FRIENDLY DISCUSSION
Tonko welcomed at East Greenbush town hall meeting
EAST GREENBUSH, N.Y. » The auditorium of Columbia High School was filled Tuesday night as U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko hosted a community town hall meeting.
Tonko, D-Amsterdam, hosted similar events earlier in the year in other communities within his district and said Tuesday he believes the meetings are beneficial.
“I believe with many, many more opportunities with technology, we at times don’t have that neighborhood conversation,” said Tonko during a press briefing prior to the meeting. “I think neighbors sharing with neighbors their ideas as to priorities, their ideas as to solutions, enables us to listen to one another as we share those thoughts. I know that I gain a lot from these discussions, and I would hope that the people who attend them do.”
The atmosphere during the 90-minute program was friendly, in sharp contrast to similar meetings hosted by Republican House members John Faso and Elise Stefanik, where they were roundly criticized for their support of President Donald Trump and the GOP plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare. That was again a hot topic Tuesday night, along with the president’s alleged ties to Russia, the nationwide heroin and opiod addiction epidemic, the decrease in voter turnout and Trump’s proposed federal budget, which includes
cuts in education funding, as well as a host of other human service programs.
A parent from the East Greenbush Central School District started off the conversation by asking Tonko about the proposed cuts to education programs, including school lunch and after school initiatives.
“I see education as selfdiscovery, understanding your gifts, your values, your strengths, your passions, and then inserting those into your life through career and voluntary efforts,” Tonko responded. “We will fight those education cuts.”
Tim Murdick, one of the founders of Nopiates, a group focused on the heroin epidemic, worried how changes from Obamacare to Trumpcare could impact people battling addiction. Murdick and his wife, Kim, founded Nopiates after the death of their son, Sean, in Septemebr 2015 as the result of a heroin overdose.
“Included in the mental health strategy needs to be addiction,” Tonko argued. “Addiction is seen as an illness, [and] if we do not see it as an illness, then we’re not going to conquer it. Time will tell where we go with this.”
The discussion got a little more active when Tonko began taking questions on Trump’s budget proposal, which has come under fire from both sides of the political aisle. Tonko said he does not support many of the program cuts within the budget and disagrees with using federal funds to build a wall along the Mexican.
“I don’t think the wall would even work as a concept, and I think it is really anti-American,” Tonko expressed. “You have my commitment to fight that fight and take it to the floor and speak forcefully about it.”
Tonko also specifically cited cuts proposed for programs that combat homelessness.
“Why are we cutting something that is trying to combat homelessness?” asked Tonko. “How do you ask a veteran to call a sidewalk their bed? There are a number of different human services that must be put in proper balance before we go building these walls.”