Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan, a second-term Democrat, says cuts to city services are imminent without federal aid. Sheehan says the coronavirus pandemic has slashed city revenue, and entire departments are on the chopping block. In an interview with WAMC News Wednesday, Sheehan discussed the HEROES Act, potential public safety cuts, and more.
What's the latest you can tell us about the Capital Region’s reopening now as we speak here in Phase One?
Well, you know, I think that we have businesses that are appreciative of the guidelines that are available, that are on the New York State Forward website. And every day I get an update of businesses that are part of phase one that have certified that they meet the requirements and have the measures in place to open safely. So that's great to see more businesses coming online. That means people back to work, which is great, and it also means that businesses are abiding by and looking at the guidelines and the recommendations that are in place and we're finding that really interesting. Employers want their employees to be safe. They want to be safe. They want their customers to be safe. And so they're taking the precautions that they need to take to get reopened.
When do you think City Hall might reopen? You know, in a proper reopening?
Yeah, you know, we're looking at what would be available for us with respect to reopening under phase two. This is a conversation that's going on really across all kinds of state and local governments. How is DMV, for example, going to operate? How are city halls going to operate? You know, some city halls conduct a lot more business than others. Our city hall also happens to be a courthouse. And so as the court starts to reopen, what does that look like? So, we're really looking at it from two perspectives. One is we're looking at our workspace and our employees and how do we ensure that our employees as we bring them back into city hall to work, that they're in an environment where they have that six foot distance where they have the precautions in place and can come back here and work safely. And then we're also looking at it from the public perspective, when people want to come in and access services in City Hall. So I think that initially it will be an appointment based system where you call ahead and get that appointment and then come in and deal with, whether it's our vital statistics office or our clerk's office or the treasurer's office. And so it will be a phased reopening and looking at the precautions that we want to have in place for people that come into the building.
You made some headlines by announcing that you would not take a salary for the rest of the year in a bid to forestall you know, even a little bit of cuts coming up. What's it like working without a paycheck right now?
Well, you know, look I'm in a position that, you know, I'm able to do it. My husband have to and I have to sit down and figure out our finances going forward for the year. But I don't think that this should be what municipalities have to come to. I think people should get paid for work. I believe in the dignity of labor, but in this uncertain environment where we're hoping that Congress acts, and so we're forestalling what will be mass layoffs and a mass cut in city services, in anticipation that maybe we won't have to take those drastic measures. I wanted to stop the bleeding as much as I could with this, this action of forgoing my salary for the remainder of the year, but this is just a drop in the bucket. And I think that, you know, we're starting to hear even out of Republicans in the Senate that there is an understanding, or that that municipalities need to have this revenue replaced that they've lost, and that we need to look at the increased costs driven by the adjustments that have to be made because of coronavirus. And that's all we're asking for. This was never about a bailout. This is about how does a municipality, a city, a town, a village that had a balanced budget at the beginning of the year, and that budget has been flipped upside down because of coronavirus, how do they continue to provide essential city services? How do we continue to be part of reopening our economies in the face of having to balance our budgets? So I'm hopeful that you know that rationality and reason and logic will win out. But we can't wait much longer because every week that we delay these cuts, we have to cut deeper. We only have until December 31 to make up the $18 million gap that we're seeing in our revenue.
OK, let's talk about Washington in a minute before we get there. You've mentioned this number $18 million. I know the city of Schenectady is talking about severe cuts to the police force, so where would the first cuts be in Albany? And also putting aside just the fact that you've already laid off the crossing guards with the schools out of session, so that was one of the first actions we saw.
Well, look, we're looking at every city operation, but we are really looking at potentially eliminating entire departments. The city will not be recognizable. I think that people are going to be stunned by how much we have to cut to keep police on the beat and to keep firefighters in the firehouse. You know, that is more than half of our budget. So you know, that's the balance, how do you keep the city safe, and also provide essential city services in this type of financial environment? So I think, you know, we’re looking at every option that we have but what you will see is a pretty significant reduction in city services. And the counter intuitive thing is that we're still going to be hiring some number of police officers because we are down 56 police officers right now. So we cannot continue on the path that we're on. You know, if we were in that environment to lay off even more police officers, again, our ability to respond to 911 calls and to keep people safe would be deeply, deeply impacted. And so even with hiring a certain number of police officers, much smaller than what we had envisioned when we created the budget for the year, we will have savings because we had anticipated hiring enough police officers to get us back up, not to full strength, but to nearly full strength within our police department. So it's very challenging. And it is going to really be a challenge for the police department, even if we get this class hired, which we hope to, we're still going to be down more than two dozen officers, and we have dozens of officers who are eligible to retire. So it really creates significant challenges. Even if people hear the news that we plan on hiring some officers, that's not adding to the budget. That was already budgeted, and we're saving by not hiring as many as we really need to hire.
Well, let's say that the Heroes Act that was passed by the House takes its time getting through the Senate in some form. Would you explore maybe sharing services with the county sheriff or the state police if it gets to that point?
Well, look, we're looking at all possibilities. There is a job sharing program that the state has talked about so we're looking at that four possibilities. But with respect to, you know, the work that we're doing within our police department, you know, we have a city that really demands community policing. We want our police officers to know our neighborhoods, to know the people in our neighborhoods, the challenges in our neighborhoods. We have our own training that we do for our police officers. And so that's the other part of the of the balance of this is that while the title may be the same, the job is different for a police officer walking a beat than it is for, say, a state trooper who you know, may be mainly behind the wheel of a car and doing great work, but it's a different work than what our officers are doing here in the city.
OK, so let's get back to the bill that's now in the Senate. Mitch McConnell said it was dead on arrival. A couple weeks ago, you took the unusual step of telling constituents to go ahead and reach out to him, reach out to the president, reach out to Republicans in Congress, to say that Albany is really hurting here, like many other municipalities. You talk to federal representatives, how confident are you that you will get what you need here?
Well, you know, we're starting to hear from Republicans in the Senate, that they are hearing from constituents. So it matters. Somebody from Albany calling Mitch McConnell may not have as much sway as somebody from, you know, Louisville or other places within Kentucky, but it matters. And so, the other piece of this is that there's a very bipartisan effort underway to advocate for state and local government direct aid and that advocacy is coming from the bipartisan US Conference of Mayors which is led by a Republican mayor. Dozens and dozens and dozens of Republican mayors, every mayor from the state of Texas has signed on to a letter asking for this aid. So this is being I think, sometimes painted as a blue state versus red state. But this is every city, town, village, across the country that are seeing significant challenges with respect to their revenue. And we need to ensure that local government is there to be part of the reopening. Now is not the time for us to be cutting these essential city services. And so I think that it's compelling when it comes from mayors but it's even more compelling when it comes from our residents, when it comes from our firefighters and our police officers and our sanitation workers. They vote and they need to make their voices heard. And I'm really proud of the fact that many, many people from across Albany and the Capital Region have made their voices heard. This isn't just a problem in Albany. It’s a problem in Guilderland, in Colonie, in Niskayuna. It's a problem across this entire region. And so we should all be advocating for it. This is not a partisan issue. This is about making sure that those people who are out there on the frontlines can continue to get paid and that we can continue to provide essential city services.
Now, you've mentioned making the budget plan for next year. Typically, the city is relying on about $12 million a year in what they call spin-up funding from the state. The way it works is because Albany's budget calendar is on a different schedule than the state’s. Your budget goes ahead, there's a hole, and then at the last minute when the state budget gets passed, it's there. Can you count on that spin-up funding from the state this year, given the fact that the state's finances have also been wrecked here?
Well, we're really grateful to the governor and to the Assembly and the Senate for including the $12 million this year. That was included in the budget even as that budget was being crafted during very uncertain financial times with the PAUSE being implemented and the uncertainties around COVID. And I believe we've really made the case for that funding. So at this point that may be subject to some reduction, based on what the governor has said all along, which is, we will reduce AIM and school aid by whatever percentage the shortfall is for the state revenue. The thing about the Heroes Act, or whatever version is ultimately passed by the Republicans in the Senate is that it would replace state as well as local revenue shortfalls. And so we're hopeful that the state's shortfall in revenue would be covered and that that would then forestall a need to cut aid to schools and to localities and that aid from the state does help to pay for our, as the governor said, pays for our police officers, it pays for our firefighters, our sanitation workers. We all want potholes to get filled. So, you know, this is money that is spent on the local level, it stays in our local economy. And it's going to be critically important as we seek to recover from this unprecedented, unprecedented, not only health pandemic, but financial pain that we are feeling and we expect to continue to feel.
Let's go to a couple other subjects. You know, people, if they, if they were lucky enough to keep their jobs are now starting to go back to work, as you mentioned at the beginning. And we know that Governor Cuomo has hinted summer camps are very unlikely to go forward. We know that summer school is now officially off. So if people are going back to work, there's the question of the childcare issue. What should summer look like for kids in Albany this year with so many fewer options?
So yeah, you know, I want to you I think sometimes we use terms interchangeably, and I hear what the governor is saying about summer camps. You know, when we talk about summer camp we're envisioning dozens and dozens of kids all swimming in a pool together, playing kickball, you know, whatever the summer camp is. We have basketball camps, we have soccer camps. So I think that those types of camps, traditional summer camps are going to not necessarily be possible going forward. But I do believe that there are summer programs that can provide childcare, much like existing childcare programs are doing right now, and have through the entire pandemic. So for example, the YMCA provides childcare in a number of schools in the area. And they have protocols in place that have been signed off by the Department of Health and by the state that they're required to follow. So we're really looking at pulling all of that really good information, all of those practices and centralizing those and convening our summer camp operators to determine what kind of programming can they put on that would provide childcare, and be within the parameters of what has already been deemed to be safe childcare. So we are looking to use some of our community block grant funding to help to fund some of the free programming that the city has typically provided to low income children in the city and to their families. And we want to be there for them as we move into the summer and as people start to go back to work, so not child camp, like you know you and I might remember but a form of child care that is safe and that takes into consideration COVID-19 precautions.
What’s the timeline for that?
We're really moving as quickly as we can. The challenges that we're seeing are access to enough adults, supervisors, and teachers. So that's going to be a challenge. You know, we're used to our summer programs, relying heavily on kids from our summer youth employment program. So those 15 and 16 year olds, serving as camp counselors, that's not going to be an option under this model. So, it's really trying to determine where can we recruit from, to find people who are qualified to lead these, these efforts. And so and we're also looking for space, right? Where can you spread kids out, keep a cohort together of let's say it's 10 kids, two adults. So how can we find enough space to do that safely?
The city right now is seeking comments on a survey about its pedestrian and bike planning. It's trying to craft a new bike/ped plan. So my question is, number one, how is this different from the 2009 bicycle master plan? And number two, you're known to ride your bike around town. So what do you want to see yourself?
Well, you know, we did get grant funding to pull this plan together. And it's an update of the 2009 plan. That plan had a broad vision and a number of things have changed many things for the good. And we continue to see the state investing in rail trails and encouraging these bike master plans. And so it's really an update of that, and I think it's the linkages you know. We’re going to see the completion of the link between the Albany County rail trail to The Corning Preserve, which then connects, you know, to the Mohawk trail and so you know, what other linkages do we want to see? Do we want to see things like what you're seeing in Seattle where there are entire streets that are closed to through traffic? If you live on the street, you can drive on the street and park in front of your house, but the streets are not through streets, they're bikeways. And so I think that there is a lot of potential. And you know what I'm really interested to see, you know, what, what our residents come up with and what their ideas are.
You've been in office as mayor for just about seven years now, at this point, after previously being in City Hall in another position. So how does this pandemic and all of the financial stress it's put on the city rank in terms of, you know, the other crises you've dealt with in office? I mean, is this the hardest time you've had so far?
Well, you know, I think that this is the most unpredictable. You know, when you look at other crises, whether it's, you know, a snowstorm or preparing for, hurricane like weather, you know, there are things that are challenging, but, but we know what they are and we know how to respond to them. This is very different, right? We have not had all of the answers. There's still more questions and answers. And as we think about this virus and what we're seeing, we don't know, whether we're seeing fewer cases, because there's going to be, you know, sort of a falloff in the summer. Will it come back? You know, what happens if people become more lacks and stop wearing masks? So it's more challenging from that perspective where, you know, the power goes out. Okay, that's unfortunate. If you have a storm, it's unfortunate, but we know how to respond. And we have systems in place that are able to respond to those situations. And here we've had to really invent our response as we've gone along, based on the best information available to us. And that information, and the information that elected officials like me and policymakers rely on to try to make informed decisions and keep the public informed have changed from the beginning of this to where we are now. We’ve learned a lot, and I think we'll continue to learn even more. So that that creates some challenges because we don't know how this ends, right. If we have a storm and a tree falls on a house, we kind of know how it ends, right. We're going to get the tree off. We're going to shut down the power, we're going to contact the insurance company, the house will get rebuilt. You know, it's tragic, but, but we know the outcome. And this is very different. And so I'm really grateful because there been a lot of really great resources that I've had available to me to help me lead through this and mayors across the country that we've been able to really come together and get the best advice and learn from one another and support one another as we all really bleed in these unprecedented times.
Do you still enjoy the job as mayor of Albany?
Yeah, you know, look, I like to help people. I like to work with people who are really creative and thinking about what we can do to help the residents of our city and so and it's also amazing to lead in a time that has called on people to volunteer of themselves and to sacrifice in ways that we haven't seen in in my lifetime. And I'm always amazed at every person who steps forward and makes food for people, delivers food, calls and says, hey, do you have masks for the people who are living in St. Vincent de Paul housing? How can we help the kids in the South End? They can't come into the South End Children's Cafe, but how can we still feed them? You know that that sense of community that is brought out when you're in times like these, and it's really humbling to see it. And it's really a privilege for me to help to facilitate it right. When people are coming and saying, we, we have this solution now, can you help us implement it, and to be able to see those things happen has been really gratifying. And I think our business community has stepped up. I think our hospitality community has stepped up and they've made such extreme sacrifices. But I'm hopeful that we'll be there for them as we try to move back to some sense of reopening and doing things in a new way.
That's the mayor of Albany, Kathy Sheehan, a second-term Democrat. Mayor, as always, thank you so much for your time.
Thank you.
