Council members question use of grant to pay part-time Live Well coordinator

A proposal for Kingston to use grant money to pay a part-time coordinator for the city’s Live Well Kingston Commission continues to raise questions for some lawmakers who must vote on the budget appropriation.

Common Council members met Tuesday evening for a caucus during which Alderwoman Maryann Mills, D-Ward 7, questioned why the city would have a paid staff member for its Live Well Kingston Commission. She said it is not the city’s policy to pay people to serve on boards and commissions. Mills also questioned how the position will be paid for once the grant funding is depleted in two years.

“This money should be used for the program, not to pay somebody,” Mills said.

Megan Weiss-Rowe, the city’s director of communications and community engagement, said Kingston’s Human Rights Commission has a paid part-time director. She also said a resolution establishing the Live Well Kingston Commission referred to the mayor appointing a chair of that body.

In February, the council voted unanimously to create the commission. Its purpose is to facilitate policy, environmental and systems changes that result in a healthy and active community. The commission is made up of 11 voting members appointed by Mayor Steve Noble.

In June, Noble announced the city had been awarded a NoVo Foundation grant of $60,000 per year for two years. He said the grant would be used by the Live Well Kingston Commission to hire a part-time coordinator and for related expenses.

To use that grant funding, the Common Council must vote to modify the city’s 2017 budget. The council was expected to vote on the matter at its Wednesday evening meeting (which ended too late for inclusion in this story).

Weiss-Rowe said when the Live Well Kingston Commission was under the auspices of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County, it had a paid facilitator. She also said the city’s use of the NoVo grant was somewhat time-sensitive, as the funding had started July 1.

She also said the coordinator position had to be established through the Civil Service Commission and equipment still must be purchased.

Council Majority Leader William Carey, D-Ward 5, said he did not have much of a problem with the use of the NoVo funding, so long as the council has control over what happens to the coordinator position after the grant runs out.