I offer my sincere congratulations to Councilmember Eric Ulrich on his new appointment as the Chair to the Veterans Committee. It is not just a high profile position, but an opportunity to provide his vetted establishment as an already accomplished legislator to the veteran community throughout the city when it is needed most.
I, as well as many other veterans throughout the city, was surprised to hear of his appointment to this position considering the “Pledge of Allegiance” issue that came out of his decision to support Melissa Mark-Viverito for Council Speaker. I must also concede to the fact that I was one of those veterans who was disdainful over his choice, but after some thought in regards to the issue I came to the conclusion that we were looking too deeply into what we perceived as a problem within our legislative ranks, yet at the same time we were depriving the time and energy which can be put into serious projects that will improve the lives of this city’s veterans.
Furthermore, as we all know from our military experience, communication on the battlefield is key to making sure the mission runs smoothly as well as successfully.
This same line of communication should also be relayed to Ulrich as he takes on this challenging position and the same should be transparently afforded back to the veteran community from the newly appointed chair.
I urge all fellow veterans throughout the city to remain focused on our objective, which is to improve the lives of our brothers and sisters who have served and are still serving and to work proactively with Ulrich to make sure that these objectives are successful for our warriors who have given so much and asked for so little.
Ryan S. Graham
Chairman, Legislative Committee
Queens County Council VFW
