Dear Editor,
Earlier this month, a bill I co-sponsored to collect data and inform the public about the growing migrant crisis in Albany County was defeated in a party-line vote by my Democratic colleagues. The bill would have helped us plan for new and unexpected costs, and helped government agencies and school districts ensure they have the correct resources in place.
While the party-line vote on this issue may not seem extraordinary, the debate and predetermined outcome on this legislation was revealing. At one point, one of my Democratic colleagues seemed to concede that the blame was on the Biden administration, calling this humanitarian emergency a “major federal blunder.” Certainly I agree with that statement.
However, numerous Legislators then began to pontificate about a wide range of issues irrelevant to the topic at hand. Some professed a “No” vote because the bill does not outline all of the potential solutions to problems that might be identified – in advance of information we haven’t yet collected. Yet another began a contribution to the discussion by bringing up climate change.
Sadly, it seems like my Democratic colleagues’ only goal during this floor debate was to obfuscate and distract from the facts of the matter. Fact: New York City has relocated, without our input and against many objections, nearly 700 migrants to our County, many in the Town of Colonie. That’s nearly a 30-fold increase from a few months when we hosted only 25.
If and when we receive more new arrivals via New York City, we need to know some basic facts about those arriving, the services they need, their impact on North Colonie and other school districts, and the costs to County and school taxpayers. That’s all our bill was about.
Though New York City officials say they are paying for everything, the impact is already real for local taxpayers. There are at least 40 new enrollees in North Colonie schools. They require vaccinations to be enrolled. They will require English as a Second Language and other special needs education. Is there any tracking of who is paying for that?
An old adage I learned when I was young was to never stand like an ostrich with my head in the sand. Now more than ever, we as elected officials owe it to our constituents to not bury our heads in the sand, but to keep looking up and forward. A clear-eyed approach to the present circumstances will bring both concerns and potential solutions squarely into view. We can’t accomplish that by looking the other way.
The few legislators like me who own a small business know that one cannot operate an organization without information to plan and problem-solve. We need more government agencies asking questions everyday: why, how, how many, and most pointedly – what will it cost taxpayers?
This situation isn’t going away anytime soon. Across the globe, people yearn to live the American Dream. People will always aspire to join us here in our great Republic as long as we are the model of a free and prosperous nation. To keep it that way, we must build a solid foundation of law and order and fiscal responsibility in our communities.
Todd Drake
District 19
Albany County Legislature
