When the county wanted to move the Department of Social Services to Ockawamick, Hudson officials and vocal opponents of the plan argued that the services need to be where the people who need them are. When DSS wanted to create a homeless shelter in Hudson, the county argued that homeless people need to be where the services are. There still appears to be no resolution about the future location of DSS, although it seems to be narrowed down to someplace in Hudson. Meanwhile, DSS seems eager to implement the recommendations of a recent efficiency study, even before a study by CARES, Inc., meant to create a ten-year plan to end homelessness in Columbia County, has been completed.
On Wednesday, the Register-Star reported that the county had located two apartments in Hudson and were beginning to implement the efficiency study's recommendation that the "motel model" for housing the homeless be replaced by "congregate housing": "DSS takes first step toward congregate homeless housing." Today the Register-Star reports the reaction of City of Hudson officials--Mayor Rick Scalera, Council President Don Moore, Fourth Ward Supervisor Bill Hughes, and Second Ward Supervisor Ed Cross--to the plan to house eight homeless men in two apartments leased by the county in Hudson: "City officials take issue [with] homeless decision."
Finally, a sensible solution for the homeless: give them an apartment. --pm
ReplyDeleteEric Galloways Lantern Group also tried to enter this arrangement for men with that proposal for Warren & 5th.
ReplyDeleteThis is NOT a sensible solution, it is a knee jerk response to the scrutiny Mossman was under for shuffling families about with no explanation to tax payers that fund his multi-million dollar budget or the families who were relocated with less than 3 hours notice. If tossing out a poorly planned solution was meant to distract the story from how the families were mistreated, it seems to have worked.
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