Albany mayoral candidates weighed in on environmental concerns Tuesday at a forum hosted by WAMC and the New York League of Conservation Voters Education Fund.
The Environmental Candidate Forum was held at The Linda, WAMC’s Performing Arts Studio. The Earth Day event included the Democratic candidates appearing on the June 24th primary ballot.
The candidates are running to succeed Mayor Kathy Sheehan, who is wrapping up her third four-year term.
The candidates were quizzed how, if elected, they would approach clean air, clean water, conservation and recycling.
Albany's population relies heavily on cars to get from here to there. Reducing emissions from the transportation sector is crucial to meeting the state's emission reduction goals.
The candidates agreed finding sustainable transportation options presents a huge challenge for the next mayor. Albany County Legislator Carolyn McLaughlin is looking to reduce reliance on private vehicles by enhancing public transportation, namely CDTA, and educating residents about existing travel options.
"I've heard there's some comments about the fact that the bicycle lanes are not being used. Why is that? So let's address some of those issues," McLaughlin said.
Common Council President Corey Ellis says Albany must become "more walkable." "How do we advocate for more commuter stations outside of our city so we begin to lessen the amount of cars coming into the city?"
Agreeing with McLaughlin and Ellis, local businessman Dan Cerutti thinks hybrid vehicles are "clearly the answer." "Which means charging stations. Ubiquitous charging stations. That's part of the culture. We need to encourage walkability."
Chief City Auditor Dorcey Applyrs supports increasing "pedestrian friendly spaces." "How can we create and invest in more green space, sidewalks, streets, making sure that those are in good shape."
All four are on the same page when it comes to reimagining Interstate 787, the highway that isolates the city from the Hudson River.
McLaughlin said "It's not just about the waterfront, it is about neighborhoods that are within walking distance to the waterfront."
Ellis said "We need to look at whether it comes down or lower it or get rid of it. We have to look at the environmental impact."
Cerutti said "We're talking billions, and the time frame we're talking years. So I'm very encouraged by it. I think we need to take our time and do this right."
Applyrs said "First order of business would be to purchase that property so that we are in control of our own destiny."
The candidates offered several possibilities to dealing with solid waste as the Rapp Road landfill reaches near capacity, be it by building a transfer station, improving recycling techniques, encouraging composting and educating residents on how closing the landfill will impact the city.
Candidates were asked "What steps as mayor would you take to reduce the amount of food waste going into landfills and address food insecurity in Albany?"
Applyrs answered she would turn to existing resources in her role as a "convener."
"Convening our nonprofits, our school district and others who are stakeholders in this, addressing this matter. One, we have some gyms in our city, like the radical center, who I've had the privilege of working with and partnering with in the past, they know they are the experts, and again, has been as it has been talked about. There is no need to reinvent the wheel," said Applyrs.
McLaughlin says residents shouldn't purchase groceries they don't need.
"Go home, you will use what you bought, and you will not have the surplus that you've people. I don't know about you, but I know many people that don't eat leftovers. So if you don't buy too much, you won't have leftovers," said McLaughlin.
Ellis says the city needs to make sure people living in food deserts have access to information on how to obtain food from local panties and the Regional food Bank, and "make sure our policies match up."
"We have some policies would prevent some restaurants from giving people food. Why do we have it that way? If we have this food insecurities, and our policies have to match up with that. But you know, for people to be in this country and starving. It's hard to imagine, because we are so we have so much abundance of food," Ellis said.
Cerutti says food is available but distribution needs to be improved.
"We have a coordination problem in the so called last mile. And so if we have some extra effort to try to figure out how to make sure that we we get the food to the right places, which means working in the neighborhoods, on the streets, with schools, with the not for profits. We can do better," said Cerutti.
The candidates were also in agreement that Albany needs a solid Climate Action Plan and funding to implement it.
Clean drinking water remains a concern, and the candidates were asked about how they would approach replacing lead lines.
Ellis says "we're in trouble" and concerns like this are what this year's mayoral election is all about.
"It's a cultural shift of in dealing with problems that we just pushed down the road for years and years and years and never dealt with them. And part of dealing with them is is looking at is making sure our citizens understand there's going to be some hard choices, hard decisions going to be have to make, that we're going to have to make, that's going to move our city forward," said Ellis.
Cerutti suggests residents test their water for lead. "Not, not every problem can be fixed at once. For instance, homes with children in them should be should go to the top of the list. So we have to get analytics done so that we understand how to address this problem. Across the entire city, there is federal money. There is state money," Cerutti said.
Applyrs says she is alarmed but what she calls "a lead epidemic," particularly in low-income communities in the city.
"As mayor, I would be focused on, which makes the most sense from an economic perspective, but also from a workforce perspective. We know the aging infrastructure that we have in our city, and I think that personally, where I sit today, we should be focused on implementation of remediation. I also serve on the Albany County Board of Health, and the lead issue is a significant issue in our city. We know that is a problem," said Applyrs.
McLaughlin says the city has fallen behind in addressing the problem.
"I think one of the things that we have to initially do is to make sure that we do have the right analytics. So let's maximize the technology and the individual expertise that we have within the city to make sure that we do have the right numbers and some numbers that we already have we know where the problems exist the most, in certain neighborhoods to address issues such as this," McLaughlin said.
