Laura Russo: Stand up for rule of law and against liberal lawlessness

To the Editor,

Over the years, I’ve attended dozens if not hundreds of local government meetings. Usually the issues are local, but sometimes national issues find their way. That is precisely what happened when New York City was caught sneaking homeless migrants throughout New York State, without any notice, and Putnam County was next on their list.

In order to coordinate the relocation of the City’s migrants, they took on a massive $432 million no-bid contract with the healthcare corporation DocGo. This corporation is under major investigations for corruption and no one has any answers as to how this money is really being spent. Thank goodness for our own Assemblyman Matt Slater, who is leading the charge demanding answers on this abuse of taxpayer dollars.

But this all began last year, when our Putnam County Executive and our County Legislature acted thoughtfully and responsibly with declaring an emergency and initiating emergency action.
Putnam acted in a way most other places did not. After they had enough facts to demonstrate NYC was acting in bad faith, the County acted preemptively by requiring a shared services agreement before any outside municipality, including New York City, could contract with a temporary rental, hotel, or motel in Putnam County.

I realize we don’t have many hotels or motels in Putnam County, but we do have some that are usually used for people served by welfare programs, and they are usually close to full. One thing was and is clear… Putnam doesn’t have the responsibility or the capacity to take on New York City’s obligations from being a “Sanctuary City.”

Understanding these challenges were real, Putnam County worked to codify portions of County Executive Byrne’s executive orders into local law. The Legislature went through its legislative process where all sorts of comments were shared. I attended the meeting of the full Legislature… the comments were hardly cordial…

Again, I know this, because unlike other aspiring pundits and political candidates, I actually showed up in person to offer my voice and lend support. It takes guts to stand up for your convictions. Radical Leftists hurled all sorts of ugly insults at that meeting, citing erroneous language that didn’t even exist in the proposal. Instead, they chose to spit fire and callously label Republicans as “anti-immigrant”… which we all know couldn’t be further from the truth.

The legislature ultimately passed a local law that protected us from a massive homelessness crisis exploding in our community. Putnam County also acknowledged that one of the sources for this problem was that “Sanctuary Cities” had become a magnet for this issue, as they themselves were quickly becoming overwhelmed and declaring emergencies of their own. Who could have predicted that? It appears their virtue signaling finally caught up to them.

No local municipality should restrict its local law enforcement officials from collaborating with federal immigration enforcement officials. Especially when it pertains to responding to an alleged violent criminal. Putnam County took a stand and said we are not a “Sanctuary County” but a “Rule of Law County” that supports fair and equal application of the law to all people free of discrimination.

I stand firm against any attempt to make Putnam County a Sanctuary County and will always stand up for the Rule of Law. That’s why I’m proud to have endorsements from law enforcement organizations. I back the blue, and am honored that many have elected to back me in return.
I’m running for Putnam County Legislator in Patterson as the Republican and Conservative endorsed candidate.

There is a Republican Primary and my opponent has been noticeably silent on this as well as many other important issues— I will not hide or shy away from the challenges we face. We deserve and need leaders who are unafraid to take a stand.

Laura Russo
Candidate for Putnam County Legislature, District 4 (Patterson, NY)