It’s all about security
Schenectady City Hall to reopen with body scanner, guards, new protocols.
Before City Hall shut down to the public in March 2020 because of COVID -19, people could pretty much come and go as they please using any one of four access points to the building.
That will no longer be the case starting Tuesday, when the Jay Street facility reopens with considerably more restrictions and security measures in place for most everyone, according to a memo last week sent from the mayor to city employees on the new protocols.
It states that public access will be limited to only the Franklin Street side of City Hall, and that city workers can either use that door or enter from the Clinton Street side. Staff must have their city identification visible when they walk in or are outside their office, and are prohibited from letting anyone from the public in through the employee-only entrance.
Last week a body scanner, which was just beyond the code enforcement office on the first floor, was visible from outside the building on the Franklin Street side.
And much like the courts, individuals will now have to pass through that scanner and receive a color-coded paper badge to identify the office they
are visiting. They must also leave through the doors on Franklin Street.
Additionally, there will be a security detail made up of retired law enforcement officers in the building, presumably stationed at the Franklin Street door, according to city officials.
It’s unclear if the security officers will be armed, what other functions they will perform, and how much they will be paid.
Mayor Gary Mccarthy did not respond to calls to his cellphone last week seeking comment on the issue.
On Monday, he returned a text saying he was in the Adirondacks where the cell service is spotty.
Until this point, visitors have had to call ahead and make appointments to get into City Hall or could use a drop box outside the Franklin Street side to pay bills or take care of other municipalrelated matters.
“Appointments will no longer be required for in-person services, but they will be strongly encouraged,” the memo states. “Members of the public will be encouraged to contact city departments online, by phone, email, or through Citizen Request Tracker.” The tracker is an online system for city residents to take care of their municipal business.
In May, Mccarthy asserted that keeping City Hall by appointment only when many other municipal buildings were back to pre-pandemic days of people walking in freely to handle their business might be causing a “little inconvenience, but nobody is being denied services.”
“Part of it is still moving people in and out in a controlled fashion, where if you got to find one place, it’s that potential to contaminate, so we want people’s paths through City Hall to be minimized,” he said at the time.
City Council President John Mootooveren, chair of the governing body’s public safety committee, also did not respond to texts about the new security protocols.
Masks will be optional for anyone who is fully vaccinated, but will be required for individuals who are not inoculated, according to the memo.