HYDE PARK – Dutchess County Executive Marcus Molinaro presented his 2020 State of the County address Thursday evening in the Culinary Institute of America’s Marriott Pavilion. The annual speech was woven around the theme of “Home is where we begin.”
In a choreographed event featuring large-screen videos focused on his ThinkDIFFERENTLY initiative, including one of Jonaah Super, a differently-abled young adult getting her first paycheck, paved the way for Molinaro to highlight past successes and lay out his plan for the county’s future.
Dutchess County continues to be challenged by the issue of homelessness, with an 18 percent increase in the homeless population from 2018 to 2019.
“We will not end homelessness in a day or even a year. We will, however, persist,” he said. “There are success stories and good projects to point to, so we will keep working. Every individual, every family, deserves our respect. The solution lies within our willingness to try new things and our insistence on providing a better life for all Dutchess residents.”
Molinaro outlined four steps to reduce the homeless population, provide more effective transitional housing and increase the availability of affordable housing. He led with a plan to establish a Housing Support Center and Hotline to centralize existing housing services to provide information and support to those searching for affordable housing, help access available financial assistance, and connect with financial planning and legal services. The plan also includes a strategy to engage local hospitals and nursing homes, as well as state-run correctional facilities, to ensure appropriate re-entry planning prior to the release of patients or incarcerated individuals to reduce the number of people directly discharged into shelters.
Molinaro also plans to develop a new centralized transitional housing solution to reduce reliance on costly motels for providing temporary housing. Motel placements cost nearly $2 million a year and limit the county’s capacity to help families transition to permanent housing.
The last phase of the plan calls for the county to work with local municipalities to add zoning language and land use policy to expand rental and housing options to increase access to affordable housing.
Molinaro, starting his third term, addressed the opioid epidemic that continues to plague the Hudson Valley. Noting that the problem is not cured instantly, he produced initiatives including the expansion of Medication-Assisted Treatment across the county, with the availability of initial treatment in local hospital emergency rooms, the Dutchess County Stabilization Center, and the Dutchess County Jail. He is also calling for recovery coaches to be available to people where they are, including street outreach in the City of the Poughkeepsie as well as a recovery coach in eastern Dutchess County through the Rural Overdose Disparities Project, a partnership with HRHCare and NextDistro.
Recognizing that opioids aren’t a localized problem, he announced an Opioid Summit at Marist College in partnership with Ulster County to share best practices, develop comprehensive solutions and further strengthen the response to this regional and national epidemic.
Molinaro also touted Dutchess County’s initiative to make the residents, businesses, and visitors more secure and aware with the development of an emergency preparedness app for smartphones called “Ready Dutchess.” The app, slated to be available later this year, is designed to provide up-to-the-minute information necessary in times of emergencies including inclement weather, disasters, and other emergency situations.
Molinaro criticized his former opponent, Governor Cuomo, regarding the governor’s executive budget. As he has done in the past, Cuomo has omitted funding for veterans programming, including the very successful Vet2Vet peer counseling program. “It’s embarrassing,” Molinaro said of Cuomo’s omission of funds. Molinaro thanked Senator Sue Serino for her persistent attempts to get the funding restored.
The county executive outlined plans to partner with the City of Poughkeepsie, the county seat, to address issues that have been shelved for several years. “County government can be found in every corner of Dutchess, but we are most concentrated in the City of Poughkeepsie, along Market Street,” he said.
In partnership with Poughkeepsie, through a city-led community engagement process, they will “reimagine, redesign, and redevelop this critical corridor,” including reestablishing two-way traffic to implementing traffic-calming designs, new curbing, more pedestrian-friendly and ADA-compliant crosswalks, and sidewalks, the project will require local, state and federal funding, he said.
Molinaro touted other initiatives including job growth, job creation, investment in the county’s youth, and protecting the county’s natural resources, including the Hudson River.
The full address can be found at https://www.dutchessny.gov/Departments/County-Executive/2020-State-of-the-County.htm
