area because we are in the unfortunate situation where the manufacturing jobs aren't going to shift gears and come back to the area," he said. "Monroe County has a good business base for computer software and optics - we are a very unique area when it comes to optics and I hope we can leverage that into some more high tech businesses for Rochester."

Zyra said he is looking forward to working with newly elected County Executive Maggie Brooks on her economic development ideas. "We've also gone through a tough time this past year with working at balancing the budget and with Maggie in there right now I am looking forward to getting started with the budget process a lot earlier and see what we can accomplish this year."

Zyra, who is retired, has been married to his wife, Margie, for close to 40 years. They have three children: daughter, Kristen and her husband Peter and their three children; and two sons, Darren and his wife Karen and their son and, Todd, who lives in Montgomery, New York with his wife, Mindy.

"I'm honored to have been chosen to this position and I look forward to speaking with people and hearing their concerns," Zyra said.