This week, Coeymans Town Board and Supervisor McHugh, just gave us another example of what is wrong with elected officials in our country. After the Board denied a petition signed by 254 town residents calling the Board’s attention to concerns raised by residents over the Town’s amendments to the Clean Air Act, Supervisor McHugh called petitioners reckless, irresponsible, and thoughtless. He then “warned” residents not to do it again.
McHugh’s indignation is because a group of concerned residents managed to gather 254 signatures, within 10-days, to support a petition for a referendum that would allow the people of the Town of Coeymans to decide the fate of the Clean Air Act. The petition was rejected because New York law gives the power of making and amending laws exclusively to elected officials, and thus prohibiting modifications by referendum. But McHugh missed the point. The point was that 254 people agreed to sign a petition, at the height of a pandemic, to show him and other board members that keeping the air we breathe clean is important to a large segment of Coeymans’ residents. McHugh missed the point because he is still guided by the form of politics that divides us. If you are not with him, you are necessarily against him. This type of political philosophy caused an insurrection in our Capitol building on January 6, 2021.
But why are McHugh and his Board so upset? When residents called for more time to review the Comprehensive Plan proposed by the Town, he accused residents of being hypocrites. He claimed that these same residents who are interested in more time to review this proposed Plan are the same irresponsible people getting signatures during the COVID pandemic. What is Mr. McHugh suggesting? Is he suggesting that residents cannot be concerned about both clean air and learning more about the Town’s proposed Comp Plan? It is possible for responsible citizens to worry about more than one issue that affects them at the same time.
During the public board meeting, Board member Dan Baker called residents’ efforts to keep our air clean “false propaganda.” However, air pollution is real. Most recently in the United Kingdom, experts found that air pollution was a significant cause of death of a child who suffered from severe allergies. Rather than calling residents names, shouldn’t responsible politicians welcome constituents’ concerns and suggestions? We are all currently suffering because elected officials at the highest level of our government felt free to disregard science. We will also suffer if our local representatives choose the same path.
There are many unanswered questions involving the Town’s motives to amend the Clean Air law after only one public hearing. For example, why did the Board choose to amend the Clean Air Law when the Town’s professional counsel advised it that the law could be repealed? How do these amendments make the amended law more enforceable than the original law? How does the amended law make the residents of Coeymans safer? No politician should take offense to these legitimate questions.
Aside from calling the Clean Air Coalition names, Mr. McHugh has yet to respond to any of our concerns. In the era of social media politics, elected officials can simply label those with different opinions liars and propagandists. We all know where this type of politics will lead us.
When the Town of Bethlehem was awarded a multi-million dollar Offshore Wind Tower Manufacturing Facility project, Mr. McHugh was the first one to like it on Facebook. Bethlehem has shown us that it is possible to achieve economic development and create jobs without neglecting our climate and the health of its residents. This is exactly what Clean Air Coalition members are striving to do. Instead, the Town of Coeymans is now known as the only town in the County of Albany where tires and waste can be burned. Does this sound hypocritical, Mr. McHugh?
Contrary to a Board member’s suggestion, we do not owe you an apology for trying to protect our Town. Indeed, we have a duty to urge the Town Board to respect the opinions of the residents. After all, this Town Board and Supervisor’s campaign did not promise to allow the burning of tires and waste in our community. On the contrary, they promised not to repeal the Clean Air Law.
Our petition failed, but the board will be ultimately held responsible for their choices. It is true that the ballot box is the best response that Town residents can give Mr. McHugh and his team, now that we know that his agenda involves anything but environmentally responsible economic development. But until then, Coeymans residents must continue to live in fear of the air we breathe. Those who can afford it, can simply live upwind of Lafarge or even move to Bethlehem where elected officials understand that it is possible to be business friendly and care for the environment at the same time.
— The Clean Air Coalition