Bill Briggs always had a heart for the poor
ZANESVILLE - The 1960s was a time of racial rioting throughout the U.S. and Ohio witnessed its fair share of violence. By 1966, Bill Briggs had been called to serve as director of the Northeast Inner-City Mission in Canton. From 1967 to 1969 things were pretty bad, Bill s wife, Dottie, said. The mayor at the time, Stanley Cmich had recruited Lee Anderson - a black man - to create activities to deter racial rioting in Canton. Bill was part of that effort called Operation Positive. They provided a youth recreation program and training program for low-income adults. As a consequence, Canton was spared the riots that were happening at that time.
Mayor Bill de Blasio (Getty)
With just three days until its preliminary vote, the city’s rent board is still one landlord voice short.
The nine-person Rent Guidelines Board is poised to cast its preliminary vote Wednesday on what rent increases should be permitted on stabilized apartments for one- and two-year leases. The board usually consists of the chair, two tenant representatives, two owner representatives and four members who represent the general public. All are appointed by the mayor.
Patti Stone, an attorney with Rosenberg & Estis who was named to the board in 2019, said she gave the city notice of her departure several months ago. Her seat, however, has remained vacant for the board’s meetings and hearings this year.
Certain residential and commercial tenants can now avoid eviction until at least Aug. 31.
The state Senate and Assembly on Monday approved a measure that retroactively extends two recently expired laws that restrict evictions of residential and commercial tenants, as well as foreclosures on small landlords and businesses. Those seeking such protections must fill out hardship declaration forms, but do not have to submit proof that they are unable to pay.
The bill extends two state laws that expired May 1: the Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2020 and the Covid-19 Emergency Protect Our Small Businesses Act of 2021.
New York’s fiscal year 2022 budget, approved last month, created the framework for disbursing $2.4 billion in federal rent relief. That program will be administered by the state’s Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, which has not yet released applications for tenants and landlords to participate.
Representatives for Gov. Andrew Cuomo did not respond to a request for comment about whether he would sign the extension into law.
Kavanagh, who is sponsoring the Senate bill, maintained that, while the end of the pandemic is, with luck, in sight, the state’s eviction moratorium has been a key component of helping slow the spread of the virus, making it important to keep in place for now.
“We are hoping that the combination of continued vigilance and the vaccination program, which is beginning to reach a critical mass, will have a positive effect, and we won’t need these things indefinitely,” he said. “But what we’re doing today is basically a public health measure and, I think, an essential one.”