The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Health care, political civility
Anthony Brindisi addresses constituent concerns at Town Hall
UTICA, N.Y. » At Utica’s thINCubator, Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi, D-119, discussed the issues and concerns facing constituents.
Normally one of Utica’s most flexible office spaces, the thINCubator saw almost 100 people turn out for Brindisi’s town hall.
Brindisi is running against Republican incumbent Claudia Tenney for New York’s 22nd Congressional District. No questions were to be screened and constituents were able to ask anything, but be- fore taking any questions Brindisi spoke about reaching across the aisle and civility.
“I think that at one point in our history, Congress was able to do some really great things for our country. But we seemto have gotten away from working together,” Brindisi said. “We’re going to be civil together and set an example here in Utica for Washington. We may not agree on every single issue. We may walk away not liking what we heard, but we’re going to walk away respecting each other’s positions.”
The first question on one woman’s mind was the state of the incoming hospital in downtown Utica and what Brindisi knew that the public didn’t.
“A couple years ago, the Mohawk Valley Health Systems formed and that’s an affiliation between St. Luke’s Hospital and St. Elizabeth’s Hospital. They decided they wanted to build a new hospital because it’s inefficient to have two hospitals in the area,” Brindisi said. “They’re old, there
might be equipment only located in one hospital and it’s hard to ask a physician to cover rounds in two hospitals, so that makes hiring hard. Sen. Joe Griffo and I secured funding in the state budget a fewyears back for $ 300 million for a new healthcare facility in Oneida County.” According to Brindisi, legislators from across the state were asking why Utica was the one who got the funding when other areas such as Brooklyn also applied. “I think this area has been overlooked in the past,” Brindisi said. “We need 21st century healthcare in this area. The question was where to put it and they selected the downtown site. And it was put with the best interests in mind for people here. The downtown site is centrally located and covers a 10 mile radius of Utica. It’s been a bumpy road and I don’t think MVHS has done the best job getting the information out there, but at the end of the day we have to get something done and I think we’ll have something we can be proud of when it’s finished.” Members of the group “No Hospital Downtown” were both in attendance and present outside of the thINCubator. One constituent said around 27,000 people are signed up for medical marijuana to treat disorders such as Parkinson’s or ASL. “If I had Parkinson’s, the nearest places to get medical marijuana is Syracuse or Albany. We have zero retailers here in Utica. What can be done to get the growers and retailers here?” Brindisi said he’s had a conversation with a local family in New York Mills, whose young daughter suffered from a rare form of epilepsy that resulted in drop seizures. “Her parents did a lot of research intomedicalmarijuana. For those of you who don’t know, medical marijuana is different than regular marijuana. It doesn’t get you high and has tremendous promise in treating illnesses or helping people cope,” Brindisi said. “We have already passed a law inNewYork to approve medical marijuana, but a lot needs to be done on the federal level and the FDA. A number of licenses have been approved to grow and sell in New York and they’re looking to increase the number of retail locations. I’mhoping we can get one in the Utica and Rome area so people don’t to have drive out to Syracuse or Albany, but we need more education for the public and medical community about the benefits.” Brindisi also said he did not agree with classifying marijuana as a schedule one drug, the same as heroin. When asked about Citizen’s United and nullifying it, Brindisi said he wanted to see the controversial ruling that states corporations are people overturned by constitutional amendment. “It’d be very difficult to do, but short of that, there should be more transparency in who is funding campaigns and who donors are,” Brindisi said. “We just passed a law here in New York that I supported that targets online advertising in social media that means you have to disclose who funded it. This should be done on the federal level because I don’t think these socialmedia companies are doing enough themselves.” Brindisi said he has not been funding his campaign with money from special interest or corporate PAC money and is ranked in the top 20 out of all campaigns being run right now in terms of small dollar donations. “The 2020 election is coming and it terrifies me,” said one constituent. “One of the reasons it does is because of the Democrat party getting its act together. There was a young woman who won in New York City and when Nancy Pelosi was interviewed about this young woman’s victory and if maybe the more experienced Democrats should step aside, Pelosi said she’s not going anywhere. There’s a split within the party and we need to cure that with a unifying message. What can we do?” “I don’t speak for the Democrat party, but I think it’s time for new leadership in both the Democrat party and Republican party,” Brindisi said. “I stated months ago that I’m not supporting Pelosi if I’m elected. “But here’s my message. My message comes from you, the people who I hear at these town halls and Congressional District,” Brindisi continued. “I think people are getting fed up with the national issues because the things that affect them everyday are not getting solved. So when I go to these town hall meetings, I’mhearing these people saying they’re worried about losing their healthcare, about their premiums going up, that they’re losing Social Security, theirMedicare, their kids leave, their job, the economy, the opioid crisis; that’s what I’mhearing. And that’smymessage: what affects people here in the 22nd District and how we can fix it.”