You think Eddie really cares?

Chester kept in dark about homeless shelter meeting

By Dave Gordon
Chester — Officials from the towns and village closest to the Camp LaGuardia homeless shelter say they are outraged to have been excluded from the bargaining table.

Orange County Executive Edward Diana met with New York City officials on Aug. 26 to discuss problems at the shelter, which is owned by the city's Department of Homeless Services. Present at the meeting were Diana and acting county attorney David Darwin; Linda Gibbs, New York City's commissioner of homeless services; and Mayor Bloomberg's chief of staff Peter Madonia and general counsel Clarke Bruno.

Local officials said they were furious not only for not being invited, but for being kept in the dark about what happened at the meeting. They are under much pressure from their constituents, who are demanding that they fix the problems that spill out of the shelter. These include so-called "quality-of-life" violations committed by some residents, such as public drunkenness and urination, as well as the presence of parolees and sex offenders at the camp.

"Supervisor Charles Bohan [of Blooming Grove], Mayor Susan Bahren [of Chester] and I are writing to express our displeasure at not being included in the upcoming negotiations between the county and N.Y.C. Dept. of Homeless Services regarding the ‘Rampe Agreement' and Camp LaGuardia," wrote Chester Supervisor William Tully in a letter to Diana. "We have been directly involved in the formulation of this agreement from the very beginning and can bring a great deal of firsthand knowledge to the discussion."

The Rampe Agreement is a court-brokered settlement of a lawsuit under former County Executive Joseph Rampe. It spells out requirements for the 1,000-resident homeless shelter, and was intended to improve the safety and quality of life for the shelter's neighbors.

Tully's letter urges Diana to raise several issues with New York City. It calls first for an impartial monitor to verify that the city is complying with the agreement. Tully also urges Diana to press for a prohibition of all sexual offenders and felony parolees, a requirement that residents be at least 42 years old, up from the current 35. The letter also urges Diana to seek agreement to "proportionally reduce the population with any reduction of the homeless population in the city."

Tully said on Tuesday that he is disappointed Diana has not offered any insight into agreements that may have been reached during the discussion. He does not even know whether the issues he and the other officials presented were raised at all.

"I called Diana's office yesterday," Tully said on Tuesday. "He wasn't in. I called today, and they said he was on vacation until the end of the week. I went to great lengths to let him know I was disappointed when we weren't invited, and I was told he would keep us informed."

In a press release following the meeting, Diana stated: "We had a productive meeting with key officials from the City of New York Mayor's Office and the New York City Department of Homeless services at which we discussed a number of important issues with respect to the operation of Camp LaGuardia. I am optimistic this meeting will result in a positive outcome for the communities located near Camp LaGuardia. This is the beginning of a meaningful and open dialog between Orange County and New York City."

Diana spokesman Steve Gross said Diana did not intend to elaborate on this statement.

As to whether the supervisors and mayors would bring a lawsuit, Tully noted that the court monitors the Rampe Agreement, and this would be the place to go.

New York has contracted with the Volunteers of America (VOA) to run the facility.

"I would think the city would also want a monitor to see that VOA is doing the job right," Tully said.

Orange County legislators Frank Fornario of Blooming Grove and Dimitrios Lambros of Sugar Loaf also wrote to Diana. In an open letter published last week in The Chronicle, they pressed for most of the same demands. In addition to an on-site monitor, the legislators want a monitor at the admissions site in New York City. They also ask that Camp LaGuardia be gradually phased out of town altogether.

Fornario said Tuesday that staffers in the Diana administration had assured him that the issues in the letter had been discussed. However, Fornario was not informed of the results of those discussions.

"It could be that they did reach agreements, but wanted to clear them with other city officials before announcing them," he said. "If giving the information out prematurely could close off an agreement I would agree with not giving it out. I understand this is an ongoing process, and another meeting is expected in two to three weeks."

However, Fornario emphasized, if these talks don't lead to positive changes, local officials and possibly the county Legislature could take stronger action, including legal action. This would depend on the response announced after the next meeting.

This round of discussions is "a line that has been drawn in the sand. We'll see whether they cross it."

"What is the largest homeless facility in New York City?" Fornario asked. "Camp LaGuardia," he said. "We deal with our homeless in Orange County with small shelters around the county."

Fornario also criticized Camp LaGuardia because it is not a temporary home, as are most homeless shelters. "There are people registered to vote at Camp LaGuardia," he said. "They shouldn't be there that long."

Fornario noted that he has been working on Camp LaGuardia for 12 years, since he served as a Blooming Grove Councilman. He said he helped get former New York Mayor Rudolf Giulianni to come to Orange County to meet with local officials in 2000. The meeting led to the establishment of the Rampe Agreement.

During Fornario's time as a councilman, the Town of Blooming Grove tried to have part of the camp closed down because of zoning violations.

"We won at the first two levels of the court," he said. "But we were reversed in the Appellate Court."

Chester Councilwoman Cynthia Smith was not at all optimistic.

"This is an election year," she said. "If anything good came out of this meeting, the county executive would be telling everyone. He got nothing, and he's trying to keep it quiet."

Smith said she is "outraged" over the exclusion of the officials of the towns and villages most affected by Camp LaGuardia.

But Diana spokesman Gross said the Rampe agreement is between Orange County and New York City.

"It's still in negotiation," he said.