I met Brian Maher when he decided to run for mayor of the Village of Walden in 2009. We did not know each other, but I went to his house when he had a meeting with community members about his decision to run. At the time, my St Baldrick’s event was in its infancy, and my brother told me about the meeting so I decided to tag along. It was one of the best decisions I ever made.

I immediately explained to Brian why I started St Baldrick’s, a fundraising event that raises awareness and money for kids’ cancer research. I told Brian I had a few years prior lost my 7 year old cousin to leukemia, and I just wanted to do something positive in her memory to help cope with her loss. Brian’s entire speech about why he decided to run for public office was because it put him in the best position to help people.

The first thing Brian did when elected Mayor of Walden, more than 13 years ago now, was gather a group of friends to his house to start Be The Movement, a volunteer group that would help those in need in the greater Walden community. We held many events, giving away thousands of backpacks filled with school supplies and raised thousands of dollars for our late friend Jimmy Loupe, so that he and his friends could travel across the country to participate in their Veterans Wheelchair Olympics. Brian, whose brother-in-law was a West Point grad and deployed several times to the Middle East, was eager to give back to our vets. From that group of Be The Movement volunteers, including our late friend Steve Nicoli, Hudson Valley Honor Flight was born. HVHF flies out our WWII, Korean War and Vietnam War veterans to Washington DC to see the monuments in their honor AT NO COST TO THEM! Ultimately, Brian took notice that no such group existed in New York City, so he founded Big Apple Honor Flight as well.

Through both of these endeavors, Brian has helped fundraise for over 30 flights for our veterans, and more than 2,000 veterans have experienced this well deserved day of honor! Eventually, he landed a job working for Senator Larkin, a WWII and Korean War veteran himself, who inspired Brian to enlist and become a naval reservist. Brian’s list of community achievements and helping people goes on and on.

I am writing all of this because reading some of the negative backlash against Brian truly hurts all that know and love him. To jump to the conclusion that he went on television to fuel tension between two vulnerable groups is an outright lie. On national television Brian was asked if he blamed the asylum seekers, he quickly said no. He blamed poor government planning on the city, state, and federal level, an opinion that has bipartisan support. To say he didn’t vet the organization or their founder is a lie. Sharon Toney-Finch introduced him and others (including myself) to people portraying displaced veterans, and the hotel themselves never returned phone calls from those initially trying to verify, including Assemblyman Brian Maher. It was a very unfortunate hoax that hurt a lot of people. This woman was not just a friend, but someone well respected that has worked with other nonprofit groups and politicians from both sides of the aisle. We all were duped. Brian made a promise to me and our community in 2009 that he was only getting involved in politics because it put him in the best position to help others. This is a promise he has most definitely kept. Even through this situation, he is constantly checking in on myself and countless others and calling everyone he can to try to help anyone who was negatively impacted by this situation, including the staff at the Crossroads Hotel. That’s good guy Brian Maher doing the right thing, and keeping his promises. I will always stand by and support our Assemblyman, he is one of the best people I know.

I want to end with a quote that really describes Brian best, spoken by someone Brian has adopted as an inspiration to why he does what he does…

“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”
- Fred Rogers