Our county is healthier thanks to Paul Miller

To the Editor:

The people in District 32 of Albany County are privileged to have Paul Miller representing them in the county legislature. I wholeheartedly support his re-election.

Paul has worked very hard, starting at age 15 when he became a volunteer firefighter, a role he continues to this day.

On his first day in office, Paul hit the ground running by sponsoring a bill to increase the age to buy tobacco from 18 to 21. That bill became law in 2016. He received an award from the Capital District Tobacco Free Coalition for his work on this.

Three years later, the New York State Legislature passed a similar state law. Albany County was the leader in upstate New York on this.

Paul sponsored two other bills that are now law. They are smoke-free county parks and prohibiting the sale of tobacco and other nicotine-delivery products in pharmacies and retail establishments that contain pharmacies. Our county is healthier thanks to Paul.

Currently, Paul is sponsoring a bill to prohibit the sale of flavors in e-cigarettes, cigarettes, and other nicotine-delivery products.

About support for labor, Paul doesn’t just talk the talk. He walks the walk — literally.

During the past three years, he has walked picket lines at the nursing home in Guilderland Center, General Electric, Verizon, Honeywell, Nathan Littauer Hospital, Momentive, Siena College, Hilton Downtown Hotel, Spectrum, Whitney Young, and Hudson Park Nursing Home.

It is no surprise that he has been endorsed by the following labor unions: Laborers Local 190, Teamsters Local 294, Plumber and Steamfitters Local 7, Albany Central Federation of Labor (AFL-CIO), and PEF.

Paul was also endorsed by Citizen Action and the Working Families Party. And there’s more. State Senator Neil Breslin and former Assembly members Ron Canestrari and Bob Reilly have also endorsed him.

I only recently learned about most of these endorsements. However, I strongly supported him before that.  His record of accomplishments as well as his voting record had earned my vote. I hope you believe that he has earned yours too.

Carol Waterman

Albany

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