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New York state and city officials discussed policy and societal conflicts in and around the city of Syracuse at an Earth Week Panel at SUNY-ESF’s Gateway Center Tuesday.

The panelists — Pamela Hunter, Sen. Rachel May and Corey Williams — spent the majority of the panel discussing housing in Syracuse and surrounding topics such as affordability, budgeting and involvement in city decisions.

Spencer Berg, student senator for the Mighty Oak Student Assembly and panel moderator, said hearing from politicians on policy work and governance is “the best way” to understand the environment.

“It’s a world that everyone should be involved in. It is understanding the way in which these people — our policymakers, our representatives — are able to change things for us,” said Berg, a junior at ESF.

Hunter, an assembly member for the 128th district of New York state, said housing and poverty are two of the most prevalent issues Syracuse faces. Syracuse has the second-highest child poverty rate in the United States — at 45.8% — and was rated as having the highest child poverty rate in the U.S. in 2022 — at 48.4%. When asked about affordable housing, Hunter replied, “We don’t have it.”

While Hunter and other officials push for more affordable housing, she said some developers continue to build “luxury” housing, leaving local citizens with unaffordable housing and limited places to live.

“It’s giving the most … continued opportunity to not do anything,” Hunter said concerning the luxury housing developments, stressing the risks that could arise from not tackling the crisis upfront.

A student in the audience raised the issue of student housing being built closer to local citizens’ living quarters. Syracuse University plans to expand student housing by converting the Sheraton Syracuse University Hotel & Conference Center and The Marshall into undergraduate housing.

Hunter said the student housing expansion is largely due to insufficient housing for students, and that a solution could be pushing the state to protect state-owned properties rather than the university building more properties.

Williams, councilor of Syracuse’s third district, said the Syracuse City School District has identified 10% of students who are homeless, which affects “all aspects” of their lives. The main issue, he said, is the civilians’ inability to pay rent due to a market and affordability gap.

Dakota Dorsey | Contributing Photographer

After the event ended, Corey Williams talked to students to answer questions and concerns they had.

As housing prices rise, Williams said the city of Syracuse is trying to figure out how to take action. Williams said city officials have had a “national consultant” working on the Syracuse Housing Study, and the Mayor’s Office plans to announce initiatives to fight housing unaffordability. He also said the city has completed a budget that will work to combat the issue.

May, who represents the 53rd district in New York state, said the budget works to increase AIM funding — which provides money to municipalities. She said the funding would support resources to fight eviction, fund home rehabilitations and build more housing. May also said that getting involved in politics is one of the best ways to create change.

“I really want to engage you, I want to be able to come to your door and talk to you,” May said. “It’s about your voice and your ability to connect with the three of us here and the many other people who represent you and the government so we know what’s on your minds.”

To get involved, May urged attendees to work for campaigns, voice their opinions and vote. Williams also said getting involved in just one specific aspect of environmental change can greatly impact politics surrounding the environment.

“Find an issue you care about and connect with others that share that enthusiasm and that passion,” Williams said. “You can always change (the environment) with the will, so make sure you just keep trying, keep fighting, find something you care about and hold that in your heart.”

In addition to housing and poverty, May said some of her sustainability goals are waste elimination, water share governance and increasing reusable water bottle “culture.”

Hunter said that the current generation of college students is “responsible” for the city’s future, and that students contributing in any way will make a difference for the environment.

“I really do hope you stay here. But unless we do lots of great things in a short period of time, the affordability just is not where it needs to be. Market rate doesn’t equal affordable. So I will not stop. I’m not going to stop talking about this,” Hunter said.

Published on April 23, 2024 at 10:56 pm