To the Editor:

I am writing to voice my concern and dismay at what is happening at the Albany International Airport, here in Albany County. If you have traveled through the airport recently, you may have noticed a video playing prior to getting through security.

What you see is Ms. [Kristi] Noem, secretary of Homeland Security, making statements about TSA [Transportation Security Administration] and the possible delays that travelers may experience due to the recent government shutdown.

In her statement, she clearly blames Democrats for this. What is very disturbing and distressing about this is that this violates many things, most notably the Hatch Act of 1939.

​​​​​​​​​The Hatch Act is a federal law passed in 1939, limiting certain political activities of federal employees, as well as some state, and local government employees who work in connection with federally funded programs. 

The law’s purpose is to ensure that federal programs are administered in a nonpartisan fashion, to protect federal employees from political coercion in the workplace, and to ensure that federal employees are advanced based on merit and not based on political affiliation.​​​​

The Albany County Airport Authority is governed by a seven-member board with four members appointed by the majority leader of the Albany County Legislature and three members appointed by the Albany County Executive, all with approval of the Albany County Legislature.

Based on the County's responsibility for the appointment of the Authority members, their approval of the Authority's five-year capital improvement programs and the issuance of certain debt, the Authority is considered a component of the County under the criteria set forth by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board.

The Albany International Airport and its employees fall under the purview of the Hatch Act, meaning that politicizing, as this video does, violates the Hatch Act.

Posting a video such as this shows how partisan our governmental agencies are becoming, creating mistrust, discrimination, and fear in the general public as well as employees who work in government agencies.

Political ideologies are kept out of government agencies for this reason. No one should be forced to acquiesce to a political party or ideology in a public workplace.

I am urging all residents who read this letter to please contact your local legislators and tell them that this video must be removed as it violates the Hatch Act and politicizes air travel.

There are a number of other airports across the state as well as our nation that have refused to post this video. Some of these airports include: Westchester, Charlotte, Buffalo, Portland, Phoenix, Portland, Seattle, and others. Propaganda such as this has no place in our governmental-run entities.

Here is a link to the email addresses of all Albany County legislators as well as a link to the video.

It is time to stand up and say, “No, we are not going to allow this in our airport.”

Robyn Gray

Guilderland

Editor’s note: While Robyn Gray chairs the Guilderland Coalition for Responsible Growth, she says she is not writing this letter in that capacity.

The Albany International Airport is no longer showing the Kristi Noem video. The airport issued a statement saying the video had been posted by Transportation Security Administration staff on checkpoint monitors managed by the TSA without notice to the Albany County Airport Authority. The ACAA decided to stop airing the video “in keeping with longstanding policies of not displaying political messaging,” the statement said.