Morano closing remarks: encourages public participation and adjourns hearing

And Ryan, we want you to save some content for the next hearing as well.

So, oh, yeah, yeah, that works.

Sorry about that, Chair.

But but yeah, like I said, everyone here, they said everything from Dr.

Nelson to Anthony to.

You know, it's a DVS.

It's a lot, but I'll keep it at that.

I apologize.

I don't have anything.

You had plenty.

This was a very good hearing.

Thank you, Ryan.

Thank you very, very much.

It was nice to see you Sunday at the Remembrance Rock.

All right.

Okay, if there are, the following witness was also signed up to testify remotely, Paul Dietrich.

If you're online or here in person, raise your hand, let us know.

I think he had to go.

If there's anyone.

else currently on Zoom who wishes to speak but hasn't yet had the opportunity to do so, please use the raise hand function and our staff will unmute you.

And if there's anyone else in the room who's not yet had the opportunity to testify but wishes to do so, let us know.

And as

Chair Caban noted, I will note that Commissioner Mata has stayed the entire time to listen to what everybody had to say, which speaks volumes about her care for veterans.

Seeing no hands, I would like to note again that members of the public can submit written testimony.

So if you're watching this on Channel 79 or whatever the channel is in your local cable provider, and there's something that you'd like to add, you can email us at testimony at council dot nyc dot gov.

That's testimony at council dot nyc dot gov within 72 hours of this hearing.

And I know she had a family situation.

She wasn't able to be here.

But I do want to mention Councilmember Palladino, who at a prior Veterans Committee meeting listed all of the potential areas of collaboration that this committee could be doing with other committees.

And this is the first in a series of collaborative hearings that we're looking to do with other great committees and great committee chairs.

And I want to recognize.

Councilmember Palladino for suggesting that so publicly.

I'm grateful to everyone that attended today's hearing, but I do have to say for an issue of this magnitude, particularly when there's over 120,000 veterans in this city,

this room should have been filled with folks who...

Had something to contribute.

And I mentioned that it could be just as much of a failure of outreach on my part, but I mentioned that because I know the council members that are on not only the Veterans Committee, but the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Committee,

and these are among the most attentive council members that we have to offer.

And the fact that the commissioner has stayed this entire time to listen to what everyone had to add,

you know, at a time when I hear the constant refrain that government doesn't listen, I want to tell the public that you have folks that really want to listen.

And if you come to this hearing, and I recognize not everybody can be available to come to lower Manhattan in the middle of the day, but if you come to this hearing

and offer solutions and perspective, and we as council members or them as an agency don't act to solve solvable problems, then shame on us, right?

And that's...

should be a blight on our record.

I recognize some of this might be cultural, because if there's any group of people that don't like to complain, that don't like to be seen as complaining about anything, it's veterans.

They are, in many instances, the definition of the strong, silent type.

But whether you're a veteran, a family member of a veteran, a health care provider, or anybody that has ideas on how we can

solve a very complex problem in this city, I really want to encourage you to be heard.

Councilmember Lee mentioned the previous testimony that she and my predecessor, Chair Holden, did.

And so much of what we covered today is really a sequel to the work that they did.

And whenever our two committees meet again, they're going to build on this work.

This is not the end of our looking at veterans and mental health.

It's not even, you know, the beginning of the end, right?

It's really just the very beginning.

And I really want to encourage folks to please be heard.

Next month, we're doing a joint hearing with the General Welfare Committee on homelessness and veteran homelessness perspective.

I hope that I'm here for 18 hours in that hearing because we hear nothing but problems, perspectives, and solutions that only people that are on the front lines of that issue can deal with.

You know, Chair Lee is a...

the chair of the finance committee presided over a marathon budget committee hearing.

And people lined up for hours to be heard on whatever it is they wanted to comment on with respect to the budget.

And one council member said to me privately, you know, the shame is a lot of these people took time off from work or school.

They spent hours commuting here.

They spent hours waiting here when so much of what they're testifying about is going to be decided by lobbyists and how successful those lobbyists are in conversations with those hearings, with those council members.

I will tell you that if there's anywhere, if there's any committee, any subject area

where an individual's voice can be heard and where individual solutions can make a meaningful difference in shaping policy in the city, it's this committee.

And I really would urge you, if you're a veteran or know a veteran, encourage them to submit testimony in writing, to come to the next hearing, or to participate via Zoom.

And the last point that I'll make, and I'm sorry to go on so long, but...

You know, I'll say this, is, you know, we're considering this resolution on White Star families, and I'm a sponsor of it, and I certainly think we should do it.

Resolutions in and of themselves are meaningless, right?

If a resolution is just

past, and that's the end of the discussion, we really haven't done anything, right?

And I say this as somebody that's submitted 50 resolutions of my own for consideration on topics ranging from making Pluto a planet again to daylight saving time.

But the importance of a resolution

is to get a conversation going and to increase awareness.

So I don't think we as a council should pass a resolution and think we're done.

We're not even close to done, right?

It's just the beginning of a conversation on that.

So thank you for your indulgence and to your patience, the public, my colleagues.

Chair Caban, thank you.

This has been a real treat working with you.

I hope it's the first of many collaborations we'll have together.

Likewise.

Pleasure.

Thank you.

Absolutely.

All right.

Meeting is adjourned.