By Nancy Peckenham
City residents have sent a petition to Albany asking for the state to take direct control of the City’s financial management and operations. The document, signed by 1,263 people, asks for action to “prevent the City of Newburgh from falling into a deeper financial crisis.”
The petition is an outgrowth of a meeting held earlier this year by city property owners who were incensed by the 71 percent tax hike passed by city council last year to bridge a huge budget gap. The Take-Action Coalition emerged, with Judy Kennedy, now a candidate for mayor, leading the petition drive.
In a written statement, Kennedy said that she delivered the petition to Steve Hancox, a deputy comptroller, and met with the legislative aide for Carl Heastie, who chairs the Cities Committee, as well as with the former chair of the Cities Committee, Jim Brennan, who helped sponsor the legislation for the Newburgh Fiscal Recovery Act.
Community Voices Heard Plans a Rally
Other Newburgh residents are not waiting for Albany to act. Members of the neighborhood-based Community Voices Heard is calling for a march on City Hall this Wednesday.
CVH organizers are reacting to the same issue, noting that months after the tax increase there is still no financial plan to secure the city’s future. The group is calling on people to march Wednesday afternoon at 2:30 pm from 280 Broadway to City Hall to demand a solution to the fiscal crisis.
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