The mayor of Oneonta says immediate action is necessary to address the growing issue of problem homelessness in the Otsego County city.
Tuesday night, Oneonta Mayor Mark Drnek presented to the common council his plan to address the growing population of unsheltered individuals within the city, illicit drug use, and petty crimes. During the same meeting, a group of residents from the city’s Fifth Ward presented their concerns about individuals being sheltered at a motel on Chestnut Street, including drug deals and theft.
Drnek tells WAMC that the lingering social effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are impacting the small city.
“There have been a number of people who have been displaced, now, on the other side of the pandemic because evictions, where we had a moratorium, are in play again and some of those people have lost their housing. And then, as I’ve said, we've enjoyed a warm stretch of months, as has most of the country, most of the world, and so we find ourselves with a whole lot more people who are on the street,” said Drnek.
Human service agency Opportunities for Otsego received a grant to provide a count of the unhoused. Drnek says that work is still ongoing, but, anecdotally, he’s observed a noticeable increase in recent years. That, he says, has had an impact on community resources.
“I can tell you, in speaking with the various agencies that I have been over the course of last several months, they are overwhelmed,” said Drnek.
The first-term Democrat is calling for the creation of a new Safe Homes and Neighborhoods Committee, to be led by three city councilors: proposing Ed Overbey, Emily Falco, and Len Carson.
Overbey, of the Seventh Ward, says there’s an uneven approach in assisting the unsheltered.
“We have some of them housed in a motel out of town, and there are people there that are trained and capable of providing them with rehabilitation and therapeutic services. In other cases, all we're providing them with a shelter, they're getting very little governance or service,” said Overbey.
“I feel like it's at the top of everybody's concern right now in Oneonta,” said Falco.
Falco, of the Eighth Ward, approves of Drnek’s strategy to dive into a complex issue.
“I feel like it's the best way to make change in our community, you know, because it gives everyone a voice and everyone has a stake in the outcome,” said Falco.
Under Drnek’s proposal, which still needs approval from the common council, the Safe Homes and Neighborhoods Committee will oversee five individual working groups of community stakeholders, each tasked with finding solutions to a separate goal. They are, as outlined by the mayor:
1. Increase community involvement and education in support of public safety
2. Explore, determine, and facilitate new and additional avenues to expand wrap-around services for Oneonta’s at-risk population
3. Enhance accountability and reduce Oneonta’s unsheltered population through relocation within and outside the city
4. Identify appropriate social service support for relocation or replication, and determine the mechanisms and funding required
5. Facilitate environmental adjustments in the city’s downtown and other frequented areas as a deterrent to inappropriate use
Fifth Ward councilor Carson called the mayor’s plan “good, hard work.”
“I think we're at the incipient stage of it. And with Emily and Ed Overbey, I believe we'll be able to get a good start on this. I like having community members join in. I think it's necessary to get other input,” said Carson.
In the audience for Tuesday’s council meeting for an unrelated issue was Meg Kennedy, Vice Chair of the Otsego County Board of Representatives. She supports the mayor’s plan and hopes it will help inform county officials about how to further assist the unsheltered.
“We need to be partnered up with them to at least understand the issues and understand how the whole entire county's money is going to be best spent for the, you know, for the best effect and outcomes,” said Kennedy.
The next regular Oneonta Common Council meeting is scheduled for September 5th.
