In a vote that split on party lines, the Schenectady County Legislature established a licensed summer day camp called the Schenectady County City Outreach in Recreation and Education, targeted at what legislators are calling disenfranchised inner-city youth, at its meeting on Tuesday, May 13.
For $50 per week, children ages 8 to 12 can swim, take computer and horticulture classes and play tennis at the six-week camp hosted in Schenectady’s Central Park.
The Legislature voted nine to four to go ahead with the pilot project that would also account for the hiring of up to six staff including a camp director.
Enrollment in the camp, which runs from Monday, July 7, to Friday, Aug. 15, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., will be on a first-come first-serve basis.
While several area not-for-profits offer similar programs, SCORE marks the first county summer camp and the first camp administered by the Schenectady County Youth Bureau.
Earlier this month in committee meetings, Edward Kosiur, director of the Youth Bureau said the program would have no real costs to the county because of revenues.
Minority Leader Robert Farley, R-Scotia, disagreed.
He said a summer camp program should not fall under the county’s purview, but should rather be the business of the county’s not-for-profit agencies like the Boys and Girls Club and the YMCA.
The commencement of another social services program that’s not mandatory is really expanding our government, said Farley.
Earlier this month, Kosiur said that he’d spoke with several of the county’s non-for-profits. At that time, he said that several of the programs were over-enrolled or wait listed.
But Christian Engle, vice president of operations for the Capital District YMCA, who attended the meeting and spoke during public privilege, said his organization was unaware of the proposed program until it appeared in a newspaper article in early May.
Engle said the YMCA runs three camps in the county and could accommodate an additional 75 children with ease.
He said that while the YMCA camp in Jerry Burrell Park costs children $80 per week, a number of financial aid programs are available as well.
He urged the county to reject the proposed camp.
`We’d rather see the county as a partner rather than a competitor,` said Engle.
The Legislature’s Democratic majority maintained that the summer camp program had merit.
Legislator Gary Hughes, D-Schenectady, said that many not-for-profits had been contacted by Kosiur but had simply not returned phone calls asking for their partnership. Hughes also said that the summer camp would reduce crime and keep kids off the streets.
`These kids are in the middle of the street otherwise,` said Hughes. `Let’s try something a little creative for the summer.`
While Democratic Legislators from the county’s municipalities voted for the measure, Legislator Joe Suhrada, R-Rotterdam, took issue with the program’s focus on only a few neighborhoods.
`We have to look at the greater good for all taxpayers in Schenectady County,` he said.
The Youth Bureau-driven summer camp marks the second initiative backed by Kosiur in the past month that targets inner city youth.
The County’s Summer Youth Employment Cooperative, which took applications mainly from students in the Schenectady City School District, employs teens throughout the county during the summer months.“
