KINGSTON, N.Y. ? Mayor Shayne Gallo says Sophie Finn Elementary School in Midtown Kingston should be kept open and that a proposed satellite campus of Ulster County Community College should be put in the already shuttered Frank L. Meagher Elementary School.
Kingston school district Superintendent Paul Padalino has recommended closing Sophie Finn ? along with Anna Devine and Zena elementary schools ? at the end of the 2012-13 school year, and Ulster County Executive Michael Hein has proposed moving the UCCC classes from the Business Resource Center in the town of Ulster to the Finn building.
Hein?s plan also calls for moving county employees out of two buildings in Kingston (at 300 Flatbush Ave. and 25 S. Manor Ave.) and into the vacated space at the Business Resource Center, and then selling the two Kingston buildings.
Hein?s plan for moving UCCC classes to the Sophie Finn building is called STRIVE (Shared Taxpayer Relief through Innovative Visions in Education), and he has said it would save county taxpayers $21.6 million over the next 10 years and provide city of Kingston residents easy access to higher education.
The Sophie Finn building, on Mary?s Avenue, is behind Kingston High School and across the street from Benedictine Hospital, and the developers of STRIVE have said the plan would provide opportunities for the college to collaborate with high school and hospital officials, potentially improving college readiness among high school students and providing the college with access to equipment it cannot afford to better prepare nursing students for their careers.
But Gallo, who earlier this week said he had shifted from opposing to supporting the STRIVE plan, said he does not favor using the Sophie Finn building for UCCC classes.
?I?m concerned that if we proceed on this path and we close Sophie Finn, I?m going to have, literally, within a half-mile radius, potentially a hospital, vacant, Meagher, vacant, and now Sophie Finn, vacant,? Gallo said.? ?That?s not good for the city of Kingston.?
The hospital portion of Gallo?s comment referred to HealthAlliance of the Hudson Valley announcing earlier this week that it plans to close Kingston Hospital on Broadway and operate only Benedictine. Gallo?s reference to Sophie Finn being vacant seemingly did not take into account the possibility of UCCC classes being offered there,
Gallo said closing the Sophie Finn building as an elementary school would reduce property values, have a chilling effect on people who want to move to the area and ?destabilize the neighborhood.?
Gallo?s mother lives around the corner from the Sophie Finn building, on Andrew Street. The mayor grew up in the Andrew Street house and now owns it, though he doesn?t live there. Continued...
?In Midtown, some of you know, there?s 15 to 35 percent unemployment,? Gallo said. ?In Midtown, the per-capita income is below the poverty level to the point where, according to the U.S. Census track data, that neighborhood might be one of the poorest neighborhoods in a city our size in the entire country. That?s scary.?
Earlier this week, Gallo described the STRIVE plan as ?well-intentioned? but flawed. He also expressed concern about being left out of the loop on the proposal, about potential congestion in the Sophie Finn neighborhood and about the impact the possible sale of the county?s Flatbush Avenue property could have on an adjacent manufacturing project.
Gallo also questioned Hein?s contention that moving the Stone Ridge college?s satellite campus to Sophie Finn would better serve some of the county?s least-affluent students by eliminating transportation as an obstacle to higher education. He also said more than 50 percent of Midtown residents are African-American and ?the graduation rate is atrocious.?
Gallo?s position appeared to change, however, after he met with Hein on Wednesday, issuing a statement that read in its entirety:
?After having the opportunity to meet with County Executive Mike Hein, I fully support the STRIVE project, which is an innovative and cooperative plan that will enhance the quality of life (of) our residents and create an educational corridor in Midtown Kingston,? the mayor said in a prepared statement issued after the meeting. ?I want to compliment the county executive on this transformational plan that dovetails so well with my own initiatives. After discussing some of my concerns with the county executive, I am confident that they can all be reasonably addressed and that the STRIVE project will greatly benefit the city, county, Kingston school district and SUNY Ulster (UCCC).
?The STRIVE project will provide for enhanced educational opportunities and a pathway for better education for our children while fully taking into account the neighborhood?s needs,? the statement went on. ?Additionally, I find the economic development opportunities this project provides exciting. By placing two county properties back on the tax rolls, the city will benefit through increased economic activity and additional tax revenues. I look forward to working with County Executive Hein and all of the STRIVE partners to make this project a reality.?
On Thursday, Gallo blasted the Freeman for interpreting his statement as apparent support for putting UCCC classes in the Sophie Finn building.
He said the front-page article about his revised position ?extrapolated out of a statement a quote that didn?t exist.?
Hein, however, said on Friday that using the Sophie Finn building for UCCC classes is central to the STRIVE proposal. He said more than $4 million in combined state and Dyson Foundation funding that has been pledged to the project is for using that building.
?We stand by the original story,? said Freeman Managing Editor Tony Adamis. ?In the statement Mayor Gallo issued Wednesday after meeting with County Executive Hein, he stated without any equivocation or qualification, ?I fully support the STRIVE project.? That project, as proposed by County Executive Hein, from Day One has contemplated the creation of an Ulster County Community College campus at a vacated Sophie Finn Elementary School building. Mayor Gallo may not have meant to say he supports the Sophie Finn aspect of the plan, but one cannot logically express full support of the Hein plan without also embracing that aspect.?
Source: http://www.dailyfreeman.com/articles/2012/07/14/news/doc5000d010a10ad146084528.txt
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