City Council Public Forum held September 14, 2022

Questions and opinions on how to deal with the rising homeless population in Jamestown were raised during City Council‘s public forum on Wednesday.

Several questions were raised about what is being done about the homeless people under the North Main Street viaduct and for homeless women and children.

Mayor Eddie Sundquist said many people don’t realize there are only two shelters in Jamestown, with one housing men and the other housing women and children of domestic violence.

He said a census of homeless people in Jamestown has revealed new challenges, “Many years, that has been about 25 to 30 people. In the last several months, we have now seen an increase of over 70 people or more in just certain areas. So, it has risen rapidly across the city. In many cases it’s visible. We’ve always had homelessness, let’s be clear about that, it has not been as visible as it has been.”

Sundquist said the end of the COVID-19 eviction moratorium has led to increased evictions and movement of people to Jamestown.

He said he had met with over 60 local pastors Tuesday night along with council members to discuss homelessness.

Sundquist said in talking with other cities, that when faith leaders and resource providers work together, they’ve been able to tackle issues like emergency sheltering, getting resources to people, and, ultimately, getting people off the street, “That’s a model we’re trying to do right here in the city of Jamestown. And in the next two weeks we’ll be bringing both those groups together to start to look at that model. Because we’re afraid when winter comes, when the snow comes, we’re going to start to see people in abandoned homes. We’re going to potentially see people dead on the street. And that’s something we do not want to happen.”

Police Chief Tim Jackson said on every shift, officers having been meeting with the people taking shelter under the North Main Street viaduct to try to move them along while also handing out informational pamphlets about resources available for help.

Several comments were made by audience members about not wanting to give “hand outs, but hand ups” to homeless people, including not offering food to homeless but instead donating money and food to shelters and food pantries.

Mental Health Association Project Manager Sean Jones spoke up, saying “there are no hand outs in town” and that the MHA works with the homeless on a daily basis, “We help them navigate the system through the town. If there is a hand-out, yes, sometimes we give them a sandwich or a cup of coffee, but that’s how we build trust with them so they will trust us to then go through the process. And one of the things we have to go through is when we bring them to their appointment, they can sign up for help to get housing, to get food, to get medical assistance, to get a lot of different things.”

Jones said there are rules involved with getting this help, so if a participant is late or misses an appointment, they can be sanctioned for 45 days where they have to wait that entire time in order to reapply for services.

Sheriff Jim Quattrone, who had previously worked with a homeless ministry, said when it comes to homeless issues, one size doesn’t fit all, “There are some people that need that hand-out. They need it right now to survive. But then we need to do a rehabilitation. And how we talk to them, ‘How do you see yourself improving? What do you need now to survive? What do you need for the next month to survive? And then moving forward, the month after that?’ And then we have to have a development. It’s kind of like, give a fish, feed them for a day, teach them to fish, feed them for a lifetime.”

Quattrone said people should try visiting somewhere like St. Susan Center to have a non-judgmental conversation with those who are homeless or food insecure. He added that while there are a lot of resources in Chautauqua County, he’s been meeting monthly with area groups to learn what gaps need to be filled.

Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist and City Council President Tony Dolce at City Council’s Work Session on August 22, 2022

Homelessness in Jamestown and efforts to combat it topped discussions by Jamestown City Council Monday night.

Housing Committee Chair Marie Carrubba said the issue of homelessness in downtown Jamestown, including people camping under the South Main Street viaduct, isn’t new and that the Homeless Coalition has been trying to address it for over 15 years, “The moratorium that was lifted on evictions has now created more of a homeless problem in the city because those individuals are no longer housed where they were not paying rent and utilities. So, we’re seeing more and more on the streets. I believe police, public safety, have been down trying to address the issue. I know the city has been down there offering assistance and giving resources and information to the individuals who have been there.”

Council member at Large Jeff Russell said he planned to talk to the groups of homeless people to find out what their situations are, “Are they from Jamestown or have they come here from somewhere else? Did they have housing? Were they removed from housing and what the situation is? I’m not going to leave it up to others to do that. I’m going to do it myself. And if there’s any other council members that want to join me, to come down and have a chat, and just see how we can help or what their situation is, then I would welcome that.”

Mayor Eddie Sundquist said challenges in Jamestown include the evictions, the location of the city and cost of living; weather, and homeless shelters being at capacity. He said there are some actions the city is taking right now to try to address homeless issues including moving homeless populations out of unsafe areas like the viaduct or near unsafe buildings, “As we shift out of more visible areas, you’re seeing more people end up in our parks. You’re seeing more people end up under other areas. And so we’re trying really hard to keep up with that. At the same time, we’re providing resources. You mentioned the beat patrols – we send out foot patrols down to provide resources. We also work with our partners at COI, at UCAN Mission, with Salvation Army Domestic Violence, and others.”

Sundquist said the city is also working with the county, who has a program to provide funds for those who are here in Jamestown and don’t have the means to get back to wherever they call home. He said in early September, the Homeless Coalition will be having an in-person meeting in Jamestown, “Their entire goal has been to really focus on funding and on the ground support. So I personally went to that group and made a plea and said, ‘You need to be in Jamestown. What good are you as a group if you’re not physically here helping the people that we have.'”

Sundquist said the date will be announced this week. He added that local churches will be invited as well.

Chautauqua Opportunities

The award is part of $17.3 million in state funding announced by Governor Kathy Hochul that will provide emergency and permanent supportive housing for homeless individuals.

COI Director of Housing and Community Development Josiah Lamp said they’re excited to be able serve women who are homeless in the community, “So this project is to build a temporary shelter for women who are over the age of 18. It’ll have about 18 total beds in the shelter and be located in downtown Jamestown in a building that is currently a mixed-use, multi-unit; and rehab that building and make it suitable for serving the homeless.”

Lamp said the only homeless shelter for women currently available is a domestic violence shelter. He said the benefit of the location is that it will be close to services.

Lamp added that the end of the eviction moratorium on January 15 that had been in place due to the Pandemic has increased the number of homeless people in the county, “Since the beginning of January, there have been 176 people who have been in a homeless shelter, at least for one night, which is definitely an increase over what what we have experienced over the last year. And we’re expecting that to continue to be a trend as more cases go to court and we see more evictions pending.”

Lamp said those needing to access services can call the County Department of Social Services in Jamestown at (716) 661-8200. He said the homeless shelter is scheduled to open in 2023.

Housing Court

Director of Development Crystal Surdyk told the City Council Housing Committee that Judge George Panebianco will be hearing 15 cases a week, which is up five cases a week from last year.

Council member Marie Carrubba said while the regular evictions for public health and safety issues have not stopped, the eviction moratorium for tenants who were unable to pay rent due to financial hardships caused by the Pandemic is ending Saturday, January 15.

Governor Kathy Hochul said in a briefing Tuesday that the eviction moratorium will likely expire Saturday as planned without intervention from her office or the State Legislature.

She added she is asking the federal government for more rent relief to aid landlords and tenants ahead of the likely expiration of the moratorium.

The New York State Office of Temporary Disability Assistance announced it has reopened its Emergency Rental Assistance Program even though officials said it needs additional funding to support the backlog of existing and future applications.

Hochul said New York State only received $27 million of the $1 billion it sought from the Federal government.

New York will be joining other states in sending a joint letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to request additional federal funding.

Governor Kathy Hochul delivers first State of the State

Governor Kathy Hochul delivered her first State of the State address Wednesday.

Hochul is proposing a $10 billion plan to grow the state’s health care workforce by 20% over the next five years, saying the pandemic worsened long-simmering staffing problems.

That includes more than $4 billion to support wages and bonuses for workers in health care and $2 billion for improved health care infrastructure.

Hochul spoke before a limited, socially distant audience in the Assembly chamber at the New York State Capitol in Albany amid the worst surge in coronavirus infections since the virus first hit the state in the spring of 2020.

She also announced initiatives including a proposal to invest $1 billion in electric vehicle infrastructure in coming years and up to $500 million in offshore wind port infrastructure to meet the requirements of a sweeping state law calling for 70% of electricity from renewable sources by 2030.

Hochul urged voters this November to approve a now-$4 billion bond act funding environmental projects, including climate change mitigation.

She’s also proposing $2 billion for road and bridge repairs, with a focus on replacing structures vulnerable to flooding.

To help ease the economic pain of the pandemic, Hochul wants to speed up a planned phase-in of $1.2 billion in middle class tax cuts that began in 2018. She also wants $1 billion in property tax rebates for more than two million middle-and low-income individuals.

Hochul proposed nearly $1 billion in funding for tax credits, seed funding and reduced interest rate loans for small businesses. She wants to boost broadband subsidies and access by drawing on $1 billion in public and private investments.

And with New York’s eviction moratorium set to expire mid-January, Hochul wants to offer free legal assistance for upstate New Yorkers. She said the state could help stave off homelessness through a five-year, $5 billion plan to build 100,000 affordable homes in urban and rural areas.

Hochul has vowed to restore trust in state government. She wants to replace JCOPE, the state’s ethics enforcement agency, with a rotating board of five members made up of 15 state-accredited law school deans or their designees. She also wants to limit certain statewide elected officials, including the governor, to two terms and put a ban on them earning outside income.

Other initiatives including making the state’s tuition assistance program available to part-time students and a Jails to Jobs initiative to help incarcerated people get and keep employment.

She said New York should address the uptick in gun violence by boosting funding for community prevention programs and gun-tracing efforts with neighboring states.

Legal Assistance of Western New York

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is distributing the grants which are being awarded to legal service providers to assist in providing legal assistance to low-income tenants at risk of or subject to eviction. The Eviction Protection Grant Program is part of HUD’s continued work to support families recovering from the public health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

HUD Deputy Regional Administrator for New York Stephen Murphy said, “HUD’s award of Eviction Protection Grants to Legal Assistance of Western New York comes at a critical time as New York State’s moratorium on COVID-related evictions is scheduled to expire on January 15, 2022. This funding will allow the grantees to provide essential legal assistance at no cost to low-income tenants facing eviction, including those living in rural areas.”

Legal Assistance of Western New York can be contacted at lawny.org.

Credit: Hans Pennink/AP

The New York State Legislature voted Wednesday to extend New York’s eviction moratorium to January and expanded the provisions of the federal rent relief program.

The Rochester Democrat & Chronicle reports the original residential and commercial eviction and foreclosure moratoria expired on August 31st. Governor Kathy Hochul said the eviction extension was needed because the federal Emergency Rental Assistance Program has been slow to distribute funds.

The State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance said that program has so far distributed or obligated more than $800 million to tenants and landlords.

The program provides up to 12 months in back rent and up to three months of future rent payments, as well as up to 12 months of overdue electric or gas bill payments to eligible tenants.

Tenants qualify based on income benchmarks, risk of homelessness and whether they’ve experienced a reduction in household income or increase in costs due to COVID-19.

At the same time, the Supreme Court last month struck down the New York moratorium’s provision allowing tenants to stave off eviction with only a form testifying to their financial hardship.

On Wednesday, the Legislature extended the moratorium until January 15, 2022 and introduced the measure that includes refining the extended moratorium’s policies and processes.

Landlords, banks and mortgage holders now have the ability to challenge a tenant or property owner’s “hardship declaration,” or a document attesting to their financial losses, increase in expenses or inability to pay for moving expenses because of COVID-19.

If a challenge occurs, a judge will now be able to look into a tenant or property owner’s hardship declaration and determine whether a stay of eviction is valid.

Lawmakers also extended the Tenant Safe Harbor Act, a state law enacted last year that protects tenants from eviction if they’re able to prove financial hardship between March 7, 2020 and June 24, 2021.

A landlord, though, could still bring tenants to court over rent payments.

Republicans, including State Senator George Borrello criticized the extension. Borrello issued a statement saying, “The harm inflicted on our state’s small property owners, struggling tenants and housing market during the pandemic is one of the state’s greatest failures of the past 18 months. Unconstitutional eviction moratoriums followed by an incompetent rollout of the $2.7 billion Emergency Rental Assistance Program has pushed small property owners to the financial brink and left tenants with mounting debts and confusion about why promised relief hasn’t materialized.”

Borrello added that the amended moratorium should have allowed housing courts to resume eviction proceedings as the state works on expediting the distribution of ERAP funds.

Borrello did go on record supporting the establishment a fund to help both tenants and landlords in special circumstances who cannot apply for ERAP funds, “including tenants who are above the income limits and landlords with uncooperative tenants who refuse to apply for funds to repay their debt.”

Governor Hochul also signed a proclamation extending New York State’s eviction moratorium to January 15th, 2022. The session will address New York’s rent and eviction crisis.

Hochul said Open Meetings Law will be discussed due to amendments she says are needed to make meetings more accessible, safe, and inclusive for those with disabilities.

Hochul also plans to jump start a long overdue decision pertaining to establishing cannabis in the State of New York. She stated she’ll be appointing nominations to start the process to legally produce and distribute cannabis in the state.

United States Supreme Court Building

The Supreme Court blocked President Biden‘s moratorium on evictions in a 6 to 3 ruling on Thursday.

The court previously ruled that the administration couldn’t extend the ban, instituted because of the coronavirus pandemic, past July 31st without explicit congressional authorization. But after protests and a clash with Democratic lawmakers, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention extended the temporary ban through October 3rd.

Roughly 3.5 million people across the U.S. said they faced eviction in the next two months.

The case reached the Supreme Court after the Alabama Association of Realtors and other plaintiffs sued the Department of Health and Human Services.

Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan dissented.

Biden had urged Congress to extend the moratorium ahead of the July 31st deadline. House Democrats, however, argued the CDC should extend the moratorium even if it was overruled so states have more time to disperse money to renters and landlords while Congress found another solution.

Governor Kathy Hochul released a statement saying,
“I am in talks with the Senate Majority Leader and Assembly Speaker to call a special session to address the impending eviction crisis, given the Supreme Court’s decision. Our teams will be working through the weekend to address how best to deliver relief to renters and homeowners in need as quickly as possible.”

Carrubba said the BPU also has a payment program for those impacted by COVID. She added the City’s Department of Development and Chautauqua Opportunities also have resources available for those needing assistance.

Carrubba emphasized that if people do nothing that the problem for them is not going to go away, “You will probably find yourself evicted when Housing Court gets rid of the backlog or you will find yourself with utilities shut off which will make your apartment or home uninhabitable. So I would encourage anyone with a financial difficulty to do something now and not to wait. Because, again, it will be first come, first serve. When the resources are depleted, there won’t be funds available.”

City Council also received a report on the City’s plan to discontinue screening for marijuana for all employees except those who hold a CDL license. Employees with a CDL license would still be screened for marijuana as it is a federal requirements under the Department of Transportation.

The City’s drug and alcohol policy would still not permit city employees to work when under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Police Chief Tim Jackson did indicate he was working on a policy for the Police Department as under Federal Law, officers of law are not permitted to carry a handgun and be under the influence of marijuana.