ILL TROY BECOME A SANCTUARY CITY?
City Council to vote on Sanctuary City resolution Thursday night. Council’s public safety committee passed resolution Tuesday night
TROY, N.Y. >> A Troy City Council public safety meeting brought out a spirited debate on both sides regarding a non- binding resolution making Troy a Sanctuary City.
More than 100 people packed the room and nearly half of that spoke on the hot-button issue Tuesday evening. In a 2-1 vote, with Democratic council members, David Bissember and Colleen Murtagh Paratore voting in favor and council member Mark McGrath, a Republican, voting against moves to a full City Council vote Thursday night.
“I’ve been on the council for three years now; this resolution was all about making our city more inclusive, more welcoming, working together, you know what it has done? I’ve never seen so much hatred on a piece of legislation on social media I’ve never seen so much divisiveness in our community until this resolution came forward,” Troy City Council President Carmella Mantello said of the heated rhetoric surround-
ing the topic.
“One thing I want to make clear to everyone in this room is no matter what this City Council does; Rensselaer County will not be a sanctuary county,” Rensselaer County Executive Steve McLaughlin noted in his opposition to the resolution at the meeting.
“We will not question, we are not going after anybody, but if they are wanted by ICE we are going to find out. I take special offense to your suggestion that our 287 [G] program is somehow wrong and somehow a problem and you really went after our sheriff on that inappropriately. We only run it through the database when they are in jail and anybody in here I think would want to know if somebody was wanted by ICE for committing very serious crimes. We do not want to turn them loose back onto the streets, so no matter what happens in this room tonight or what happens Thursday night if you make a mistake and pass this tonight, Rensselaer County is going to stand strong and obey federal law,” McLaughlin added of the county’s stance on immigration.
McGrath said that as an elected official it is his duty to uphold the law.
“There was a lot of passion, you heard everything from all immigrants are criminals to every immigrant coming in is a persecuted child,” McGrath said of the heated debate from both sides.
“The bottom line is the law, we take an oath of office, the police, sheriff, city council to uphold the law and that’s what I’m expected to do and that’s what I’m going to do. You’re asking the police to now say, I’ll enforce this law but not that law, you can’t really do that,” McGrath added of his stance in line with federal law
Bissember said that he thought it was a good sign that so many people came out to discuss their opinion
on the resolution.
“The amount of folks that came out to look at this resolution I think shows the passion of the people of our city and that this is something that people are interested in whether you agree with it or disagree with it. I think democracy, it’s fundamental that we have this debate and dialogue,” Bissember said about the passionate turnout on both sides of the issue.
“I will once again reemphasize that this resolution is to reaffirm the things that the Troy Police Department and city government are already doing and to ensure that our community members know that they can continue to folks to report crimes and ensure that we improve our public safety in the City of Troy, that’s what this resolution is about, improving the lives of our residents,” Bissember added of why he brought forward this resolution.
As for Democratic Mayor Patrick Madden’s office, the mayor said he could not support the resolution in its current form, citing a need for further discussion with the Troy Police Department.
“Earlier this week, we brought together the resolution’s sponsors and Troy Police leadership to discuss my administration’s various concerns with the proposed legislation. Unfortunately, the issues raised during this meeting have not yet been addressed. Accordingly, I cannot support this non-binding resolution in its current form, and respectfully ask that the City Council engage with our public safety professionals and community members and consider their diverse viewpoints on this issue. This administration and the Troy Police Department strongly support efforts which foster trust in local law enforcement, critical to building a safer, more welcoming, inclusive community for all people,” Madden said in a released statement.
A full City Council vote on the resolution will take place Thursday evening, as well as on a modernization of Troy’s dog bite law.