THE HUDSON VALLEY'S NEWEST OLD NEWSPAPER
ELLENVILLE, NEW YORK
12428
THURSDAY, JANUARY 24, 2008
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Mr. Rodriguez Goes To Ellenville
DSS Commissioner Still Pushing For Village Satellite Office

Ulster County Department of Social Services (DSS) commissioner Roberto Rodriguez attended last week's village board meeting to discuss the proposed Ulster County DSS satellite office in the village's government center. The commissioner took the opportunity to respond to a number of concerns, often reiterating and clarifying points that he has made in previous meetings and publications.

According to Rodriguez, one of the main reasons for choosing Ellenville as a location for a satellite office is the large contingent of area residents that DSS already serves. With nearly 1,700 town residents receiving some form of assistance, Rodriguez says that providing access to services for those in need is the project's primary goal.

When Rodriguez initially met with the Ulster County Legislature's Human Services committee, legislators seemed reluctant to pay the $19,000 it would cost to start the Ellenville office. A large number of DSS workers were also present at the meeting, accompanied by Kevin Dumond, president of their local union CSEA #8950, which represents DSS workers. Dumond and the workers expressed concerns over safety and security for what is often considered a high-risk job because of the possibility of disgruntled clientele, while also balking at the commute to Ellenville, with one worker reportedly saying, "no one wants to drive to Ellenville."

At the meeting, Rodriguez reported that his preliminary cost estimates place the office's annual budget at $38,000, $14,000 of which will come from existing county funds already in the department's budget. Rodriguez said that because of this reallocation, the county will not incur any additional costs.

"I will take it out of my budget to make it work," said the commissioner.

He also assured those concerned with safety and security that in addition to the office's location in the government center, which houses the Ellenville Police Department, any requests for increased security will be met.

"You want a [metal] detector, we'll get you a detector. You want a wand, we'll get a wand. You want somebody positioned on the floor, we'll position somebody on the floor," said Rodriguez.

Rodriguez also responded to accusations raised by former Wawarsing Supervisor James Doloway, who expressed his own unfavorable outlook on the proposed office by bringing up Ulster County's "charge back" policy, which forces the county's municipalities to pay for 50% of funds given to each recipient of temporary assistance, also known as "safety-net." Doloway argued that a DSS office in Ellenville would attract more safety-net recipients to the area, thereby escalating the amount of money the town would have to pay.

Rodriguez explained that the programs the proposed Ellenville office will provide will not include services for safety-net recipients. Instead, the office will provide three services: food-stamps, the Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP), and Medicaid, none of which fall under Ulster County's charge back policy, and as such, will not increase the town's expenditures.

Rodriguez did say that it was possible that recipients of the aforementioned three services may also be recipients of safety-net as well, but that the requirements and criteria for the programs were very different, and that such overlap was minimal. The commissioner also responded to the threat of fraudulent welfare recipients who may take advantage of the office's location by telling those assembled that the majority of the department's clients are children and seniors.

Rodriguez also said that the staff coming to the proposed office would consist of eight current DSS workers, but said that if the office proved successful after its one-year trial period, and it was discovered that more staff was necessary, the possibility for the office's expansion and the need to hire new personnel could exist.

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District 12 Legislator Peter M. Loughran (Kingston), a member of the county's Human Services committee, said in a phone interview a week after Rodriguez's appearance that he was unaware of the commissioner's plans to speak with Ellenville's board, and expressed surprise. He offered his and other legislator's reservations about the proposed move.

"We did not want to rent additional space. We wanted to use the Trudy Resnick building, if possible," said Loughran, referring to the DSS's current location in Ellenville.

"If we have available space, that's one thing I definitely want to look at. My job is to keep taxes down in the county, and that's one way of doing it�� making sure you're not spending money when you really don't have to."

While Loughran feels that meeting the needs of Ellenville's DSS clients is important, he still feels there are too many questions to move forward right now. "We have to discuss the costs associated with it�� where we're going to do it? Is it temporary? Is it long term? There are unanswered questions at this time."

Loughran also responded to Rodriguez's intentions to reallocate his department's funds to pay for the satellite office's start-up and operation costs.

"If that's the case, then I have to question his budget. Because if he came in to us with a budget saying, 'this is what we need,' knowing full-well that he was padding it with other monies, then I have a problem with that."

Rodriguez countered that the source of the funds within his existing budget will come from money he expects his department will save throughout their operations this year.

"Inherent in the operation there are savings that are accrued during the course of the year that you can redirect. I basically will look to fund the $14,000 in that manner, and therefore I don't have to ask for any new money."

"The number of clients that we served decreased and that basically showed up as a surplus," he continued. "Was that planned or stashed? No. $14,000, even $38,000 in a $100 million budget, or a $96 million budget, is not unreasonable to expect as an accrued savings or surplus."

As to why the satellite office should not stay in the Trudy Farber Resnick building, Rodriguez believes the new office, which will provide new programs, will be too much for the existing office to house.

"The new programs that I'm looking to bring involve more traffic. Together with the two I want to put into Trudy Resnick, it would not be accommodated in that space without replacing other services that are there," said the commissioner.

Above all, the commissioner made sure to remind everyone that the proposed office is still just that�� proposed. He must still try and get the proposal approved by the Human Services Committee, an effort at which he did not succeed initially.


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