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Residents and legislators raise safety, shelter and hotel-denial concerns; legislature calls executive session on DSS matters
Summary
Public commenters and legislators described repeated overdoses and poor housing conditions at the Asteri building, operational problems at the Code Blue shelter and a hotel denial for a person with a registered service animal; county counsel advised on confidentiality and OTDA reimbursement rules, and the legislature voted to enter executive session.
Speakers at the Tompkins County Legislature’s Jan. 7 meeting urged the legislature to investigate health and safety conditions at the Asteri building in Ithaca and raised operational concerns about the county Department of Social Services (DSS) and the Code Blue shelter. Legislators then pursued follow-up, and the meeting moved into executive session on related personnel and confidential matters.
Community member Zach Wynne told the legislature the Asteri building has continued incidents that required first-responder assistance, including overdoses and two deaths listed on the Ithaca police community dashboard. He asked the legislature to determine the county cost in first-responder man-hours and to investigate how many people have died at the building since it opened. Wynne also asked whether a move-in coordinator position funded with $95,000 in ARPA funds remained…
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