Glens Falls Chronicle Serving the Glens Falls/Lake George region; Warren, Washington and northern Saratoga counties since 1980
By Cathy DeDe, Chronicle Managing Editor
The acrid smoke from downstate wildfires that filled our region’s airspace on Sunday also set Facebook ablaze with heated posts by people convinced it was a fire caused by encampments of homeless people in the woods near Northway Exit 18.
It wasn’t. But concerns are rising over the numbers of homeless people and “day spenders” in Glens Falls City Park and now across Maple Street in the closed TD Bank property, and the tent encampments in Cole’s Woods, Haviland’s Cove and behind businesses off Corinth Road in southern Queensbury.
The Chronicle continues its conversation with observers and stakeholders. Here’s some of what we’ve heard.
Queensbury At-Large Warren County Supervisor Nate Etu says, “I’m a lay person, but here I am in this legislative position.” Over the last month, he said, he spoke with about 50 people, from law enforcement and business owners to elected officials, social workers and mental health providers.
“I think I spent a million dollars on coffee,” he says, in the process.
Mr. Etu says he learned, “Rates of individual adult homelessness have rapidly been increasing since 2022…Rates of youth homelessness are rising, of aging homeless individuals who require a lot more care, and family homelessness.”
“When I asked people, of those four groups — family, aging, youth or adult — who’s on the list the longest for temporary housing, most people said families.
“I asked, who would you write a check to today, you and your spouse, for 100 bucks? Most of them said the WAIT House,” which serves homeless, transitional and parenting youths.
“I asked, Where are dollars needed the most locally, and which dollars would go the farthest? A lot of those experts said, boots on the ground, outreach, meeting these people where they are, learning how they got there and which resources could help them the most.”
As an elected county official, he asked, How can I, or the full board, do more?
“Some people said, don’t slow down your spending. It’s cheaper to invest now into it than to kick the can down the road. They would even frame it as fiscally conservative to spend more money on supporting these local agencies now.”
Mr. Etu adds, “I want to make sure that whatever I say is not ignorant to the fact that the County taxpayers already do a lot,” to financially support law enforcement, mental health and social services.
“A lot of people said you’re not going to arrest your way out of this,” Mr. Etu agrees, but adds, “You’re not going to social work your way out of it, either.”
“A number of business owners or property owners described the term ‘compassion fatigue. We are a philanthropic, compassionate people in this county. But some of the more unstable people, the activities, it’s beginning to be too much.”
Waiting at a red light on Broad Street, Mr. Etu recalls, “I saw a guy the other day, at nine in the morning, just lunging at cars. The light would turn green, a new line of cars would stack up at the red light, and he would start lunging again, very clearly very unstable. My first thought is, This poor guy. My second thought is, I hope somebody doesn’t get out of their car.”
“You don’t want to sound like someone entitled, but we should feel the freedom to walk down a public sidewalk without having to feel threatened,” Mr. Etu said.
He notes a regular meeting run by Ascend Mental Wellness (formerly Warren Washington Association for Mental Health), called “Continuum of Care,” which brings together a range of constituencies to discuss these matters.
“The more people talk about it, whether it’s media or just people, one on one over coffee, the more I think solutions, especially with the day spender population, folks that are both homeless or just kind of hanging out throughout the day in public places, and especially the less stable ones that are causing fear — I think that bucket, for lack of a better term, will probably be addressed quicker….I think solutions will be coming forth as people keep talking more and more,
Bob Landry, Ward Two Common Council Member and retired executive director of the Glens Falls Housing Authority, says, “The answer to some of it — the City doesn’t have the money to do this — I think more community policing should be available. We haven’t had a walking patrol in some time. We’ve got a growing, prosperous downtown that used to have a walking police presence, but the police couldn’t do that today,” because of staffing issues.
Mr. Landry said, “I’m seriously thinking about bringing up as a topic for the Common Council to look at again, I don’t think we need to be talking about the Warren County Sheriff’s Department taking over the Glens Falls Police Department, but I do think we need to be talking about (Sheriffs) enhancing the police protection in the City of Glens Falls.”
“I don’t even know whether there’s a model for any of this. That’s why I think everybody’s kind of dancing around the issue. We don’t know what to do with it.”
“I don’t think there’s a short term fix,” Mr. Landry says. “But I do think that the City needs to assure its residents and its downtown merchants that it’s taking the best path possible, that it can to keep the problem from getting worse.”
“The Mayor’s working actively to try to find that resolution. I think he also realizes that community policing is one part of what might help, but we’re kind of strapped financially.”
Mr. Landry also said he believes voucher systems to support rental housing are “better than another multi-million-dollar shelter facility.”
“The Glens Falls Housing Authority has over 800 vouchers out there, subsidizing apartments” for low-income persons.
Then, he says, there are others who for many possible reasons do not qualify to be in a shelter or receive housing vouchers, who “couch surf,” staying with others who do, which is against the rules.
He asks, then, “Does this become prime territory for trafficking? Are these people placing themselves as the low fruit that traffickers can take advantage of? That’s another whole problem.”
Separately, Mr. Landry says, “The problem with the voucher system always was, there was no sunset to it…It removes the incentive to change,” and also ties up available housing, “permanently.”
“It didn’t say, Okay, we’re going to give you an apartment, but within the next five years, you’ve got to get your alcoholism or drug addiction taken care of. And here’s the services we provide for that. You need to get a job, and here’s the services we provide for that, and if you don’t do that, you’re going to lose the most valuable thing that most people feel they need, a roof over your head.”
Warren County Sheriff Jim LaFarr says, “We realize it is a cause of significant concern. Much like any law enforcement agency, especially with winter coming, we want to make sure these people are safe, that they’re healthy, checking on their welfare.
“It’s twofold: In locations where they’re not permitted or they’ve been asked to be removed, we will remove, do what we can to help them gather their belongings.
“In locations where there’s no concern for them staying, we’re just making sure that they’re healthy and well, they know we have resources like Open Door and depending on the daily temperature, the Code Blue shelter will start opening.
“As a good human and a member of our community, I think these people are in need. It’s easy to say well, they’re just declining services, but some are struggling with mental health, and some might not have the ability to reason and think that they need the services.
“Maybe they’re not on their medications…or not qualified for services. We’re really just doing what we can right now to exercise diplomacy and to make sure we strike that balance of making sure that they’re safe, and keeping property owners satisfied with our response.”
“I don’t know that there’s anything that can be done,” he said, regarding persistent tenters, for example.
“They say everyone here is nice, the officers treat them with respect and kindness and that’s not the case everywhere. I take great pride in that, but I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
“It’s going to take a joint effort to try to come up with a plan and determine a resolution, and I hope that I could be a stakeholder in those meetings to try to come up with some form of a resolve. Even if there were more affordable housing, you’re going to have some of these people that would prefer not to have housing, and with that, what do you do?
“If they start spending time in a location, they’re leaving trash, and when they move, they’re not bagging and taking care of it properly. That’s disrespectful.”
He said, “We’ve got a lot of bright people in our area, so hopefully, collectively, we can come up with a best laid plan.”
Queensbury Hotel impacted by City Park ‘day spenders’
Chronicle Managing Editor Cathy DeDe writes: Queensbury Hotel owner Ed Moore tells The Chronicle that downtown Glens Falls “day-spenders” are using his property.
“They order Door Dash and have it delivered to our front desk,” for example, he said.
People also come into the hotel to use the bathrooms, notes Queensbury General Manager Tyler Herrick.
“We have to do something,” Mr. Moore said. “The Common Council has to make some decisions on how they approach this. Create ordinances that give the police the flexibility to do something respecting those people, but also respecting our citizens.
“It’s affecting us. It’s affecting our community. It’s affecting the patrons of the hotel.
“My belief is what we have to do is be concerned about their welfare, but also be concerned about our citizens who pay tax dollars. What we’ve created here in the last 10 to 15 years can go south real quick if we don’t address it.”
Bob Landry’s brief history of Glens Falls issue
Ward 2 Glens Falls Common Council member Bob Landry formerly headed the Glens Falls Housing Authority.
He offers a history, what he calls “the basics of the housing situation.”
“In 2010 then-Mayor Roy Akins approached me at the Housing Authority and said, We need a homeless shelter in Glens Falls. I put together a committee, including Kim Cook, former director of the Open Door Mission.
“We went to Burlington, Vermont, Plattsburgh, Schenectady, Saratoga, Albany and Poughkeepsie, and looked at homeless shelters in those communities, how they were operated.
“Every community that I went to, they all said to me, Bob, it’s great that you guys want to broaden your offerings, but please be advised: That old concept of ‘build it and they will come’ will happen — and the better your facilities, and the programs that they offer, they will come.
“I think what has happened here is, is that with two things, the fact that we have a very good young adult shelter in the WAIT House, and the fact that we have a very good program at the Open Door Mission,” integrated with services from health care to clothing to social services and meals…our community has become more populated than the size of the facilities we have to accommodate them.” — Cathy DeDe
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