At a city council meeting earlier this month, Republicans agreed that Troy should focus only on local issues, not national ones.
While voting on a resolution introduced by Democrats asking for the council to support federal funding for Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security services, Republican councilors Tom Casey and Irene Sorriento called the measure distracting. Casey, of District 6, says he doesn’t want to discuss national issues, contending it takes away from local issues.
The Republican majority had its own resolution to “preserve essential Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid Services.” The resolutions’ language differed slightly.
“There's plenty of people that have showed up at our meetings that want to talk about national issues. ‘Oh my God, my voice is going to be heard. I want to talk about national issues. So that's what we're going to do.’ What Irene, would you like to introduce four or five things every meeting to talk about national issues? I bet you would, because you seem up on those kinds of things. I just think that it's not in our purview to keep trying to I went to a seminar, or I saw this on the national state level. Let's talk about this. I'm concerned about this. Let's talk. We have enough Troy issues right here that we're supposed to make sure we make the right decision on and do our homework on,” Casey said.
Casey continued that local government officials have too much on their plate to read into national issues in-depth.
“How can we say as a council we support any of this or against any of it, when we don't know the final product. We have no idea. We're blanket saying, I'm against all these cuts. What if they're good cuts? We don't know that. And that's going to take a little more time, and it would take a lot of our time. Write your congressman,” Casey said.
Sorreinto, of District 5, read from a prepared statement saying there was no information to support the resolution and that it was introduced during an election year to prop up Democratic councilors.
“I have no teeth in what happens at the federal level,” Sorriento said. “Neither do you, I imagine, but we are part of a crucial role at what happens in our city, and be a part of the foundation of building our city to a better future correct for our family, our children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and friends, I'm looking out for the future of you all in our city.”
Katie Spain-McLaren, who introduced the measure, is the only Democratic councilor up for re-election. Spain-McLaren of District 4 says the council has to have some awareness of national trends to ensure what’s happening at a national level isn’t impacting Troy residents — and if it does, the council needs to respond.
“I would just like to make the statement that our country was begun by cities. It was built city by city, into states, into what we know now,” Spain-McLaren said. “So, what happens at a national level absolutely affects our cities somehow. And I think it's short sighted to think that just focusing on Troy is in the best interests of the citizens of Troy.”
Spain-McLaren says local impacts are inevitable if federal cuts go ahead.
The Democratic measure failed to make it out of the council’s finance meeting. The Republicans’ passed.
