By Dave Lucas
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wamc/local-wamc-862517.mp3
Troy, NY – A local Mayor is under fire for rejecting federal funding that would have helped the homeless... Capital District Bureau Chief Dave Lucas reports.
845-thousand dollars in homelessness prevention funding --- turned down --- by Troy Mayor Harry Tutunjian! The money came to the city by way of the American Recovery and reinvestment act, part of the federal government's 1-point-5 Billion Dollar Homelessness Prevention Fund. Rensselaer County Homeless Services Collaborative membes Unity House and Joseph's House, would have run the program.
The Times Union quotes the Republican Mayor's spokesman Jeff Piro as saying the administration's move to reject the funding is "politcially courageous" and was taken for reasons "purely financial" - 11 local religious leaders signed an article of protest that was published in Sunday's Times union newspaper.
Democratic City Councilman Ken Zalewski told WAMC News that he is calling on the Mayor to reverse his decision - Zalewski notes that Tutunjian's relation with non-profit agencies have been tense. He is among those who think the mayor is deliberately engaging in retribution against Joseph's House after dettling a lawsuit with that agency. The Mayor's office did not return several calls for comment in time for broadcast.