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Onondaga County Legislator Maurice “Mo” Brown answered questions about the cost of renting, affordable housing and how to find housing assistance in the city of Syracuse during his town hall at a packed Westcott Community Center Monday.

Attendees raised concerns regarding the lack of enforcement of lead ordinances and code violations, abuse from landlords and the shortage of new affordable housing projects amid luxury apartment and student housing projects.

Brown, who was first elected last year, represents Onondaga County’s 15th district, which includes parts of downtown Syracuse, the South Side and Southwest neighborhoods. He said that Onondaga County’s rental market is “as competitive as New York City’s” and only 40% of renters can afford quality affordable housing.

Brown emphasized the importance of community-based problem-solving as the solution to tackling Onondaga County’s housing issues, which he said is a simple supply and demand equation in which the supply for housing is too low for the county’s high demand.

“I ran for office on the idea that the answers to the problems facing this community are in this community — I really believe that,” Brown said. “In order to get those answers, we have to start asking questions.”

Attendees were given notecards to fill out with questions for Brown and other leaders in the room, including Syracuse City Auditor Alexander Marion, Onondaga County Clerk Emily Essi, 3nd District Common Councilor Corey Williams, County Executive Office’s Director of Intergovernmental Relations Nancy Lowery and 13th District County Legislator Ken Bush.

In addition to answering questions from attendees, the discussion also featured presentations from CNY Fair Housing and Home HeadQuarters. Alex Lawson, housing policy coordinator at CNY Fair Housing, and Latoya Allen, deputy director for Home HeadQuarters, provided information on housing programs the nonprofits offer.

CNY Fair Housing is a nonprofit organization based in Syracuse that works to prevent and combat housing discrimination. Lawson said the group offers three main services: investigations and enforcement of housing discrimination, fair housing laws education and training and technical assistance for governments to promote fair housing legislation.

Lawson highlighted that the city of Syracuse and Onondaga County are about to update the Analysis of Impediments document — a housing analysis document that governments have to produce every five years to remain compliant with federal fair housing laws — and encouraged attendees to share feedback on their experiences with housing discrimination to CNY Fair Housing that it can provide to the government.

Home HeadQuarters is a nonprofit community development and housing organization based in central New York. The organization receives funding from the city of Syracuse, Onondaga County and the federal government, Allen said.

Allen discussed various programs that Home HeadQuarters offers, including the New York State Resilient Retrofits program — which funds half the cost of a housing repair up to $50,000 — and a windows and door program — which funds repairs. As part of Mayor Ben Walsh’s housing initiative in the city of Syracuse, Home HeadQuarters will build 40 new units of housing this year, she said.

As new developments get built, Home HeadQuarters’ Onondaga County Affordable Homeownership Program is in place to help eligible potential homeowners purchase houses. In addition to the program, Home HeadQuarters also offers financial and homeownership classes and counseling to help people become homeowners, which Allen encourages.

“In Syracuse, (renters) are paying $1,200, $1,500, $2,200, $2,500 for rent. I tell people all the time, I bought my house in 2020 and my mortgage is $484 a month,” Allen said. “Listen, come over here … come over here so we can help you get into one of these new homes.”

Questions from attendees largely focused on the area’s renting conditions which took up the bulk of Brown’s answering portion of the town hall. Earlier this month, the New York Times reported that despite national rent rates flattening out, “one-bedroom rents were up 22 percent between Feb. 2023 and Feb. 2024 in Syracuse, N.Y.,” the highest increase among cities in the country according to a Zumper report.

Bridget Overby | Presentation Director

Brown expressed the need to increase the percentage of landlords on the rental registry and to fund more affordable and mixed-income housing projects since their lack of profitability means that private companies are not constructing them.

Unable to get through all the questions, Brown promised to personally respond to the answers written on the note cards that he didn’t get to answer.

Attendee Judy Jerome, an SU alumnus who raised her family in Syracuse, said she attended as a “concerned citizen” and was struck by the high attendance.

“It’s a start. I was amazed at the number (of people that came). I mean, this just emphasizes how absolutely necessary this conversation is,” Jerome said. “It’s a start, and Mo is new to the county legislature, so I give him a lot of credit for doing this.”

Brown advised attendees to reach out to their common councilors and legislators when they have questions or need help.

“I want to empower everyone in this room to do this. If you’re having a problem with a city agency, your common counselor is supposed to represent you. If you’re having a problem with a county agency, your county legislature (represents you),” Brown said. “Make us work, make them work. You’re not alone, you have an advocate. That’s what we are here for.”

Published on March 19, 2024 at 1:00 am

Contact Griffin: gbrown19@syr.edu