Residents urge council to back state food-security funding; council agrees to send support

Three Schenectady-area residents spoke during the Feb. 10 public-comment period about food insecurity and asked the City Council to press state lawmakers for more funding.

Mitzi Matlick, identified by the clerk as a public speaker signed up for the legislative agenda, described moving to Schenectady to pursue a small farm and urged the council to "start a dialogue" about what more the city can do to protect local food supplies as federal policy shifts threaten funding. Matlick said, "We cannot keep up the status quo anymore," and asked, "what more can the city of Schenectady do to combat the chaos while our executive branch is threatening our local funding for food?"

Darlene Geloso, a 66-year-old resident from Rotterdam who said she was born and raised in Schenectady, described relying on food banks after a workplace injury and the difficulty of accessing food assistance. Geloso told the council, "I live on $1,400 a month and I'm raising a 38 year old autistic son," and described standing in lines at distribution sites in cold conditions.

Peyton York said she had experienced hunger and homelessness and described health impacts from relying on low-nutrient, cheap foods. York, who volunteers at the First United Methodist Church breakfast program and serves on the Schenectady County Food Council advocacy and empowerment working group, said a "hundred dollar SNAP minimum benefit would have allowed me to trade my s'mores Pop-Tarts for something more iron rich like lentils or eggs." York also urged funding of "$75,000,000 for HPNAP and Nourish New York" so local programs could buy more food.

The clerk's agenda indicated Item 9 as "a resolution supporting the food council's advocacy and empowerment working group's request regarding programs and initiatives addressing food insecurity in the NYS FY 2026 budget." Council Member Patrick, responding during miscellaneous business, said she and others volunteer at local pantries and noted empty shelves at the regional food bank. Patrick said the council will move the resolution forward, telling the public, "We will be moving that forward and, sending it to the representatives to let them know that Schenectady indeed... supports the increased need for the food."

Mayor Gary R. McCarthy also referenced federal funding concerns and said he had met U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer earlier in the day and that frozen federal funds "affects Hometown Health here in Schenectady," which the mayor said "has a client base of about 20,000 people."

The clerk's earlier reading of the agenda marked Item 9 as "discussed in committee without objection and on consent," and the consent-calendar disposition was recorded later in the meeting. Council members made public comments urging additional local advocacy and encouraging residents to volunteer and donate to neighborhood pantries.