SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — The Syracuse City Council will be holding a public hearing Wednesday, Feb. 12 to get public feedback about potential lead poisoning ordinance. The hearing will take place at 5:30 at Syracuse City Hall and will begin with the Common Council explaining the ordinance and the environmental impact statement. After that, members of the community will get a chance to give their opinions.
According to Councilor Joe Driscoll, the Common Council wants to receive as much feedback as possible to improve the proposed legislation.
“We’re inviting the public to give us feedback, whether they’re in support of the new ordinance, whether they’re in opposition to the new ordinance, or whether they have opinions on how they might improve it,” says Driscoll.
The Central New York Community Foundation is also encouraging the public to attend the hearing. According to the Vice President of Community Investment Frank Ridzi, the foundation has been investing in youth education for years in ways like Say Yes to Education, which gives college scholarships to Syracuse city students. Ridzi says the negative impact lead poisoning has on children and their brain development is countering the impact of their investments.
“We really want that education to be a fruitful one, and one that helps our youth,” says Ridzi, referring to the investments the foundation is making.
Both men stressed the importance of finding a way to lower the levels of lead poisoning among city children. According to Councilor Driscoll, an average of about 11 percent of children in Syracuse suffer from elevated lead levels in their blood. That translates to about 400-500 children. However, Councilor Driscoll also says that in some neighborhoods, that number can rise above 20 percent.
The public hearing will be held Wednesday, Feb. 12 at 5:30 at City Hall on East Washington Street.
