OSWEGO – After a lengthy discussion and a roll call vote, the Oswego County Legislature voted to approve a resolution opposing COVID-19 vaccine mandates imposed by federal, state or local government.
The resolution, GC-5, proposed by Legislator David Holst discusses President Joe Biden’s “emergency temporary standard” that requires businesses with 100 or more employees to require their employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo weekly COVID-19 testing in addition to New York state’s vaccine mandate for health care workers.
The resolution opposes the mandate, but says that the legislature “remains committed to encouraging all those citizens who make the individual choice to get vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus to do so.” While the legislature passed the resolution, three members voted against it, including Legislator Thomas Drumm who called for the roll call vote.
“It seems this body has made the decision to ignore common senses,” Drumm said. “My friends that cry personal freedoms and socialism frankly are full of hot air. I can’t think of anything more patriotic than caring for one’s neighbors.”
The other two members of the legislature who did not approve GC-5 are Legislator Marie Schadt and Legislator James Karasek. The vote was 21 in favor, three opposed and two absent, which were Legislator Patrick Twist and Legislator Marc Greco.
Three legislators spoke in favor of the resolution, including majority leader Terry Wilbur who cited the negative consequences of the mandate such as staff shortages at hospitals. Legislator Edward Gilson and Legislator Nathan Emmons also spoke on the resolution, focusing on personal choice.
“We have an absolute right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Mandates are a violation of that liberty,” Emmons said. “To live in our society it is a risk-reward proposition. Liberty is risky. It is riskier than other forms of government. As Americans we have to balance that risk. We have to defend our freedom.”
Beyond GC-5, two other resolutions saw some legislators oppose them in the normal voting process. Despite this, every resolution was passed. GC-4, a resolution establishing the Office of Strategic Initiatives and establishing associated positions, was rejected by Schadt and Drumm.
The resolution, funded by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, will cost roughly $1 million over five years, according to Schadt. Schadt and Drumm also rejected FP-3 which authorized a budget modification for the Office of Strategic Initiatives and the American Rescue Plan funds.
The other resolutions passed include:
- PS-6 authorizing budget modifications for the Emergency Management Office to accept funding from the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Services for FY2021 State Homeland Security Program
- HS-3 transferring funds to cover Camp Zerbe renovations
- EP-4 to approve the Oswego County Civic Facilities Corporation refunding revenue bonds, series 2021 (Oswego School District Public Library Project) issue in an aggregate principal amount not to exceed $5 million
- FP-5 to allocate ARPA funds to Oswego Health for a medical worker recruitment and retention program
Another passed resolution was GC-3, which set a time and place for a public hearing on proposed Local Law No. 2. Local Law No. 2 establishes the office of the Oswego County Public Defender, according to the legislation put forth by Holst. The public hearing will take place on November 10 at the 2 p.m. legislature meeting.
FP-1 was also passed and came from Legislator John Martino. The resolution amends the drug-free workplace policy for the County of Oswego. The new policy reads that those working on a county job may not be under the influence of marijuana, despite “relaxed [state] laws concerning cannabis.”
The policy change is due to the fact that The Drug-Free Workplace Act is a federal act and federal contractors may not use or be impaired by marijuana while at work.
After the adjournment of the meeting, several employees from the Oswego County Department of Social Services spoke to the legislators, urging them to alter the budget to raise their pay to a competitive amount in comparison to adjacent counties.
They also asked for more paid time off and paid sick days as employees need more benefits to stay with Oswego County instead of moving to a higher paying county or job in general. One employee of the department, Stephanie Hoxie expressed her concerns with the lack of pay.
“For the next 20 years I will work side by side with and welcome new staff that are currently being paid far less than smaller counties. Staff that earn sick and annual leave at a rate that is honestly embarrassing. It takes new hires five weeks and one day to earn seven hours of annual leave, and they aren’t even allowed to use it for six months,” Hoxie said. “New staff that are entering our workforce are given zero incentive to stay and longevity is being sacrificed because of it. Our county has become a training county. We pay for staff to be trained … and they leave for higher paying positions.”
Kelly Hurlburt, a senior counselor expressed the importance of retaining staff in order to provide the best possible care.
“It takes at least two full years to train staff and build skills,” Hurlburt said. “When a case worker starts it could be up to six months for them to get their own cases due to the state training requirements. Sixty-eight percent of our current staff have less than five years. Our current average experience per case worker is four years. We have no workers with 15 or more years of experience in the county. Without an experienced staff, things will and they do get passed and could end up in tragedy … Please consider giving case workers and all agency staff what their passion and dedication to our mission is worth. I worry that without the county moving to a more competitive salary and longevity reasons that we will [lose] our experienced staff and will continue with staffing shortages.”
All county legislative meetings are held the second Thursday of every month. The next meeting will be held on November 10 at 2 p.m.
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Another way NOT to save the county money as county personnel contract Covid and get sick. Here goes the medical costs through the roof… also paying people for sick time while they are in the hospital recovering. Non productive time and pay. Way to go republicans….
No wonder Oswego County is racking up all these high covid number’s. Just how do you think you will beat covid without doing something about it!
It’s Always about the money.
Common sense and liberty prevails. Those who are afraid of COVID, where your masks and take your own precautions. If you are vaccinated, the un-vaccinated pose absolutely zero risk to you. This “curl up in a ball” mindset is an individual choice. I wish you well. Thank you County Legislature for your proper vote.
So Oswego county residents are free to come to work loaded with a highly contagious deadly disease and infect coworkers when there is a vaccine that can prevent this available? Go take all the selfish individual risks you want. Go jump off a cliff if you want. Freedom does not give you the right to force people you work with, that have no choice but to be near you to jump off the cliff with you. There wouldn’t be a mandate if “everyone” would man up, do the right thing and get vaccinated.
So if youre vaccinated why worry about those who arent? And if the vaccine does not protect you, then why get it? Please explain this to those of us still wondering.