Monroe / Pike get the shaft on funding...

[Dredly]

Pay special attention to the bold parts:

http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbc...NEWS/809090318

The state and federal governments shortchange Monroe County with fewer resources than comparably sized counties, local officials told a state civil rights panel Monday.

The State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission took testimony in Stroudsburg on demographic changes brought by rapid population growth in recent decades. Panelists focused not just on the tension between new residents from urban areas and long-time local residents, but on the lack of funding to address common problems caused by rapid growth.

They talked about the failure of education and social services funding formulas to keep pace with a county whose population has more than doubled since 1980. As a result, Monroe is getting less per capita than other counties for aging programs, mental health services, and drug and alcohol counseling.

Robert Gress, the county commissioners' chief clerk, said some funding formulas were based on 1990 population counts until 2005 — when 2000 were used — ignoring the county's actual current population.

"This translates into a waiting list for the clients, a reduction in services or no services at all for many clients," Gress said. "The funding for our local roads and bridges is based on a 1930s' formula which the state refuses to address or modify."

He said the county also lost several grant programs in recent years.

Patricia Fretz, administrator of the Monroe County Area Agency on Aging, said state "hold harmless" provisions for most program funding ensures that counties that lost population don't lose funding as a result. Therefore no funds are redistributed to help those with the largest gains in clients meet their needs.

"These counties with a decrease in population are not going to give up their dollars to 'make whole' counties like Monroe and Pike that have had a significant increase in population," she said. "There needs to be a reallocation of all funding programs to balance the needs and resources."

Ray Guernsey of the Monroe County Redevelopment Authority pointed to a link between in-migration of residents from metropolitan New York, a resulting shortage of decent affordable housing for all but upper income families, and conflict between new arrivals and native residents.

"I believe the inability to meet our social service and housing needs greatly inhibits the ability of the county to successfully mitigate the resident-immigrant clash," he said.

Guernsey said the housing shortage has forced many families to look to older private communities for vacation homes and trailers never meant for year-round living. He said the boroughs of Stroudsburg and East Stroudsburg have failed to ensure that rental houses are properly maintained.

"Many single-family rentals and some of the few apartment rentals are substandard," Guernsey said. "This is constantly creating friction between landlords and tenants and has been a source of complaints to the Commonwealth's Human Relations Commission from this area."

Linda Kaufmann of the Monroe County Housing Authority said many landlords are asking $1,500 to $1,700 monthly rent on a three-bedroom, putting housing out of reach for their low-income clients.

Kaufmann said 1,100 local residents are on a waiting list to receive federal housing subsidy vouchers, but only about 60 of them per year are served. Part of the problem, she said, is that the local agency is required to honor 133 federal vouchers issued by the New York Housing Authority to low-income residents who move here because the city is reducing its public housing stock.

"The affordable (local) rental housing stock has diminished greatly," she said. "We will never be able to take anyone off that waiting list. "

Guernsey asked the Civil Rights Commission advisory group how they can help Monroe County get a fairer distribution of government resources. The state advisory commission's chairman, James Frazier of Allegheny County, said residents will have to wait until at least the next president takes office next year.

"Certainly after Jan. 20 we'll have a higher expectation of what our federal government can do," Frazier said.

Frazier said the best hope for Monroe County is that local governments, institutions and individuals work together for better regional planning and reducing tensions.

Robert Hillman of the Unity Coalition of the Poconos, said his group formed early this decade in response to seven local cross burnings in 17 months. He said the school districts and police departments have worked well with his group, but he wants the county commissioners to be more involved. All three institutions need to do a better job of hiring blacks and Latinos to better represent their actual numbers in the local population, he added. He praised Stroud Area Regional Police for actively recruiting minority job candidates.

"Although we have made progress in some areas we still have racial tension and the us vs. them problem persists," Hillman said.

Monroe County's black and Latino populations are currently about 11 percent each of the total, according to Monroe County Planning Director John Woodling. Some are classified as both black and Latino. Most estimates put the county's minority population at about 20 percent.

Monroe County government employs 658 workers, according county figures released Monday, and just under 10.2 percent of them are minorities.

Ann Van **** of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission said her agency has fielded about 50 "bias incident reports" in Monroe County during the past two and a half years. She said those reports probably represent less than 10 percent of actual incidents but provides an idea of what triggers problems.

Van **** pointed to 28 "community" incidents such as racist graffiti, 16 school incidents, three incidents involving police relations and five incidents pertaining to charges that foreign immigrants suffered bias. She said the best things a community can do to foster harmony is to address such incidents as soon as they happen, like immediately removing graffiti, and to communicate with each other.

"You are fortunate because you have an active Unity Coalition," Van **** said. "Anything you can convey, that if you live here you belong here, would be helpful to do."

[Dredly]

So basically We are getting fed NY's garbage and forced to honor HUD vouchers at a cost of helping current residents who have fallen on hard times or just can't afford this area.

We are also being bashed because of the 20% of the population is minority however only 10% of the local gov't workforce is minority so we should focus on hiring more... are you kidding me?

Supposedly the "Unity Coalition" wants to improve race relations by forcing current employee's out of their jobs so that they can be given to minorities? Or NOT hire white residents (of whom make up 80% of the population) so that the positions can be filled by minorities...

and they wonder why race issues still occur? THERE IS THE ANSWER! ACT LIKE EVERYONE ELSE AND THERE WON'T BE A PROBLEM! ACT LIKE YOU ARE OWED SOMETHING AND YOU'LL CATCH HELL!!!!!

This of course doesn't even mention that Monroe has no representation in the House of Reps due to district rigging

[dc dalton]

Yeah and we wonder why this county is becoming a garbage dump!

First it was NJ paying their welfare recipients $5k to never collect again so they move here now we have NY dumping their SHIT (sorry there is no other word for it) here and we HAVE to accept it? Since fucking when!

Our roads up here are like mine fields, they aren't fixing damaged bridges and the police forces are so understaffed its not funny .. all while the scum of the earth are being dumped on us.

I have said it before and I will say it again, if the residents of Monroe county don't start screaming and yelling and standing up for our rights we will be the next Newark.