News Blog
WEEK AHEAD: Eviction blockade; public hearing on county budget
George Douglass, Take Back the Land Rochester, and other community members will hold a nonviolent community eviction blockade at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, December 2, to keep Douglass in his home. The blockade will take place at Douglass’s home, 95 Roxborough Road.
Douglass and other community members say that they are willing to risk arrest as an act of civil disobedience to keep George in his home and reform the FHA government policy that incentivizes evictions and foreclosures for banks. BY CHRISTINE CARRIE FIEN
At 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, a County Legislature committee will hold a public hearing on County Executive Maggie Brooks’ 2015 budget proposal.
The $1 billion-plus plan would keep the county tax rate at $8.99 per $1,000 assessed value. But the proposal is not without controversy.
If this budget passes, county would contribute less toward child day care funding than it did in 2014. It would contribute $4.2 million to the programs, which is the amount required by the state. Brooks has said that the contribution is more than the local shares paid by Albany, Onondaga, and Erie counties combined.
But it’s less than the $4.6 million contribution that the county made in 2014. Brooks defends the cut, saying that the county has met its obligation and that it’s time for the state, which requires counties to provide the program, to direct more funding to counties in need.
The budget also contains a plan to outsource visitation supervisor jobs at the county’s foster care and pediatrics visitation center on East Henrietta Road next to Monroe Community Hospital. During committee meetings last month, a group of foster parents urged county officials to reconsider the plan. The children have bonded with the workers, the parents say, who serve as a reassuring presence during difficult visits with biological parents.
The county plans to solicit proposals from outside contractors, and officials say that they want any new arrangement to start by April 1. For now, the nine visitation workers have been offered temporary positions through the end of March.
The committee meeting will be held at the County Office Building, 39 West Main Street. BY JEREMY MOULE
Douglass and other community members say that they are willing to risk arrest as an act of civil disobedience to keep George in his home and reform the FHA government policy that incentivizes evictions and foreclosures for banks. BY CHRISTINE CARRIE FIEN
At 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, a County Legislature committee will hold a public hearing on County Executive Maggie Brooks’ 2015 budget proposal.
The $1 billion-plus plan would keep the county tax rate at $8.99 per $1,000 assessed value. But the proposal is not without controversy.
If this budget passes, county would contribute less toward child day care funding than it did in 2014. It would contribute $4.2 million to the programs, which is the amount required by the state. Brooks has said that the contribution is more than the local shares paid by Albany, Onondaga, and Erie counties combined.
But it’s less than the $4.6 million contribution that the county made in 2014. Brooks defends the cut, saying that the county has met its obligation and that it’s time for the state, which requires counties to provide the program, to direct more funding to counties in need.
The budget also contains a plan to outsource visitation supervisor jobs at the county’s foster care and pediatrics visitation center on East Henrietta Road next to Monroe Community Hospital. During committee meetings last month, a group of foster parents urged county officials to reconsider the plan. The children have bonded with the workers, the parents say, who serve as a reassuring presence during difficult visits with biological parents.
The county plans to solicit proposals from outside contractors, and officials say that they want any new arrangement to start by April 1. For now, the nine visitation workers have been offered temporary positions through the end of March.
The committee meeting will be held at the County Office Building, 39 West Main Street. BY JEREMY MOULE
