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ACORN stakes claim in city
Group's efforts have resulted in improvements in Hamilton Hill

By LAUREN STANFORTH, Staff writer
First published in print: Monday, July 13, 2009

SCHENECTADY -- Gayle Trask doesn't live near Jerry Burrell Park. But there she was in a sweltering City Council room last week to support a pitch for improvements to the beleaguered park in Hamilton Hill.
     
The Yates Village resident is one of more than 200 members of Schenectady's chapter of ACORN, a local offshoot of the nationwide community organizing group that has pressured the city over the last year to clean up the city's roughest neighborhoods.

By all appearances the group's tactics, which include mobilizing residents to attend City Council meetings and alerting the media about what it deems government inaction, have worked. City officials made changes at Jerry Burrell, fixing a water fountain and installing brighter lights. And this summer school Superintendent Eric Ely has been meeting with residents at ACORN-sponsored events in an attempt to fix the public's poor perception of the district.

"I like what ACORN is doing," said Trask, 58. "It's trying to make Schenectady a better place."

ACORN was founded in Arkansas in 1970 as an advocate for the working poor and welfare recipients. The group now has offices in 41 states. Most recently, it has focused on predatory lending and urged legislation easing penalties for those in foreclosure. However, ACORN has also been tarnished after organizers in several states were charged with filing fraudulent voter registrations.

ACORN has been well established in New York City and Long Island for about 25 years. In 2008, it opened an office in Albany to have a presence when taking its message to the state Legislature. The group soon saw an opportunity in this area's inner cities, said Chris Franklin, the 28-year-old organizer of Schenectady's ACORN chapter. Franklin said Schenectady was chosen because of a lack of strong citizen-action groups there.

Members were recruited by going door-to-door. The first stop was Hamilton Hill, a neighborhood plagued by vacant houses, violence and the drug trade. Mont Pleasant followed. Members pay $10 a month, but no fee is required to get involved. Trask said she paid only a one-time $10 fee because she couldn't afford anything else.

Franklin, an Albany native who previously worked as a union organizer, said the dues don't cover his salary, so it's subsidized by the New York chapters. He said he does less door-to-door work now with current members bringing other residents into the fold.

ACORN uses a fly-in-the-ointment method – bother and/or embarrass city officials long enough to get action. ACORN's first mission was to get more streetlights in Hamilton Hill. The group held a nighttime walk in April 2008 after it claimed city officials ignored its letters. The city agreed to take the matter to National Grid about broken streetlights and eventually posted a complaint form on the city's Web site.

After a few visits by ACORN to City Council meetings, and a meeting with Mayor Brian U. Stratton, Council members gave a green light to changes to Jerry Burrell Park a year ago............>>>>.............>>>>............http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=819211

Acorn's top officials also refuse to let anyone audit their books even though they get millions of dollars in taxpayer money. Acorn should receive no taxpayer until they agree to show us where the money is being spent.

ACORN should not be receiving any taxpayer monies. PERIOD!! IMHO

And folks, they have been going door to door and organizing in Rotterdam for at least one year now too.

ACORN should be investigated for tax and voter fraud by the FBI. There sole concern is sponsoring more governmental programs and increasing record taxes to new heights.

     Every other State is investigating them-here in pitiful NYS we roll out the red carpet for them. Bad news that they have been spotted here. Nothing positive will come of it.

Hey...it should come as no surprise that ACORN has landed and will grow in Schenectady county. It has become the best welfare statein the country. Not to mention, that the county probably has more tax paid non-profits than any other!

I believe ACORN is providing a valuable service to the people of Schenectady, the local branch that is. As for the national organization, i cannot speak to that. It seems to be giving people hope, and that is a good thing. ACORN succeeds because people have lost faith in their elected officials.

Quoted from Smoking Bananas

I believe ACORN is providing a valuable service to the people of Schenectady, the local branch that is. As for the national organization, i cannot speak to that. It seems to be giving people hope, and that is a good thing. ACORN succeeds because people have lost faith in their elected officials.

How 'bout people going out and getting jobs and learn how to support themselves and/or their families? Need shelter, work and live in one you can afford whether you rent or own!!!


Schenectady county is the welfare capital of the world. Between the government (welfare) handouts to the gazillion non profits, there should clearly be no need for ACORN...unless it's politically motivated.

You have no proof of that, other than regurgitating myths and half-truths regarding welfare. Yes, i heard about the signs in NYC saying come here, etc. You know what, it is BS. Schenectady County offers the same benefits as any other county, the difference is that it is cheaper to live here.



Have you have seen the local ACORN in action, or are you too afraid to visit the city?

My guess you not not of what you speak. Do you ever get tired of listening to the lies on your head, or maybe you are so brainwashed that it all makes sense, the BS, the myths, the half-truths, the distortions. It is easier to believe in BS rather than it is to seek the truth.

Try it sometime, or are you afraid it will affect your prejudices?

this here group is helping th e people reach out to the leaders who are busy trying to fix the things that the repubs screwed all up over here

Quoted from Smoking Bananas

I believe ACORN is providing a valuable service to the people of Schenectady, the local branch that is. As for the national organization, i cannot speak to that. It seems to be giving people hope, and that is a good thing. ACORN succeeds because people have lost faith in their elected officials.

"Valuable service" putting illegals on the election rolls? Shilling for more welfare payments? Demanding more payments for useless non-profits? Thought the KRAT party did that already?

      Agree with your last sentence. Because the City is all KRAT with no opposition others will have to fill the void. The last time Mayor Son of Sam was seen on the Hill was last November. He can't locate Brandywine Ave by his own admission.

Acorn is under investigation in 14 states for voter fraud.

Someone please tell me what more ACORN is offering that any of the gazillion non-profits and government handout programs are already offering?

And as far as prejudice go...I'm not! However, I do feel violated monetarily when I see all of these people on broadway waiting in line for their handouts. Do some of them REALLY need the TEMPORARY help? Of course. That is a no brainer. But YES...I am sick and tired of supporting cradle to grave welfare recipients. Especially in a county that offers education and job training through non-profits that are everywhere.

We need REAL welfare reform. And ya know what...once the welfare runs out...let them move to another state/county/town and suck the tax dollars out of their coffers.

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SCHENECTADY
ACORN tactics planted seeds of controversy
BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter

They came out of nowhere, an army in green T-shirts chanting slogans on Schenectady’s streets. For 13 months, they marched on City Hall, signed up hundreds of local supporters and threw themselves into every major city controversy. Then they were gone. ACORN left the city this summer, just a year after it arrived to build a local chapter. Upstate organizer Harold Miller said he may decide to send staff back to Schenectady in the future — but for now, he’s on sabbatical in New York City, where he worked on primary campaigns all summer.
    He did not explain why the group’s three organizers all left Schenectady at once and were not replaced, saying only that it was his decision and that he considers ACORN to still be active despite its lack of leaders here.
    ACORN is a national group that tries to build grass-roots campaigns for national and ultra-local issues. In Schenectady, they rallied residents to get streetlights replaced and to call for national changes in foreclosure laws.
    It was welcomed here at first, but now some residents who supported ACORN wholeheartedly say they were relieved when the organization left, partly because of its aggressive tactics in collecting money and recruiting members and partly because of the recent series of national scandals that sullied the organization’s image.
PRESSURE TACTICS
    They said ACORN organizers required members to pay $12 a month and pressured residents not only to pay up but to sign a document allowing ACORN to de-...................>>>>...............>>>>..............http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r00101&AppName=1

Good riddance!