[0:01] Hi. This is

[0:03] >> That's right. Yeah.

[0:06] That's what I say.

[0:32] No,

[0:34] you're right. Trust me.

[0:38] They said this lesson.

[1:05] » [snorts]

[2:55] » You see something?

[3:31] Just wait.

[3:35] Sorry.

[5:34] This is it.

[5:36] >> Oh, that's all.

[5:39] It's just

[5:45] how are you?

[5:49] » Oh sh

[5:51] in the car.

[5:54] I'm the age that really matters.

[5:57] >> Good evening everyone. Thanks for

[5:58] coming.

[6:00] I would like to start by introducing

[6:02] myself.

[6:03] My name is Kim Wigginson. I'm the chair

[6:05] of the housing committee and Miss

[6:07] Patrick is the co-chair.

[6:10] I just wanted to take a few minutes for

[6:11] everyone to introduce theirelves so I

[6:13] can put the names of the faces.

[6:16] If you don't mind, you want to start.

[6:18] Hello, I'm Monica Cook.

[6:21] >> And I'm Bob Hoffman.

[6:23] >> I'm Amanda Yarum.

[6:24] >> Jackie Cook,

[6:27] >> Harvey Andrew,

[6:29] >> and Sean O'Brien, assistant corporation

[6:31] counsel.

[6:33] >> Welcome everybody. I'm glad everybody

[6:34] could be here tonight.

[6:37] Um

[6:39] I would like everybody to know that um

[6:42] we got work to do. So with that being

[6:45] said, I would like to call the housing

[6:48] stability task force into order.

[6:53] We will stay on task

[6:56] and first we're going to first thing on

[6:58] the agenda is to review the enacting

[7:01] legislation resolution

[7:03] 2025

[7:05] 138

[7:13] » a resolution established a city housing

[7:16] stability task force whereas the city of

[7:20] Mr. Skenctity city council would like to

[7:23] evaluate gaps and possible solutions in

[7:26] tenant protection, housing

[7:28] affordability, displacement and

[7:30] neighborhood stability and comprehensive

[7:33] approach. Whereas to assist in such

[7:37] evaluation, the city council would like

[7:40] to input

[7:42] from stakeholders, including landlords

[7:44] that own properties in the city, tenants

[7:48] that live in the city, Skenctity based

[7:51] housing advocates that serve the city,

[7:53] residents and landlords, [clears throat]

[7:55] Skenctity based non nonprofits that

[7:58] serve the city residents and landlords

[8:01] and developers that serve the city here

[8:04] in and here here and after stakeholders.

[8:10] We asked the city council wishes to

[8:12] establish a housing stability task force

[8:15] to conduct an exclusive evidence based

[8:19] assessment of current housing

[8:21] conditions, rental market trends,

[8:24] evictions, eviction data, community

[8:27] needs, and potential impact of

[8:30] alternatives to opting in to good cause

[8:34] eviction law in the city of Skenley.

[8:37] Now wherefore be it resolved a housing

[8:41] stability task force, it is established

[8:44] which will be compromised

[8:46] com

[8:48] of nine volunteer stakeholders including

[8:51] [clears throat] one member of the city

[8:53] council who shall be the chair of the

[8:56] task force. Be it further resolved the

[9:00] housing that the housing stability task

[9:03] force shall be charged with conducting a

[9:06] review of the local housing trends,

[9:09] eviction filings, rent burdens and

[9:12] vacancy rates, hosting public forums and

[9:15] engaging stakeholders with voices across

[9:18] the housing spectrum and live perception

[9:21] review and public input reporting within

[9:23] [clears throat]

[9:24] 120 days of the first meeting.

[9:27] the potential impact of the good cause

[9:30] eviction and skinnity and recommending

[9:34] short and long long-term strategies to

[9:37] stabilize housing without increasing

[9:39] regulatory burdens unnecessarily and be

[9:43] it yet further resolved that the task

[9:46] force shall com

[9:50] [clears throat]

[9:51] comprise nine members to the appointed

[9:55] to be appointed

[9:56] by the city council.

[10:04] Be in debt further resolve that the

[10:08] first meeting of those

[10:11] the first meeting and those thereafter

[10:13] of the housing stability task force

[10:16] shall be called at least once at least

[10:19] once city council members on notice to

[10:22] the public via the city clerk in the

[10:24] same manner that the city council's

[10:26] meetings are published.

[10:46] Okay. Um

[10:49] discussions.

[10:51] Um we wanted to um collaborations with

[10:53] one skinnity

[10:57] and um we have some literature here and

[10:59] some data that um is going to be

[11:02] presented by Miss Pertaining

[11:06] to those

[11:10] do you want me to just uh say it's about

[11:18] so once meets the first Thursday of

[11:21] every month um from 8 to 9. And this is

[11:26] a presentation that you have in front of

[11:28] you that I presented um in February. And

[11:32] I just it was really a great um

[11:35] collaboration and it talked about

[11:37] housing issues and this is full of

[11:39] statistics um regarding evictions but I

[11:43] just wanted to tell you about one

[11:45] strategy. Um their main purpose is

[11:49] coming together as a whole um that aims

[11:52] to connect, empower, and mobilize

[11:55] tenants, homeowners, landlords,

[11:58] neighborhood leaders, real estate

[12:00] professionals, elected officials, and

[12:02] staff in the city and county of

[12:04] Skenctity to create and maintain quality

[12:07] homes for all and neighborhoods where

[12:09] everyone can thrive. And everyone who

[12:12] attends is usually from the community,

[12:14] nonprofit organizations, people who are

[12:17] basically coming together like this

[12:19] housing task force is as well.

[12:21] [clears throat] And in here, it talks

[12:24] about all of the statistics about um

[12:26] evictions. It has really, you know, and

[12:29] I'm not going to give everything, but if

[12:31] you go through it, what you want to

[12:32] know, the median household income in

[12:35] city of Sket, unemployment in the city,

[12:38] all things that contribute to evictions

[12:41] um in Skenctity and the capital region.

[12:44] Um so read through it. It talks also

[12:47] about the rent burden in Skenctity.

[12:51] um the vacancies in terms of housing and

[12:53] schedules and what policy solutions have

[12:57] been pursued

[12:58] um so far. So again, I'm not going to go

[13:02] through it, but it does talk about um

[13:04] rental certificate program eviction

[13:07] policies, exactly what is that, the nuts

[13:10] and bolts. Um, and then it really goes

[13:14] through and explains um the pros and the

[13:18] cons about the good cause eviction

[13:19] policy. Um so again, read through it and

[13:23] if anybody's interested in attending um

[13:28] the meetings that are once a month, you

[13:31] can find them on Facebook um and can

[13:34] click like there's a little link and

[13:36] they'll send you the monthly Zoom call

[13:40] um link and we attend via

[13:46] » Okay. Thank you, Monica. Um I wanted to

[13:49] we want to um have a discussion in the

[13:52] areas of housing challenges to focus on

[13:56] that we have to focus on being hotels

[13:59] being used for temporary housing

[14:01] identifying the local hotels. No sorry

[14:05] hotels being used for temporary housing

[14:09] that's becoming an issue that I find.

[14:12] Do anybody have any output for that? I

[14:16] know um there's been a number of people

[14:18] that come to our pantries

[14:22] and I have heard from them that there

[14:24] are certain hotels that throw mothers

[14:26] and children out during the day no

[14:27] matter what the weather is so that they

[14:30] can clean now things like that. I don't

[14:32] know how anyone else feels, but I kind

[14:35] of think that's atrocious to do that to

[14:37] a family who's already in trouble and

[14:39] you think to the street for hours while

[14:42] you clean,

[14:44] right?

[14:46] Great.

[14:47] Anyone else?

[14:55] Okay. Identif we going to we want to

[14:57] identify local hotels used by DSS

[15:02] for housing. There's um there's an issue

[15:06] with people being in hotels over a year

[15:10] that living there like a state house

[15:12] when it's not.

[15:14] [snorts]

[15:14] um

[15:16] >> a year.

[15:17] >> Yeah. [clears throat]

[15:18] >> Living there a year or better.

[15:22] >> Yes.

[15:24] So, we definitely got to tackle what we

[15:26] can do and what we can come up with

[15:29] resources and datas for that. And also,

[15:32] if anybody knows the list of hotels that

[15:34] DSS is um working with

[15:38] as far as housing, that would be great.

[15:42] Can we just ask DSS for that

[15:44] information?

[15:46] >> We could do that also.

[15:48] >> I get a lot of hopeless people at the

[15:50] pantries.

[15:51] >> Yeah, madam madam chair. Yeah, perhaps a

[15:54] request for information from the county

[15:55] department of social services regarding

[15:58] these questions. What hotels?

[16:01] >> Identify the hotels paid. Uh according

[16:05] to this report that you were all given

[16:07] tonight and the [clears throat] local

[16:09] social services districts that's the

[16:11] county uh county social services

[16:15] who according to this state regulations

[16:17] require them to inspect hotels and motel

[16:20] housing homeless every six months and

[16:22] further the new reg the regulations uh

[16:26] also require them to file a six-month

[16:28] inspection for hotels to OTAA office of

[16:32] temporary disabilities insurance

[16:35] assistance. So I think those points that

[16:39] you had in the discussion are you know

[16:42] requests for information for the for the

[16:44] county to provide those numbers and

[16:48] according to this they're if they're

[16:50] housing if DSS is housing the you know

[16:53] folks in in invable

[16:57] list and according to this report they

[17:01] be infecting the conditions every six

[17:03] months. So, um,

[17:05] >> but we know that's not that's not

[17:07] happening.

[17:07] >> Well, we should be asking also for the

[17:09] inspection.

[17:11] >> I mean, they they

[17:13] >> the reports of the inspection.

[17:15] >> Yeah. It requires them to do the

[17:17] inspections every six months and uh so

[17:20] probably should request the most recent

[17:23] [clears throat] inspection reports to

[17:25] hotels.

[17:25] >> Maybe they should do them more often in

[17:27] six months. Well, I' I'd be curious to

[17:30] see how many hotels have the same

[17:32] problems across the board.

[17:35] >> You know, that would tell us a lot, I

[17:37] think.

[17:37] >> Or how timely the inspections are

[17:39] because if the if it's they're supposed

[17:41] to do it every six months given we're

[17:44] coming out of the pandemic and short of

[17:46] staff, are the inspections being done? I

[17:50] think that's, you know, that's more

[17:52] important.

[17:52] >> And what the deficiencies are, are they

[17:54] dangerous deficiencies, cosmetic

[17:56] deficiencies? What are they exactly?

[17:59] >> Depending on the turnover too determine

[18:01] how often it's being done.

[18:04] [clears throat]

[18:04] >> So I think that that could be formulated

[18:07] a request for information to the

[18:09] commissioner of social services for give

[18:12] them a, you know, time to report back.

[18:15] You know, not a lot of time because your

[18:17] suspense period for reporting back to

[18:19] the council was kind of condensed.

[18:21] [clears throat]

[18:22] So

[18:24] I don't think a 3 week at least some of

[18:26] the information should be able to be

[18:28] gathered rather quickly.

[18:31] >> Thank you for asking.

[18:37] » So um we can help draft letter next

[18:40] week. you know.

[18:41] >> Okay. Well, we'll work with the city clerk's office and you mad chair to formulate a letter

[18:51] to the commission. [clears throat]

[18:55] » Great.

[19:06] All right. Another discussion I wanted

[19:08] to have. I know DSS is paying a fair

[19:12] amount for people to stay in hotels.

[19:16] So

[19:18] my whole thing with that is I think it

[19:21] would be cheaper for them to get people

[19:24] housing opposed to paying all the money

[19:28] for these hotels

[19:31] really. So

[19:34] we need to come up with some kind of

[19:36] ideas that we could pres present to see

[19:39] how we can go about people

[19:42] staying in the hotels for like 90 days

[19:45] but then having some place to go after

[19:47] that.

[19:49] >> Then I guess we would have to look at

[19:50] what the housing stock truly is in this

[19:53] area especially uh the housing that's uh

[19:57] been put aside for people of low income.

[20:00] You know, if we know what how much how

[20:02] many pieces are available, that might

[20:05] help us uh find a way to accomplish what

[20:09] you want to accomplish.

[20:23] » I'm just trying to understand why would

[20:25] someone be staying in a hotel for a

[20:27] year? It's

[20:28] >> quick and easy.

[20:30] get them off the street immediately.

[20:32] >> Yes.

[20:32] >> Well, I understandable

[20:36] » and then they they

[20:38] >> is it that they get lost in the system?

[20:41] Is it that you know maybe some sort of

[20:45] disability whether it's physical or

[20:48] mental

[20:49] >> that you know apartments are not

[20:52] >> usually they don't have jobs. They don't

[20:54] have jobs.

[20:55] >> And then being in those conditions, the

[20:58] will to thrive is not good at all.

[21:09] As a a followup to the question for

[21:11] information, if you ask how long what's

[21:14] the average amount of pictures staying

[21:17] in temporary housing, hotels, hotels,

[21:20] and what is the transition to permanent

[21:22] housing? What's the, you know, what's

[21:23] the plan? What does DSS I don't know. I

[21:26] mean, does DSS have a plan to transition

[21:29] folks to permanent housing? I don't I

[21:32] don't know. And that's something I think

[21:33] you're all want to find out.

[21:35] >> Living living in a hotel is really hard

[21:37] on a lot of these families. They come

[21:39] and I can only have this kind of stuff

[21:41] because I only have a microwave, so I'm

[21:43] not really cooking. Can you please give

[21:45] me a can opener provide it? There's a

[21:48] lot of

[21:48] >> There's no stove in the hotel. Yeah,

[21:50] there's a lot of really bad points to

[21:52] being in hotels compared to,

[21:55] >> you know, a real atmosphere where you

[21:57] can be a family or or have some personal

[22:00] growth, right?

[22:08] » Okay. Do the hotels meet the cold

[22:11] standards? I know for a fact

[22:16] I've seen seen some hotels

[22:20] daily

[22:22] [laughter]

[22:24] and it's it's horrible for people to

[22:26] have to live that way. So that's

[22:28] something else that you know is my pet

[22:30] peeve that I would like to you know get

[22:34] some answers for and figure out how we

[22:37] can move forward for that to so they can

[22:40] be regulated and mandated to hold you

[22:43] know inspections

[22:46] » that's going to be a really long drawn

[22:48] out process.

[22:50] we got work to do

[22:51] >> not just coming up with solutions

[22:52] because you don't want to displace

[22:54] anybody while they're doing renovations

[22:56] and you don't want to create hardship.

[22:58] Mhm.

[22:59] >> So it's how do you fix it because it's

[23:01] not something that you could and then

[23:04] maybe you know a hotel is a business

[23:08] they may not want to invest in fixing so

[23:10] or they may not want to go through the

[23:14] process

[23:14] >> right

[23:15] >> of the bureaucracy I guess the best way

[23:17] of putting it. So what happens then what

[23:20] happens to those uh residents that stay

[23:23] in there? Well, I think we need to start

[23:25] with DSS

[23:27] >> informing them of, you know, what we're

[23:29] considering and what we're trying to do

[23:31] to make our community better. And then

[23:33] we all have to put our heads together

[23:35] cuz we have to start somewhere.

[23:37] >> Oh, I agree 100%. I'm not disagreeing

[23:39] with No,

[23:40] >> I just um you know, it's definitely no

[23:44] quick solution. That's

[23:45] >> What about code enforcement? Checking

[23:47] with them and finding out what their

[23:48] standards are. Are they the department

[23:50] that would regulate the hotels? Well, do

[23:53] they regulate the hotel?

[23:55] >> This part

[23:58] to check every six months,

[23:59] >> but not the city. Most of a lot of them

[24:01] are not in the city. It's a county.

[24:04] >> I mean, we can we can solve a lot of

[24:05] these problems by having somebody from

[24:07] DSS come as a speaker. We already had

[24:10] that plan

[24:11] >> previously

[24:12] >> and then we all kind of went on vacation

[24:14] for a number of months. Um, but we

[24:16] should invite somebody from DSS here and

[24:20] tell them these are the points we want

[24:21] to talk about and bring all the

[24:22] information. We kind of, you know, pedal

[24:24] them backwards a little bit

[24:27] [clears throat]

[24:27] >> and then we have to state law will

[24:29] supersede county laws. So, are we

[24:33] infringing on anything? So, that's the

[24:36] other thing that we have to look at.

[24:38] Well, the the the county DSS is has to

[24:41] comply with state regulations regarding

[24:43] regard regarding the housing of that

[24:46] existence. That's what this

[24:50] report thinks out there is no they have

[24:52] to responsibility make sure that the

[24:56] with local code you know local codes as

[24:58] well as the reports they have to submit

[25:01] to office of temporary disorary

[25:06] disabilities

[25:08] that yes

[25:16] » the majority of this falls on People

[25:18] walk into the county DSS at 4:30 and

[25:21] they have to find a place to stay that

[25:23] night.

[25:23] >> That's where your hotels come and then

[25:26] it's a process for them to find a house.

[25:28] And you can imagine as many different

[25:29] kinds of people and family there are,

[25:31] there's that many different stories and

[25:33] paths that have to be followed. So, it's very complicated. I'm not sure it's

[25:38] something that the county issues,

[25:42] you know, we can address and I'm not

[25:43] sure that that's why we're here to solve

[25:45] the county issues. we should get

[25:46] somebody from DSS in here and see where

[25:49] we fit in the process.

[25:51] >> Well, these were some ideas and

[25:53] something that was on my heart that I

[25:56] wanted to bring to the forefront that we

[25:58] could start seeking and searching, see

[26:00] what we can do and we're coming up with

[26:02] suggestions. So, for our next meeting,

[26:05] you know, hopefully we can reach out to

[26:07] these people and they will come and we

[26:09] can get some type of answers.

[26:15] Okay.

[26:19] So, we're going to let hotels meet the

[26:21] goals we just talked about.

[26:23] [clears throat] We also talked about

[26:24] who's responsible.

[26:26] Um, we have the city of Skenctity Fair

[26:30] Housing event coming up April 21st.

[26:50] Thank you. [laughter]

[26:55] » I wouldn't been here all day.

[26:59] >> Um, is anyone interested in going to any

[27:02] of these workshops?

[27:06] » It was great. It was a very informative

[27:08] event. Last year I went this year. I'm

[27:11] going to be um out of the area.

[27:13] Unfortunately, I spoke to um

[27:16] and I that would be the day I was could

[27:20] be certainly informative and a good day.

[27:26] Mrs. Le where is it at this show?

[27:29] Yeah. So it's better than

[27:34] >> and they also they have the workshops

[27:36] come on and they also have the um they

[27:38] have the award ceremony 6 to 9.

[27:46] If anyone is interested in going they

[27:49] can see me after.

[27:56] Okay. Okay, we're going to do a little

[27:57] delegation here.

[28:01] I need some help and we really need to

[28:04] get some answers by community. So we

[28:09] have Monica who's collaborating already

[28:11] with the um once connectity

[28:16] who would be willing to um

[28:25] see what our city regulations is as far

[28:28] as the hotels

[28:31] >> who oversees it speaking to code. Is

[28:33] that what you're referring to? Yeah, I

[28:35] need to point some points. So, I need to

[28:37] take care of that.

[28:38] >> I'll do that.

[28:39] >> You'll do that.

[28:57] Wow. We're getting in touch with someone

[28:59] from DSS.

[29:02] Um,

[29:06] can someone identify the local hotels

[29:09] that they know that are um unhoused

[29:15] families are living in

[29:20] that?

[29:22] >> Absolutely.

[29:23] >> Yeah.

[29:28] So, um,

[29:31] Jacqueline, you work at the you work

[29:33] with the, um, food pantries.

[29:36] >> I am the executive director of St.

[29:38] Luke's uh, St. Henity

[29:41] Shares.

[29:42] >> Okay.

[29:45] Would you know any names of these

[29:47] hotels?

[29:48] >> I have spies on the streets that tell me

[29:51] that and I've asked a few because I know

[29:53] they're working next week. Okay. Because

[29:55] it's not guaranteed that we get

[29:58] >> um social services.

[29:59] >> You're never going to find outs

[30:02] >> that hotels are throwing mothers and

[30:05] children out in the day to clean. You're

[30:06] never going to hear that anywhere up in

[30:08] the mouths of people on the street,

[30:11] >> right? So that's why trying to give

[30:13] everybody a job here to do the see what

[30:15] we can gather together so that when we

[30:17] do get them here, we've got proof. This

[30:20] is happening that's happening. You know,

[30:24] we have a leg to stand on.

[30:25] >> And I think Community Action would

[30:27] probably know what they would know a lot

[30:29] of.

[30:30] >> Absolutely. They would know.

[30:31] >> Yep.

[30:35] » Yeah. We get a number of homeless people

[30:37] every week coming signing up at the food

[30:39] pantry and we ask them where they live,

[30:42] where they're staying, and we ask them,

[30:44] you know, what do you need? And they

[30:47] always need the same. Oh, I only have a

[30:49] microwave. It's a little thing, you

[30:50] know.

[30:51] Netflix offensive too.

[30:53] >> They they like to complain and tell us

[30:55] when there's a problem. [snorts]

[30:56] >> And since I know Gary Hughes very well,

[30:58] I have been known to pick up the phone

[31:00] and tell him and he immediately jumps on

[31:03] it. I can tell you that.

[31:11] » Okay. So, Jacqueline, you'll be getting

[31:13] us the list of names.

[31:15] >> I will do my best, ma'am.

[31:17] >> I appreciate that. Thank you so much.

[31:21] Um,

[31:26] Mr. Hoffman, would you be able to check

[31:30] with our public reports to see or

[31:34] somebody from the county to see how our

[31:37] um how the hotels get inspected? I

[31:40] thought I was doing

[31:47] » Okay, sorry about that. That's right.

[31:49] sphere. Um, we got our data done some of

[31:53] the data.

[31:57] So, I think really that's about it for now.

[32:04] >> Kim, I have a couple things I want to

[32:05] mention. I would love a roster of our

[32:08] committee contact information. Sure. I

[32:10] see the email addresses on if you search

[32:12] for them on the emails, but I'd love a

[32:14] roster

[32:15] >> so I can start putting faces with names.

[32:17] Sure. And and the second point is I'm

[32:20] not on Facebook.

[32:22] >> So, praise the Lord. [laughter]

[32:26] >> So, I would love to give you my email

[32:28] address. You can send me the link.

[32:31] >> Oh, sure.

[32:35] » And the other thing I'm going to

[32:36] suggest, there's a terrific book out

[32:38] there called Evicted.

[32:40] >> The evicted

[32:40] >> by Matthew Des.

[32:43] He's won all kinds of awards, started a

[32:45] not for profofit. It's anyone that deals

[32:47] with eviction has to read it.

[32:50] >> When I was on the bench, I made

[32:52] everybody under me read it.

[32:55] >> It's a great book. He's won pulled

[32:56] surprises. He started not for profofits

[32:58] to help the victim people.

[33:00] [clears throat] And it takes you into

[33:01] the lives of these people. It's going to

[33:03] answer a lot of your questions

[33:05] >> about what's going on. This is it's it's

[33:08] in Milwaukee, which is a bigger city

[33:10] than here, but it just it follows like a

[33:13] dozen people's lives and how they get

[33:17] evicted and what their lives are like.

[33:18] And everybody should just It's just a

[33:20] great book. You should read it. Evicted

[33:22] by Matt Desmond. I'm sure it's in I have

[33:25] two copies. I passed them around to my

[33:27] staff. What's that?

[33:28] >> What? Who's the author?

[33:29] >> Matthew Desmond. Like the hotelically,

[33:33] right?

[33:34] >> Well, if I could borrow a copy, that

[33:35] would be good.

[33:37] Yeah, I'm sure they have it there, but

[33:38] I'll try to bring mine to the next

[33:40] meeting. Um, but you know, when I heard

[33:42] some of the questions here, I'm like,

[33:43] "Wow, I got to read the book."

[33:45] [clears throat]

[33:45] >> Uh, because it it gets you in some

[33:49] empathetic, you know, uh, state of mind.

[33:53] >> So, you kind of understand this a little

[33:54] bit more.

[33:55] >> Yeah.

[33:56] >> You know, some people spend their entire

[33:58] lives of avoiding addiction.

[34:01] >> That's what they do.

[34:04] And you can imagine how difficult. So if

[34:06] they get an extra $200 $300, they're not

[34:09] giving it to rent.

[34:11] >> They're going out and buying a loss.

[34:14] And this book brings this stuff home.

[34:17] >> Um so I just think it's a great

[34:18] resource. It's a good idea for everybody

[34:20] to read that if you're involved in this

[34:22] kind of thing. Um so I'll write down my

[34:25] email.

[34:28] >> Can you introduce yourself? I'm sorry.

[34:29] >> I'm sorry. I'm walk school.

[34:32] >> How you doing? Yeah. And um originally

[34:34] from New York City. Um

[34:37] been in Skenctity maybe while now a good

[34:41] decade now. But um I know about

[34:46] >> my dad lives in a rent state apartment.

[34:49] His rents about maybe 700 relatively

[34:54] >> and I can help in that area.

[34:56] >> Okay.

[34:57] >> Yeah. Some type of rent control. He has

[34:59] connect me.

[35:00] >> Okay. So you got that part.

[35:02] >> Okay. Thank you.

[35:03] >> Thank you.

[35:04] >> Okay.

[35:05] >> Yes. Yes.

[35:08] >> Um anyone else have any input? Any

[35:11] concerns?

[35:13] >> Madam Chairman, I I would just add

[35:15] chairman. Um I would just add that you

[35:17] know a lot of the information in your

[35:19] task force is is is charged to report

[35:22] back to the city council is in this in

[35:26] uh in this [laughter]

[35:28] given

[35:32] » [clears throat]

[35:32] >> So I I would recommend that the group

[35:35] look at it, digest it and if they feel

[35:38] comfortable with the numbers and the

[35:40] sources, etc. in that um then they would

[35:43] use that as a base to make a you know

[35:46] once you make your findings and

[35:48] recommendations you can adopt some of

[35:50] the information that's already contained

[35:52] in here because you the eviction rates

[35:54] and things like that. One of the things

[35:57] in the resolution charging charging with

[35:59] task force field.

[36:01] >> So we're looking forward that

[36:02] >> yes.

[36:03] So take a look at that you know it's getting

[36:10] what we want. We're happy with that and

[36:13] that you know and following up on what

[36:17] was you know it's it's it's not only the hotels but also transition housing

[36:22] and affordable that

[36:25] >> and as well as evictions it's that you

[36:29] got the hotels what's the transition

[36:31] plan for long-term housing

[36:35] for that affordability. So,

[36:37] >> okay,

[36:38] >> those are those are areas you can focus

[36:40] in on, [clears throat]

[36:46] » but um

[36:48] this was a lot of reading and I wish I

[36:50] had time to prepare before I got here.

[36:54] So, if you know I would appreciate it if

[36:56] maybe we could get a little bit earlier.

[36:58] >> Well, this this this is my first

[37:00] meeting. Yeah. you know, I wanted to

[37:02] bring everybody together, you know, and

[37:04] I didn't expect anything to really get

[37:06] done today, but just giving everybody an

[37:09] idea of what we're facing and, you know,

[37:13] >> yep,

[37:14] >> everybody get familiar with everybody

[37:16] and everybody put their input in and

[37:19] >> it's going to become a lot more

[37:20] complicated if you listen to the

[37:23] administration no longer wants the

[37:25] federal government to deal with

[37:28] Medicaid. He wants to push it to the

[37:29] cities. SNAP has changed as of FIBO

[37:32] first. So, we're going to be dealing

[37:33] with that three months down the road.

[37:36] Um, health insurance, he wants, you

[37:38] know, like I said, Medicaid, Medicare,

[37:41] and housing. Housing, he doesn't want to

[37:43] pay for people. He'd rather not do that.

[37:47] I almost said some

[37:51] but you know we have to look at the all

[37:53] those things go along with housing every

[37:55] bit of it you know whether they have

[37:58] food whether they have medical

[38:01] you know it's not just the roof over

[38:02] your head hip because all three go

[38:03] together so I think we're going to walk

[38:05] into a lot more things than we think

[38:07] we're going to walk in just trying to

[38:09] deal with housing

[38:16] » well I'm sure everyone here is dedicated

[38:19] and feel the same way I feel. And

[38:22] >> yeah,

[38:23] >> we have a long road ahead of us.

[38:26] >> Ahead of us,

[38:28] >> but um

[38:29] >> I have faith and I know we can conquer

[38:31] some things.

[38:33] >> Something has to be done. You're

[38:34] absolutely correct.

[38:35] >> Yes.

[38:36] >> You know, I have had people come to the

[38:37] panic who are living in dumpsters.

[38:40] >> You know, I I' I've seen it all at this

[38:43] point. Yeah. You know, I really it's

[38:45] just beautiful things that happen to

[38:47] people.

[38:47] >> Yeah. Last time, the last meeting, I

[38:50] think in October, I was telling God,

[38:51] these people living in the cemetery.

[38:53] >> Yeah. Well, that was street where street

[38:55] soldiers started was the people living

[38:57] in the cemeteries. They wanted to help

[39:00] them. So, they gave them tents.

[39:03] >> Tents kept gave them shelter. But the

[39:06] tents also provided a place for bad

[39:09] actors to go in and steal from them and

[39:11] hurt them and raped them and did

[39:13] terrible things. And the police

[39:14] department, I've spoken with certain

[39:16] police, highly placed police officers

[39:19] who said they were trying to help, but

[39:20] in a way they really didn't because

[39:23] these people thought they were safe

[39:24] until they realized they weren't safe.

[39:26] [clears throat]

[39:27] >> So, I mean, yeah, everybody needs a roof

[39:30] over their head and when you're

[39:31] desperate, you'll pretty much do

[39:33] anything. No,

[39:34] >> we have people sleeping outside St.

[39:35] Luke's all the time. Right on right in

[39:37] the door next to my office in the

[39:39] pantry. I usually find people sleeping

[39:41] and we feed them in the morning, give

[39:42] them, you know, coffee, whatever we can

[39:44] do. But you can only do so much.

[39:46] >> Yeah. [clears throat]

[39:51] » Okay. I have two tenative dates for our

[39:54] next meeting.

[39:56] I have April 28 at 6 or May 1st

[40:02] at 6. How does that work for

[40:05] >> April 28th at no?

[40:09] >> Um, Tuesday is the 28th.

[40:11] >> Oh,

[40:12] >> and Friday is the May 1st.

[40:14] >> I see.

[40:16] >> May

[40:17] >> I prefer May 1st?

[40:18] >> May 1st.

[40:20] >> I can do either. I can do May 1st. So,

[40:23] >> neither of them work for me.

[40:26] >> That's right. I zoom in or something.

[40:32] Uh can any of these meetings uh be

[40:35] virtual?

[40:36] >> We don't have that capability. We

[40:38] haven't adopted a local virtual

[40:41] meetings. Okay. Meetings have in person

[40:47] have inerson meetings. So we really do I

[40:50] do a lot of Zoom meetings. It's not the

[40:51] same.

[40:56] Anyone else have any last minute

[40:59] concerns or

[41:02] >> no? But if anyone needs help with their

[41:05] assignments, please feel free to reach

[41:08] out.

[41:08] >> Amanda, what what do you feel like you

[41:10] should do? Because like I said, I'm new

[41:12] at this. I appreciate any and all help

[41:15] and we all going to work together. Um,

[41:18] I can't think of anything right now, but

[41:20] I mean if you know if you're having

[41:22] issues getting through or making contact

[41:24] with code enforcement or you know you

[41:27] guys are having issues getting data that

[41:29] you need, just reach out. I'll be

[41:31] willing to help.

[41:32] >> Okay. I'm going to be reaching out to

[41:33] each each one of you from now until our

[41:36] next meeting, putting our heads

[41:38] together, let you know we're here. we

[41:39] can share information and we're going to

[41:41] get a roster out with everybody's email

[41:44] so everyone can communicate back and

[41:46] forth. Also,

[41:47] >> when is our roughly deadline?

[41:50] >> Um, our deadline for information to be

[41:53] in is going to be July 6.

[41:57] I have to have a

[41:58] >> the full report together. Put

[42:01] >> that over.

[42:04] My next meeting is May. May

[42:06] >> first right here.

[42:10] We'll draft a letter to the commission

[42:13] services requesting that

[42:17] first

[42:20] [clears throat]

[42:22] » Daniel

[42:36] pretty

[42:39] All right. Um, meetings adjourned. Thank

[42:42] you everyone.

[42:46] » Matthew Matthew.

[42:49] >> I'm gonna see if I can find

[42:51] >> I'm sure it's in the library. I'm sure

[42:53] it's on.

[42:54] >> Maybe I find it on Amazon. or if the

[42:57] audience

[43:15] [laughter]

[43:29] told me she I had

Schenectady Housing Stability Task Force Meeting, April 10, 2026

Transcript