Times-Union: Commentary: Federal aid will pay dividends in Albany for years to come

Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan & Darius Shahinfar, Times-Union Commentary

Let’s think back to this time four years ago. In March 2020, we were confronting a virus we could not control. More than 6 million Americans — our family, friends and neighbors — would be hospitalized; more than a million of them would pass away. With the pandemic came a lockdown, a supply chain meltdown, historic layoffs and a contracting economy.

Cities, including Albany, were confronted by multiple challenges. Declining revenues brought tough questions: Would we need to lay off portions of our workforce to ensure we could continue delivering essential services?

While the Trump administration and Republican-controlled Congress had largely wrung their hands and left most cities to figure it out on their own, the Biden-Harris administration made sure we didn’t have to make that choice.

The American Rescue Plan Act helped cities get back on their feet. ARPA allowed Albany to keep police officers on our streets and firefighters in our fire houses. We continued to keep our water and parks clean and safe. ARPA helped us avoid draconian cuts and layoffs.

What’s more: Rescue Plan funding is helping us still, thanks to investments that are building on the pride and potential found in every neighborhood.

The American Rescue Plan funding has been put to good use in Albany. We brought together dozens of representatives from the business, arts and nonprofit sectors to create the Albany For All framework, which guided our allocation of these onetime resources and make transformative investments. We received applications from nearly 150 community organizations and selected the 35 proposals most focused on equity, collaboration, sustainability and impact.

Thanks to ARPA and Albany for All, Habitat for Humanity is building 100 new affordable houses in our three most historically underserved communities. This will create generational wealth and stability in neighborhoods left behind for decades.

We are helping the South End Children’s Café purchase a larger space to provide much-needed meals for our children who face food insecurity and need a place to do their homework after school. Additionally, we are building a new Albany West Community Center and Albany South Recreation Center.

We are also providing $1.5 million in ARPA grants to local small businesses so they can continue to adapt in this post-pandemic world. And ARPA money is helping get the lead out of water lines connected to 12,000 buildings across the city.

When our federal partners are committed to lifting our cities up — not tearing them down — we are able to do so much more to help our hard-working families and small businesses.

And it didn’t stop with ARPA. The recent investments at SUNY NanoTech and GlobalFoundries would not be possible without President Joe Biden’s CHIPS and Science Act. The partnerships forged among SUNY, RPI, IBM, Applied Materials and others are creating new good-paying careers and attracting billions in investment. All of this has positioned Albany to be the home of the National Semiconductor Technology Center – something that would put the Capital Region on par with Silicon Valley.

These transformative federal investments are enhancing the trajectory of the city of Albany, the Capital Region, and our entire nation, and will positively impact our community for generations to come.

Kathy Sheehan is mayor of Albany. Darius Shahinfar is city treasurer.

Read the original commentary here.