Mix one part city commissioner, half an Italian, a smidge of Georgia Bulldog, a Beastie Boy lover and a full serving of normalcy, and you get Jeanna Mastrodicasa.
It is the normalcy that surprises many people, considering Mastrodicasa is Assistant Vice President of Student Affairs. She is also up for reelection as city commissioner.
"A lot of the city staff tell me that I'm so normal - that's actually a recurring thing," she said. "I don't like a lot of recognition. That's kind of the opposite of being an elected official. It all sounds really fancy, but I'm just a regular person."
She enjoys spending time with her dog, Oliver, a mutt she rescued in 2004 after her terrier, Snoop Dogg, died. She likes to cook and spend time with her husband, Clay Sweger, a land planner for a small engineering firm. She loves "Harold and Kumar go to White Castle" and "Bend it Like Beckham," and keeps a box of Run-DMC figurines in her office.
Mastrodicasa attributed some of this normalcy to her small-town upbringing in Pittsfield, Ma., which had a population of less than 50,000 people when she was growing up.
"The nearest mall was an hour away. There were no chain restaurants," she said. "It was a big deal to go to a big chain restaurant."
Despite its small-town feel, Mastrodicasa said her home population was full of different ethnicities, with heavy Italian, Polish and Irish influences.
While at UGA, Mastrodicasa found a new passion in sports. In her seven years of schooling there, she only missed one home football game. She remains a Bulldog fan today.
"It's a challenge being a Georgia fan in Gator country. I miss Athens. It is my inner happiness," she said.
She graduated with a public relations degree in 1992 and stayed for three more years to earn a Juris Doctor at the law school.
In 1997, Mastrodicasa moved to Gainesville to become an academic and pre-law advisor at UF. Two years later, she was appointed assistant dean of students and eventually became associate director with the UF's honors program.
But by 1999, Mastrodicasa was looking for a task more involved with the community.
"I was ready for a new personal challenge. I was in a rut," Mastrodicasa said.
Having been active with the Alachua County Democrats, she decided to run for city commissioner.
"It was one of the best things I ever did, but it was also very scary. Two days before the election I said to myself, 'Is this really a good idea?'" she said. "But it got me off the couch and interacting with people."
Since her election in 2006, Mastrodicasa's "normal" could be synonymous with "busy," but she loves it.
"I like coming to work every day," Mastrodicasa said. "If you don't love what you do, it's gonna be a really long day every day."
