Public shares opinion of legislative agenda
SUNY Broome hosted a Public Voice event Thursday night giving local community members a chance to share what they think the top three legislative priorities - at the county, state, and federal levels - should be.
Close to two dozen people attended, along with local officials including Broome County Executive Jason Garnar, State Senator Fred Akshar, Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo, and Assemblyman Cliff Crouch. Representatives from Congressman Anthony Brindisi's team also came to the event.
The college's Center for Civic Engagement moderated the event where they listed priorities that been expressed by elected officials.
Local community members were then encouraged to list their top priorities, each being given five minutes to share their top three local, state, and federal legislative priorities.
Elected officials and the citizens were asked not to engage with each other during any conversation about the topics of discussion.
This type of event was pioneered at Panama City Community College and has been endorsed by elected officials, who view the event as a type of public opinion poll on what issues are deemed important in the community.