Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks touched on some familiar themes in Thursday night’s state of the county address. One of those themes was related to where the speech was delivered.
The county exec gave her speech in the Theatre on the Ridge building at the Eastman Business Park. Brooks says that she picked that venue for a specific reason.
"Eastman Business Park to me represents our community's ongoing transformation form a big box image capital to a hub for innovation and technology," Brooks stated during her address.
Besides talking about successes at the business park, Brooks also defended the way the county nursing home, Monroe Community Hospital, is operated. She says even with a state report critical of one particular incident, staffers at that facilities are extremely dedicated and provide quality care.
The minority leader of the Monroe County Legislature, Carrie Andrews, says Brooks can deliver a speech well, but she wasn't too impressed with the content.
“Honestly I think the speech sounded more like a pep rally than an actual assessment of the state of our county. I was deeply disappointed that she didn't mention any plans for actually closing the county's structural deficit of 50-million dollars," Andrews commented.
Brooks says that structural deficit is due to Medicaid and other mandated programs.
The Republican majority in the legislature as well as the county executive have been at odds with Democratic lawmakers in recent weeks on a number of issues, including funding for some projects, and the fallout from the controversy at the county nursing home.
In her speech, Brooks also announced that she has selected Dr. Byron Kennedy, who is the county's deputy health director, to replace Dr. Andrew Doniger, who is retiring.