TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS of
THE COUNTY OF SULLIVAN:
March 6, 1989
Honorable members of the Board of Supervisors, thank you for holding this hearing.
I recently moved to the Village of Monticello from across the Upper Delaware, in Milanville Pennsylvania. I have been employed as a probation officer in this county for over two years. Having said that, let me clarify, my remarks here are given as an individual taxpayer and citizen.
Crossing the Delaware one observes several significant differences in the lifestyles of local people. First of all, population centers such as Honesdale or Hawley, seem to retain their older rural character in a way that South Fallsburg, Monticello, Livingston Manor, and other communities on this side have not; despite the fact some of their populations are comparable.
At the same time, while Sullivan County boasts greater ethnic diversity than Wayne County, it also has a higher crime rate and a higher profile drug community. There are other differences as well.
Certainly this is not entirely the doing of the hotel industry. However, there has been a historic difference in the hiring trends of hotels in this area, compared with comparable establishments across the river. such as Woodloch Pines, of Hawley.
According to people I have spoken with, over the years of its existence, Woodloch has made a practice of hiring primarily local people, and paying most if not all of its workers a decent wage, sufficient to support a family. Locally, the Villa Roma Country Club also enjoys a reputation for wholesome hiring practices. Several major hotels on this side of the river, on the other hand, have established a reputation for hiring virtual unknowns, bused in from homeless shelters like Ward's Island and Camp LaGuardia. While in a way, such apparent idealism might be commended, these itinerant workers have brought with them social problems typical of more urban lifestyles -- most strikingly, use of the cocaine derivative "crack."
Certainly I am not impugning Sullivan County's hotel workers collectively, and I truly hope no one such employee will take my comments personally. Until recently a shop steward in Teamsters Local 445, here at the government center, the meaning of a day's work is not lost on me.
Recently, on a radio call-in discussion on the subject of the proposed room tax, I heard a hotel executive point to the provision of "room and board" in answering objections to below-minimum wages paid to some employees. In the course of my work, I have visised more than one hotel bungalow resident.
It has been my personal observation that conditions were deplorable; worse, perhaps than in the Sullivan County Jail, except that residents in the staff quarters walk free. Filthy cramped quarters are not conducive to rehabilitation, recovery, or almost anything else most of us consider positive.
Quite likely, hotel management would blame bungalow residents for their dwellings' condition. Equally likely, if employees were to offer an explanation, they would blame poverty, "the system", etc.
Another part of my job is to question local criminals about their employment histories, and to verify their answers. Often I hear the story: "I came to Sullivan County because I heard there were jobs here, and fresh air."
There's not much wrong with that from the employee's point of view, which is why homeless people take the hotels up on their promise of a "new life," offering hope for the future. However, it is my contention these people are too often disappointed.
I was told recently by a supervisor at the Concord, "homeless" people are still being imported from York and New Jersey.
If the current proposal is defeated, an alternative this board might consider would be to tax the hotels directly (rather than tourists), based on the number of employees.
One thing more hotels might have done, perhaps, to have prevented the current issue from ever arising in the first place would have been to place greater emphasis on "employee assistance" programs, benefits, and decent wages.
As it is, the county social service and criminal justice systems are picking up the slack.
The jail is overcrowded and more than one agency has caseloads at or above state recommended maximum per staff size.
Local tourist interests have organized and funded a major media campaign to stop the room tax. This effort by big business to sidestep its responsibility to workers and society must be recognized. It is high time for the hotels to reach a helping hand to its employees and to the human service delivery system which supports so many.
I commend the Supervisor from Mamakating for having the creativity and political courage to propose this measure, and I urge its adoption.
TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS of
