Legislature should ban evictions for a year, focus on public health, poverty

The US Supreme Court doesn’t seem to care that we are in the midst of a deadly public health disaster in choosing to end the housing eviction moratorium. Many of our neighbors could soon be put out on the streets. Beyond the cruelty of taking someone’s home from them in the midst of a pandemic, evictions destabilize the economy and force people to congregate together increasing risk of coronavirus transmission for us all. In rural areas, as well as poor black and brown communities that already don’t trust government and pharmaceutical corporations providing vaccines, increased rates of illness and death result.  

The county has millions of dollars that can be used to keep our community members safe during this pandemic.  The republicans in the legislature, led by my opponent, handed over complete responsibility to our County Executive, meaning they own every single eviction.

Longer term solutions are needed for housing in Onondaga County; eviction bans can’t last forever. 

Our county needs a transformational plan to attack poverty and expand affordable housing as a cornerstone of economic development. County leaders must listen and respond to the priorities of residents by opening a community dialogue, encouraging bipartisanship, and providing details of a plan to the public.

The pandemic has only worsened already staggering poverty and housing insecurity. The community grid discussions of a land trust to stabilize the housing market are encouraging. 

A community housing land trust and funding the land bank are ways to provide affordable housing, while attacking poverty and racism at their roots. In a land trust, the county would own the land, lowering the price of the mortgage and stabilizing prices to ensure future generations could afford to live on the land. These models have thrived for our neighbors in Vermont, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts.

Longer term plans to attack poverty and housing insecurity highlight the need for outreach teams that engage those at risk. Those at risk of homelessness include people suffering from mental illness, addiction or who already live in poverty, particularly children, youth and young adults. Crisis intervention teams are very helpful, but outreach teams would try to engage people before they are in crisis, helping them to navigate our fragmented social service and healthcare system. Adding a vaccine education and outreach aspect to these teams is key in helping us get out of the prison created by the Covid pandemic. We also can’t show up and then leave once the pandemic is over. We need to commit to long term efforts at engaging impoverished communities. Investment in public health interventions like stable housing and vaccinations, means protecting the most vulnerable, which protects us all. 

The pandemic has proven we need to bolster County Health and Social Services Departments to be the best in the state. We have outstanding academic centers to partner with and train the next generation of professionals. Aggressive planning, instead of massive departmental cuts, may save lives and help thousands of families suffering from the pandemics of Covid-19, addiction and mental illness. This funding needs to restore and expand staffing levels and to provide at-home and rapid covid testing and off-hours covid testing and vaccinations, as many other localities and states already have. We need to get to the point where testing is as easy as going to the corner store. Lastly, the access to care for those suffering from addiction and mental illness can be life saving. Outreach teams as mentioned above could help those in poor communities access the services they need.

Only a big vision for housing, healthcare and economic development will push us forward out of this pandemic. Speak up today to your County Legislator and demand more for Central New York!

Sunny Aslam, MD

Candidate for Onondaga County Legislature, District 12