4 NOVEMBER 14, 2019 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Glendale neighbors argue against
proposed shelter at public hearing
Glendale residents testifi ed against the Cooper Avenue shelter at a contract hearing last week. Photo: Max Parrott/QNS
BY MAX PARROTT
MPARROTT@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
Councilman Robert Holden joined
Glendale residents to raise procedural
and financial arguments
against the proposed 78-16 Cooper
Ave. shelter site at a public hearing
the city held over contract on Thursday
morning.
The hearing provided an opportunity
for the Department of Homeless
Services to hear testimony from
the community before the agency
makes a final decision on whether to
approve the five-year, $61.8 million
contract.
The arguments against the shelter
were split between technical objections
to the contract and general concerns
about how the shelter would
disrupt the neighborhood.
Addressing representatives from
the DHS and the mayor’s office,
Holden was more subdued than he
was at last weekend’s shelter protest.
He argued that the project should not
go forward because of its proximity
to schools and nearby sports complexes
and what he claimed to be
procedural missteps in its rollout.
He also brought up a procurement
policy mandate that elected officials
have a right to obtain a contract
before a hearing, but claimed his office
was flatly denied. When Holden
sent a staff member to the Office of
Contracts, they found that an itemized
budget for the project was left
missing in the contract.
“We cannot allow taxpayers to
continue to be victims of fishy baitand
switch tactics by city agencies
and their friends,” he said.
He continued to claim that he
had made proposals for alternative
locations for shelters that DHS
Commissioner Steven Banks liked,
even though the agency previously
confirmed to QNS that it has found
all of his proposals unviable. He
finished by saying that he called for
a city investigation into the contract
procurement and asked that the process
be delayed until.
After Holden’s testimony, Glendale
resident Dawn Scala argued that the
value of the contract had been inflated
by Westhab, the service provider
in charge of running the site.
“That breaks down to $5,150 per
person per month to sleep on a cot
in a dormitory-style setting,” said
Scala.
Community Board 5 District
Manager Gary Giordano reiterated
Scala’s financial concerns and
reminded the city representatives
that the community board had voted
against the project last month.
For the most part, the tone of the
hearing was less hot-blooded than
previous hearings and protests,
which gave residents a more clearheaded
chance to explain where
their hostility toward the idea of
hosting the facility.
Dotty Wenzel, a Glendale resident
since 1978, described the neighborhood
as a secluded little community
as part of her argument that the shelter
would turn the fabric of the community
into a “nightmare.”
Wenzel’s testimony serves as a
reminder that Glendale’s secluded
quality is not an accident, but a
result of zoning and direct action
from residents.
For almost a decade before this
project was first proposed, residents
have been fighting against
big buildings and large influxes of
new residents. They pushed for two
major rezonings in 2006 and 2009
which limit the density and keep any
new buildings in character with the
neighborhood.
The disruption of this idea of Glendale
as a neighborhood, a characteristic
that residents have defended for
years, has scared them.
“I literally have nightmares once
a week crying in my sleep because
I’m afraid of what’s going to happen
in my neighborhood,” Diana Shanley
said in her testimony.
The Department of Homelessness
will consider these arguments
before they announce their final
decision. Paul Romain, the Human
Resources Administration’s Chief
Contracting Officer who listened to
the arguments, said that he couldn’t
say what the next step of the process
will involve.
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