Homeless Sex Offender Bill Defeated, Contract Remains Unsigned

In the latest chapter of an ongoing attempt by two East End legislators to rid Southampton town of Suffolk County's only two homeless sex offender trailers - one in Riverside and another in Westhampton - county legislators rejected a measure on Tuesday which would have made the creation of new "mini-shelters" throughout the county more amenable to a non-profit attempting to complete the task.

Community Housing Innovations, a Westchester County-based non-profit, was awarded a bid to house the county's homeless sex offender population - which numbers roughly around 30 - earlier this year. As opposed to the current plan housing them all in two trailers in Southampton, CHI's plan proposed siting a number of shelters across the county, each housing no more than six homeless sex offenders. No more than one "mini-shelter" would be permitted per legislative district.

However implementation of the plan remains on hold following Tuesday's meeting, and CHI has yet to sign any contract.

Because the shelters will be so hard to place anywhere in Suffolk County, the bill brought forth by South Fork Legis. Jay Schneiderman, I-Montauk, sought to exempt the emergency shelters of local zoning regulations, and indemnify the contractor should any lawsuits against CHI arise.

Five of six Republican legislators voted against the bill (North Fork Legislator Ed Romaine, R-Center Moriches, voted in favor), along with seven other legislators, which Minority Leader John M. Kennedy, R-Nesconset, called "offensive to many of us for a variety of reasons."

Kennedy cited "one of the most basic, fundamental powers delegated down to local branches of government" in the form of local zoning powers as his biggest reason for voting against the measure. He also said he would like to see CHI attempt to get its own liability insurance before showing interest in a "very limited indemnification."

Alex Roberts, CHI's executive director, said on Thursday that because legislators do not want to see any of the mini-shelters placed in residential areas, county-owned property is the only land considered usable. And current County Executive Steve Levy has shown no favor for the mini-shelter system, prompting a need to place the mini-shelters in industrial zones - and indemnification from lawsuits he sees as necessary to move forward. Roberts said once a contract is signed, liability insurance would be necessary, though it would not likely cover legal costs, and if it did, the insurance would "create a tremendous burden on the agency."

Greg Blass, commissioner of the county's Department of Social Services, said he has been trying "to avoid a direct confrontation" of the zoning debate, as he - and County Attorney Christine Malafi, according to memos obtained from the DSS - sees it the state's right to trump local zoning when it comes to establishing emergency housing. While he argues that CHI, as an agent of the county, deserves the same pre-emption, CHI feels more comfortable with legislation clarifying that.

Schneiderman said that after the vote, he will likely change the indemnification language in the bill to create less of a potential burden on the county. And after speaking with a couple of incoming legislators he feels confident that another attempt in 2012 to remove the shelters — with the help of County Executive-elect Steve Bellone — will be successful.

"One county executive or 12 legislators (required to override an executive veto) can change this," Schneiderman said. "But this has been the history. I've had losses on this, I've had to re-do bills to accommodate legislators and I've brought them back, and got them passed. I look at this as a temporary defeat."