Workshop on plan to move DSS out of Hudson

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, May 29, 2009

For more information:
Linda Mussmann at (518) 209-7966

Information sharing, community questions and Plan D on the agenda

HUDSON -- The BOTTOM LINE will host an informational workshop 6pm to 8pm, Wednesday, June 3, on the current plan to move the Columbia County Department of Social Services away from Hudson to Claverack. The workshop will present new information and clarify ongoing issues in an effort to help the community better understand the impact this decision will have on their lives. The meeting will take place in the all-purpose room at Shiloh Baptist Church, 14 Warren Street, Hudson.

Several alternatives emerged both before and since county lawmakers purchased the former Ockawamick School (Route 217 in Claverack) for $1.5 million, and then formulated the "Ockawamick Plan" to move 15 county departments outside of Hudson, the county seat. First there was Plan B, then C. The Bottom Line would like to continue the discussion with the presentation of another option -- Plan D.

Plan D is the most economical suggestion thus far and calls for maintaining the primary DSS office at its current location on Railroad Avenue. This option includes the construction of a new addition to the existing building and office reorganization, along with a healthy dose of efficient space management. The pros and cons of this idea will be part of the discussion on Wednesday.

The Bottom Line wants to hear from the public. Come and share your thoughts on the plan that will relocate DSS six miles into the countryside, next door to a country club. While the location may be appealing to the individuals that constitute the county Board of Supervisors, it is not a place easily accessible to mothers with children, the disabled and the elderly, those who are mandated to visit the office on a regular basis.

County human services, along with a network of supporting professionals and organizations are located within Hudson and must remain in place. The Columbia County Courthouse, Columbia Memorial Hospital and many law offices serve the same clientele. And because public transportation does not exist, basic accessibility to services is the issue.

What's more, with this decision, the county leadership signaled its intention to dismantle Hudson as the county seat. The relocation of DSS is just one part of the scheme, but it is arguably the most destructive because it will require massive busing of Hudson and Greenport residents (more than 60 percent of all DSS clients reside in the 12534 zip code).

"We are not convinced that 'busing people' is an idea that is prudent for a number of reasons," said Linda Mussmann. "Mainly because it will further stigmatize people already having a hard time. It's a cruel decision and wrong."

"The idea is wrong on a practical level. While the location may have been suitable for a school of the late 20th century it is totally inappropriate for a human services building in the 21st, a time when we must cut down on fuel consumption," Mussmann said.

"Our elected officials -- Art Baer, Doug McGivney, Phil Williams, Linda Scheer and Roy Brown, in particular -- are making bad choices. The decision to expand outside the city is foolish because this is a time when we should be developing thrifty and sensible ways and means of using small cities," Mussmann said.

Join us Wednesday night to learn more about how this plan will impact our community, and to voice your opinion. Be informed, write or call your elected officials. Tell your chosen representatives what you think about this plan to destroy the centralized delivery of human services.

"Stop the sprawl y'all!"

Join us 6 p.m., Wednesday (June 3) at Shiloh Baptist Church, 14 Warren Street, Hudson.

About the Bottom Line:
Founded in 2001, the Bottom Line Party focuses on issues that effect
the health, safety and economic well-being of all Hudson residents,
but especially for the working class and poor.

For more information:
Linda Mussmann at (518) 209-7966

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BOTTOM LINE: Community Speak-Out Tuesday

Learn about Plan B and join in the discussion

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, April 10, 2009

HUDSON -- The BOTTOM LINE will host a community speak-out 6 p.m., Tuesday, April 14, to learn more about Plan B, and discuss the decision to move the Columbia County Department of Social Services away from Hudson to Claverack. The meeting will take place at the First Presbyterian Church (Warren and Fourth streets, Hudson).

The Bottom Line wants to hear from the public. This meeting is an opportunity for the community to learn more, and speak out about the two proposals:

• Plan A, which will move DSS to an abandoned school building, six miles outside the city of Hudson.

• Plan B, an idea to keep DSS in Hudson (where the majority of clients live), and locate it just steps away from the existing county human services building at 325 Columbia Street.

Hudson Mayor Richard Scalera will present the details of Plan B, the idea county Board of Supervisors President Art Baer (R-Hillsdale) refused to make available to the full board prior to its March 11 vote. That plan calls for the construction of a new 30,000 sq. ft. DSS building and a new parking garage on Hudson's north side, directly adjacent to existing county facilities. Scalera will provide an artist's rendering of the projected structures and discuss the estimated costs.

The evening will also include a presentation by the BOTTOM LINE PLAYERS, a live performance in puppet-style theatrical ways and means, recapping how we got into this state of affairs. The characters include THE CHAIR, MAC GIMME, PLAN B, and more.

Coffee and donuts will be available to kick off the event.

Plan A, as approved, will relocate not only DSS, but the Veterans Office, the Public Defender and Probation, as well. Anyone requiring the services of these offices and/or seeking specific assistance with Medicaid, energy assistance (HEAP), health insurance or any other form of temporary/emergency assistance will be required to travel. Lacking a public transportation system, those without access to a private vehicle will have to travel via taxi ($20 roundtrip) or walk.

It is a long walk to Claverack from Hudson. Six miles out and six miles back. Speak out! Let us open the door to this closed-door backroom deal that was rushed to a vote, long before the Board of Supervisors had all the facts.

This rush to judgment by county leaders created a tremendous burden for the people of Columbia County, especially the most fragile among us. We will have to live with this decision for a very long time.

Join us Tuesday night to learn how this plan will impact our community, and to voice your opinion. Tell our elected officials that the decision to move key social services away from the people who need them most is a very bad idea, especially when an economically viable alternative exists.

Join us 6 p.m., Tuesday (April 14) at the First Presbyterian Church, Warren and Fourth streets, Hudson.

About the Bottom Line:
Founded in 2001, the Bottom Line Party focuses on issues that effect the health, safety and economic well-being of all Hudson residents, but especially for the working class and poor.

For more information:
Linda Mussmann at (518) 209-7966

In the news

Reactions to DSS vote vary
by John Mason
Hudson-Catskill Newspapers

COLUMBIA COUNTY — Wednesday’s decision to move the Department of Social Services six miles out of Hudson to the former Ockawamick School was not a surprise, but it did spell relief for some and disappointment for others....

Alan Skerrett, county chapter president of the NAACP, was disappointed in Wednesday’s vote, but said, “Many people out there last night believe we need to continue to resist this move and will continue to resist any way we can. There seems to be a consensus of caring people that we can’t play dead.”

Speaking of caring people, Skerrett said he was most disappointed by what he saw as a lack of sensitivity among the decision-makers.

“People never respond, ‘We know it will be difficult, and we’re going to be sure it’s not a hardship.’ They never offer anything to that effect. At least say something to the effect that ‘We know this will be a hard road to go, but we’ll do our best to make it as feasible as possible.’ There’s no remorse: It makes them seem even more callous in their mission.”

He said Mayor Rick Scalera offered a dramatic contrast in his brief, but eloquent statement that was from the heart.

Supervisors approve DSS move

Protestors await the start of the Columbia County Board of Supervisors meeting inside 401 State Street, Wednesday. At that meeting, lawmakers approved the plan to move the Department of Social Services and 14 other county departments six miles outside the city of Hudson, to the abandoned former Ockawamick School. Pictured (from left): Dan Udell (C-G NAACP), Alan Skerrett (C-G NAACP), Mary Udell (C-G NAAC), Claudia Bruce, city Treasurer Eileen Halloran, Alderman Abdus Miah (D, Hudson-2) and Londa McCullough.
(Photo by John Mason, Hudson-Catskill Newspapers)

RALLY ON March 11

Bottom Line: Keep DSS in Hudson!
HOW MUCH WILL THE OCKAWAMICK PLAN REALLY COST? IS IT TRULY THE BEST OPTION?

The Columbia County Board of Supervisors is poised to move 15 county departments away from Hudson and into the abandoned former Ockawamick School in Claverack without full consideration of Plan "B," a viable option that provides the space needed, keeps the departments accessible and will cost the taxpayers less.

By contrast, the plan currently favored by the board leadership will place the Department of Social Services SIX MILES OUTSIDE of the city, despite the fact that the majority of DSS clients live in the 12534 area code. In these hard times, how can this be a smart, economic move? Is it reasonable to expect people to pay $10 to travel by taxi from Hudson -- and $10 to return -- when they need access to the services offered by DSS?

WITHOUT AN EXISTING PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM OR TRANSPORTATION PLAN IN PLACE HOW WILL PEOPLE GET TO OCKAWAMICK? HOW CAN A DECISION BE MADE WITHOUT THE ANSWER TO THIS ESSENTIAL QUESTION?

On Wednesday, March 11, the Board of Supervisors will be asked to vote on the proposal to remove DSS from the city. If the vote goes forward at that time the decision will be made without the benefit of critical information and analysis, and a substantial number of people will suffer as a result.

Come to 401 State Street (corner of State and Fourth streets) at 6:30 p.m. and,

• Tell the board a decision made now almost guarantees that children and families will be denied access to essential human services. People in need will fall between the bureaucratic cracks of an already unfriendly system.
• Tell the board to stop this ill-conceived and unfair proposal before it goes any further. Urge the supervisors to visit the existing DSS office on Railroad Avenue -- see what a day there entails, and experience the issues first hand.
• Tell the board to wait -- to vote after important questions are answered, and every supervisor has the information required to make a fully informed decision.

Rally to be seen and heard 6:30 p.m., Wednesday (March 11), 401 State Street, Hudson. For more information, call Linda Mussmann at (518) 209-7966.

Thank you for speaking out with me against biased coverage and lack of diversity!

The NAACP's had a busy week!

In 55 cities, from Jacksonville and Myrtle Beach to Boston and Detroit, NAACP members like you met with Fox TV station managers to demand they pressure Fox owner Rupert Murdoch to make concrete plans for putting an end to racially biased coverage and lack of diversity at his New York Post newspaper and Fox News.

"Make Murdoch Fix it" was the rallying cry of NAACP members who were joined by faith leaders, elected officials and community leaders to demand changes. In Lansing, James Gill, the second VP of the Michigan State Conference, and others met with the station manager at WSYM-FOX. In Dayton, 10 members of the Wilberforce University and University of Dayton college chapters delivered a letter to the manager of Fox affiliate WRGT. Atlanta, Greenville, North Charleston, Raleigh/Durham, Tulsa, and San Antonio also saw action!

NAACP supporters also sent more than 25,000 emails to Mr. Murdoch.

The action was sparked by a February 18 New York Post cartoon that showed police officers having shot dead a monkey that supposedly represented the author of the $800 billion stimulus package. As Roger Vann, our senior VP of field operations and membership, explained, the racist cartoon "outraged our members by comparing African Americans to primates. And it sullied police officers at a time when many communities are torn by suspicious police killings of young African American men."

In addition to the nationwide actions, the NAACP has been lobbying successfully in Washington to help pass key legislation, including the economic stimulus package and the Lilly Ledbetter equal-pay-for-women act. We also worked hard to ensure the confirmation of America's first African American attorney general, Eric Holder.

I want to thank you for standing with us and allowing us to have a strong voice to speak out against racism and for the changes we need.

Sincerely,

Benjamin Todd Jealous
President and CEO
NAACP

NY NAACP president condemns NY Post cartoon

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 18, 2009

"Yesterday, the NY Post ran an editorial cartoon depicting an unarmed, gorilla-like primate on the ground; being shot by two law enforcement officers. The caption indicated that the gorilla represented the President of the United States of America, Barack Obama.

Such a blatantly racist cartoon is not only highly disrespectful but it is also dangerously suggestive. Sadly, we know that far to many unarmed Black men have been murdered, shot to death, by law enforcement officers all across the Country." Dukes said.

"There is no signature or byline on the cartoon, showing further the usual shameful cowardice of those who are responsible; and the complicity of the entire Post staff who published it. This a new low, even for the Post." She continued.

"We remember only too well, the link between such racist stereotypes of years gone by that led to the humiliation, degradation and brutal assaults on Black citizens everywhere." said Dukes.

How ironic the celebration of African American history and the NAACP 100th Anniversary, further that one of the founders of the NAACP 100 years ago was a journalist and the publisher/owner of the New York Evening Post, Oswald Garrison Villard, a white man who was the grandson of abolitionist, William Lloyd Garrison. He even donated space in The Post to issue the "call" to the formation meeting for the NAACP. He must be spinning in his grave.

Hazel N. Dukes, President
NAACP New York State Conference
39 Broadway, 22 Floor
New York, New York 10006
212-344-7474 Ext. 103