Mayor of Mean Won’t Come Clean
Homeless rent collector Bloomberg has some explaining to do
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg took another brutal swipe at homeless people and people living with HIV and AIDS last week when he announced that the Department of Homeless Services will be collecting rent from working individuals and families who use the city’s shelter system.
Mayoral candidate Comptroller Bill Thompson echoed homeless and AIDS advocates concerns over the perversity of the policy. “Taking a portion of a family’s limited income as rent is quite simply counter-productive. The more families pay to be sheltered, the longer they will need to remain in a shelter—at a greater cost to the City—as they struggle to accumulate financial resources necessary to secure a new place to live,” Thompson said.
Read the letter that Thompson sent to Bloomberg and see Thompson in action:
Although a State regulation allowing the city to collect rent from people using shelters has been on the books since 1997, it has only very recently been implemented.
“It’s abundantly clear that Bloomberg has decided to resurrect this Dickensian regulation simply to save the city money in a time of financial crisis. Bloomberg has balked at raising income taxes on the rich but has no problem with burdening the vulnerable people who need the most assistance in these tough economic times,” Housing Works Director of New York Policy and Organizing Kristin Goodwin told the Update.
Time to testify
Combined with the nearly $10 million in cuts to AIDS services in Bloomberg’s proposed 2009-2010 budget, the announcement showed the mayor’s baffling indifference to homeless New Yorkers, who are disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS.
AIDS advocates are ramping up the pressure on Bloomberg to not only back off the cuts but also account for nearly $1 billion in federal Medicaid stimulus money in the new budget. So far, the Mayor’s office has only made anemic attempt at transparency, directing New Yorkers to its detail-challenged stimulus tracker. (The City should take transparency lessons from—gulp—Albany when it comes to stimulus transparency).
Earlier this month, nine protesters were arrested during a civil disobedience action at City Hall that brought attention to Bloomberg’s bungled public health budget.
Even people inside City Hall are frustrated with the Mayor of lack of transparency. One insider told the Update that one borough’s City Council delegation may go over Bloomberg’s head and appeal directly to the governor in order to find out how the City is using its billions in stimulus aid.
The next chapter in the budget drama will take place next week at City Hall budget hearings. The Council Finance Committee, General Welfare Committee and Women’s Committee are holding a joint hearing on Tuesday, May 26 at City Hall in the Council Chambers. Housing Works and other AIDS organizations will be submitting testimony and making public comments.
The hearing is open to the public, so anyone who wants to explain to City Council what’s wrong with Bloomberg’s budget should attend. The hearing begins Tuesday, May 26 at City Hall at 10 am with testimony from HRA/Social Services; 11:30 is Administration for Children’s Services, and 1:30 is the Department of Homeless Services. Public comment begins at 3:30 pm.
See the Council meeting schedule.
Posted on May 20, 2009 at 12:01 am
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