I write this today, not in my capacity as mayor, but as a concerned citizen.
We’re living in a moment where thousands of people feel the need to take to this country’s streets, declaring that “there will be no kings here.” Really. Like it’s 1776. No kings.
But this is 2025 and increasing numbers of our fellow citizens see a defining line being crossed and are standing up for our American values.
Who among us doesn’t think that our government would benefit by being made more efficient? Who among us who would argue against doing that? But this is not what we are experiencing. This is a purge.
The continuing pushback of the courts makes clear that this is not an honest attempt to root and remove inflated and redundant bureaucracy. There is an ideology at play here, and a transparent plan to provide a gift of money to the richest of rich friends, paid for by the dismemberment or discontinuation of programs that serve to make life better for the people of this country — and the world.
The destruction of the infrastructure that we took decades as a nation to build, and which most countries would envy, is a cold calculus that only makes sense in the historical context of kings and their courts, of nobility and the commoners who served them.
If one does not care about those outside the king’s circle, there is no reason to supply programming that makes lives safer, healthier, and more successful. (The “royalty” is fine and getting more so.)
The debt they would saddle us with is in the future, and not their concern. Neither is an increase in poverty, the diminishment of healthcare and the erosion of education.
Indiscriminate cuts to staffing, and the hollowing out of whole programs, agencies and departments are very much in keeping with this paradigm. And so, they gut programs that have proven track records of invaluable assistance, and on which we rely. Programs like the Job Corps.
I will argue with anyone about the tremendous value of the Job Corps.
I am grateful for the unique perspective of someone who spent eight years as a member of the Oneonta Job Corps Academy team. In that time, I worked for multiple contractors and their corporate hierarchies, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. But the constant for each was the oversight of the Department of Labor, whose week-long inspections and reviews were a continuing call to high performance.
Failure to ensure the best possible vocational training and education programing, the highest levels of graduation and career placement, verified long-term success, the safest campuses, and optimum integration into the community was met with consequence. (Trust me, the potential loss of a center contract is a great motivator.)
For the staff, who like me, remained despite turnovers among contractors, the connection to the students, the engagement in their development, and the celebration of their success was everything. Lives so dramatically changed for the better, with such a palpable effect — not just on the students — but on their families and friends, will linger in my memory forever.
I like to say that Job Corps gets in your blood.
Skewed facts, insinuation, malignment and a blatant disregard of process and authority are the hallmarks of this cruel ritual where program after program is targeted for closure.
But this is a democracy, still.
Rep. Josh Riley has called for reinstatement of Congressional funding through June 2026. And our senators, Schumer and Gillibrand, are appropriately incensed and motivated. The courts will weigh in, but they have responded in the short term by granting a stay to what would have been an almost immediate closing of centers across the country and the abandonment of hundreds of students.
There are no kings in America.
We, the people, are still in charge. We still have a voice. And we will continue to make ourselves heard. I highly suggest that you put “5calls.org” in your phone and use it.
Even as a military parade glorifies the birth of the commander-in-chief, the “No Kings” rallies will share that same day — June 14. There are no kings in America, and as the threat of autocracy grows, so does the number of those willing to stand against it. Together, we are indivisible, and this Saturday in Oneonta, the people will be heard.