FUTURE OF JOBS CENTER AT RISK

Schenectady Program That Helps Drug Addicts, Ex-Cons Faces Funding Cut

SCHENECTADY -- An inner-city job recruitment center for ex-convicts,
drug addicts and domestic violence victims could close unless the
City Council provides an infusion of cash, a reverend who oversees
the program said Tuesday.

For the second year in a row, Jobs Etc. is trying to stave off a
dramatic cut in the amount of federal funds the city gives it. Mayor
Brian U. Stratton has proposed cutting the Hamilton Hill-based
agency's portion of Community Development Block Grant funds to
$26,000, down from the $80,000 it received in 2005. Just two years
ago, Jobs Etc. received $120,000 in CDBG funds through the city.

Advertisement The city, which this year has absorbed a 10 percent cut
in the $4.5 million CDBG funds it received from the Bush
administration, has cut its overall contribution to nonprofit
organizations by 20 percent.

But Rev. Phillip N. Grigsby said he is perplexed about why the city
has cut Jobs Etc.'s funding by more than double that amount.

"We understand a 20 percent cut, but the city is cutting us 66, 67
percent," said Grigsby, whose Schenectady Inner City Ministry runs
the program. "This cut by the city seriously jeopardizes the program
and could lead to elimination of the program."

Jobs Etc., which this year has a $100,000 budget, provides training
and helps find jobs for those who historically have the hardest time
finding employment: people with criminal records, women who are
escaping abusive spouses, and those with addiction problems.

Grigsby said he gets about 400 applications a year and finds jobs for
about half of those.

The mayor's office gave him no reason to believe Stratton will
reverse course, Grigsby said. "They will consider next week whether
to meet with me," he said.

Neither Stratton nor his staff returned calls for this story, but the
administration has argued that Jobs Etc. should be merged with a
placement program run by Schenectady County.

Now Grigsby and supporters of Jobs Etc. plan to flood a public
hearing on CDBG spending next week to try to persuade the City
Council to restore the funds.

They may have a sympathetic ear in City Council member Frank
Maurizio, whose development and planning committee will have a say on
the distribution of CDBG funds before the entire council sets the
budget in the coming weeks.

"He's convinced me to keep an open mind about this," Maurizio said of
Grigsby. "What they do is the type of thing they should be doing. I'm
a sympathizer with their plight."

Maurizio said he expected the council will consider restoring some of
the funds, though he added he understood Stratton's rationale for
encouraging the merger with the county program.