On the third floor of City Hall in downtown Syracuse concerned citizens packed the councilors’ chambers. The Syracuse Common Council then handed over the mic to hear the public’s opinion about its handling of the lead water issues.
“Right now, we have a chance to lead from the front and really take aggressive action to address this situation,” said Maureen Murphy, a concerned citizen.
Murphy was one of the first to arrive with a list of concerns over the lead level in the city’s drinking water.
“It is putting the children of the city at even greater risk, and it's high time that we do something about it and take serious action,” said Murphy.
She wants the city to declare the lead issue a state of emergency, “to tap federal resources to address this issue and that they will move urgently to provide water filters to all members of the city to provide education on this issue,” said Murphy.
Amir Gethers, a member of the Syracuse Common Council, agrees with Murphy, but thinks that listening to the experts is the best way to go.
“If what is being given shows that there are great samples of lead within our water and absolutely I think that we need to move forward by causing this to be a state of emergency,” Gethers said.
The meeting is one of the first publicly held town hall events discussing the lead water issue. Gethers said it was informative and hopes it has helped citizens clear up misinformation.
“If you're going to have a question, we should be able to answer that question and give you the facts and not just something that you read from a third party article,” Gethers said.
By the end of the meeting, citizens learned the council declared lead levels fall short of a state of emergency. However, they will continue to test to see if that changes in the future.
For more information on what the Syracuse Common Council has presented and their advice click here.
