John Buckley’s Impassioned Home Rule Speech And The Steuben County Legislature Votes To Join Allard In 287G Lawsuit Against The Governor And A.G.

At the Steuben County Legislative meeting on Monday, during public comment, Hornell Mayor John Buckley spoke out against the new state law banning ICE from working with County Sheriff’s Departments. He said that his reason was, protecting counties from Albany overriding local laws. “The question is whether the state has the constitutional authority to do so. I believe that question deserves to be defended. This isn’t about whether you personally support or oppose 287G. It’s about precedent. If Albany can override a local governments authority because it disagrees with one particular agreement today, what prevents that same principal from being applied to another agreement tomorrow? Maybe the next agreementg involves law enforcement. Maybe it involves transportation, emergency services, infrastructure, economic development or something else entirely. The political issue may change. The principle of local authority should not,” Buckley stated.

Afterwards, the Steuben County Legislature voted on whether to join in with Sheriff Jim Allard in the lawsuit against the state, for banning agreements with ICE. Democrats Deborah Shannon and Hilda Lando were absent from the meeting but Democrat county lawmaker Joe Tobia read their statements and legislative chairwoman Kelly Fitzpatrick allowed Lando and Shannon’s votes to be included. Also, Steuben County Legislators William Thew and Scott Van Etten both stated that they were planning to vote no, but after hearing Buckley’s speech, voted yes instead.

Here is how the roll call for the resolution went:

Mr. Pelham? Yes.
Mr. Potter? No.
Mr. Shu? Yes.
Mr. Thew? Yes.
Mr. Tobia? No.
Mr. Van Caeseele? Yes.
Mr. Van Etten? Yes.
Mr. Volino? Yes.
Mr. Warner? Yes.
Mr. Eberlin? No.
Ms. Fitzpatrick? Yes.
Mr. Hannah? Yes.
Mr. Horton? Yes.
Mrs. Logsdon? Yes.
Mr. Nichols? Yes.
Chairwoman Fitzpatrick: “It should be noted that the legislators that are absent count as a no. It carries. Alright, Resolution 6 carries.”