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Binghamton Republicans Want to Launder More ARPA Recovery Dollars to Fund Beautifying Walls of Commerical Buildings

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At the April 12 Binghamton City Council meeting, the GOP-led Council is expected to rubberstamp, as usual, Mayor Kraham’s request to (1) launder $500,000 of COVID recovery funds through the general fund, “liberating” the federal grant dollars from program rules, and then (2) immediately allocating this same $500,000 for a commercial façade improvement grant program to help commercial property owners and small business operators.

Representatives from the Kraham administration presented the proposals to Binghamton City Council at the March 27 work session. A video recording can be found here, and the presentation starts at the 40 min 30sec mark.

According to Mayor Kraham’s own press release, the new grant program will reimburse property owners 75% of the costs to beautify the facades of their commercial properties.

The program will be run by the Binghamton Local Development Corporation (BLDC), which for years had secured state grants to offer and manage a commercial façade improvement program that helped dozens of local small business and commercial property owners. Apparently, leadership at the BLDC (and the sitting mayor exercises full control over BLDC) has abandoned its 15-year practice of competing for and winning state economic development grants and has instead chosen to raid and launder flexible, unprecedented pandemic recovery funds to beautify the walls of commercial properties.

Apparently, it’s just easier.

Mayor Kraham held a press conference of his proposals on March 23, and was joined by small business owner  Jon Korchynsky who spoke in strong support of the mayor’s proposal. The press conference was held in front of the downtown building owned by Korchynsky, which by all accounts is the one neighborhood in Binghamton where values of commercial properties have skyrocketed.

Mayor Kraham standing next to alleged store owner in need of help following COVID. This is the same developer who recently purchased the Crowley factory for $800,000 and is proposing a $13 million market-rate housing redevelopment (with the help of more public funds).

 

Kraham’s pick for a small business owner in recovery is peculiar. In January of this year, Korchynsky purchased the old Crowley factory on Conklin Avenue for $800,000, and has announced a more than $13 million project to convert the old dairy processing plant into market-rate (luxury) apartments.

Also in January of this year, Mayor Kraham prioritized Korchynsky’s market-rate housing project in a grant application to New York State’s Restore NY Program, requesting $3,000,000 to support the developer’s market-rate housing project. Here is the resolution Kraham submitted to City Council for approval in order to request public funds on behalf of Korchynsky. It was approved unanimously.

Korchnsky’s quote at the press conference about helping small business owners hurt by the pandemic sounded nice, but he may not be the best poster child for a recovering mom-and-pop business owner in need. Moreover, a façade program may not be the most impactful way to help small businesses. This appears to be another recovery program, funded with flexible and unprecedented federal recovery dollars, designed around the “needs” of those who have unfettered access to the Mayor and his team: largely wealthy developers and downtown property owners.

There are likely thousands of households, workers, families, children, parents, homeowners, tenants, and nonprofits in Binghamton still reeling from the pandemic with needs that could be addressed with these recovery funds. Housing and mental health come first to mind.

Unfortunately—and unbelievably—nobody at the City has ever asked them.

This Wednesday when Binghamton City Council rubberstamps Kraham’s proposal, the Republicans in charge over the last two+ years will have allocated approximately 92% of the $46 million in recovery funds without holding a single community forum to hear from those most impacted by the pandemic.

The deadline to fully spend the funds is December 31, 2026.

 

To learn more about the $46 million in recovery funding provided to the City by the federal government, visit www.binghamtonslushfund.org, a website created by housing justice and good government advocates that seeks to bring transparency and accountability to the City’s decisions, and documents every recovery dollar allocated to date. The website is chock full of information about ARPA, how other cities have used their unprecedented recovery award, the program rules, and how to get involved. (Full disclosure, I am one of those advocates and am personally covering the website hosting costs.)

A Performance Analysis of the current Binghamton City Council: Legislative Body or Overpaid Rubber Stamp?

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If Binghamton City Council is the community’s legislative body, ever wonder how they’re performing?

After all, Binghamton is a strong-mayor form of government, which grants the mayor full executive and administrative authority over the day-to-day operations of the city. City Council, on the other hand, assumes the role of chief legislative body, expected to introduce and advocate for policy changes that respond to the needs of the residents and community at large.

Functions of a mayor under strong-mayor form of government, which applies to Binghamton. (Source: https://ballotpedia.org/Mayor-council_government)

 

Elected officials in the U.S. House and Senate introduce legislation daily. According to GovTrack, more than 10,000 legislative proposals have been introduced annually over the last ten years.

Here in New York, Assemblymembers and Senators issue media release after media release about new bills they are introducing. Few are signed and become law, but like their federal counterparts, these state legislators certainly embrace their role.

So, faced with a pandemic and public health crisis, an acute and worsening housing crisis, an opioid epidemic that still ravages, a nation reckoning with racism, systemic poverty and growing economic disparities, and the existential threat of climate change, how prolific have our chief legislators been in Binghamton? How are they performing?

Poorly.

By any objective measure, the Council is failing us.

According to the data, it’s not unfair to say that the Council over the last few years has truly operated more as a rubber stamp than a generator and advocate of policy ideas that address the pressing needs in our community.

And the close reader asks, “What data?”

The Binghamton City Clerk’s Office maintains a database of all legislation ever introduced or considered by City Council and the eventual outcome of each proposal. Under the NYS Freedom of Information Law (FOIL), I requested a copy of the database showing all activity from 2019 to current.

According to the database, there are 757 entries of proposed legislation from January 1, 2020 through July 2022, the current term of this Council.

The seven members of Council account for only nine (1.2%) of these 757 legislative proposals.

The other 748 proposals considerd by this Council were introduced by the mayor and his administration, and probably 95% of them or more were administrative bills and nothing to do with policy (for example, allow the city to submit or accept grants,  change some money around in the budget, sell a vacant lot, enter into contracts with private firms to carry out capital projects, allow for fireworks shows, etc.).

Said another way: Binghamton taxpayers compensate the City Council more than $70,000 a year to serve as our chief policy and legislative body, but over two and a half years, the entire Council has only proposed nine pieces of legislation.

And if you examine this performance metric more closely, nine is being generous.

As the table illustrates, the nine legislative proposals include the following:

  • The sole proposal by Giovanni Scaringzi was to address an administrative update defining the workday of the City Clerk and Deputy Clerk positions, which he likely did upon request by either the Mayor or the City’s Personnel Director – so it doesn’t really count.
  • The sole proposal by Sophia Resciniti in 2021 was to make on-site cannabis use illegal in Binghamton, but apparently either the Mayor or her campaign advisers convinced her to hide her true colors and abandon a proposal that would be wildly unpopular.
  • One of two proposals by Tom Scanlon was to push back on a nation (and our community) reckoning with systemic racism with his “Back the Blue” legislation. Tom’s other proposal was to increase the mayor’s salary, which he likely did upon request by the Mayor’s Office – so this second one doesn’t really count.
  • Angela Riley has introduced two pieces of legislation, and Aviva Friedman has introduced three (winning the “Most Prolific Legislator of this Council” Award). These two Councilwomen introduced the most meaningful proposals by far this Council term – helping folks stay housed during the initial, terrifying wave of COVID. And it’s telling that both proposals were immediately killed by the majority GOP (Resciniti, Scanlon, Scaringzi, and Strawn).
  • Phil Strawn and Joe Burn have yet to introduce a single piece of legislation.

Reviewing legislative activity shows us not just how engaged a member is, but what values are being championed. I see very little engagement, and while some values are on display by both parties, I see very little advocacy.

As an engaged resident with a couple dozen legislative/policy ideas that reflect either equitable, compassionate responses to the urgent needs in our community or my own values for ethical governance, I am saddened by the lack of advocacy among City Council Democrats and disheartened and appalled by the Republicans on Council who have happily embraced the role of rubber stamp.

I suppose one will argue, “But the Democrats don’t have a majority, and any bills they introduce will just keep getting blocked and killed. Why bother?”

Because that’s the role of a Council member: to champion and legislate the values voters entrusted you to represent.

Whether a proposal becomes law is not the only measure of success. What matters is to go on record advocating for values, to inform and shape our civic dialogue, to amplify the voices of those who are muffled and silenced, to steer our collective gaze to those struggling in the shadows, to affirm to those harmed by the status quo that we see them and they matter, to rally consensus and inspire hope–and through that advocacy, either score important policy wins OR expose those legislators who refuse to help our most vulnerable residents or who care little of justice or good governance by forcing them to go on record with their own hypocrisy.

For those considering a run for Binghamton City Council next year, regardless of the party affiliation, if you can’t commit to the above, please do us all a favor and stand down. This community is in dire need of policy champions.

In the name of transparency, the legislative database is available here for your review.

Binghamton and Broome Must Seize the Hidden Gem in NY’s Budget: $250 Million to Tackle Vacant Properties

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Thanks to the unprecedented infusion of federal recovery dollars, the state’s budget approved in April is loaded with massive, one-time investments. Some have attracted critical media attention (Bills stadium deal, Exhibit A), while some have escaped the spotlight. One of those hidden gems is a $250 million allocation to the Restore NY program, which has been described by Republican and Democratic mayors over the years as one of the most effective state-local partnerships in decades.

The Restore NY Program was first launched in 2006 and designed specifically to help communities tackle vacant and abandoned properties particularly in urban centers and historically disinvested neighborhoods. This surprising but incredible quarter billion allocation represents another unprecedented opportunity for local governments to address what is a top priority in virtually every community across the state: quality, affordable housing.

With the first round of $100 million in competitive funding to be announced in July, and the remaining $150 million to be announced in October, there is an urgent need for local officials to foster open, transparent, and inclusive conversations about how to leverage this opportunity to both tackle vacant properties and address affordable housing needs for Binghamton residents.

For inspiration as to what’s possible, current officials and decision-makers need only review local history, and take lessons from the award-winning efforts of Matt Ryan’s administration.

The 2006 launch of the Restore NY program coincided with Matt Ryan’s first year in office as mayor, and state officials promised three years of funding. Each year saw steep annual increases in available funding: $50 million in 2006, $100 million in 2007, and $150 million in 2008.

While most communities identified one large vacant property to tackle, the Ryan administration took a uniquely different approach that won awards, statewide praise, and set a model that other upstate communities would follow for the next couple of years.

Over the first three rounds of funding, Binghamton applied for and won more than $5 million in Restore NY grants, which helped address about 100 vacant and blighted residential structures, most of them pulled from Broome County’s annual tax foreclosure list.

Residents, through the Binghamton Neighborhood Assemblies, helped identify for the administration which long-time eyesores in their neighborhood should be prioritized for demolition.

The administration partnered with local affordable housing nonprofits like First Ward Action Council and Opportunities for Broome, as well as small local contractors, to fully rehab other vacant properties into affordable housing opportunities, both for homeowners and renters.

New single-family homes were constructed on vacant lots, which hadn’t happened in years.

The city’s first-ever energy-efficient, ADA-compliant permanent affordable housing project was completed on Lisle Avenue in partnership with the Binghamton Housing Authority.

Gut rehabs were carried out in partnership with students from Broome Community College to give them in-field experience alongside classroom instruction–and reduce the costs for local contractors.

Binghamton partnered with Metro Interfaith to create the Binghamton Homeownership Academy, which was tasked with building a pipeline of qualified low-income first-time homebuyers while affordable housing developers worked on a pipeline of new homes.

A national expert on deconstruction was brought in to train a couple local demolition contractors how to salvage materials for resale, sending less debris to the county landfill and reducing the costs of demolition to benefit local taxpayers.

Following some demolitions, vacant lots were transformed into community gardens, including the downtown urban farm. At the same time, the administration was providing staff time and nominal financial support to build the capacity of a group of passionate community gardening volunteers who eventually launched VINES, which has been a major asset to neighbors and neighborhoods for more than a decade.

A new partnership with Binghamton’s PricewaterhouseCooper Scholars Program, which became an annual tradition that persists today, transformed an overgrown parking lot at the end of Walnut Street into a playspace and park that continues to serve as a community hub for neighbors.

(A slide deck I developed in the fall of 2013 during my final months as the City’s Director of Planning, Housing, and Community Development and which summarizes our successes of Restore NY–with cool pictures!–can be found here.)

The Ryan administration utilized three rounds of Restore NY funding to not only leverage $6 million more in private and philanthropic investments, but also demonstrate the power of community-driven revitalization that values and prioritizes resident input, deep community partnerships, and a culture of risk-taking.

It wasn’t easy. But the better approach hardly ever is.

That’s why many local leaders chose the easier approach. They’d keep this opportunity quiet, meet behind closed doors with the well-connected developers in the area, and shovel millions of Restore NY dollars into one vacant commercial building, promising “catalytic and transformative” results for the neighborhood. The result was usually the same: the production of more “market-rate housing” that priced out most struggling residents and over time shoveled generous profits back into the developer’s bank account.

That can’t happen here, not now. Like most communities across this country, Binghamton’s housing crisis was severe before COVID-19. Our housing crisis today is an urgent five-alarm fire.

Locally, non-student tenants face a nearly impossible task to find decent, affordable housing. Our very low-income neighbors are barely holding on in the face of imminent homelessness—or have already fallen. Emergency shelters are at capacity, and funding is drying up.

With the opportunity this year alone to win up to $6 million in awards over two rounds of Restore NY funding, I encourage residents to talk with our local officials and urge them to consider the following:

  1. Be open, transparent, and inclusive in the brainstorming and development of Restore NY applications. Start yesterday, given the first round of $100 million in funding will open in mid-July.
  2. Prioritize housing justice—not fancy promises of ‘transformative’ economic development. The State commits almost a billion dollars a year to Regional Economic Development Councils (“Hunger Games”), and there are already plenty of other state, county, and local economic development incentives and programs. Restore NY funds should be directed to vacant residential properties, and result in the production of quality affordable housing, portions of which should serve extremely-low income households.
  3. And if the City does request funding for one or two large vacant properties, local officials MUST require that ALL residential units created with Restore NY funds be affordable for at least 30 years (though permanent affordability is preferable). In fact, the state is even offering additional funds for applicants that promise to create affordable housing units.
  4. Bring an immediate, temporary end to Broome County’s tax foreclosure auctions. With millions available to address vacant properties, Broome County should cancel any scheduled tax auctions, temporarily halt the use of tax auctions, and instead work with local partners and agencies to ensure the pipeline of tax foreclosed properties—most of them vacant and blighted—are included in Restore NY project applications and either demolished or repurposed in a way that benefits our residents, strengthens our neighborhoods, and advances equitable outcomes.

I acknowledge the rules have changed over the years, and Restore NY applications need to identify a cluster of vacant properties in a defined geographical area, making the Ryan administration’s approach with the first three rounds (taking all vacant and blighted residential properties from the County’s tax foreclosure list, regardless of where they were) very difficult. But it’s not impossible.

Here are a few details of the program for those who like to geek out:

  • Binghamton will be eligible to ask for up to $3 million in EACH round (July and October)
  • For residential properties, the following limits apply:
    • Up to $150,000 per property for rehab
    • Up to $30,000 per property for demolition
    • Up to $70,000 per rental unit for rehabbing multi-unit rental properties (and an additional one-time bonus of $150,000 per rental property if all units are affordable)
  • Applicants will need to commit a 10% match (can be cash or in-kind, as in staff time)
  • Round one will be launched around July 11, and communities will need to submit a letter of intent within 30 days, and the final application will be due 90 days after that (same process for the launch of the October round of $150 million). The letter of intent and application will need to identify the exact addresses of the properties.
  • Only local governments can apply (cities, towns, villages, and counties—but counties will need to coordinate with the municipality in which the properties are located)
  • Land banks and nonprofit affordable housing developers aren’t eligible to apply, but no question both should be brought into local conversations as soon as possible to discuss partnership opportunities

 

Binghamton still has more than $12 million in ARPA funds (federal pandemic recovery awards), which has a spending deadline of December 31, 2026.

The state will soon announce $50 million in grant funds available to the 26 operating land banks, which includes Broome County Land Bank.

And now there’s $250 million available through Restore NY to tackle vacant and abandoned properties.

The next few years present an unprecedented opportunity to transform vacant properties into meeting our community’s urgent affordable housing needs.

Please join me in encouraging our local officials to seize it.

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Tarik Abdelazim works for a national nonprofit that helps communities equitably and effectively address vacant, abandoned, and deteriorated properties; serves on the Broome County Land Bank board; and played a lead role in the design and implementation of the City’s award-winning approach to Restore NY as Binghamton’s Deputy Mayor and Director of Planning, Housing, and Community Development from 2006 – 2013 in Matt Ryan’s administration.

Open Letter to Binghamton Officials on Proposed Code Enforcement Reforms

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April 3, 2022

 

Dear Council Members,

I am writing about the code enforcement proposals recently announced by Mayor Kraham. While I support the overall efforts, the statements made by the Mayor and Councilmembers are a bit overstated. Moreover, the reforms don’t really solve the specific concerns expressed by the same officials. Or they simply reinstate what former mayor Rich David dismantled—a smart move in the right direction but hardly worth all the ‘back patting.’

In the City’s release, Mayor Kraham stated “Too many of Binghamton’s families live in substandard housing owned by bad actors with no intentions of fixing their deteriorating properties,” and that these reforms are meant to “crack down on slumlords.”

I am extremely pleased to hear the Mayor’s comments. Unfortunately, these proposals do nothing to address his admirable concerns, all of which I share.

I want to offer some specific comments about the four reforms announced by Mayor Kraham, and then offer some alternative approaches or ideas, if indeed the Mayor and City Council have a genuine, bipartisan interest to protect tenants, neighbors, and neighborhoods from blighted rentals, slumlords, and abandoned properties.

 

Proposal #1: Create an Attorney Position to Prosecute Slumlords.

Response:

The call for “more enforcement” when it comes to housing and building code enforcement is certainly common, but entirely misguided and potentially harmful. An overreliance on criminal prosecution to resolve vacant or blighted properties, as well as unsafe and deteriorating rental properties, is ineffective, inefficient, and inequitable. For example, most landlords causing harm to tenants and landlords hide behind LLCs or reside out-of-state, either of which make local prosecution impractical, costly, and ineffective. Often, it’s the local mom-and-pop landlords who might want to do the right thing but don’t have the resources to achieve compliance that are swept up in this “bringing down the hammer” approach.

Alternatives:

  1. While it may be worth criminally prosecuting a couple “high profile” slumlord cases here and there, it would be more effective to focus any new capacity in the Legal Department on resolving the harms caused by abandoned properties and zombie properties, utilizing NYS’s Article 19A (Abandonment Proceedings Law) and NYS’s Zombie Property Inspection and Maintenance Law respectively. I am happy to share with City officials the successes seen by Rochester, Niagara Falls, and the Greater Mohawk Valley Land Bank after developing the legal expertise in resolving these two subtypes of “blighted properties,” both of which harm the health and safety of neighbors and neighborhoods.
  2. As a general rule, any administration that seeks to ensure all tenants have safe and healthy living conditions must move beyond reactive enforcement and design and implement a proactive rental inspection and licensing program. There really is no other policy, no “half-step” reform measure. I believe there are more than 20 communities in New York that have some form of a rental inspection program, to varying degrees of impact. But there is definitely no shortage of models to learn from and emulate. In fact, the best models—designed with a “carrot-and-stick” approach that rewards good landlords and penalizes bad landlords—have helped to dramatically improve the health and safety of the inventory of rental units in that community.
  3. Whether new legal capacity or a new rental inspection program, if the City intends to “go after slumlords,” it better first develop a well-resourced and just tenant relocation program—because if the intervention works, there will be tenants facing involuntary displacement and potential homelessness. This should not be handled “ad hoc” and reactively when tenants are suddenly facing displacement or, worse, already displaced. A well-resourced and just relocation program must be designed and in place, ready to help tenants before any efforts to “crack down on slumlords” begin.

 

Proposal #2: Hire a New Code and Building Inspector

Response:

I am not opposed to adding capacity, but it’s unclear if the current department has been utilizing existing resources efficiently and effectively. In my professional capacity, I have worked with departments here in New York and across the country that had very limited resources but performed at a very high level because they had strategic direction from leadership, invested in operational efficiencies, and relied on innovative partnerships. The City of Elmira, for example, has had fewer than three full-time officers over the last few years, but has leveraged partners, policies, and technology to launch and carry out impressive work, including an expanded proactive rental inspection program that touches most residential properties in the City.

Alternative:

Before approving a new position, City Council should ask the administration for two items:

(1.) A comprehensive overview of how training, software resources, and more than a $1 million in code enforcement grant awards provided by New York State Attorney General’s Office over the last five years were used by the City, and to what end. The specific grants are as follows:

    • 2016 Zombie Grant Award, Round 1, $250,000
    • 2017 Cities Rise Round 1 Selection, which provided Binghamton and 15 other cities free software (Building Blocks), training, and technical assistance related to code enforcement
    • 2019 Zombie Grant Award, Round 2, $250,000
    • 2020 Cities RISE Award (Binghamton was eligible for up to $1 million, but received only $585,000, the second lowest amount of the ten cities participating in the program)

Cities across the state that had access to one or both of the above grant programs have launched some incredible new partnerships and programs, or made significant policy reforms (or both). If the administration is serious about reforming code enforcement, it seems an important first step would be to host a community forum to be transparent about Binghamton’s successes, challenges, and lessons learned from the last five years of receiving unprecedented state resources to bolster local code enforcement efforts.

(2) Status of New Code Enforcement Software. In February 2020, the City issued a request for proposals (RFP) seeking new code enforcement software. The RFP stated the vendor had to complete the installation and training of users by November 2020. The RFP also stated that the software must have a “public facing app/portal for constituent use.” The administration should share with City Council and the community the status of this project. If the software is fully deployed—and before approving a new position—the Council should ask for reporting that speaks to performance metrics and other data that can help officials and the community better understand how current code enforcement resources and capacity are being deployed in our neighborhoods and why.

 

Proposal #3: Create Parks Department Subdivision to Handle Property Maintenance Complaints

Response: I support this proposal, which reinstates the dedicated, internal capacity that former mayor Rich David inherited and then dismantled in favor of “privatizing” this service. A small team of City laborers dedicated exclusively to mowing City-owned residential vacant lots and high grass on privately-owned residential vacant lots when the owner refuses to comply with a violation notice is good practice. Not only is it more efficient, but all costs incurred by this team abating nuisances on privately-owned lots can be fully recouped. Either the private owner will pay the costs when billed, or if ignored, the costs can be rolled to the property tax bill, in which the City will then be paid by Broome County.

 

Proposal #4: Adopt Stricter Rules On High Grass & Weeds

 Response: Pass it or not, who cares—residents harmed by blighted and vacant properties won’t notice any material difference whether the rule for grass height is eight or ten inches. The most cynical resident would say this is the kind of proposal officials tout as “bold” when they want to appear like they’re doing something but really don’t want to do anything to change the status quo. A more informed resident would say this is a silly distraction from the many, many meaningful reform measures and interventions that could have a real, positive impact on neighbors and neighborhoods currently harmed by blighted and vacant properties. Vote and move on. It doesn’t matter.

 

Final Thoughts: A Framework for Action Already Exists

Overall, I support the underlying intent of these reform measures—if in fact they do come from a place of authenticity and genuine care for those who are currently being harmed by unsafe and unhealthy rental units, abandoned properties, and negligent and irresponsible owners. I support the Mayor’s and Council’s intent if these proposals truly do reflect a genuine commitment to break free from a broken status quo.

Unfortunately, the four proposals themselves do very little to help those harmed by blighted rentals and abandoned properties, and fail to chart a new “bold, strategic, and equitable” approach to code enforcement.

There are some recommended next steps for the Council to consider in the above responses and alternatives. I hope the suggestions can be taken seriously, understanding they reflect my passion for my hometown, a commitment to housing justice, and eight years of serving as a national expert helping local officials from across this country design equitable, effective, and efficient code enforcement solutions to protect the health and safety of neighbors and neighborhoods from the harms imposed by vacant, abandoned, and blighted properties.

In addition, I strongly encourage the Mayor and Council to revisit the 2019 final report of the Broome County Safe Housing Task Force, and consider using the Task Force’s many excellent recommendations as a roadmap for the next few years. With the City’s finances stronger than they’ve been in decades, and with unprecedented federal recovery dollars (ARPA) available for the next four years, there is no better time than now to address the longstanding (and worsening) housing crisis here in Binghamton that is harming too many of our residents.

Please know that I would be happy to support this work in a volunteer capacity, sharing my extensive knowledge and insights working with communities here in New York and across the state on these very same challenges and solutions.

 

Kind regards,

Tarik Abdelazim

Black Children Matter

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In response to a the police objecting to a book to be read by children at MacArthur School, a rally was called for Saturday April 24th at Rec Park. The Black Children Matter campaign previously spoke at a School Board meeting. The book is “Something Happened in Our Town” and the Binghamton Police asked that it be pulled from the curriculum and subsequently the School Board released an apology “for the negative light this has shined on their profession.”

The rally featured a powerful speech by Shanel Boyce about how racism has made Black women into fighters just to survive, and punctuated by the real girls and women who were killed by state violence. About 200 people were at the rally which then marched to Binghamton High School.

The full statement from the School Board is here, courtesy of WBNG.com:

The Binghamton City School District prides itself on its diverse school community. We were made aware of recent posts on social media and have received several phone calls that expressed concern about the use of a read-aloud book at the elementary level for book of the month titled, “Something Happened in Our Town,” by Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins and Ann Hazzard. The publisher’s suggested audience for the book is ages 4 to 8. The book is about the experiences and perspectives of two children growing up in the same town and attending the same school, in the same classroom. One child is black, the other is white and the book develops a rich dialogue about how these children and their families see the world around them from the perspective of race.

The book reflects a national topic that is current and impacts many of our students and their families. While the book includes conversation around racial bias and injustice against African Americans, the concepts are focused on the importance of treating everyone fairly. As the book shares, “there are many cops, black and white, who make good choices.” The dialogue following the reading of this book draws awareness to bias, emphasizing that it is not okay to judge people based on their race, what they look and sound like, or the role they play in the community.

In an effort to teach about tolerance, the book was shared with students in small reading groups. Teachers were provided the necessary resources to handle the important questions and dialogue that may arise after reading the book. The intent behind the use of the book was to promote inclusion and anti-racism.

Shanel Boyce speaking at Black Children Matter rally.

We support and respect the brave police officers that protect our community. In no way does this book represent our thinking or beliefs about our police. It is unfortunate when any profession is portrayed negatively. We apologize for the negative light this has shined on their profession and commitment to our safety. The Binghamton City School District has embraced School Resource Officers, each whom have served as outstanding role models for our students. We are proud of the relationships they and other officers have developed with our students and the school community.

Rust to Green Meeting

Cities across the U.S. and beyond are utilizing waterfronts as an asset for community and economic development, creating vibrant spaces where citizens and visitors come together to live, laugh, work, and play.  With two scenic rivers and an innovative, creative citizenry/populace, Binghamton has a tremendous opportunity to remake our downtown.  R2G Binghamton, a partnership between the City of Binghamton, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Broome County, Binghamton University, and Cornell University, has started to explore the possibilities.  We invite you to hear what we’ve discovered and contribute your thoughts and ideas to this exciting conversation during a community meeting, 6-8 p.m., Tuesday, November 14, 2017, at the Binghamton University Downtown Center.  Register at:  www.Rust2GreenBinghamton.com.

3,000 + at Women’s March on Binghamton

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"This is What Democracy Looks Like" was one of the chants at Binghamton's iteration of the international Women's March and it was 3000 strong with a great diversity of people attending. Donna Lupardo our State Assembly rep and Jason Garner, our new County Exec, both urged women to run for office on every level of government, especially, as Lupardo pointed out, "2017 is the 100th anniversary of women's right to vote in New York State." The March was organized by Citizen Action, BC Democratic Women, and the NAACP, among others.

Popular signs were "Make America Kind Again," "Make America Think Again," "Love Trumps Hate," "Hands Off!" indicating an anti-Trump feeling–and worry about the future. Others: "Black Live Matter More Than White Feelings," "Love is Love," and "Protect Your Sisters not just your Cis-ters." Several people expressed concern about the loss of insurance coverage when the Affordable Care Act is repealed.

CNN, the NY Times and other media outlets have declared that the March was the largest ever demonstration in one day. Jeremy Pressman U of Connecticut and Erica Chenoweth of U of Denver are keeping track of attendance figures worldwide. Although it is a work in progress they estimate 3.3 -4.6 million people attended in 642 locations. (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xa0iLqYKz8x9Yc_rfhtmSOJQ2EGgeUVjvV4A8LsIaxY/htmlview?sle=true#gid=0_)

Encouraged by the tremendous numbers of people resisting the Trump agenda, the true test will come in strategically mobilizing people to vote and organize. Locally, Claudia Tenney, newly elected Congress person and arch conservative is likely to be a special target for activists. Nationally, Michael Moore and other have called for "100 Days of Resistance." A publication called Indivisible: A Practical Guide for Resisting the Trump Agenda is gaining attention among organizers. It deconstructs the success of the Tea Party and sets out a plan to do the same for the progressive movement. It was (and continues to be) written by volunteers who have Congressional experience and have watched the far right hijack the Obama agenda. For a copy and updates to the guide go to www.IndivisibleGuide.com. OR Download below

 

 

DON’T LET IT HAPPEN HERE

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We are here in Binghamton near the hub of the extensive rail network that slices through our communities, near our homes and schools to condemn the rundown of the rail system and its use to transport dangerous materials so close to our homes and schools, endangering the lives of our children, the public and rail workers. We are demanding better safety for all. Rail fatalities are escalating out of control, said the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) back in 2008. There were 19 rail deaths that year. The accidents, deaths, and injuries have been increasing ever since. Since 2010, there were 87 reported rail accidents, such as derailments and collisions; then last week the derailment and fire in Tennessee forced the evacuation of over 5,000 and exposed many to the flammable liquid chemical Acrylonitrile. Here in Broome County, where more than 60% of the population lives within two miles of track, mandatory evacuation, chemical exposures and deaths could be much higher in the event of such an accident in this area. • Causes – collisions, derailments, broken rails, braking failures, bridge collapses, inadequate maintenance, ‘jumped the tracks’, and engineer fatigue are among the causes cited by government agencies, such as the National Transportation and Safety Board. Railroad workers have long been fighting against the rail industry's push for: reduction in crew size, general cut-backs in staffing, reduced inspections of track and equipment, operation of excessively long and heavy trains, draconian attendance policies that limit time off work, reduced time off between work shifts, and other unsafe practices. • Impacts – deaths, injuries, massive fires, mass evacuations, highway closures, transportation disruption. • Threats to health and the environment. Many of these trains are carrying hazardous materials. We in the community are not informed of what is passing our homes and schools. In the period since 2000, the following materials have escaped from trains involved in accidents: liquid fertilizer, municipal waste, coal, ore, asphalt, chlorine, ammonia, crude oil, diesel fuel, argon gas, magnetite, vinyl chloride, crude oil from Bakken shale (STOP THE OIL TRAINS!), napthalene, and other unspecified hazardous materials. We need the following: • The full disclosure of the Broome County Health Dept. and Broome County Emergency Services evacuation and treatment plans in case of a rail emergency. • The full disclosure by all railroads passing through Broome County of their insurance coverage in the case of such accidents. • The immediate infrastructure repair of railroad structures that are controlled by the Industrial Development Authority, especially but not limited to walkways and underpasses. • We have a right to know what materials, such as dangerous and hazardous waste, pass through our community. Such information should be regularly announced in local media. • The public should be consulted on the use of this area for transporting dangerous materials. • Rail companies should recognize the Railroad Workers themselves as leaders in the implementation of health and safety standards to be paid by the companies • The enforcement and appropriate fines from OSHA, Dept. of Labor & the EPA when RR companies are found in violation of regulations. • We call on public re-investment in rail systems to provide a safe, reliable system of transportation for the public. Whatever happened to the Bullet train?? Citizens for Train Safety Contact Information: Richard Sprout, Sproutr@upstate.edu, 607-238-6892

 

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