(BINGHAMTON, NY) Broome County’s Safe Housing Task Force, launched by County Executive Jason Garnar in 2018, released their final recommendations at a public forum Tuesday evening. The County Executive, as well as members of the Task Force, were in attendance to hear from the public regarding the recommendations.
Co-chairs Rebecca Rathmell of the Southern Tier Homeless Coalition and Mark Schuster of the Broome County Health Department’s Healthy Neighborhoods Program led a Core Group of local partners through the development of the recommendations. The Task Force solicited stories and suggestions from the public in February; members of the Task Force also reached out for additional community input throughout the process.
“I am proud of the work the Safe Housing Task Force has done over the last year,” said County Executive Garnar. “Representatives from Broome County, City of Binghamton, Village of Johnson City, and Town of Union worked together to identify these next steps to address serious housing problems facing our residents. Broome County has already started working on the recommendations. I look forward to seeing other elected officials do the same.”
Recommendations center around four strategic areas: protections, development, housing quality, and tenant and landlord supports. The Safe Housing Task Force reiterates in their report this is only the beginning of the process to improve housing in our community.
The full report with the final recommendations can be read at https://www.gobroomecounty.com/countyexec/housingtaskforce
