POUGHKEEPSIE – Twenty-four hours after the Poughkeepsie Common Council approved the settlement agreement allowing a Dutchess County homeless shelter on Oakley Street in Poughkeepsie, the county legislature held a special meeting to review and vote on the same document. The special meeting, arranged three days ago, was preceded by a meeting of the Budget, Finance, and Personnel Committee.
The resolution agreeing to the settlement needed to pass the committee before being voted on by the full legislature.
The Democrats control the legislature, and the Budget Committee is chaired by Brendan Lawler, with Trevor Redl serving as vice-chairman. They are joined by fellow Democrats Craig Brendli, Randy Johnson, and Molly Rhodes, along with Republicans Stephen Caswell and Lew Darrow. Democratic Chairwoman Yvette Valdés Smith, Majority Leader Barrington Atkins, and Majority Whip Kristofer Munn fill out the Democratic roster, with Minority Leader Michael Polasek and Minority Whip John Metzger representing the GOP. Democrat Randy Johnson was absent due to a prior commitment, leaving 15 members to vote.
When the committee meeting started, 30 minutes late because the Democrats were in caucus, Majority Leader Atkins requested that the vote be postponed until September because he had “more questions” that needed to be addressed. The Republicans immediately asked for, and were granted, 30 minutes for a caucus to discuss strategy.
When the committee finally reconvened, the eleven Democrats agreed to postpone voting on the agreement until September, while the four Republicans voted against the delay.
Minority Whip Metzger, meanwhile, expressed his frustration with the process, saying in part, “It just blows my mind that we would put together a meeting to come here and discuss how we’re not going to have a meeting tonight. I’m at a loss here – this is a joke, is what it is.”
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The agreement follows a lawsuit in which the city sued the county to block the proposed shelter on Oakley Street, accusing The settlement was mediated by US Magistrate Victoria Reznik to determine how the county could meet its state-mandated obligation to provide emergency housing to those in need while addressing concerns from city officials and residents about potential community impacts. Judge Reznik will continue to serve as the neutral decision-maker for enforcing all conditions of the agreement.
The agreement was signed by County Executive Serino and Poughkeepsie Mayor Yvonne Flowers and requires the approval of the Common Council and County Legislature. The proposed settlement also provides a priority item for the city: the transfer of ownership of the Youth Opportunity Union (YOU) property at 35 Montgomery Street from the county back to the city. The YOU is the former YMCA, whose development plans have been revised several times and have cost taxpayers millions of dollars; it sat vacant and idle for more than a year after the City spent millions on abatement and remediation and has since been demolished. Original plans developed by former County Executive Marc Molinaro and former Mayor, now Senator Rob Rolison, came to an end when both men moved on to higher offices. The aggressive plans for the YOU were anticipated to cost upwards of $150 million but were scaled back to an estimated $65-$70 million.
According to Serino, the Oakley Street facility will be known as the “Homeless Outreach & Program Engagement (HOPE) Center,” while addressing the city’s key concerns, including safety and neighborhood impact. The HOPE Center, according to the county, “will continue the successful case management model that has already helped more than 100 people overcome challenges and find their path out of homelessness into permanent housing in the last 20 months.”
Provisions of the Agreement:
- The HOPE Center will serve both adult men and women during the sunset period. The sunset period begins when the agreement is fully ratified by both city and county legislative bodies and ends eight years after that effective date.
- After the sunset period, the HOPE Center will transition to serving single women and/or families only.
- The county will provide on-site and perimeter security at the HOPE Center, including 24-hour security patrols, lighting, and security cameras.
- A curfew will be enforced, requiring all individuals housed at the shelter to remain in the shelter between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.
- The county will not construct, directly operate, or fund any other emergency shelter in the City of Poughkeepsie for 35 years. This does not apply to temporary warming shelters; existing shelters are grandfathered.
- The county will work in good faith to arrange emergency shelter for single males outside the City of Poughkeepsie before the sunset period ends.
- A stakeholder group will be established to communicate about the operations of the HOPE Center, including measures being taken to ensure security and to address safety and quality-of-life concerns in the surrounding area.
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