The District 5 Report From Legislators Brownell And Wysocki
The July Legislative Meeting
As legislative representatives of District 5, including the towns of Hoosick, Petersburgh, Grafton, Berlin and Stephentown, we are happy to provide our constituents with a report on actions at the July 11 legislative meeting and a reminder of some of the actions taken at our May and June meetings.
At our July meeting we continued to do everything in our power to help end the opioid epidemic in our County. There is strong evidence to suggest opioid manufacturers and some prescribing doctors have worked together to create a complex web of false representations regarding the addictive nature of opioids. They then used these false representations to mislead consumers and doctors into believing that opioids were not addictive and were a viable option for treatment of chronic pain.
With this evidence, we voted to hire a law firm, at no cost to county taxpayers, to commence litigation against these manufacturers and doctors to ensure that County residents are better protected and to seek reimbursement to the County for its expenses resulting from this opioid epidemic.
We adjourned our July meeting in remembrance of former District 5 County Legislator Lester Goodermote who passed away in June after serving on the County Legislature since 2006. He made his mark here with the legislature and with the constituents for whom he so strongly advocated. He is missed by all of us.
At our May meeting we voted to recognize June 2017 as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) awareness Month in Rensselaer County to educate the community, reduce the stigma associated with PTSD and to help ensure those suffering from PTSD receive the treatment and attention they deserve.
At our May meeting we also passed a resolution commending the Goyer family for their 185 years of combined service to the Grafton Fire Department. They have made helping the residents of Grafton a family tradition and that community is better for it.
At our June meeting we passed a resolution commending The Rebuilding Warriors for their service to the veterans of Rensselaer County. Their organization provides service/companion dogs to Veterans diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), and to amputees.
The next regular monthly meeting of the Rensselaer County Legislature is August 9. Residents are welcome to contact us at the legislative offices by writing to the Rensselaer County Legislature, 1600 7th Avenue, Troy NY 12180 or by e-mailing us via the official legislative website at www.rensselaercounty.org.