Newsletter #1 from Councilperson Celeste Friend for South Utica
Welcome to my very first Newsletter! I will use this Newsletter to make sure that you have a voice in City Hall. The Newsletter will list upcoming events and meetings where I can be found and you can participate in the life of our city. It will also keep you informed of my votes and legislation that I am working on. It will also explain various things going on in the city at large, as well as spotlight local, independent businesses. We hope that this Newsletter will help to keep South Utica a vibrant place in which to live and work, where you have a strong voice in your government and community.
Upcoming Meetings and Events
South Utica Neighborhood Association: Monday, January 13th, 6pm, Notre Dame Elementary School, 11 Barton Ave, just off Genesee Street
Constituent Hours: Tuesday, January 14th, 4-6pm, The Other Side gallery, 2011 Gen
esee Street
Meeting of the Common Council: Wednesday, January 15th, 6pm for pre-meeting, 7pm for regular meeting, public welcome to both meetings
Constituent Hours: Tuesday, January 28th, 4-6pm, The Other Side gallery, 2011 Genesee Street
Water 101: A Meeting About Flooding with Engineer Maggie Reilly, Tuesday, January 28th, 7-9pm, Community Foundation, 2608 Genesee Street
TOWN HALL: I will be holding my first Town Hall for the entire Ward, which I'm calling "Get Involved, Stay Engaged" on Monday, February 24th, 7-9pm, Notre Dame Elementary School - more information to come
My Votes on the Common Council
Common Council met on January 2nd for our "Organizational Meeting". This meeting is stipulated by New York State Law and is where we make basic decisions about how to organize ourselves, including who to appoint to the positions of City Clerk and Attorney for the Common Council. I voted to retain Michelle George as City Clerk because I had no reason of my own to believe that she had not done her job well over the previous two years and because I believe that at least some of the objections to her were political. I lost that vote (4-5). The Council then voted to appoint Melissa Sciortino. Although I supported Michelle George, I have full confidence that Melissa Sciortino will do the job well and I am looking forward to working with her. I voted against reappointing Judge Garramone to the position of Attorney for the Common Council. Judge Garramone has done the job well and has a deep knowledge of the law. It is my opinion however, that he has served for too long and this his long tenure has created a situation where he has undue influence over the policy decisions of the Council, which only the elected members of the Council should have. As has been reported upon, at the last meeting of the previous Council, Judge Garramone tried to introduce legislation to eliminate public comment period, despite the fact that no individual Council member came forward to sponsor the legislation. Lastly, upon the recommendation of both Comptroller William Morehouse and Budget Director Heather Mowat, I voted to allow the city to secure financing through bonds for an improved street light system, which was clearly in the best financial interest of the city.
Constituent Services
Flooding: Back in November, 82 people came to a meeting I organized to talk about the Halloween Flooding. I have begun attending the Saquoit Creek Basin Intermunicipal Commission in order to keep track of efforts by both Utica and our neighbors to address the ongoing problem of flooding. I have scheduled two more meetings to continue to discuss floods and mitigation efforts with Constituents. Meanwhile, I am continuing to educate myself about the complicated problem of flooding so that I can best advocate for the residents of South Utica.
Street Lights: A constituent alerted me of a dark street light. We took care of that immediately. If you notice that street lights have gone dark, please take note of the pole number, the closest street address, and the closest street intersection. Pass that information along to me, and I can contact National Grid. They usually make repairs in less than a week.
Quality of Life: We called Oneida/Herkimer Solid Waste Authority on behalf of a resident on Emerson Ave and helped to get a pile of trash in front of a house taken care of. We called the Codes Department and let them know that a landlord had not fixed a broken window of an occupied house.
Spotlight on a Local Business
We will begin this feature next month, so stay tuned!
Going on in the City
Each month, I will keep you informed of new things going on in the city, such as the Downtown Revitalization Initiative, the recent Tree Inventory, or the great new street lights that we will begin to see installed this Spring, and which will be a great improvement. So stay tuned for this regular feature!
NEWSLETTER #2
Welcome to our second Newsletter. We will use this as a way to keep residents of South Utica informed on a variety of issues. First and foremost, we will announce all the places you can find Celeste, such as Constituent Hours, Council meetings, and so on. Celeste will explain each of her votes on the Council here every month. And this month we will be introducing a regular feature by our good friend Theresa Harden Smith: "Spotlight on Local Business". We hope that this Newsletter will help to keep South Utica a vibrant place in which to live and work, where you have a strong voice in your government and community.
REGULAR MEETINGS AND EVENTS
Meeting of the Common Council: Wednesday, February 5th & February 19th, 6pm for pre-meeting, 7pm for regular meeting, public welcome to both meetings
South Utica Neighborhood Association: Monday, February 10th, 6pm, Notre Dame Elementary School, 11 Barton Ave, just off Genesee Street
Constituent Hours: 1st, 2nd, 4th Tuesday of every month, The Other Side gallery, 2011 Genesee Street, February 4th, 11th, & 25th
Please note: Common Council Meets THIS Wednesday, February 5th. The pre-meeting conference is at 6pm and the regular meeting is at 7pm. BOTH meetings are open to the public. Please attend!
SPECIAL MEETINGS
Flooding Mitigation Efforts with Local Officials
Join Celeste and representatives from several local elected officials and offices as they explain their efforts to mitigate the harm of flooding: Tuesday, February 11th, 7-9pm, The Community Foundation, 2608 Genesee Street
Town Hall: Get Involved and Stay Engaged!
This will be Celeste's first Town Hall. She is looking forward to listening to her Constituents and learning what is most important to them. She will share her ideas for upcoming Legislation as well as report on what she has already achieved. Celeste will also introduce some ways that we can all be more engaged in the civic and political life of our community. Monday, February 24th, 7-9pm, Notre Dame Elementary School, 11 Barton Ave, Genesee Street
MY VOTES ON THE COMMON COUNCIL
There has been one meeting since the previous Newsletter. That meeting was on January 15th. Here are my votes there:
1) I voted NAY on waiving the reading of the minutes because there were no minutes to be read. I will continue to work with our new Clerk and the President to make sure that both members of the Common Council and the public are provided with complete and accurate minutes in a timely and accurate way. Minutes of meetings of all public bodies are required by NYS Open Meeting Law.
2) I voted AYE on selling four properties by the URA back to private individuals. These sales are of properties owned by the city to private owners. These properties are then placed back onto the tax rolls, which is good for everyone. I voted AYE on transferring funds between accounts. This vote was requested by the Board of Estimate and Apportionment, which oversees the city budget throughout the fiscal year. I voted AYE to rescind limited parking on a section of Park Ave and AYE to replace it with No Parking. I voted AYE to appoint Stephanie Tighe as a Commissioner of Deeds in the City of Utica. I voted AYE to authorize the sale of old DPW equipment. I voted AYE to refund the Solid Waste Service Charge to the Armory, who pays for their own trash hauler. I voted AYE to authorize the city to spend $570,000 to for the Utica Pedestrian Safety Action Plan. This will allow the City to participate in federal funding for this project. The City fully expects to be reimbursed by federal grants for this expenditure.
3) I voted AYE to allow certain exceptions to the Thursday rule, which allow some City Hall departments to submit proposed legislation later than the Thursday preceding a regular meeting of the Common Council.
4) I voted AYE for new rules for Public Comment. I voted for the new rules because I am fundamentally committed to preserving public comment. However, I did qualify my vote as I had and continue to have grave misgivings about the new rules. The old rules were, in my view, inconsistent and unclear and they did not prohibit speakers from abusing the privilege of public comment. The new rules, however, are, in my view, even worse. Although they solve some of the problems in the old rules, they are far more restrictive in the content of what people can say. In particular, they prohibit speakers from being "disparaging" of anyone in public office or City Department Heads. I find this an unjustifiable infringement of speakers' rights. The rules are also flawed in being logically inconsistent and therefore unenforceable. I worry that if they are enforced as written, we may well be in violation of the First Amendment. I intend to continue to advocate for better rules to govern public comment.
5) I voted AYE to table a number of other resolutions, concerning the granting of an easement over Edward Street, and an easement for gas service at the Utica Zoo. I also voted AYE to table three resolutions dealing with the Rules for the Common Council.
CONSTITUENT SERVICES
Flooding I continue to work on educating myself and my Constituents about flooding in our area. I am attending the Sauquoit Creek Basin Intermunicipal Commission every month so that I can keep track of the joint efforts that Utica is part of. I held an educational meeting on flooding on January 28th. We had about 20 people in the room, and we all learned a lot from local Civil Engineer, Margaret Reilly.
Vacant Properties I have been working to track down the ownership status of a number of vacant properties in South Utica. I have begun to work on legislation that I hope can provide an incentive to owners to sell or rent out their properties that are currently sitting empty.
Cleanup I am collecting addresses of places in South Utica where we want to clean up. I am planning on including those addresses in the Great American Cleanup, which will happen in April/May. Want to help us cleanup the neighborhood? Drop us a line.
SPOTLIGHT ON LOCAL BUSINESS
by Theresa Harden Smith
The Beer Hub at 2643 Genesee Street
Open Monday to Saturday 12:00 pm until 10:00 pm.
Owners Colin Hubbell and his father Chris Hubbell
Opened July 2018
The Beer Hub is a neighborhood bar with a Belgian pub atmosphere, housed in a restored train depot that was part of the now defunct Delaware Lackawanna Western Railroad.
They have a large and well-curated selection of beers from various breweries representing classic styles and including German and Belgian beers. With 26 beers on tap, some rotating, the knowledgeable bartenders can find a beer even for the person who doesn’t think they like beer. They also have two drafts dedicated to wine--a Cabernet and a Chardonnay. Utica Club is always available, a nod to our city and Saranac brewery.
The Beer Hub has food service with daily sandwich specials and a larger selection on Fridays and Saturdays. Every day you can order a fresh pretzel from the Kneady Baker. You can also fill a growler or purchase some hard to find beers to go.
Facebook page: The Beer Hub. Instagram: @the.beer.hub
UTICA RISING
(a regular feature where we talk about things in Utica we love)
Did you know that Utica College offers FREE films on Thursday nights at 7pm? For eight weeks at the beginning of each Fall and Spring semester, Jeff Miller of UC's Communication Department offers up free films. This film series has been going strong for 20 years, and is an amazing way to see wonderful films from all over the world that you might never otherwise even hear about. Just click here for all the information you need.
NEWSLETTER #3
Here it is - our Third Newsletter! This Newsletter keeps residents of South Utica informed on a variety of issues. Please share it with your friends and neighbors and direct them to our website where they can sign up for it themselves. We hope that this Newsletter will help to keep South Utica a vibrant place in which to live and work, where you have a strong voice in your government and community.
REGULAR MEETINGS AND EVENTS
Meeting of the Common Council: Wednesdays, March 4th & March 18th, 6pm for pre-meeting, 7pm for regular meeting, public welcome to both meetings, arrive by 6:55 to sign up for public comment
South Utica Neighborhood Association: Second Monday of every month: Monday, March 9th, 6pm, Notre Dame Elementary School, 11 Barton Ave, just off Genesee Street
Constituent Hours: 1st, 2nd, 4th, (and sometimes 5th) Tuesday of every month, The Other Side gallery, 2011 Genesee Street, March 3rd, March 10th, March 24th, March 31st - 4-6pm
Please note: Common Council meets THIS Wednesday, March 4th. The pre-meeting conference is at 6pm and the regular meeting is at 7pm. BOTH meetings are open to the public. Please attend! If you wish to sign up for public comment, you need to arrive no later than 6:55pm.
MY VOTES ON THE COMMON COUNCIL
There have been two meetings since the previous Newsletter: February 5th and 19th. Here are my votes at those meetings:
February 5th
1) I voted NAY on waiving the reading of the minutes because there were no minutes to be read. (See more below.)
2) I voted AYE to authorize the URA to lease a parcel of land to the Compassion Coalition.I also voted AYE to authorize the URA to sell parcels owned by the city to private owners.
3) I voted to AYE to appoint Stephanie Tighe and John Mirante as Commissioner of Deeds.
4) I voted AYE to appoint David Roefaro as a marriage officer in the City of Utica.
5) I voted AYE to approve the Board of E&A's transfer of funds between budget lines.
6) I voted AYE to authorize the DPW to sell some of its old equipment.
7) I voted AYE to reaffirm that a certain section of sewer be designated a "Type II" action. The original project was changed such that it now has a smaller footprint than before. We voted to reaffirm that it is nonetheless still a "Type II" action and does not require further environmental review.
8) I voted AYE to authorize the city to acquire the Wells Ave Parcel. This parcel of land is necessary to the development of the Inner Harbor in Utica.
9) Rules of Order
I voted NAY on the new rules of order, along with Delvin Moody and Joe Betrus. Five members voted for the new rules, and so the motion passed. I had several objections to these new rules of order. But most problematic is the fact that these new rules of order dissolve all the standing committees of the Council. We now have nine standing committees, each one of which is composed of all nine members of the Council. In other words, we no longer work with committees. We will be doing all of our work as a Committee of the Whole. No other city council conducts its business this way. Members will no longer be assigned to committees based on expertise or interest. This will make it easier to rush legislation through the Common Council without being vetted by an appropriate committee. Time will tell as to how many problems these new rules of order will create. I remain skeptical.
February 19th
1) I voted AYE to waive the reading of the minutes! Our Clerk provided minutes to the Council just before the meeting began, so I was happy to vote to waive them. We are still working to make the minutes easily accessible to the public through our website, but I believe that we are moving in the right direction. I encourage anyone who is interested in transparency and accountability in government and who wants to know what the Council has done, to ask at the Department of Legislation for the minutes of our meetings.
2) I voted AYE to authorize the URA to sell two properties to private individuals. These properties are located on Pellettieri Ave and Lansing Street. I also voted AYE to grant an overhead utility easement on Edward Street to Matt Brewing Co. I also voted AYE to grant an easement for gas service to Niagara Mohawk for the new NYPA Visitor Center.
3) I voted AYE on a resolution, sponsored by Councilperson Jack LoMedico and co-sponsored by every other member of the Council, to keep the Medicaid promise. The Resolution urges State leaders not to cut necessary funding to Medicaid and Medicare.
4) I voted AYE on a resolution that Spectrum/Charter Communications should reimburse their customers for the loss of service in early February.
5) I voted AYE on a resolution to reinstate The City of Utica Youth Common Council and to appoint Stephanie Heiland as the advisor for this Council.
6) I voted to remove the Charlestown Mall from our tax rolls. The derelict Mall is delinquent on their taxes, but is also owned by an LLC, so the City has no means by which to recover those back taxes. Keeping the Mall on our tax rolls therefore creates a number of financials problems for the City, including that we are required to pay the portion of school taxes incurred by the Mall. It is also not a good idea for the City to foreclose on the property. We do not want to own it, as that would give rise to enormous liability issues for the City. Taking the property off the rolls is the best way for us to cut our losses and protect the City.
GREAT AMERICAN CLEAN-UP
In late April, Utica will participate in the Great American Clean-up, where people from all across the city will come together to clean up the city and make it a better and more beautiful place to live. If you know of an area in South Utica that could use some TLC, please let us know. And if you are willing to spend a couple of hours on a weekend helping us, let us know that too!
SPECIAL NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING FOR RESIDENTS NEAR AND AROUND THE INTERSECTIONS OF HOLLAND AVE & MEMORIAL PARKWAY, AND ONEIDA STREET & GREENWOOD COURT
Good things are coming to South Utica, in particular to the area near the Parkway Recreation Center! Join Celeste and Steve Bulger, the Executive Director of iCan/Kids Oneida for a meeting on Tuesday, March 3rd, at 5:30 at the Parkway Recreation Center. Get the skinny on this exciting project before iCan goes public with a big reveal on Wednesday morning.
NEWSLETTER #4
OUR STATE OF EMERGENCY CONTINUES
In response to the Cornavirus pandemic Mayor Palmieri declared a state of emergency starting at noon on Monday, March 16th. He has extended the state of emergency and I think we should assume that he will continue doing so until the State of New York lifts its statewide state of emergency. City Hall is closed to the public and public meetings are being conducted online.
YOU CAN READ MORE ON THE CITY'S WEBSITE
RENT RELIEF RESOLUTION
Over six million Americans have filed for unemployment in the last two weeks! The Coronavirus Crisis is also, not surprisingly, an economic crisis. Here in Utica, as in many places across the country, one group of people who we know will be hard hit by this crisis is low-income renters. Governor Cuomo has enacted a 90-day suspension of all evictions, but not rents themselves, so when the crisis does lift, and people can go back to work, many people here in Utica are apt to be severely behind on their rent and could face eviction then. After the recession of 2008, there was a large spike in homelessness here in Utica. We are at risk of seeing another spike in homelessness. And this is bad for everyone - for the people who are made homeless, for the landlords who do not want to evict people but may have little financial choice, and for all of us. We need rent relief for these people, and we need it NOW.
Delvin Moody, Councilmember for the Fifth Ward and I, are bringing to the Council a Resolution calling upon the City and Mayor Palmieri to use extra funds, coming to the City via the Federal CARES act, to help people stay in their homes. These are Emergency Solutions Grants, specifically meant to address and mitigate against homelessness. Councilmember Moody and I believe that this money is best spent on rent relief NOW, in order to ensure that people do not become homeless down the road. You can read about Congressman Brindisi's announcement here. Emergency Solutions Grants funds secured by Congressman Brindisi These funds, to be clear, are not in any way part of the City budget. These are funds coming to Utica from the federal government, as part of the relief act signed by President Trump, to mitigate against the economic hardships caused by Covid-19.
We will be presenting the "Rent Relief Resolution: Covid-19 Emergency Assistance" to the Common Council on April 15th. (To be clear, a Resolution is an expression of the will of the Common Council. It does not have the force of law. In the end it will up to Mayor Palmieri to decide how to allocate these funds. But we hope that he and the Council agree that keeping people in their homes is best for all of us.)
We are happy to have Citizen Action's support for this Resolution. Please consider signing their petition. And if you agree with us, please tell other members of the Council and the Mayor that we need Rent Relief NOW.
MY VOTES ON THE COUNCIL
(an explanation of why I voted how I voted on important issues before the Council)
March 20, 2020
The Common Council met at a Special Meeting to vote on the 2020-2021 Budget and Mayor's Raise and on the budget itself. I voted against amending the budget to give the Mayor a raise of approximately $10,000 a year, and the Comptroller a raise of approximately $8,000 a year. I had been leaning towards voting for it, even though it was slightly higher than I would have liked. I think it is important that when we think about salaries, we not think about the particular persons occupying those positions, but rather that we think of the role. And I do in fact believe that the Mayor of a city such as Utica should be compensated proportionately to the job and in a way that is comparable to other similar cities. So I had been inclined to vote for the raise. But by the time we actually got to the point of voting on this, Covid-19 had already reared its ugly head. It was clear to me that the pandemic was going to have terrible economic consequences. We were already in a state of emergency. It was obvious that sales tax revenues would not meet our expectations. And so I thought that the only responsible thing to do was to vote to keep the budget leaner if we could. So I voted against the amendment and against the Local Law that is required to adjust the Charter. I was in the minority on both votes. I then voted for the Budget. Overall I had gone into the vote thinking that the Budget was well thought out and appropriate. It includes a small property tax increase of 1.9%, which is well within the range of inflation. It is a good budget, and I voted for it despite the amendment that I did not like because the entire budget was acceptable.
April 1, 2020
I voted to set reasonable fees for the use of the new Sal Longo Field. I voted to change our Rules of Order to allow the Common Council to meet via live online video conferencing until such a time a we are again allowed to meet in the Council Chambers. I did try to amend the new Rules of Order to state that as soon as possible we would include Public Comment in these meetings. My amendment received no support in our Pre-Conference meeting, so I did not pursue it during our regular Council meeting, but I did qualify my vote as to that one qualm I had with our new Rules of Order. I voted to reduce the amount we would borrow for paving by $2,000,000. So we are now borrowing $500,000 for paving rather than $2,500,000. This will give us a total of $3,000,000 to spend on paving this year. I felt very torn about this vote, and struggled with it up to the very last minute. On the one hand, I do know how important paving is to all of us. And I know that the voters voted by way of a referendum to allow the city to borrow money to pave the streets. So I did not feel at all good about overriding those decisions made by my Constituents. But at the same time, given the budget crisis that we may very well be facing next year, I decided that the most fiscally responsible thing to do was to tighten our belts as much as we could. I feel that my vote to reduce the paving and my vote not to give the Mayor a raise were consistent with one another: both were votes meant to prepare us for a future in which we might have to make much harder choices. I voted to change the rate of compensation members of the Board of Assessment Review from $750 a year to $500 a year. Finally, I voted to authorize the City to borrow $785,000 to finance the cost of various capital projects.
COMMON COUNCIL ADAPTS
Because of the current situation, our Council meetings will continue to be held online, via WebX. I realize that this limits the possibility of public comment. No one cares more about public comment than I do. (You Can Read My Views About That Here.) I expect us to accomodate public comment as soon as we can figure out how to do so under the current circumstances.
IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR SOMETHING TO DO, HERE ARE A COUPLE OF OPPORTUNITIES:
EMOTIONAL SUPPORT HELPLINE
The State of New York has gathered mental health professional volunteers from all over the state - over six thousand of them! - to staff the NYS COVID-19 Emotional Support Helpline at 844-863-9314. It is staffed 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., 7 days a week. The phone line is staffed with specially trained volunteer professionals who are there to listen, support and refer if needed.
NEED BLUE BAGS?
Many people are taking the advice to "STAY HOME, STAY SAFE, SAVE LIVES" very seriously, not even venturing out to the grocery store. Good for them! But if you need a couple of blue bags to get you through, please drop me a line. I am happy to distribute some blue bags to those who are self-isolating.
CONSTITUENT HOURS
Until the Governor, under the advice of experts, gives us permission to ease up on our social isolating, I will be suspending my Constituent Hours. I will happily resume them as soon as possible. Meanwhile, call or text or email me anytime. I am looking into what it would take for me to hold a Tele-Town Hall. So stay tuned.
PLEASE: STAY HOME, STAY SAFE, SAVE LIVES
We all need to do our parts in order to protect everyone in our community. Staying home, practicing social distancing, and only going out when you absolutely have to, these are the right things to do.
The CDC has lots of excellent information, which you can link to here.
MAKE SURE TO BE COUNTED!
The Census is very important - it is the way we can make sure that our state and our region gets what it deserves, both in terms of representation and resources.
To fill out the Census online, just go here. It couldn't be much easier!
I WILL BE IN TOUCH AGAIN AS SOON AS I HAVE ANYTHING TO REPORT.
MEANWHILE, REMEMBER THAT AS A COMMUNITY, AS A CITY, AND AS A COUNTRY, WE HAVE WHAT WE NEED TO MAKE IT THROUGH THIS. BE KIND TO YOURSELF AND OTHERS. BE SAFE, AND REACH OUT ANYTIME.
Welcome to my very first Newsletter! I will use this Newsletter to make sure that you have a voice in City Hall. The Newsletter will list upcoming events and meetings where I can be found and you can participate in the life of our city. It will also keep you informed of my votes and legislation that I am working on. It will also explain various things going on in the city at large, as well as spotlight local, independent businesses. We hope that this Newsletter will help to keep South Utica a vibrant place in which to live and work, where you have a strong voice in your government and community.
Upcoming Meetings and Events
South Utica Neighborhood Association: Monday, January 13th, 6pm, Notre Dame Elementary School, 11 Barton Ave, just off Genesee Street
Constituent Hours: Tuesday, January 14th, 4-6pm, The Other Side gallery, 2011 Gen
esee Street
Meeting of the Common Council: Wednesday, January 15th, 6pm for pre-meeting, 7pm for regular meeting, public welcome to both meetings
Constituent Hours: Tuesday, January 28th, 4-6pm, The Other Side gallery, 2011 Genesee Street
Water 101: A Meeting About Flooding with Engineer Maggie Reilly, Tuesday, January 28th, 7-9pm, Community Foundation, 2608 Genesee Street
TOWN HALL: I will be holding my first Town Hall for the entire Ward, which I'm calling "Get Involved, Stay Engaged" on Monday, February 24th, 7-9pm, Notre Dame Elementary School - more information to come
My Votes on the Common Council
Common Council met on January 2nd for our "Organizational Meeting". This meeting is stipulated by New York State Law and is where we make basic decisions about how to organize ourselves, including who to appoint to the positions of City Clerk and Attorney for the Common Council. I voted to retain Michelle George as City Clerk because I had no reason of my own to believe that she had not done her job well over the previous two years and because I believe that at least some of the objections to her were political. I lost that vote (4-5). The Council then voted to appoint Melissa Sciortino. Although I supported Michelle George, I have full confidence that Melissa Sciortino will do the job well and I am looking forward to working with her. I voted against reappointing Judge Garramone to the position of Attorney for the Common Council. Judge Garramone has done the job well and has a deep knowledge of the law. It is my opinion however, that he has served for too long and this his long tenure has created a situation where he has undue influence over the policy decisions of the Council, which only the elected members of the Council should have. As has been reported upon, at the last meeting of the previous Council, Judge Garramone tried to introduce legislation to eliminate public comment period, despite the fact that no individual Council member came forward to sponsor the legislation. Lastly, upon the recommendation of both Comptroller William Morehouse and Budget Director Heather Mowat, I voted to allow the city to secure financing through bonds for an improved street light system, which was clearly in the best financial interest of the city.
Constituent Services
Flooding: Back in November, 82 people came to a meeting I organized to talk about the Halloween Flooding. I have begun attending the Saquoit Creek Basin Intermunicipal Commission in order to keep track of efforts by both Utica and our neighbors to address the ongoing problem of flooding. I have scheduled two more meetings to continue to discuss floods and mitigation efforts with Constituents. Meanwhile, I am continuing to educate myself about the complicated problem of flooding so that I can best advocate for the residents of South Utica.
Street Lights: A constituent alerted me of a dark street light. We took care of that immediately. If you notice that street lights have gone dark, please take note of the pole number, the closest street address, and the closest street intersection. Pass that information along to me, and I can contact National Grid. They usually make repairs in less than a week.
Quality of Life: We called Oneida/Herkimer Solid Waste Authority on behalf of a resident on Emerson Ave and helped to get a pile of trash in front of a house taken care of. We called the Codes Department and let them know that a landlord had not fixed a broken window of an occupied house.
Spotlight on a Local Business
We will begin this feature next month, so stay tuned!
Going on in the City
Each month, I will keep you informed of new things going on in the city, such as the Downtown Revitalization Initiative, the recent Tree Inventory, or the great new street lights that we will begin to see installed this Spring, and which will be a great improvement. So stay tuned for this regular feature!
NEWSLETTER #2
Welcome to our second Newsletter. We will use this as a way to keep residents of South Utica informed on a variety of issues. First and foremost, we will announce all the places you can find Celeste, such as Constituent Hours, Council meetings, and so on. Celeste will explain each of her votes on the Council here every month. And this month we will be introducing a regular feature by our good friend Theresa Harden Smith: "Spotlight on Local Business". We hope that this Newsletter will help to keep South Utica a vibrant place in which to live and work, where you have a strong voice in your government and community.
REGULAR MEETINGS AND EVENTS
Meeting of the Common Council: Wednesday, February 5th & February 19th, 6pm for pre-meeting, 7pm for regular meeting, public welcome to both meetings
South Utica Neighborhood Association: Monday, February 10th, 6pm, Notre Dame Elementary School, 11 Barton Ave, just off Genesee Street
Constituent Hours: 1st, 2nd, 4th Tuesday of every month, The Other Side gallery, 2011 Genesee Street, February 4th, 11th, & 25th
Please note: Common Council Meets THIS Wednesday, February 5th. The pre-meeting conference is at 6pm and the regular meeting is at 7pm. BOTH meetings are open to the public. Please attend!
SPECIAL MEETINGS
Flooding Mitigation Efforts with Local Officials
Join Celeste and representatives from several local elected officials and offices as they explain their efforts to mitigate the harm of flooding: Tuesday, February 11th, 7-9pm, The Community Foundation, 2608 Genesee Street
Town Hall: Get Involved and Stay Engaged!
This will be Celeste's first Town Hall. She is looking forward to listening to her Constituents and learning what is most important to them. She will share her ideas for upcoming Legislation as well as report on what she has already achieved. Celeste will also introduce some ways that we can all be more engaged in the civic and political life of our community. Monday, February 24th, 7-9pm, Notre Dame Elementary School, 11 Barton Ave, Genesee Street
MY VOTES ON THE COMMON COUNCIL
There has been one meeting since the previous Newsletter. That meeting was on January 15th. Here are my votes there:
1) I voted NAY on waiving the reading of the minutes because there were no minutes to be read. I will continue to work with our new Clerk and the President to make sure that both members of the Common Council and the public are provided with complete and accurate minutes in a timely and accurate way. Minutes of meetings of all public bodies are required by NYS Open Meeting Law.
2) I voted AYE on selling four properties by the URA back to private individuals. These sales are of properties owned by the city to private owners. These properties are then placed back onto the tax rolls, which is good for everyone. I voted AYE on transferring funds between accounts. This vote was requested by the Board of Estimate and Apportionment, which oversees the city budget throughout the fiscal year. I voted AYE to rescind limited parking on a section of Park Ave and AYE to replace it with No Parking. I voted AYE to appoint Stephanie Tighe as a Commissioner of Deeds in the City of Utica. I voted AYE to authorize the sale of old DPW equipment. I voted AYE to refund the Solid Waste Service Charge to the Armory, who pays for their own trash hauler. I voted AYE to authorize the city to spend $570,000 to for the Utica Pedestrian Safety Action Plan. This will allow the City to participate in federal funding for this project. The City fully expects to be reimbursed by federal grants for this expenditure.
3) I voted AYE to allow certain exceptions to the Thursday rule, which allow some City Hall departments to submit proposed legislation later than the Thursday preceding a regular meeting of the Common Council.
4) I voted AYE for new rules for Public Comment. I voted for the new rules because I am fundamentally committed to preserving public comment. However, I did qualify my vote as I had and continue to have grave misgivings about the new rules. The old rules were, in my view, inconsistent and unclear and they did not prohibit speakers from abusing the privilege of public comment. The new rules, however, are, in my view, even worse. Although they solve some of the problems in the old rules, they are far more restrictive in the content of what people can say. In particular, they prohibit speakers from being "disparaging" of anyone in public office or City Department Heads. I find this an unjustifiable infringement of speakers' rights. The rules are also flawed in being logically inconsistent and therefore unenforceable. I worry that if they are enforced as written, we may well be in violation of the First Amendment. I intend to continue to advocate for better rules to govern public comment.
5) I voted AYE to table a number of other resolutions, concerning the granting of an easement over Edward Street, and an easement for gas service at the Utica Zoo. I also voted AYE to table three resolutions dealing with the Rules for the Common Council.
CONSTITUENT SERVICES
Flooding I continue to work on educating myself and my Constituents about flooding in our area. I am attending the Sauquoit Creek Basin Intermunicipal Commission every month so that I can keep track of the joint efforts that Utica is part of. I held an educational meeting on flooding on January 28th. We had about 20 people in the room, and we all learned a lot from local Civil Engineer, Margaret Reilly.
Vacant Properties I have been working to track down the ownership status of a number of vacant properties in South Utica. I have begun to work on legislation that I hope can provide an incentive to owners to sell or rent out their properties that are currently sitting empty.
Cleanup I am collecting addresses of places in South Utica where we want to clean up. I am planning on including those addresses in the Great American Cleanup, which will happen in April/May. Want to help us cleanup the neighborhood? Drop us a line.
SPOTLIGHT ON LOCAL BUSINESS
by Theresa Harden Smith
The Beer Hub at 2643 Genesee Street
Open Monday to Saturday 12:00 pm until 10:00 pm.
Owners Colin Hubbell and his father Chris Hubbell
Opened July 2018
The Beer Hub is a neighborhood bar with a Belgian pub atmosphere, housed in a restored train depot that was part of the now defunct Delaware Lackawanna Western Railroad.
They have a large and well-curated selection of beers from various breweries representing classic styles and including German and Belgian beers. With 26 beers on tap, some rotating, the knowledgeable bartenders can find a beer even for the person who doesn’t think they like beer. They also have two drafts dedicated to wine--a Cabernet and a Chardonnay. Utica Club is always available, a nod to our city and Saranac brewery.
The Beer Hub has food service with daily sandwich specials and a larger selection on Fridays and Saturdays. Every day you can order a fresh pretzel from the Kneady Baker. You can also fill a growler or purchase some hard to find beers to go.
Facebook page: The Beer Hub. Instagram: @the.beer.hub
UTICA RISING
(a regular feature where we talk about things in Utica we love)
Did you know that Utica College offers FREE films on Thursday nights at 7pm? For eight weeks at the beginning of each Fall and Spring semester, Jeff Miller of UC's Communication Department offers up free films. This film series has been going strong for 20 years, and is an amazing way to see wonderful films from all over the world that you might never otherwise even hear about. Just click here for all the information you need.
NEWSLETTER #3
Here it is - our Third Newsletter! This Newsletter keeps residents of South Utica informed on a variety of issues. Please share it with your friends and neighbors and direct them to our website where they can sign up for it themselves. We hope that this Newsletter will help to keep South Utica a vibrant place in which to live and work, where you have a strong voice in your government and community.
REGULAR MEETINGS AND EVENTS
Meeting of the Common Council: Wednesdays, March 4th & March 18th, 6pm for pre-meeting, 7pm for regular meeting, public welcome to both meetings, arrive by 6:55 to sign up for public comment
South Utica Neighborhood Association: Second Monday of every month: Monday, March 9th, 6pm, Notre Dame Elementary School, 11 Barton Ave, just off Genesee Street
Constituent Hours: 1st, 2nd, 4th, (and sometimes 5th) Tuesday of every month, The Other Side gallery, 2011 Genesee Street, March 3rd, March 10th, March 24th, March 31st - 4-6pm
Please note: Common Council meets THIS Wednesday, March 4th. The pre-meeting conference is at 6pm and the regular meeting is at 7pm. BOTH meetings are open to the public. Please attend! If you wish to sign up for public comment, you need to arrive no later than 6:55pm.
MY VOTES ON THE COMMON COUNCIL
There have been two meetings since the previous Newsletter: February 5th and 19th. Here are my votes at those meetings:
February 5th
1) I voted NAY on waiving the reading of the minutes because there were no minutes to be read. (See more below.)
2) I voted AYE to authorize the URA to lease a parcel of land to the Compassion Coalition.I also voted AYE to authorize the URA to sell parcels owned by the city to private owners.
3) I voted to AYE to appoint Stephanie Tighe and John Mirante as Commissioner of Deeds.
4) I voted AYE to appoint David Roefaro as a marriage officer in the City of Utica.
5) I voted AYE to approve the Board of E&A's transfer of funds between budget lines.
6) I voted AYE to authorize the DPW to sell some of its old equipment.
7) I voted AYE to reaffirm that a certain section of sewer be designated a "Type II" action. The original project was changed such that it now has a smaller footprint than before. We voted to reaffirm that it is nonetheless still a "Type II" action and does not require further environmental review.
8) I voted AYE to authorize the city to acquire the Wells Ave Parcel. This parcel of land is necessary to the development of the Inner Harbor in Utica.
9) Rules of Order
I voted NAY on the new rules of order, along with Delvin Moody and Joe Betrus. Five members voted for the new rules, and so the motion passed. I had several objections to these new rules of order. But most problematic is the fact that these new rules of order dissolve all the standing committees of the Council. We now have nine standing committees, each one of which is composed of all nine members of the Council. In other words, we no longer work with committees. We will be doing all of our work as a Committee of the Whole. No other city council conducts its business this way. Members will no longer be assigned to committees based on expertise or interest. This will make it easier to rush legislation through the Common Council without being vetted by an appropriate committee. Time will tell as to how many problems these new rules of order will create. I remain skeptical.
February 19th
1) I voted AYE to waive the reading of the minutes! Our Clerk provided minutes to the Council just before the meeting began, so I was happy to vote to waive them. We are still working to make the minutes easily accessible to the public through our website, but I believe that we are moving in the right direction. I encourage anyone who is interested in transparency and accountability in government and who wants to know what the Council has done, to ask at the Department of Legislation for the minutes of our meetings.
2) I voted AYE to authorize the URA to sell two properties to private individuals. These properties are located on Pellettieri Ave and Lansing Street. I also voted AYE to grant an overhead utility easement on Edward Street to Matt Brewing Co. I also voted AYE to grant an easement for gas service to Niagara Mohawk for the new NYPA Visitor Center.
3) I voted AYE on a resolution, sponsored by Councilperson Jack LoMedico and co-sponsored by every other member of the Council, to keep the Medicaid promise. The Resolution urges State leaders not to cut necessary funding to Medicaid and Medicare.
4) I voted AYE on a resolution that Spectrum/Charter Communications should reimburse their customers for the loss of service in early February.
5) I voted AYE on a resolution to reinstate The City of Utica Youth Common Council and to appoint Stephanie Heiland as the advisor for this Council.
6) I voted to remove the Charlestown Mall from our tax rolls. The derelict Mall is delinquent on their taxes, but is also owned by an LLC, so the City has no means by which to recover those back taxes. Keeping the Mall on our tax rolls therefore creates a number of financials problems for the City, including that we are required to pay the portion of school taxes incurred by the Mall. It is also not a good idea for the City to foreclose on the property. We do not want to own it, as that would give rise to enormous liability issues for the City. Taking the property off the rolls is the best way for us to cut our losses and protect the City.
GREAT AMERICAN CLEAN-UP
In late April, Utica will participate in the Great American Clean-up, where people from all across the city will come together to clean up the city and make it a better and more beautiful place to live. If you know of an area in South Utica that could use some TLC, please let us know. And if you are willing to spend a couple of hours on a weekend helping us, let us know that too!
SPECIAL NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING FOR RESIDENTS NEAR AND AROUND THE INTERSECTIONS OF HOLLAND AVE & MEMORIAL PARKWAY, AND ONEIDA STREET & GREENWOOD COURT
Good things are coming to South Utica, in particular to the area near the Parkway Recreation Center! Join Celeste and Steve Bulger, the Executive Director of iCan/Kids Oneida for a meeting on Tuesday, March 3rd, at 5:30 at the Parkway Recreation Center. Get the skinny on this exciting project before iCan goes public with a big reveal on Wednesday morning.
NEWSLETTER #4
OUR STATE OF EMERGENCY CONTINUES
In response to the Cornavirus pandemic Mayor Palmieri declared a state of emergency starting at noon on Monday, March 16th. He has extended the state of emergency and I think we should assume that he will continue doing so until the State of New York lifts its statewide state of emergency. City Hall is closed to the public and public meetings are being conducted online.
YOU CAN READ MORE ON THE CITY'S WEBSITE
RENT RELIEF RESOLUTION
Over six million Americans have filed for unemployment in the last two weeks! The Coronavirus Crisis is also, not surprisingly, an economic crisis. Here in Utica, as in many places across the country, one group of people who we know will be hard hit by this crisis is low-income renters. Governor Cuomo has enacted a 90-day suspension of all evictions, but not rents themselves, so when the crisis does lift, and people can go back to work, many people here in Utica are apt to be severely behind on their rent and could face eviction then. After the recession of 2008, there was a large spike in homelessness here in Utica. We are at risk of seeing another spike in homelessness. And this is bad for everyone - for the people who are made homeless, for the landlords who do not want to evict people but may have little financial choice, and for all of us. We need rent relief for these people, and we need it NOW.
Delvin Moody, Councilmember for the Fifth Ward and I, are bringing to the Council a Resolution calling upon the City and Mayor Palmieri to use extra funds, coming to the City via the Federal CARES act, to help people stay in their homes. These are Emergency Solutions Grants, specifically meant to address and mitigate against homelessness. Councilmember Moody and I believe that this money is best spent on rent relief NOW, in order to ensure that people do not become homeless down the road. You can read about Congressman Brindisi's announcement here. Emergency Solutions Grants funds secured by Congressman Brindisi These funds, to be clear, are not in any way part of the City budget. These are funds coming to Utica from the federal government, as part of the relief act signed by President Trump, to mitigate against the economic hardships caused by Covid-19.
We will be presenting the "Rent Relief Resolution: Covid-19 Emergency Assistance" to the Common Council on April 15th. (To be clear, a Resolution is an expression of the will of the Common Council. It does not have the force of law. In the end it will up to Mayor Palmieri to decide how to allocate these funds. But we hope that he and the Council agree that keeping people in their homes is best for all of us.)
We are happy to have Citizen Action's support for this Resolution. Please consider signing their petition. And if you agree with us, please tell other members of the Council and the Mayor that we need Rent Relief NOW.
MY VOTES ON THE COUNCIL
(an explanation of why I voted how I voted on important issues before the Council)
March 20, 2020
The Common Council met at a Special Meeting to vote on the 2020-2021 Budget and Mayor's Raise and on the budget itself. I voted against amending the budget to give the Mayor a raise of approximately $10,000 a year, and the Comptroller a raise of approximately $8,000 a year. I had been leaning towards voting for it, even though it was slightly higher than I would have liked. I think it is important that when we think about salaries, we not think about the particular persons occupying those positions, but rather that we think of the role. And I do in fact believe that the Mayor of a city such as Utica should be compensated proportionately to the job and in a way that is comparable to other similar cities. So I had been inclined to vote for the raise. But by the time we actually got to the point of voting on this, Covid-19 had already reared its ugly head. It was clear to me that the pandemic was going to have terrible economic consequences. We were already in a state of emergency. It was obvious that sales tax revenues would not meet our expectations. And so I thought that the only responsible thing to do was to vote to keep the budget leaner if we could. So I voted against the amendment and against the Local Law that is required to adjust the Charter. I was in the minority on both votes. I then voted for the Budget. Overall I had gone into the vote thinking that the Budget was well thought out and appropriate. It includes a small property tax increase of 1.9%, which is well within the range of inflation. It is a good budget, and I voted for it despite the amendment that I did not like because the entire budget was acceptable.
April 1, 2020
I voted to set reasonable fees for the use of the new Sal Longo Field. I voted to change our Rules of Order to allow the Common Council to meet via live online video conferencing until such a time a we are again allowed to meet in the Council Chambers. I did try to amend the new Rules of Order to state that as soon as possible we would include Public Comment in these meetings. My amendment received no support in our Pre-Conference meeting, so I did not pursue it during our regular Council meeting, but I did qualify my vote as to that one qualm I had with our new Rules of Order. I voted to reduce the amount we would borrow for paving by $2,000,000. So we are now borrowing $500,000 for paving rather than $2,500,000. This will give us a total of $3,000,000 to spend on paving this year. I felt very torn about this vote, and struggled with it up to the very last minute. On the one hand, I do know how important paving is to all of us. And I know that the voters voted by way of a referendum to allow the city to borrow money to pave the streets. So I did not feel at all good about overriding those decisions made by my Constituents. But at the same time, given the budget crisis that we may very well be facing next year, I decided that the most fiscally responsible thing to do was to tighten our belts as much as we could. I feel that my vote to reduce the paving and my vote not to give the Mayor a raise were consistent with one another: both were votes meant to prepare us for a future in which we might have to make much harder choices. I voted to change the rate of compensation members of the Board of Assessment Review from $750 a year to $500 a year. Finally, I voted to authorize the City to borrow $785,000 to finance the cost of various capital projects.
COMMON COUNCIL ADAPTS
Because of the current situation, our Council meetings will continue to be held online, via WebX. I realize that this limits the possibility of public comment. No one cares more about public comment than I do. (You Can Read My Views About That Here.) I expect us to accomodate public comment as soon as we can figure out how to do so under the current circumstances.
IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR SOMETHING TO DO, HERE ARE A COUPLE OF OPPORTUNITIES:
- We all know that healthcare workers are on the frontline of this crisis - they are the truly "essential" workers who can't stay home. Consider writing thank you notes and notes of encouragement to these workers. Deliver them to me and I will distribute them.
- Help me figure out who in South Utica might be isolated and alone, and is in need of extra social support. I can get them some help, but first I need to know who needs some extra support. So check in with your neighbors (from a safe distance) and let me know if someone is in need.
- Have a sewing machine, some basic sewing skills, and some extra time? Consider making protective masks for healthcare workers. Follow this link for instructions. (Drop them off to me, and I can get them where they need to go.)
EMOTIONAL SUPPORT HELPLINE
The State of New York has gathered mental health professional volunteers from all over the state - over six thousand of them! - to staff the NYS COVID-19 Emotional Support Helpline at 844-863-9314. It is staffed 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., 7 days a week. The phone line is staffed with specially trained volunteer professionals who are there to listen, support and refer if needed.
NEED BLUE BAGS?
Many people are taking the advice to "STAY HOME, STAY SAFE, SAVE LIVES" very seriously, not even venturing out to the grocery store. Good for them! But if you need a couple of blue bags to get you through, please drop me a line. I am happy to distribute some blue bags to those who are self-isolating.
CONSTITUENT HOURS
Until the Governor, under the advice of experts, gives us permission to ease up on our social isolating, I will be suspending my Constituent Hours. I will happily resume them as soon as possible. Meanwhile, call or text or email me anytime. I am looking into what it would take for me to hold a Tele-Town Hall. So stay tuned.
PLEASE: STAY HOME, STAY SAFE, SAVE LIVES
We all need to do our parts in order to protect everyone in our community. Staying home, practicing social distancing, and only going out when you absolutely have to, these are the right things to do.
The CDC has lots of excellent information, which you can link to here.
MAKE SURE TO BE COUNTED!
The Census is very important - it is the way we can make sure that our state and our region gets what it deserves, both in terms of representation and resources.
To fill out the Census online, just go here. It couldn't be much easier!
I WILL BE IN TOUCH AGAIN AS SOON AS I HAVE ANYTHING TO REPORT.
MEANWHILE, REMEMBER THAT AS A COMMUNITY, AS A CITY, AND AS A COUNTRY, WE HAVE WHAT WE NEED TO MAKE IT THROUGH THIS. BE KIND TO YOURSELF AND OTHERS. BE SAFE, AND REACH OUT ANYTIME.
