To the Editor:

Due to some false claims regarding my county legislature record by Enterprise letter writers who apparently don’t follow the legislature very closely, I’d like to set the record straight.

A letter this week claims I voted for all the county budget expenditures while in office. To the contrary,  I led the fight against some big-spending items the legislature tried to add to the budget after the budget was passed.

Working together in a bipartisan way with 11 Democrat votes, we defeated two resolutions that saved taxpayers $350,000 on a single night this past July.

I have been a leading taxpayer advocate in Guilderland and have the record to prove it. When I ran for county legislature four years ago, I promised to ease the tax burden and I delivered on that promise.

The county tax rate was cut each year I’ve been in office. We did so while still meeting the critical needs of county residents who need our help.

If the opposition had taken just 10 minutes and opened the 2019 Adopted Albany County Budget (available online), it would have a found a chart on page 23 listing the tax rate cuts over the course of my term.

So be wary of future letter attacks that are similarly misinformed.

It is truly exciting to be making a difference in the lives of my constituents. I have a passion for it. No attacks by poorly informed critics will ever change that. 

Mark Grimm

Albany County Legislator

Guilderland