Delgado Wins Accolades
On 1st Cooperstown Visit
Since His Nov. 6 Victory
400+ Crowd Packs Village Hall Ballroom
By LIBBY CUDMORE • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com
COOPERSTOWN – Small farms, rural broadband, the National Debt and the Muller Investigation – Congressman Antonio Delgado was there to answer it all.
“I take pride in representing this district,” he said. “There aren’t a lot of truly diverse districts like ours in D.C., so their representatives aren’t motivated to find common ground. My hope is that we can all come together and be civil.”
Delgado hosted a “Town Hall” for 400 participants in the Village Hall’s ballroom 22 Main Street this afternoon, his first in Cooperstown since he defeated Republican John Faso Nov. 6.
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In his opening remarks, he spoke about visiting the Coast Guard in Saugerties during the shutdown, his bi-partisan bill to extend federal contracting preference benefits to surviving spouse of a service-disabled veteran, co-sponsoring the Family Leave Act and his support for Universal Background Checks, and efforts to bring down the cost of prescription medications.
“Despite the longest shutdown in our nation’s history, me and my team are still working,” he said.
He then opened up the room to questions.
Sustainable Otsego Moderator Adrian Kuzminski asked Delgado if he supported the Green New Deal.
“I know that I don’t want any more subsidies and tax credits spent on fossil fuels,” Delgado replied. “Fossil fuel industries are making money hand over fist. They don’t need taxpayer dollars.”
He also supported a Green Jobs Bill, programs to retrain workers for green-energy jobs and investing in carbon capture. “I want to talk about specifics,” he said. “I want us to act concretely and build consensus.”
Candace Shannon, the Brookwood school board president, asked what he would do to support students struggling with poverty in rural schools, as well as those in need of special needs and mental health services.
“Our young people are being left behind,” Delgado said. “We spend more money on corporate welfare than we do on the Department of Education. We need to invest in education, including Universal Pre-K.”
He also said he supported a variety of student-loan debt-relief programs, including loan forgiveness for public service jobs, such as the Peace Corps or Teach for America, and wants farm bills to give small farms the same access to programs such as value-add products, that corporate and mega-farms do.
Delgado will host an open house 2-4 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 20 at his new Oneonta Office, 189 Main St, Suite 500.
“I am here to be your representative,” he said. “I am only beholden to you.”
Cooperstown Mayor Ellen Tillapaugh Kuch said she was “a little surprised” by the large turnout, although she said she’s been enthusiastic about Delgado since seeing him debate the other six Democratic hopefuls before the party’s primary last June.
Steve Londner, Oneonta, a leader of the local League of Women Voters, said “it was to a significant degree what I had expected.” Nonetheless, “I came away with a deepened appreciation of the fellow.”
Richard Sternberg, who organized that CCS debate, called Delgado “articulate, principled and honest,” answering questions directly.
“He’s already a great congressman,” Sternberg said.