Utica, New York Common Council Meeting Records

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Common Council Meeting January 21st, 2026

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Common Council Meeting January 21st, 2026

4 matches · 2 unidentified
Unidentified speaker 1:14:31
There is no safe level of lead exposure to children. Lead permanently damages brain development. It affects learning, attention, behavior, and long-term opportunities. Once that damage is done, it cannot be undone. This issue is personal for me. My cousin was exposed to lead poisoning as a child in New York City. When he later attended Proctor High School, the effects followed him. He was placed in special ed, not because he lacked potential but because only lead exposure had already altered his learning. He struggled to build social skills and access job opportunities. His future was shaped by unsafe housing, not by a lack of effort. I've also seen families punished for this system failure. When I worked as a housing specialist at Municipal Housing, Parents whose children had elevated lead levels were often reported to CPS. I remember one mother working two jobs in the Obelston. Her landlord refused to abate the lead paint. Instead of being supported, she was blamed and ultimately forced to give custody of her children to their father and move to another city. Just to get them safe. The municipality did not help her find lead-safe housing. This is not child protection. That is systematic failure. Before coming to Utica, I worked in New York City and helped support Local Law 1 of 2004, which required landlords to proactively address lead hazards and provide economic incentives to remove lead paint, a primary prevention approach. I also work with advocates connected to the Committee to Eliminate Lead Poisoning and NIPERG's lead research and policy guides, which emphasize a simple truth: Don't wait for a poisoned child to act for the hazard-free first. Here in Utica, we once had the neighborhood housing funds that helped landlords make apartments safe, and today the Oneida County NAACP Climate Change Committee has mapped neighborhoods most at risk for lead exposure, identifying exactly where help is needed. We also know schools are a critical starting point Other cities like Buffalo have identified lead in school water fountains and taken action. Schools are one of the few places where government can fully control the environment. So here's my call to action to the City Council, municipal leaderships, and the Mayor's Office: use existing federal and state funds already available to test and remediate lead in school drinking water, starting with fountains. Replace unsafe fixtures and install certified filters. And commit to transparent retesting and reporting. Removing lead from schools is not radical. It is a basic child protection. It is also smart policy. Lead exposure is linked to lifelong costs in education, health, and yes, public safety. Lead poisoning is preventable. We know what to do. We have the funds. What we need now is the will to act before another child pays the price. Thank you.
Unidentified speaker 30:57
But there's times too that they're in the middle of the road at night when we're out plowing, and me and Ed talk about this all the time. They're out in the middle, they're on the side of the road, residential roads. They leave it overnight. Yeah, they leave it right out there. We have to lift the blade up. I know it doesn't sound like it's a big deal, but 2-3 day storms the way we're getting them, they don't move. And then I have to call Ed, who's 2 or 3 different times already this month.