A bipartisan pledge to support mayors amid Covid-19

A bipartisan group of Long Island congressional leaders met once again on May 5 on the video conferencing platform Zoom. U.S. representatives Tom Suozzi, Peter King, Kathleen Rice, Lee Zeldon and Gregory Meeks were available to share their perspectives and to answer questions as they did during the April 23 Zoom meeting that focused on assisting small businesses. But this time their purpose was to share a commitment to helping municipalities obtain federal funding, and to hear from the mayors. Over 100 people were able to follow the meeting, that included journalists and several of Nassau County’s 64 mayors.

Suozzi, a former mayor of Glen Cove, said he understands the burden that mayors are experiencing. Every day they are dealing with people who come to them for help, Suozzi said, and the mayors are also consumed with finding ways to operate their villages with reduced revenues.

“The shutdown has caused you to lose your building permit revenues because there is no construction going on, you are not getting revenues in from your recreation fees and parking tickets,” Suozzi said. “You are not getting all different types of revenue that would normally come in and that’s our big concern for all of you and how it is effecting your villages.” 

The entire New York delegation from the House sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday that requested additional aid for state and local governments. It also asked for flexibility on how the money would be spent.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Securities Act, known as the Cares Act, was passed to stimulate the economy. It provided for funding to counties, but the formula was specific to Covid-19 related expenses. The act set a population threshold of 500,000 for qualification. There is talk in Congress, said U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin, a Republican from Suffolk County, to reduce the threshold to 50,000. “It’s not about reducing, it,” he said. “It’s about getting rid of it. We need a pot of money for cities, villages and towns and need to drive the funding for the lowest level of government.”

Bayville Mayor Bob De Natale said he agreed that the threshold should be reduced. There are only 7,000 residents in his village and 5,000 in the neighboring Village of Sea Cliff.

“The current inequality of aid isn’t fair,” he said. “We are at the epicenter of the pandemic as Tom said. The federal government needs to understand that we need more help than anyone else.”

A couple of weeks ago U.S. Rep. Kathleen Rice, a Democrat, said she was on a call with 24 mayors from her district. She asked them to put a dollar figure on their loses. It is important to know how much is needed, she said.

Freeport Mayor Robert Kennedy, a Democrat, is the past president of the Nassau County Village Officials Association and currently the president of the New York Conference of Mayors. He said he sees the lost revenues as a big problem.

“Freeport has experienced an estimated $3.2 million loss in revenues in the first three and a half months,” Kennedy said. “We lose roughly $300,000 a month from our recreation center and we have to also reimburse the members who don’t have use of it. Our village building permits have dropped off — many of the developers have just walked away from the projects. And licenses are not being renewed, building code violations are on hold.”

And Freeport police are not issuing violations because they sympathize with residents and also worry about that the illness could be transferred from residents to police officers. Fifteen village police officers have tested positive for Covid-19, Kennedy said.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s prediction of a 20 percent reduction of revenues in the state would have a rippling effect on municipalities, Kennedy said. “I don’t expect that the dust is going to settle here until September, October.”

Suozzi voiced his concern regarding a comment made by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell that the coronavirus is a  blue state bailout. “This is no time to be partisan,” Suozzi said. “And we are the biggest net donor to the federal government of any state. We send more money to the federal government than we get back every single year.”

For the past five years, he said, New York has sent $150 billion dollars to the federal government more than the state has received. Whereas Kentucky, where McConnell is from, has received $150 billion dollars more in federal dollars for different services and contracts than the state has put in. “They are a net taker, we are a net donor,” Suozzi said.

Elliot Conway, the mayor of Upper Brookville, said after the meeting that he appreciates the congressional effort. “This was a call to action,” he said, “and I think the bipartisan group needed to get the support from mayors and I think they got it.”

Sea Cliff Mayor Edward Lieberman, who is also the president of the Nassau County Village Officials Association, said the meeting was a nice display of congressional unity.

“I give credit to them for hearing the mayors and promoting our position for federal help,” he said. “But I’m not sure how much they can do. The issue is the Senate.”