Tompkins Weekly

A county legislator’s Christmas



Mike Sigler

Mike Sigler

The main reason one becomes an elected official, I would hope, is to help people. It seems so obvious. It used to be, every election season, that core tenant of mine would be challenged as we hear the worst about the candidates running. Now, that belief is challenged every day.

I still believe that people serve with the best of intentions. The job of county legislator can be difficult, not because of tough votes or debating issues, or calls about issues you have little power over, but because of the stories of heartbreak you are asked to help with.

I had a husband and wife call me recently with concern about their daughter. I know them. That’s part of the challenge of being a local elected official; you’ll likely know the person reaching out to you, or someone in their family, or a family friend. To hear their tale, how their daughter, so full of promise, has been lured down a path so opposite her upbringing by people not looking after her best interest, weighs on your heart.

You listen to these parents, at the end of their rope, with their child now in the grip of drug use when just a year ago, they were home, warm, safe watching “Elf.” The wind is cutting outside as I write this with snow blowing across the fields, and the temperature is dropping and you have parents, truly not knowing where their children are, where brothers, sisters, loved ones are.

Many of these folks have done their best. They’ve followed the rules and worked hard. Some may have met with enormous financial success, others not, but when it comes to what’s most precious to them, their families, many face the same problems.

The call from this couple this week shook me. To see someone go from high school, excited about prom, to a young woman giving up everything she worked hard for including a college scholarship, for a boyfriend and near homelessness is difficult for a parent, difficult for anyone, to watch, and the feeling of powerlessness is overwhelming.

As a legislator, you see a lot of problems and they all have a face. You’re always reminded that everyone is facing their own challenge that you knew nothing about until they came to you. The one consistency is the impact that challenge, and in many cases tragedy, has on them and their family.

Depression is at crisis levels in America. Mental health has always been a hidden challenge. Some argue we should have not done away with mental hospitals, but clearly enormous reform was needed at the institutions of 50 years ago.

Folks struggling with mental illness are an integral and valuable part of our community, but that doesn’t mean they still don’t need help and care just as someone who’s lost an arm needs medical care and services. While they need care, we also must pursue those who would take advantage of those living with mental illness and if possible remove that risk or at least minimize it.

At the county, we are merging the Mental Health Department with the Public Health Department. Some worry that this means mental health will take a back seat to other health initiatives. This is not our intent.

I understand that mental health is a very personal, often a one-on-one service, while public health often deals with threats to the public at large such as inspecting restaurants and water systems. However, public health is also a resource for one on one services like Women Infants and Children, children with special needs and community health services.

Identifying those needing and willing to accept mental health services can be a challenge in itself. Our hope is this move will find the overlap in folks needing public health services and also mental health services. My personal hope is that it will make mental health service less stigmatized, even to those needing help, and more accessible both in ease of use, but also in making the seeking of mental health services as common as seeing a doctor for a broken bone.

The job of an elected official is to help people, and I believe the vast share of elected officials run for office and stay in office for that reason. It’s difficult to see so many on social media and letters to the editor who’ve embraced the idea that their political opponent isn’t among that vast majority and in fact is just downright evil. I’m hoping for a Christmas miracle and just like snow in Southtown, there might be a break to consider that maybe, just maybe, you can disagree with a politician without thinking they’re out to harm you.

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