The transit station on the edge of the University of Idaho campus may only come to a student’s mind when they have to pay a parking ticket or take the bus.
However, this out-of-the way building serves another purpose. It is also the office of City Council Member Gina Taruscio.
Taruscio’s office, one of the only rooms in the office not locked to the public, is decorated with various books on the walls and pictures of her family.
“I’m the mother of two Vandal graduates. My daughter lives in Lewiston and my son is a teacher down in Boise. I’m a grandma. I have the best grandkids on the planet, just saying,” Taruscio said.
Taruscio, a UI alumna, earned her master’s degree in public administration. Taruscio said she found her way to the Palouse just three days after receiving her undergraduate degree from the University of Oklahoma in May 1994. Taruscio said she has worked to help small businesses in Moscow flourish, something her boss agreed with.
“I first met Gina when she became our chamber executive. Gina added more new businesses to the chamber than anyone that I knew of the past 40 years,” said Moscow Mayor Bill Lambert. “Gina has been great on her leadership with the Idaho State Department of Commerce. This has been a plus for us in tourism as well as putting our university in the forefront in this state.”
Taruscio was appointed to her position after former city council member Dan Carscallen resigned.
“Gina was the executive director for the Moscow Chamber of Commerce. Gina was always involved in community events through the chamber,” Lambert said. “ She was a great fit for the collaboration that we needed with our area community groups, University of Idaho, Latah County Commissioners, the city of Moscow, the Moscow School District, and of course the business community.”
Taruscio said she took to the job in January 2017, because it would allow her to continue working with small business. Getting used to her role on city council was not hard, Taruscio said, as she had been running the Moscow Chamber of Commerce for five years before the elections took place.
“It brings me kind of back to my true love, which is startups, working with business retention. I like to find ways to help business stay in our county and meet their needs,” Taruscio said.
Following the conclusion of her term, Taruscio said she could not be more eager to run for re-election.
“Why did I run? Because it’s was the right thing to do, because I love Moscow, because I believe that we have a responsibility as citizens if we can see that things need fixing, that things need to be changed somehow, that if we can see that then we need to get to a point in our lives where we can actually do something about it, and that’s kind of where I was,” Taruscio said.
After her election, Taruscio joined the sanitation committee to help with the project for a new recycling center. Taruscio said for the future, she plans to introduce a bond for a new police station and programs aimed at getting children more involved in the community.
Kali Nelson can be reached at [email protected]