POUGHKEEPSIE — Dutchess County and the City of Poughkeepsie reached an agreement, mediated by a federal judge, to establish a homeless shelter within city limits. The plan, endorsed by Mayor Yvonne Flowers and County Executive Sue Serino, required approval from both the city council and county legislature. Earlier this week, the city council called a meeting to vote on the proposal and notified the county legislature, which in turn scheduled a special session for Thursday night.

The agreement followed months of negotiations after the City of Poughkeepsie filed a lawsuit against Dutchess County in an effort to halt construction of the shelter on Oakley Street. City and county officials, along with their attorneys, worked through mediation to reach the settlement. City council members indicated the settlement was not ideal, but continuing litigation posed significant risks to the city.

The tentative agreement was announced in June as construction bids for the new shelter neared expiration, placing additional pressure on lawmakers to act. Re-bidding will cost the county an additional 15 percent of the project cost, resulting in a $2 million loss to county taxpayers.  At Thursday’s special meeting, the Democrat-led Budget, Finance, and Personnel Committee voted along party lines to postpone a decision on the agreement until September, despite earlier indications that a prompt vote would occur.

“The legislature was not involved, and nothing was shared with us until after the agreement was signed.  Our caucus has always stood with the City of Poughkeepsie, and we will stand by the Common Council’s decision, but we need to know what that is before moving forward,” Valdés Smith told Mid-Hudson News earlier this month.  .

Late Thursday night, the Democratic caucus issued a statement explaining their postponement. The caucus said it had only recently received the agreement and argued that legislators had not been involved in the negotiation process. The Democratic caucus reiterated its longstanding opposition to the Oakley Street shelter plan and said more information was needed before any vote could take place.

County Executive Serino and her senior staff attended Thursday’s meeting to answer questions, but Democratic legislators did not engage in discussion.

On Friday, Serino spoke with Mid-Hudson News and expressed her frustration with the legislature Dems and their failure to help the homeless community, saying, “It is so reckless and irresponsible (not voting). I can’t even begin to tell folks what’s gonna happen, and they are treating people like cattle. They are not cattle – these are human beings’ lives.”

The state requires counties to assist their homeless population.  With limited shelters available, Dutchess, like many other counties, has agreements with local hotels to use rooms as shelters.  The rooms typically hold between one person and a family of four in the same room and come at approximately $3,000 per month. If no rooms are available, Dutchess County is forced to house those needing shelter in other counties, adding to the cost of assistance.  “It’s unbelievable the amount of money that is going to be spent because they (legislature Dems) were reckless last night and playing politics.  Shame on them,” Serino said, adding, “They should feel horrible that they’re playing with people’s lives.”


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