Syracuse Community Report - Lead Poisoning

To all the children of Syracuse, New York We see you, we hear you, and we love you

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Families for Lead Freedom Now! SYRACUSE COMMUNITY REPORT

The People’s Public Hearing on Lead Poisoning: Environmental Justice For Syracuse Now! Held at Syracuse City Hall June 12, 2021 Published on May 31, 2022 Made possible by generous funding from:

Copyright 2022 Families for Lead Freedom Now! & Legal Services of Central New York, Inc. 2

Introduction

Intro

The Four Demands

4D’s

Why We Care

Why

The Problem

Prob

Solutions

Solu

Action

Act

Open Mic

Mic

Human Rights Matter!

HR!

Your Community Organizing Resources

COR

Syracuse Lead Ordinance Law

Law

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“ “Safety is a moral issue. No human being has the right to promise safety to another and deliver danger.”

Peter Koestenbaum Author, Leadership: The Inner Side of Greatness

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”

WHAT’S INSIDE...

INTRODUCTION Dear Neighbor Letter ................................................................... 8 PART 1: THE PEOPLE’S PUBLIC HEARING ................................10 About Families for Lead Freedom Now! .................................... 12 Four Demands of the People’s Public Hearing .......................... 16 WHY WE CARE ...................................................................... 18 Unfair Burden: Pie Chart ............................................................ 43 THE PROBLEM ....................................................................... 44 SOLUTIONS ........................................................................... 68

ACTION ................................................................................. 86 OPEN MIC ........................................................................... 102 PART II: WHERE WE GO FROM HERE. ................................... 112 HUMAN RIGHTS MATTER! ................................................... 116 COMMUNITY ORGANIZING RESOURCES .............................. 138 Main Goals of Organizing…… ................................................... 140 Equity Framework for Community Organizing…...................... 142 Opinion Letters for Lead Freedom ........................................... 144 SYRACUSE LEAD ORDINANCE LAW ...................................... 148 5

SPECIAL THANKS TO All Presenters and Speakers for Your Voice and Courage EVENT ORGANIZERS Oceanna Fair Mary Cunningham Marianna Pernia Sandra Lane Robert Rubinstein Paul Ciavarri EDITORIAL TEAM Paul Ciavarri Anne Augustine Esther Chung Troy Parker VIDEO PRODUCTION and LIVESTREAM Elias Gwinn Annabel Hine Otts

AUDIO Rosewood Sound SPECIAL PHOTOGRAPHY and BACK COVER PHOTO* Julio Urrutia HISTORICAL PHOTOGRAPHS* Dan Smith, Onondaga County Central Library Maria Lore, Onondaga Historical Association EDITORIAL DESIGN CONSULTANT Jocelyn Richards POLICE PERMIT CO-ORDINATORS at CITY HALL Maria Maldonado Lewis, Bob Moore *All photos without credits were cut from the video of the hearing.

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FAMILIES FOR LEAD FREEDOM NOW!

IN SOLIDARITY WITH

OUR CO-SPONSORS Congolese Women of Vision, Integrity, Action The Congolese Community of Syracuse CNY Solidarity Coalition North Side Learning Center Syracuse Peace Council

Workers’ Center of CNY The Syracuse Immigrant and Refugee Defense Network Syracuse Democratic Socialists of America Syracuse Party of Socialism and Liberation PEACE, Inc. Legal Services of Central New York, Inc. Southside Homeowners Association

Syracuse Tenants Union The Health Education Project 1199SEIU

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Introduction Intro

Dear Neighbor, Hello! Thank you for picking up this copy of the Syracuse Community Report on Lead Poisoning. You have found an important guidebook to the devastating environmental disease of childhood lead poisoning in our community.

Maybe you already understand the life-long problems that go with childhood lead poisoning.

Maybe you understand that childhood lead poisoning is a reality for too many families in our community.

And because of COVID-19, more children are reporting being lead poisoned than the year before.

In these pages you will find an inspiring and creative presentation of the most important testimony from the June 12, 2021 People’s Public Hearing on Lead Poisoning.

Our families must be protected in the home so they can thrive. As parents ourselves, we care deeply about the protection of all children.

But there is a road we need to travel together to get that safety and health we desire for our families.

This report in your hands is our invitation to you to learn about the path we are on. And where we could go from here.

You can help us decide and determine our path forward.

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Introduction

Over 40 years ago, the federal government banned lead in house paint.

Intro

Since then, the United States has made great strides to reduce the number of children with lead poisoning.

But Syracuse remains a hot spot and a danger zone for childhood lead poisoning.

We now have a higher rate of lead poisoning than they do in Flint, Michigan. This needs to change! And you have the power to make a difference because NOW is the time for all of us to work together to bring Syracuse forward in history.

Now is the time to work harder to end childhood lead poisoning here. Buffalo is doing it. Rochester is doing it.

It is past time Syracuse stepped up.

The People’s Public Hearing of 2021 is clear proof of the creativity, vision, and powerful leadership in our community.

We hope this record of the People’s Public Hearing inspires you to action. We want to work together with you in this great cause.

Together, we can elevate higher than ever before the safety, health, and dignity of our children. Their well-being should be the highest priority on the Public Agenda.

Sincerely, Oceanna Fair

Darlene Medley

Gabriel Mkandama

On behalf of Families for Lead Freedom Now!

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Part I

Intro

The People’s Public Hearing on Lead Poisoning:

Darlene Medley

Oceanna Fair

Palmer Harvey Miss Kiara

Lanessa Chaplin

Noble Jennings-Bey

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Environmental Justice For Syracuse Now!

Intro

June 12, 2021

Gabriel Mkandama

Mr. Bruno Miss Anjelani

Miss Justine

Sandy Lane

Dr. Terri Hargrave

Jeanette Zoeckler Jesse Harasta

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Introduction Intro

Families for Lead Freedom Now! is a Syracuse-based, independent grassroots organization. We are families whose children, grandchildren, nephews, nieces, or cousins have suffered lead poisoning.

Our Leadership. We are organized and led by families directly affected by childhood lead poisoning. We understand the experiences of suffering that lead poisoning causes families.

We have elected leadership from four quadrants of Syracuse, as follows:

North Branch Leaders: Mr. Gabriel Mkandama Ms. Bonfrida Kakwaya South Branch Leader: Mrs. Oceanna Fair West Branch Leader: Mrs. Darlene Medley East Branch Leader: Mr. Feruzi Murairi

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Introduction Intro

Our Purpose. We exist for the benefit of all families affected by concentrated poverty and lead poisoning in Onondaga County.

• • •

We provide mutual support We seek environmental justice We want healthy housing to prevent childhood lead poisoning

If your child, grandchild, nephew, niece, or cousin suffered lead poisoning, you can become a member. If you belong to a neighborhood community that is suffering from lead poisoning, you can become a member.

Our Vision. To end childhood lead poisoning caused by our housing, soil, and water. And to obtain the necessary resources to make our families stronger, healthier, and happier!

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Introduction

INVOCATION

Intro

Presented by Terri Hargrave, MD, MPH In English and Spanish “Danos un corazón grande para amar. Danos un corazón fuerte para

luchar. That means give us a great heart for loving, a strong heart for struggling.”

“Bienvenidos. Nos reunimos hoy en la lucha contra el plomo en nuestro ambiente. El plomo amenanza a nuestros tesoros los niños más pequeños.

Es una lucha crónica porque la mayoría de las casas en Syracuse contienen pintura de plomo. Cada uno de ustedes tienen su poder que puede hacer algo en la lucha.”

“Welcome, we gather today in the struggle against lead toxins in our environment. Lead threatens our little treasures, our youngest children. It is a chronic struggle because the majority of houses in Syracuse have leaded paint. But each one of you has power of your own to do something in the struggle.”

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Introduction

INTRODUCTION

Intro

Gabriel Mkandama North Branch Leader, Families for Lead Freedom Now!

“I want to say: Being a refugee in Syracuse, now a citizen of this country, it is startling, to say the least, to leave a place of war, and be sent to a place where the home you think is safe to live in can poison you.

You know, one of the reasons we refugees seek to become US Citizens is because of the promise of the United States Constitution.

You have all read the Preamble to the Constitution, right?

It says the purposes of our Constitution include: To promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.

Well, we need a new way forward to make that promise of our country’s constitution more of a reality in our great city.”

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The 4 Demands

FOUR DEMANDS OF THE PEOPLE’S PUBLIC HEARING Deadline for action: October 1, 2021 They missed our deadline, but we still want answers.

4D’s

DEMAND #1 TESTING NOW!

A

return to common-sense, mass-based population testing of Syracuse residents under 6 years old for Elevated Blood Lead Levels (EBLL).

This testing used to happen alongside WIC clinics. The Onondaga County Department of Health (ONDOH) ceased its operation in 2019, and knowledge of how many children in Syracuse are lead poisoned yearly has decreased as a result.

DEMAND #2 OPERATE THE LEAD ORDINANCE!

B

egin full operation and implementation of the Syracuse Lead Ordinance, which was supposed to go into effect on October 1, 2020, but it has yet to be effectively implemented or enforced.

“Secondary prevention” makes children the testing agents of poisonous houses. Primary prevention finds the lead hazards first, fixes them, and then lets the family live there. Now that the city of Syracuse has received federal relief funds, the money for our Lead Ordinance is here. Let’s do primary prevention and stop the harm!

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The 4 Demands

4D’s

DEMAND #3 EASY ACCESS TO THE RENTAL REGISTRY

G

ive the public full, easy, and complete public transparency of which properties are on the Syracuse Rental Registry.

The rental registry should be updated at least monthly. It should be fully accessible in person and online to the general public.

Anyone who wants to rent a house should easily* be able to look up and see if the house has a current rental certificate.

DEMAND #4 SHARE THE DATA ON RACE AND PLACE!

T

wice a year ONDOH should release de-identified (nonpersonalized) data on race/ethnicity and place (census tract and/or zip code) of children suffering from lead poisoning.

Environmental justice is rooted in race and place. Providing such data is central to a commitment to stopping environmental injustice.

*added for clarification since June 12, 2021 17

Why We Care

Why

WHY WE CARE

“

“We are here because we are fighting for the soul of Syracuse families.

The question is: how long can the souls of our families take the battering and beating of their children from lead poisoning before collapsing?”

Mrs. Oceanna Fair Families for Lead Freedom Now!

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”

Why We Care

Featured Presenters (by order of appearance in this Section)

Mrs. Darlene Medley Mrs. Oceanna Fair

Why

Mr. Timothy Noble Jennings-Bey Terri Hargrave, MD, MPH Sandra Lane, PhD, MPH Ms. Jaime Howley Ms. Palmer Harvey Lanessa Owens-Chaplin, Esq.

Jeanette Zoeckler, PhD, MPH Jesse Harasta, PhD

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Why We Care

Why

In 2018, Mrs. Darlene Medley learned that her two twin boys had high levels of lead poisoning.

She courageously testified before the Onondaga County Legislature. She told elected officials about her landlord’s defiance of the orders of the County Health Department.

The Health Department had ordered her landlord to fix the lead hazards that were a danger to her family. Her landlord hired someone who did not have the proper training in lead remediation work.

“My landlord, he was allowed to fail this inspection on four different occasions. The whole time, he was allowed to collect his $1,100.”

Her landlord drove that evening to her apartment and illegally threatened her and retaliated against her.

Nevertheless, she has persisted in speaking out.

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Why We Care

Mrs. Darlene Medley West Branch Leader, Families for Lead Freedom Now!

“I want to paint a picture for y’all. May I do that?

Why

Just close your eyes real quick …

Photo credit: Julio Urrutia

… and imagine living in a community where a child can actually grow healthy and free.

Where there is good food and housing for everyone.

Where families can grow fruit and vegetables right in their own backyard.

Where children can reach their full potential and become the next generation of firefighters, police officers, lawyers, judges and doctors.

In all honesty, that is not my reality. Nor the reality of most of the residents here in Syracuse NY. Lead is a very crucial and critical issue that we must address — now.”

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Why We Care

Why

40 years ago, in 1982, Mrs. Oceanna Fair’s brother was disabled for life by severe lead poisoning in his Syracuse home. Since then, she and her siblings have provided daily care to their brother.

In 2018, her rental home turned into a nightmare as her 2 year-old grand-daughter was lead poisoned by lead paint dust, due to lack of maintenance by the landlord.

Today, Mrs. Oceanna is determined to see childhood lead poisoning in Syracuse end before the next generation of Syracuse children becomes poisoned and disabled.

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Why We Care

Mrs. Oceanna Fair South Branch Leader, Families for Lead Freedom Now!

Why

Photo credit: Julio Urrutia

“We are here because we are fighting for the soul of Syracuse families. The question is: how long can the souls of our families take the battering and beating of their children from lead poisoning before collapsing?

Unfortunately, many of our families have lost the battle. Lead poisoning in Syracuse has become a long, drawn-out conflagration burning through our neighborhoods for decades. Not just years — decades.”

1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020, 2021, 2022 ...

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Why We Care

Why

Mr. Timothy Jennings-Bey, also known as Noble, is founder and Executive Director of the Street Addiction Institute (www.streetaddictioninc.org).

He developed the Institute from the theory he pioneered that, as he says, “highlights the fact that the streets have an addictive nature, just like cocaine, alcohol, and gambling.”

Because of their addiction, “people involved in that process are in need of respite and rehabilitation” before being integrated “back into any ‘traditional’ education process or trade process.”

Noble works daily with the trauma response team in Syracuse, responding to the destructive forces, such as lead poisoning, that pushed people into street addiction in the first place.

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Why We Care

Mr. Timothy Noble Jennings-Bey Founder, Street Addiction Institute, Inc. .

Why

Photo credit: Julio Urrutia

“Our young people in this community deserve a chance.

There are so many obstacles we’re up against today and lead definitely plays a major role in that process.

One great thing about our country is that we all have the ability — and yearning — to be in the boundaries of safety within our home.

We can’t fight a two-front war in the sense of going out into the world to deal with social issues or social pressures and have to come back home and deal with those that are in-house.”

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Why We Care

Mr. Timothy Noble Jennings-Bey Founder, Street Addiction Institute, Inc.

Why

“If you had a lotus

flower, then you placed that lotus flower

in the desert, it doesn’t take away the fact that the full potential of the lotus flower still exists.

But you have to place the lotus flower in an environment that is more conducive than the desert so it can reach its full potential. Right? We know: no mud, no lotus.

Two different environments.

The home is supposed to be a place of sanctuary and safety. So, starting the young people off in the wrong direction we are running the risk they won’t be able to develop to their full potential.

From school to home to school is an extension.”

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Why We Care

Why

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Why We Care

Why

Dr. Teresa “Terri” Hargrave worked at Syracuse Community Health Center in Pediatrics from 1987-2000.

During those years she was called upon to prevent and treat lead poisoning throughout the city of Syracuse.

She is an Associate Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at Upstate Medical University, with specializations in pediatrics, psychiatry, and child / adolescent psychiatry.

Dr. Hargrave practiced family medicine in rural Bolivia, South America, in the mid 1980s, where she provided medical care to low-income rural indigenous families as a Maryknoll Lay Missioner.

During the late 1970s she was one of the pediatricians in the Boston area to notice and to publish that, despite treatment, children’s lead levels rise unless proper care and safety precautions are taken during abatement.

In retirement, Dr. Hargrave continues to work through ProjectTEACHny providing free consultation and education to primary care clinicians seeing children with mental health issues. She also participates in the Early Childhood Alliance, dedicated to ensuring that every child in Onondaga County is kindergarten-ready by age 5.

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Why We Care

Terri Hargrave, MD, MPH Physician and Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry

Why

“Our most important infrastructure, our future, are our kids’ brains.”

“It comes down to where our resources are allocated.

Where are our resources allocated?

Are they allocated for the infrastructure—for our young brain infrastructure?”

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Why We Care

Why

Sandra “Sandy” Lane is a Professor of Public Health and Anthropology. Sandy has organized many successful joint academic-community studies about adolescent pregnancy, gun violence, racial disparities in health care, and childhood lead poisoning.

She is the author of the important book Why are Our Babies Dying? Pregnancy, Birth, and Death in America.

In 1989, Sandy was a program officer for the Ford Foundation in Egypt during which she helped to secure funding for a study of lead poisoning in small children, which demonstrated alarmingly high levels.

She has forever after dedicated her energy, professional skills, and parental instincts to fighting alongside our community for an end to childhood lead poisoning in Onondaga County.

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Why We Care

Sandy Lane, PhD, MPH Professor of Public Health and Anthropology

Why

Lifetime Health Effects “Poor health outcomes from lead last until you die. You can have increased kidney failure.”

“People of color have higher rates of needing dialysis in Syracuse.”

“A good portion of that is their childhood lead poisoning.”

Children Aren’t Disposable!

“I don’t think children’s brains are disposable.”

“Does anybody here think children’s brains are disposable?”

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Why We Care

Why

Ms. Jaime Howley is a retired Licensed Master Social Worker who worked in occupational health.

She has lived on the Southside of Syracuse for seventeen years. She helped organize the ‘Get The Lead Out Block Party’ in 2018 and 2019.

She is active in Light A Candle For Literacy and the Greater Southside Homeowners Association.

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Why We Care

Ms. Jaime Howley Social Worker, Mother, Syracuse Activist

Why

“In Syracuse, we know that the city code violations department is not working.

Why are we trusting them to do a better job with lead paint?

Our children are too important.

We have a lead emergency in Syracuse.”

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Why We Care

Why

Ms. Palmer Harvey is Founder of the Syracuse Tenants Union.

She is a speaker, organizer, researcher and community leader.

She has visited with many Syracuse residents living in the apartments that landlords have failed to keep up to Code.

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Why We Care

Ms. Palmer Harvey Founder, Syracuse Tenants Union

Why

“You know, if you — the landlord — want to have a good landlordtenant relationship, don’t intentionally put people in places that are harmful to them.

It’s like: ‘I have to have my money first.’

That’s not how it works, buddy.

You take care of your property.

Period.”

“I also say to people: Housing is not one thing you can return back, and get your money back when it’s in poor condition.

We all go to the store and take things back that are broken.

Can’t do that with your house. Can’t get your money back.

You spend more money to move, and that landlord has no more responsibility to do anything but create another victim of lead poisoning.”

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Why We Care

Why

Lanessa Owens-Chaplin, Esq., is an attorney and the Director of the Environmental Justice Project at the New York Civil Liberties Union (“NYCLU”).

Lanessa has dedicated her career to working on issues such as criminal justice, the anti-poverty initiative, and environmental justice.

Environmental health issues in Central New York, such as lead poisoning, are now one of Lanessa’s main focuses.

In her most recent role with the NYCLU, she visibly promoted the community grid plan for the replacement of the Interstate 81 project. Growing up right next to the bridge, Lanessa knows far too well the environmental effects of the viaduct.

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Why We Care

Lanessa Owens-Chaplin, Esq. New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU)

“I am a local attorney and I was asked to talk about Environmental Injustice and what it actually looks like.

Why

And how it shows itself in CNY and Syracuse.”

“I’ll start with a basic definition of what Environmental Injustice is.

Because a lot of times we talk about environmental racism, we talk about structural racism, but we don’t define those terms.”

“What do they mean?

They have real significance.

Environmental Injustice is the intentional steering of Black and Brown people into negligent, underresourced, toxic communities.”

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Why We Care

Why

Jeanette Zoeckler, PhD, mother, social scientist, public health professional, suburban resident.

Jeanette is Director of Preventive Services at an occupational health clinic. She has helped in the treatment of workers made ill from lead poisoning on-the-job. She is well-known for her education and outreach to prevent illness and injury among low-income workers.

As a young mother, she and her husband bought a house in Syracuse for their growing family that they later learned had many active lead hazards.

She speaks today from a deep commitment for justice for families suffering with lead poisoning.

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Why We Care

Jeanette Zoeckler, PhD, MPH Social Scientist and Public Health Professional

Why

Photo credit: Julio Urrutia

“Other places, like Rochester, have actually brought up the IQ points of the children in their cities. They have changed the lives of those children.

Do you know what a few IQ points can do for someone?

Points that they don’t get robbed of by lead poisoning?

That’s a serious matter. Others have done it. There’s no reason why Syracuse, New York, can’t do that.

And the stories of the people, the Lead Freedom Now families — that’s who’s going to be listened to. Someone who says: ‘I experience this.’ Their stories are huge. They’re important.”

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Why We Care

Why

Jesse Harasta, PhD, is Professor of Social Science at Cazenovia College. At the time of the People’s Public Hearing, he was chair of the Syracuse Lead Oversight Board.

Jesse is also an organizer in the lead campaign with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).

In 2020, Jesse and his Cazenovia students met with residents in four Syracuse census tracts to investigate the relationship between landlord behavior and childhood lead poisoning in Syracuse.

They produced an eye-opening study about lead poisoning and micro-geography that was presented to Syracuse Common Councilors in February 2020. At that time the Syracuse Common Council was preparing to adopt the first-ever Syracuse Lead Abatement and Control Ordinance.

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Why We Care

Jesse Harasta, PhD Professor of Social Science Syracuse DSA Organizer in Lead Campaign Race Why

Lead poisoning

Poverty

Neighborhood

“When I first was contacted by the folks at Legal Services to come to an event about lead, I didn’t know much. This was two, three years ago, something like that.

I knew there was a problem in Flint, I knew — I thought I knew — that children eat lead paint chips and that was a real big problem.

I didn’t know much, and I’ve learned so much in the years since then.

•

I’ve learned that the problem of lead in Syracuse is a problem of dust.

•

I’ve learned that the problem of lead is a problem that is profoundly racialized in Syracuse and also profoundly classed.

•

It sits at the place where neighborhood and race and poverty combine.”

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Why We Care

Why

“

“It isn’t that we don’t have the money. We just don’t want to face the costs.”

Dr. Howard Weinberger from the news article “Victims of Neglect” Speaking about whether American society loves every baby enough to give each American-born infant a fair break at the start of life.

August 2, 1971 Syracuse Post-Standard

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”

Why We Care

Environmental Injustice: Unfair Burden of Lead Poisoning on Syracuse Families The City of Syracuse has about 31% of all residents in Onondaga County.

Why

Onondaga County Population %

City of Syracuse: 31% Suburbs: 69% But Syracuse residents deal with at least 88% of all cases of lead poisoning in the entire county. % Share of Reported Cases, Childhood Lead Poisoning

City of Syracuse: 88% Suburbs: 12% 43

The Problem

Prob

THE PROBLEM

“ ”

“Lead is a very crucial and critical issue that we must address now or the future of our most sacred population will be stagnant and filled with a bunch of doubts and what-ifs.”

Mrs. Darlene Medley Families for Lead Freedom Now!

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The Problem

Featured Presenters (by order of appearance in this Section)

Mrs. Darlene Medley

Mrs. Oceanna Fair Mr. Timothy Noble Jennings-Bey

Prob

Terri Hargrave, MD, MPH Sandra Lane, PhD, MPH Travis Hobart, MD, MPH (Written Statement) Ms. Jaime Howley Ms. Palmer Harvey Lanessa Owens-Chaplin, Esq. Jesse Harasta, PhD

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The Problem

Mrs. Darlene Medley West Branch Leader, Families for Lead Freedom Now! “Lead is a very crucial and critical issue that we must address now or the future of our most sacred population will be stagnant and filled with a bunch of doubts and what-ifs.

This is why the lead ordinance needs to take effect NOW.”

Prob

“We’ve found many ways to open back up our city schools, we’ve found ways to open our restaurants, our parks, and our bars. It’s now time to open up the world for our children by protecting them from the most deadly, damaging, and silent ‘killer’ known as lead.”

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The Problem

Prob

“But it is time to take ‘lead is bad’ and turn it into positivity. It is now time to start…

Leading Every At-risk child Determined to Invest Successfully and Beautifully by Accepting Developmental Progress I’m asking you to stand with Families for Lead Freedom Now! Demand the lead ordinance be implemented as soon as possible.”

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The Problem

Mrs. Oceanna Fair South Branch Leader, Families for Lead Freedom Now!

“For my family, lead poisoning has become a generational curse.

My brother became lead poisoned in my family home in the Southside of Syracuse in the early ’80s.

Prob

Just shortly after Onondaga County declared a War on Lead in 1978.

For my brother, this has had life-long, devastating effects. He depends on his siblings for everything. He needs people to come into his home daily to do tasks that the rest of us take for granted.” * “His future was altered at the young age of two. We will never know who he could have been, or what he could have accomplished.

All due to a silent predator in our home that was hiding in plain sight — tiny lead paint chips.” * “Fast forward almost 40 years later.

My granddaughter becomes lead poisoned in a home we were renting on the Southside, just a few blocks from my childhood home.

She was four, and suddenly began exhibiting odd behavior, eating non-food items when outdoors.

We would later learn two things.”

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The Problem

Prob

“That my grand-daughter would test positive for lead with an elevated blood-lead level of 17.1. As you know from the experts here, there is no safe lead level.

We would also learn that the outside of our home and the soil along the dripline were highly contaminated with lead.” * “One of the places that should have been the safest place in her life, her grandparents’ home, had just poisoned her. My family again was faced with fear, anxiety, and devastation that lead poisoning brings.” * “She now suffers from ADHD, pica, and needs special interventions at school.”

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The Problem

Mr. Timothy Noble Jennings-Bey Founder, Street Addiction Institute

There’s almost been about 500 murders in our Syracuse community, per statistics from Mothers Against Gun Violence since 1996.”

LEAD AND VIOLENCE

Prob

“I just want to make the correlation between lead and violence. That’s my day-to-day work in this community, with the trauma response team.

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“A lot of people overlook the fact that there’s a correlation between lead and violence.

Dr. Lane, as we were preparing for this, reminded me that about a third of the homicides that happen in our city can be pointed into the direction of the lead.

It’s a contributing

factor alongside

poverty, alongside structural racism, and the core root of it is just the dehumanization process.”

“We know that the adolescent brain doesn't develop fully until 25 years of age. If you have a child from birth to 10 eating paint chips, it stifles brain development. And then we have children in our community making poor decisions when they’re already born into a cycle of poverty.”

LEAD AND VIOLENCE

The Problem

In 2008, science professors at the University of Cincinnati published an eyeopening study. They checked the records on 250 young adults. These young adults had suffered lead poisoning as babies or in the womb.

The professors discovered that for every 5 micrograms per deciliter of lead, there is a 27-40 percent increased risk of arrest in adolescence.

The 2008 University of Cincinnati study is the first-ever study to show the influence of childhood lead poisoning on a child’s chances of interacting with the criminal justice system in later years of life.

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Prob

The Problem

Terri Hargrave, MD, MPH Physician and Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry

“No lead is good for brains.

Prob

Lead kills brain cells, and it particularly kills brain cells in the first years of life, when they’re supposed to be proliferating.”

“And it particularly kills brain cells in the region of the brain that has a lot to do with control of your trigger finger, which goes right to Noble’s issue of violence in the streets.”

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The Problem

“The frontal lobe of the brain helps you inhibit your action before you take it, and think,

‘Is this a good idea? Does any experience from my past help me make a good decision about this?’

Kids who are lead poisoned have a particularly difficult time doing that, so that when they get to be older, their default position is:

‘Shoot first and think later.’ *** Lead is a chronic problem.

Unless we destroy more than 60% of the homes in Syracuse, we’re not going to get rid of lead.”

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Prob

The Problem

Sandy Lane, PhD, MPH Professor of Public Health and Anthropology

Prob

ZERO How much lead should be in the body

“Unfortunately, even among our caring health professionals who do a good job, some of them think lead is a problem of the past.

It’s not. It’s a problem we face right now.

The CDC says that 5 micrograms per deciliter of blood is the level we have to worry about. But I want you to put your hands up and make a zero. That’s how much lead is intended by evolution or God to be in our bodies.”

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The Problem

Travis Hobart, MD, MPH Medical Director of CNY Lead Poisoning Resource Center (Written Statement)

“The vast majority of the housing in Syracuse was built before 1978, when lead paint was legal and commonly used.

Prob

In many homes, lead hazards remain. The tragic outcome is that hundreds of children in Syracuse are exposed each year to lead in their own homes, putting them at risk for multiple poor health outcomes.”

“Lead can stay in bones for years.”

“Lead exposure in childhood, even at very low levels, causes damage to the brain and nervous system.

It increases the likelihood of poor school performance, as well as attention and behavior problems.

Some research shows that adolescents previously exposed to lead are more likely to commit crimes and have teen pregnancies.

Furthermore, lead can stay in bones for years, leading to inter-generational exposure if a young girl later becomes pregnant.”

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The Problem

Ms. Jaime Howley Social Worker, Mother, Syracuse Activist

“In New Haven, Connecticut, testing for lead is comprehensive because lead exposure is cumulative.

Prob

Syracuse needs to review this agreement. The New Haven lead ordinance was in place prior to this agreement, but the New Haven Ordinance was not getting the job done.”

From “Exhibit D” of the New Haven Agreement 1. Did parent/guardian receive the standard educational packet materials from the local health department? Y/N 2. Is the educational material in a language they can read and understand? Y/N If not, what did you do?

3. Was the material reviewed with the parent/guardian? Y/N List materials provided:_____________________ 4. Did parent/guardian have an understanding of the educational materials after your review? Y/N If not, what did you do?

56

The Problem

Prob

57

The Problem

Ms. Palmer Harvey Founder, Syracuse Tenants Union

“In Syracuse, tenants are the majority. And yet we’re the least cared about.

Families often move once a year because of how the housing conditions are. And they often spend up to 80% of their income just for rent — to live in inadequate housing.

Prob

That’s disgusting!

And you wonder why kids have such a problem in school?

Everything goes back to where you live.

It’s also Syracuse is one of the highest concentrations of poverty.

And that overlays a family’s life.

During COVID, you’ve got the poverty, the highest zip codes with lead — all in the poor areas.

58

The Problem

And not to mention the biggest thing in the room is the color — of the people.

It’s often women of color.

Prob

You know they work very hard working two or three jobs.

They take care of their kids.

On top of it they have to go to the doctor because their landlord put them in the house, or did not warn them about lead paint in their house.

Now, they have to take time off from work for the rent they have to pay and now a doctor’s visit, possible chelation of children.

And the list goes on and on.

It’s not like we just found out about this.

This has been going on for decades. And why hasn’t it been addressed so quickly? Because if you’re poor, disabled, or Black, and a woman — this is what you get.

It’s insulting. Very insulting.”

59

The Problem

Lanessa Owens-Chaplin, Esq. New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU)

Prob

“Environmental Injustice

is the intentional placement of toxins in Black and Brown communities.

That is what Environmental Injustice is.

It is also the intentional steering of Black and Brown people into negligent, under resourced, toxic communities.

And so — How does that show up in Syracuse? Right, How does that show up?

We know that Syracuse has a really rich history of redlining.

And what does that do?

60

The Problem

That takes the resources and funding and money out of Black communities in Syracuse.

And so — as we are underfunding, and pulling funding — I would use the word “defunding” — Black communities, we are still steering Black and Brown people into those communities.

Prob

What does that do?

The houses have lead in them and there is no one there to remediate that lead.

How else does it show up in Syracuse?

Housing discrimination.

If you have Section 8, if you have vouchers, you can’t move into a neighborhood that doesn’t have lead poisoning.

How else?

Zoning laws that prevent quality, affordable housing.

We need to hone into that this is a racial

justice issue.”

61

The Problem

Jesse Harasta, PhD Professor of Social Science Syracuse DSA Organizer in Lead Campaign

Our System of Housing Prob

“Lead poisoning is a symptom of a bigger problem in this city. A symptom of a bigger system.

Because every case of lead poisoning in this city is connected to a house.”

Every Case has a Place of Poisoning “Every case of lead poisoning in this city is from a place, a place where children live. And we know these houses.

• They’re the kind of places with wood-framed windows that rattle in the winter.

• They’re the kind of houses where the porches bend, curve in the middle, and paint cracks off and gets under your boots.

• They’re the kinds of houses where you can see mold climbing up the walls, and there’s holes in the walls, and the ceilings drip, and they’re always damp, and in the winter they’re too cold and in the summer they’re too hot.”

62

The Problem

•••••••••••••• ••••••••••••••••••• •••••••••••••••••

Student Research into Lead Poisoning “But every house in this city has an owner. Somebody owns that house. And the problem of lead poisoning is a problem of houses and it’s a problem of owners.

In my research with my students on the Southside, we tested this theory: is it more likely that lead poisoning is concentrated in houses with landlords or houses owned by homeowners?

And the answer — which we thought was the case, but we have the proof — is that it’s landlords. Disproportionately, this is a problem of landlords.

Prob

Lead is a symptom of a system of landlord exploitation in this city.”

The System: Profits First “It’s a system that has so many dimensions.

It’s connected to our disproportionate number of children who die in childbirth.

It’s also in asthma, in problems of hypertension, all sorts of ailments that affect our health. Lead is just the obvious symptom.

It is a symptom of a system that values a landlord’s profits over people’s health.

It is a system which values dollars in the pockets of landlords (some who are in this city but some just scattered across this planet) over the brains and minds and futures of our children.

We are putting the profits of people in New York City, in Dubai, in Camillus, over the brains and bodies of our children.”

63

The Problem

“

Prob

“The lead poisoning of our children is a social, economic, and environmental injustice that is simply unacceptable.”

Peter A. Dunn

President and CEO, CNY Community Foundation Letter to Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh, dated June 3, 2021

64

”

“

The Problem

“This issue hits our highest poverty neighborhoods hardest, where most residents live in deteriorating housing built before 1980 and costly repairs can often exceed property values.

As you know, as a community, each poisoned child comes with a cost paid by all of us.

These complications not only incur a significant social expense, but also undermine all community efforts to: • • •

Increase literacy rates Encourage high school completion Mentor our young people into successful careers

Lead poisoning is entirely preventable.”

Peter A. Dunn

President and CEO, CNY Community Foundation Letter to Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh, dated June 3, 2021

”

65

Prob

The Problem

“

Prob

“[S]ocial change comes about when people without power, particularly poor people or oppressed people, organize and recognize common grievances.

Social change can only be lasting when it is led and directed by the people most affected.”

Charles Elsesser Attorney and Community Lawyer “Community Lawyering— the Role of Lawyers in Social Justice Movements” 14 Loyola Journal of Public Interest Law, Spring 2015

66

”

“

The Problem

“The evidence is undeniable. The impact of lead exposure on the brain detrimentally affects intellectual functioning and impulse control. We know that those most likely to be exposed are poor, persons of color residing in urban areas.

If we connect just a few of the dots, we can see that lead exposure plays a significant role in high school dropout rates, crime rates, juvenile delinquency and violent crime.

For those involved in the criminal justice system and/ or returning from prisons and jails to their communities, the availability of lead level testing will be a critical piece in their rehabilitation and valuable information for those working with them.”

Margaret A. Montfort

Retired Parole Bureau Chief Syracuse Area

”

67

Prob

Solutions

Solu

SOLUTIONS

68

Solutions

Featured Presenters (by order of appearance in this Section)

Mrs. Darlene Medley

Mrs. Oceanna Fair Mr. Timothy Noble Jennings-Bey Terri Hargrave, MD, MPH Sandra Lane, PhD, MPH

Solu

Ms. Jaime Howley Lanessa Owens-Chaplin, Esq. Jeanette Zoeckler, PhD, MPH

69

Solutions

Mrs. Darlene Medley West Branch Leader, Families for Lead Freedom Now!

Mrs. Oceanna: “What do you mean when you say the lead ordinance needs to be working?”

Solu

“Meaning it has to be implemented. We have to be doing the things that are in the ordinance. We need to be making sure, for one, that the rental registry is up and running.

We need to make sure that our residents really understand what happens when your child is affected by lead.”

“Like the real ruse that goes on.”

“For instance, maybe you’re supposed to ask your landlord for the certificate — from him taking the lead class, right? Maybe you’re supposed to know your landlord is supposed to stay there and watch his maintenance people do the work because he, the landlord, took the certification.

We need to make sure our residents are fully aware of their rights because, perfect example, I was aware of none of this. I didn’t know I could do this.”

70

Solutions

“I’m thinking, you know, ‘This man owns this property, so who am I to question him? I’m just a renter. I really have no rights in this.’ But come to find out, I had a whole lot of rights that I really gave away.”

“So when I’m saying we need to implement it, we need to be making sure our residents are educated and these landlords are being really held accountable.”

Solu

“Somebody that has been affected by lead needs to be trained, because that person is going to know, nine times out of ten, what to look for better than somebody that has never been affected by lead.

Somebody that’s never been affected by lead? They’re going to walk in the apartment they’re not going to notice that ‘Oh! This window sill right here? You see all this dust? That’s not supposed to be there.’ That’s a first fine right there.

But they’re not going to know that, because they’ve never experienced it. They’re going to see that window sill being dusty and you being dirty. That’s it. So that’s what I mean when I say ‘implement the lead ordinance.’”

71

Solutions

Mrs. Oceanna Fair South Branch Leader, Families for Lead Freedom Now!

Solu

“My family does not want to see another family go through what we have.

I do not want my grandchildren’s children to endure this family curse.

I am asking that decision-makers work with us to end this completely preventable illness that has affected our community for far too long.”

72

Solutions

Mr. Timothy Noble Jennings-Bey Founder, Street Addiction Institute

“For the adults, each and everyone’s home should be a re-start when you get home.

For the young people, home should be safe.”

Solu

“Our community will function at a high velocity if we invest in the young people, if we put the resources where they need to go, so our young people can develop into what God has afforded them.”

“And they will be able to give the gifts that God gave them to the rest of the world, and our Syracuse community.”

73

Solutions

Terri Hargrave, MD, MPH Physician and Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry

Mr. Gabriel: “Given the financial cost of the lead bus, do you think we should have a new lead bus —a mobile unit for testing kids?”

Dr. Terri Hargrave: “Having a new lead bus would be something to do in conjunction with the Department of Public Health, and I could see a public-private partnership.”

Solu

“Syracuse is the only city — in the 17-county area of Central New York — that our regional lead task force covers. We’re the only county that formerly used WIC sites to screen for lead. And maybe the only one in New York State.”

“So there was a time when Syracuse was leading and screening more kids, especially high-risk kids, than any place else. And that showed up. It showed up in the national literature, that Syracuse had more lead prevalence, in part because we were better at testing for it, and testing the high-risk population.”

74

Solutions

Sandy Lane, PhD, MPH Professor of Public Health and Anthropology

“Lead is an issue of Black Lives Matter.”

Solu

“It’s an issue of structural racism.”

“The last time the county produced a report with the lead levels of children and breaking it down by race and ethnicity was about 15 years ago.** Why did they not do it now? I don’t know. They should.” **In early 2022, over six months after the People’s Public Hearing, we got a victory: the Onondaga County Department of Health (ONDOH) published the percentage breakdown of lead poisoning by race and ethnicity (in zip codes).

This is good! Now, however, we continue to call on the ONDOH to publish the actual yearly numbers of children by race and ethnicity who get lead poisoned.

See the percentages: http://www.ongov.net/health/lead/data.html 75

Solutions

Ms. Jaime Howley Social Worker, Mother, Syracuse Activist “The New Haven agreement is an 86-page document. I’m just going to go over the highlights. I have to admit I haven’t read all 86 pages.”

“This document creates a separate staff that only handles the lead cases. Within 48 hours of a child being found to have a blood lead level of 5 micrograms per deciliter of blood or greater, a case is opened and the parents are notified.”

Solu

“It creates a one-and-a-half page checklist to follow the case.”

“This creates transparency, and it includes deadlines for taking action and states what the action was taken.”

“Every time paperwork is sent out, the parents receive a carbon copy. Contact with parents includes a home visit, with education and information. Again, it is transparent.”

More information: https://www.ctpublic.org/news/2021-0517/new-haven-lead-paint-settlement-signed

Syracuse

{Albany}

282 miles 76

New Haven

Solutions

New Haven Settlement (August 2021) Visit New Haven Legal Assistance Association (www.nhlegal.org) And: https://www.leadfreedomcny.org/peoples-publichearing-2021 1. New Haven commits to conducting inspections of all lead hazards in the homes of all children living in New Haven under the age of six and who have a venous blood lead level of 5 micrograms per deciliter or above. These inspections will include testing of interior paint in the family's apartment and common areas, exterior paint, soil, and drinking water.

Solu

2. New Haven agrees to issue orders to all landlords of such children’s families for any lead hazards found, requiring the landlords to remedy the lead hazards found.

3. New Haven will require landlords to post notices of lead hazards at the premises, communicate abatement plans to tenants, and keep tenants safe during abatement work, including relocating tenants during the abatement if needed.

4. New Haven commits to making sure all abatement work is done properly and that lead management plans are in place to make sure that abatement work is maintained to prevent further chipping and flaking lead paint after abatement work is complete.

77

Solutions

Lanessa Owens-Chaplin, Esq. New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU)

The Lead Ordinance Needs a Racial Justice Lens “This country, including Syracuse, we have not reckoned with our past racist policies and practices that brought us here today. And so any kind of ordinance that is not specific, about how ‘we need to test and monitor Black children,’ is going to do us a disservice.”

Solu

Poisoning risk is six times higher for black boys “Right now, nationwide, Black boys between the ages 1 to 6 are six times more likely to be poisoned by lead than any other child. Six times more likely. And that takes into account other factors, for example, income, housing situation, what happens in the home.”

It’s a racial justice issue “We really have to start to grapple with how are we, as a society, going to start ending these racist practices and making this a real racial justice issue?”

78

Solutions

Racism “We have to be intentional about race. We can’t shy away from it. We use terms like ‘disproportionately impacted.’ We have to start calling it what it is: it’s RACISM. It’s racism. And so if we’re not addressing it in an honest way, in writing in ordinances, then we’re doing ourselves a disservice.”

Solu

Intentionality matters “Because this kind of idea — that ‘If you improve circumstances for all’ that somehow Black folks’ lives will improve — has proven to be false, over and over again. The solution has to be intentional. The funding has to go to the Black and Brown communities.”

79

Solutions

Jeanette Zoeckler, PhD, MPH Social Scientist and Public Health Professional “The costs to society are really, really high. But when you go to public health school like I have, they say to you ‘Don’t sound the alarm, unless there is an alarm.’ Because then people won’t believe you anymore.”

“Well, in case you can’t tell by the tone of my voice, this is an ALARM.”

Solu

“We had masks. We had handwashing. We had social isolation. We had vaccination.

Get on top of that or people are going to die.”

“With COVID, we had an alarm going off, right? We learned a lot about what’s needed. A multi-factorial solution. Not just one thing.”

“Same here! We need multi-factorial. There shouldn’t be a lack of resources at this point going to our children.”

“As far as all the wonderful things we might do as volunteers — those are usually not sustainable. We really have to put real resources toward this. I really can’t stand hearing, ‘Well, we can just try to go out there.’

No! We know in public health how to meet community needs with education. How to reach folks — we have social media. A ton of ways and it’s not even that expensive. So it’s a shame that we haven’t done that.”

80

Solutions

“So, yeah, education.

Did you ever see that slogan ‘Knowing Changes Everything’?

Well, hardly, right?

You have to know how to use the information you get.”

“You have to know you have rights. You have to know how to use them, and know if you can even use them.

So, we learn this all the time with workers. ‘Oh, sure, rights came.’ But how do you even use them if there’s no union? There’s nobody to talk to? If you’re going to get fired?”

“It’s the same here. How are we going to use the knowledge we get, once we get going?

Education is a super-important part of it.

Why aren’t we having a massive campaign that uses all sorts of ways to get in touch with families that could have problems with lead? Which is 90% of the city.

You have to bring public health to the community.”

81

Solu

Solutions

“

Solu

“When looking at the lead issue, elitism has shaped decision making where policy is dominated by a privileged minority.”

Brianna Howard Syracuse University MPH candidate Paper presented for Master’s of Public Health, 2021

82

”

“

Solutions

“The elite are associated with tight policy circles. Ben Carson, the former US Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development visited Syracuse, NY in 2019…. John Katko, US Rep of NY, state[d]: ‘I met with … Ben Carson earlier this year in Washington on this issue and invited him to Syracuse to sit down with our community leaders and advocates and hear firsthand the importance of prioritizing this issue….’

Many local political leaders, professionals and even representatives from the Onondaga County Health Department were also present.

Efforts to meet … are great. [H]owever, members of the community who have been directly affected were left out of this conversation, thus leaving the people out.

By leaving the people out of the conversation, it silences their voices and doesn’t give them the platform to address their concerns and needs.”

Brianna Howard Syracuse University MPH candidate Paper presented for Master’s of Public Health, 2021

”

83

Solu

Solutions

“

“[W]hy [is] there so little effort to bring other ways of knowing — fresh metaphors — to the table?”

Solu

Barry Lopez

Why is such a narrow group of people “invited to sit at the tables of decision, where the fate of so many will be decided?”

Barry Lopez

Author, Arctic Dreams Interview with Vincent J. Miller America, April 18, 2019

84

”

“

Solutions

Solu

“When people have a say, smarter decisions are made.”

Mona Hanna-Attisha* Mother, Activist, Doctor

*The medical doctor who told the world about lead poisoning in Flint

”

85

Action

“

“As I have always said, those closest to the pain should be closest to the power.”

Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley U.S. House of Representatives For the 7th District of Massachusetts

”

Act

ACTION

86

Action

Featured Presenters (by order of appearance in this Section)

Mrs. Darlene Medley

Terri Hargrave, MD, MPH Sandra Lane, PhD, MPH Travis Hobart, MD, MPH (Written Statement) Lanessa Owens-Chaplin, Esq. Jeanette Zoeckler, PhD, MPH Act Act

Jesse Harasta, PhD

87

Action

Mrs. Darlene Medley West Branch Leader, Families for Lead Freedom Now!

“It’s time to stop asking. It’s time to start DEMANDING. There’s enough of us.

We want better for our babies? We’ve got to make change happen. We cannot keep sitting here saying, ‘Oh, we want you to do this. Oh, we need you to do this.’ It’s done. It’s time to stop that.

Now it’s time to get up and say: ‘You all are GOING to do this.’”

Act

“Our babies are constantly getting poisoned, left and right, left and right.”

88

Action

Act

“It’s time NOW. It’s time to get up. It’s time to mobilize and it’s time to hit the ground — as the OG says — running. Let’s go.”

89

Action

Terri Hargrave, MD, MPH Physician and Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry

“This year, for the first time in many, we have resources headed our way that we didn’t have, certainly not in the last four years. Both at a federal level and at a state level.

And our job as a watchdog community is to make sure that funding gets used for our kids, that it gets to where it’s supposed to go.

And how are we going to do that?

Act •

Phone calls from yourselves.

•

Editorials.

•

Registering to vote.

Lead is a chronic problem. Once we stop funding lead programs, it’s going to come right back because housing ages, paint ages.

So we have to keep people in office that have our priority of our treasure of children being in mind.”

90

Action

Act

“If you haven’t already registered

to vote, do it today.”

91

Action

Sandy Lane, PhD, MPH Professor of Public Health and Anthropology

“We need to do this.

It’s time.

It’s long past time.

If we had fixed this in the year 2000, we would have at least a third fewer murders.

Act

We would have higher high school graduation.

We would have a lot fewer people in jail and prison.

92

Action

We would have at least 50% higher reading and math scores.

Act

This is really important. I don’t know if there’s anything more important than this.”

93

Action

Travis Hobart, MD, MPH Medical Director of CNY Lead Poisoning Resource Center (Written Statement)

“At the Central New York Lead Poisoning Resource Center, funded by the NY State Department of Health, our mission is threefold: 1. To educate health care providers about lead poisoning; 2. To counsel them on appropriate lead screening and treatment when necessary;

Act

3. And, most importantly, to work with all stakeholders toward a goal of primary prevention of lead poisoning.

We hope to see regular testing and repair of homes so that someday we won’t need to test children at all.”

“Our vision is that every child has a safe environment, in which they can live, grow, and thrive.”

94

Action

Central/Eastern Region SUNY Upstate Medical University Department of Pediatrics 750 East Adams Street, Room 5400 Syracuse, New York 13210 Medical Director Travis Hobart, MD, MPH e: hobartt@upstate.edu

Act

Program Coordinator Elizabeth Amond, MPH p: (315) 464-7584 f: (315) 464-7564 e: domachoe@upstate.edu

https://www.upstate.edu/gch/services/lead-poisoning/

95

Action

Jeanette Zoeckler, PhD, MPH Social Scientist and Public Health Professional “We need this lead ordinance to be enforced. You know, there wasn’t anything good happening in public health unless ordinances were being enforced.”

“Things like clean water. Like safe work places.

They have to be enforced. I’ve come to see that repeatedly, repeatedly in my experience.”

Act

“The data on race and place: Oh, sure! Fancy researchers get it. It goes in a journal — somewhere.”

“The public needs to be able to know this.

It should be in the newspapers.”

“We can learn from what other cities have done. Talk to them. Get more ideas.”

“I want to emphasize it does need to be close to the community we’re talking about. Families for Lead Freedom Now creates the voice underneath.”

96

Action

Act

“We can play around with politics and policy, but we need the voices of the people. Moving in that direction is going to increase the power and the change we want to see.”

97

Action

Jesse Harasta, PhD Professor of Social Science Syracuse DSA Organizer in Lead Campaign “This is a system that’s been erected over decades. Its destruction, its elimination is a long-term project. These four demands are a first and important step, but we should not fool ourselves into thinking it will go away with just these first four demands.”

“We need to attack this system of exploitation of our children’s bodies at every single chance we get.

And using every single tool at our disposal.”

Act

“Right now the city tends, and the county tends, to favor the carrot over the stick: there’s money out there. But this assumes that landlords want to fix the houses. This assumes that they want to fix the problems that they know exist.”

“You assume that if you were poisoning a child you would want to fix it. This assumes ‘good actors,’ but the fact is these landlords are not good actors, and we do not need carrots. We need sticks.”

“We need sticks to deal with the problem of people who bring places like Skyline. People who create places that damage and wound us.”

98

Action

Act

99

Action

“

“Low-income and traditionally marginalized communities must be engaged as leaders in lead poisoning prevention.

The elimination of lead poisoning is not possible unless the people most impacted by lead poisoning have the opportunity and the tools to participate in the development and implementation of lead poisoning prevention strategies.”

Act

Mona Hanna-Attisha* Mother, Activist, Doctor Emily Benfer Mother, Activist, Lawyer Emily Coffey Housing Lawyer Allyson E. Gold Housing Lawyer and Professor of Law Bruce Lanphear Doctor “Health Justice Strategies to Eradicate Lead Poisoning” p. 156 Yale Journal of Health Policy, Law, and Ethics, Vol. 19, Iss. 2, 2020.

”

*The medical doctor who told the world about lead poisoning in Flint.

100

“

Action

“Lead poisoning will continue to disproportionately affect low-income communities of color if residents are not given the opportunity to reverse the historic lack of bargaining power and become agents of change.”

Act

Mona Hanna-Attisha* Mother, Activist, Doctor Emily Benfer Mother, Activist, Lawyer Emily Coffey Housing Lawyer Allyson E. Gold Housing Lawyer and Professor of Law Bruce Lanphear Doctor “Health Justice Strategies to Eradicate Lead Poisoning” p. 157 Yale Journal of Health Policy, Law, and Ethics, Vol. 19, Iss. 2, 2020.

*The medical doctor who told the world about lead poisoning in Flint.

”

101

Open Mic

OPEN MIC

“

Mic

“What the people want is very simple: they want an America as good as its promise.”

U.S. Rep. Barbara Jordan 1973-1979

102

”

Open Mic

Helen Hudson President, Syracuse Common Council “A lot of it does have to do with landlords. But I was a homeowner and my son was 7 years old. And they had a responsibility to tell me that my house was full of lead but they didn’t.

When we talk about lead, for me, it’s gonna be citywide in a

Mic Mic

minute because once they start pulling down that highway (I-81), my kids are gonna be truly exposed.

When they say, ‘Oh, we’re gonna put up some plastic.’ Plastic is not gonna save my babies, okay? So I’m just asking everybody to please, please be aware, please pay attention. Let’s go for the state because right now that particular part of the City of Syracuse has 3.5 times the highest asthma rate and respiratory problems than anywhere in New York State.

Oh, one more thing. I’m curious, right, because I ask a lot of questions, and I think they stopped testing kids in the 3rd grade, right? So I’m just curious: why can’t we test at 3rd grade, 6th grade, 9th grade, 12th grade, and let’s see the progression of the lead these kids have lived in for their whole life.”

103

Open Mic

Unidentified Community Member

Mic

“COVID came and people died. What did the nation do? It tested in schools, in homes, it tested everywhere.

Why can’t we spend the stupid money that we spent for COVID, for lead testing?

“They did it for COVID. Why not for lead?”

104

Open Mic

Mr. Bruno Mukasa

“Good afternoon, everybody. I would like to have an interpreter so everybody can understand me.

This is my question: COVID-19 came after the lead issue. When COVID came, the government stood up and fought against COVID. Why can’t the government stand up to solve the situation of the people?

Because the situation of lead that we live with, it’s causing illness in the kids. And the kids are our future.

I ask for the government to protect us so our kids can become adults and live to their full potential.”

105

Mic

Open Mic

Peter McCarthy “I want to say two things.

Mic

One is, the city is not doing their job in terms of enforcing existing laws and regulations. I’ve been a landlord for years. I own one rental property. It’s been remediated for lead. It’s got replacement windows. It’s got a rental registry. Last year when it was time to renew the rental registry the guy walked by. He never went in the house. I told the tenants he was coming. I said, ‘They’re gonna need access, they’re gonna need to do an inspection.’ They didn’t do one.

So somebody up here isn’t making them do their job. That’s with existing laws.

The second thing I want to say: several years ago I read a scary statistic in an educational journal. It said that one of the good things that’s happened in the last 20-30 years is there was actually a dramatic drop in the murder rate nationwide around the early 90s2000s.

And the thing that most closely correlated with that drop in the murder rate was not drug laws, was not prisons, was not more cops, was not putting more people away. The thing that correlated most closely in terms of the timing and the explanation was that in the 70s they took the lead out of gasoline.”

106

Open Mic

Miss Justine

“I am standing here as a Congolese woman in the community.

CoVIA is our organization.

Mic

We flee our country because of war and everything happening in the world, but when we come here, we’re just suffering regarding this lead poison, about our kids, they are getting sick.

There’s no action.

Our children are suffering regarding this lead poison.

We ask for help from government. Please, we ask for help to help our children to get rid of this lead poison.”

107

Open Mic

Miss Anjelani “Here in Syracuse there are a lot of refugees, so you need to hear what the refugees are saying.

Mic

As parents, we brought our kids from back home, and when we came with them here, they’ve been affected with lead paint poisoning. We flee our country and came to this country, thinking that we came to the land of peace and harmony, but when we got here, we find this lead poisoning problem and it’s really affecting us.

It’s making us think twice.

So, we beg the government to stand up, and rethink about this. This is what the families are going through.

And we have one request to the government — to partner with the agencies that receive refugees. Before they put people in those houses, the houses should be tested and make sure that the houses are good, so that the kids who are coming do not have that problem.

And for the rest of us who are here, I would ask each individual to go out there and announce this to everyone. All of Syracuse needs to hear this.”

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Open Mic

Kiara Van Brackle Clinical Neurophysiologist “I work as a clinical neurophysiologist. That means I have the unfortunate privilege to care for these babies who have been affected by elevated blood lead levels.

I have seen seizures. I have seen seizure diagnoses. I have seen seizure-type diagnoses that are idiopathic, meaning they do not know where they came from, when in reality they know where they came from.

Enough is enough.

I will use my education. I will use the gifts that God gave me to speak up for the people that don’t have crossing guards to take them up from the bricks of the projects.

Their parents might work at Syracuse or they might work at Upstate Medical University but they are not doctors, they are not nurses, they are not clinical neurophysiologists. They clean up and they don’t benefit from the systems that they continually work for.

Enough is enough.”

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Mic

Open Mic

Peter King

Mic

“Lanessa is absolutely right about the accumulated problem of lead, in that half of the bioavailable lead which might poison people is likely in the soils and this is because of 60 years of leaded gasoline. This has been documented in a lot in studies which don’t see a lot of light, but there is a 2004 study.

It pretty much establishes a seasonality to lead poisoning, that you can get more poisoned during the summer months. And this is because the dust can become breathable.

This is to support Lanessa’s ask that the New York State DEC (Department of Environmental Conservation) do something serious about the soils around I-81.”

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Open Mic

Mary Kuhn Onondaga County Legislator Mic

“In addition to pushing the city to do enforcement and staying after things, this is a city-county project, even though we’re talking about issues in the city. And the county health department is responsible.

So, getting in touch with your county legislators — any county legislators, the county executive, the head of health department — stay after, pushing us, to do what needs to be done.”

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Part II Where We Go From Here

Strollers in front of City Hall at June 2020 rally for Syracuse Lead Ordinance.

Photo credits: Paul Ciavarri 112

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Where We Go From Here

“It should be a daily priority of the Mayor and County Executive to end childhood lead poisoning in Syracuse — swiftly, safely, and in solidarity with the community.

The tragedy of lead poisoning may not end tomorrow, but the triumph of safe, affordable housing will happen only if we work for it, and struggle for it, every single day.”

Mrs. Darlene Medley Mrs. Oceanna Fair Ms. Bonfrida Kakwaya Mr. Feruzi Murari Mr. Gabriel Mkandama Families for Lead Freedom Now!

”

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Environmental Justice Principles

Core Principles of Environmental Justice Related to Lead Freedom Here below are 6 of the 17 Environmental Principles adopted by the First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit on October 27, 1991.

These 6 Principles can guide us in the movement for Lead Freedom.

Environmental Justice: #1. Affirms the sacredness of Mother Earth, ecological unity and the interdependence of all species, and the right to be free from ecological destruction. #2. Demands that public policy be based on mutual respect and justice for all peoples, free from any form of discrimination or bias. #5. Affirms the fundamental right to political, economic, cultural and environmental self-determination of all peoples. #7. Demands the right to participate as equal partners at every level of decision-making, including needs assessment, planning, implementation, enforcement and evaluation. #9. Protects the right of victims of environmental injustice to receive full compensation and reparations for damages as well as quality health care. #10. Considers governmental acts of environmental injustice a violation of international law, the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, and the United Nations Convention on Genocide.

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Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Universal Declaration of Human Rights Environmental justice and human rights go hand-in-hand.

Article 1

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.

They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Article 2 Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind.

Article 19 Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

Article 20 1. Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.

2. No one may be compelled to belong to an association.

Article 21 1. Everyone has the right to take part in the government of their country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.

2. Everyone has the right to equal access to public service in their country.

3. The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or equivalent.

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Human Rights Matter!

HUMAN RIGHTS MATTER!

Ending childhood lead poisoning in Syracuse is a matter of human rights.

Syracuse has a long and storied history — a grand history — of standing up for human rights.

HR!

As far back as the 1960s, Syracuse residents have organized nonviolent human rights campaigns to overcome many injustices.

Are there lessons we can learn from the early days of nonviolent human rights campaigns in Syracuse?

Something that can help us to end childhood lead poisoning in Syracuse?

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Human Rights Matter!

HUMAN RIGHTS HISTORY OF SYRACUSE: Years of Community Organizing,

1960s Based on Human Rights in Syracuse: Two Memorable Decades: a selected history from 1963 to 1983 by Zoe Cornwall, published by the Human Rights Commission of Syracuse and Onondaga County, 1987.

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HR!

Human Rights Matter!

“

“The pressure of groups of people on groups of people … really has formed the soul of this country.”

Rev. Robert Grimm HR!

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Human Rights Matter!

HR! Photo courtesy of Onondaga Historical Association

Protest outside Syracuse City Hall, 1963

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Human Rights Matter!

SYRACUSE CORE In November 1961, George Wiley, a Chemistry professor at Syracuse University, founded the Syracuse chapter of CORE (Congress of Racial Equality).

CORE members and supporters organized resistance to the destruction of the 15th Ward and the displacement of Syracuse’s Black residents. They also demanded an end to housing discrimination.

CORE protest, 1963

Courtesy of Onondaga Historical Association

HR!

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Human Rights Matter!

George Wiley speaking to a crowd in Syracuse, date unknown

HR!

Photo courtesy of Onondaga Historical Association

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Human Rights Matter!

HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN: HOTEL SYRACUSE

In August 1963, CORE confronted Hotel Syracuse for hiring Black people only to do laundry and dishwashing, low-paying jobs with no opportunity to collect tips.

“They took over the whole lobby for the day… singing civil rights songs and lying down [on the floor].”

Dr. Dale Tussing Professor of Economics, Syracuse University HR!

Soon after, the Hotel Syracuse agreed to hire Black people for higher-paying jobs that would allow for tips.

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Photo courtesy of Onondaga Historical Association

Human Rights Matter!

HR!

CORE protest outside Hotel Syracuse, 1963

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Human Rights Matter!

HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN: NIAGARA MOHAWK In the spring of 1965, CORE confronted Niagara Mohawk Power Company for not hiring Black employees, except in the lowest-level positions.

CORE picketed Niagara Mohawk for four weeks and demonstrated at the home of its president and vice president.

CORE members protesting Niagara Mohawk, 1965

HR!

Photo courtesy of Onondaga Historical Association

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Human Rights Matter!

“One day some CORE people drove up in their car to the one entrance of the parking lot of Niagara Mohawk. This was about 8:15 in the morning and people report to work at 9:00. The driver got out and locked the car. Two other volunteers climbed underneath the car and chained themselves to the under part of the car….

It was a brilliant maneuver that really put a lot of pressure on Niagara Mohawk. When you are thinking of nonviolence, you have to think up ways to keep the demonstration alive and to keep the pressure on the employer… (so he is) willing to go back to the bargaining table and negotiate.”

Rev. Donald Bauer Priest, Activist, Community Organizer

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HR!

Human Rights Matter!

WHAT DO YOU WANT? “In retrospect, what impresses me about some of that activity (regarding Niagara Mohawk) at that time was the closeness of the people in the movement, people in the universities, people in the streets, who would trade ideas.

I remember George Wiley running a weekly brown bag seminar….

He said,

HR!

‘What would happen if they said, Ok, we’ll give you what you want.

What do you want?’”

Dr. Louis Kriesberg Sociologist

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Human Rights Matter!

Clipping courtesy of Onondaga County Central Library

HR!

Caption (Aug. 12, 1969): Dr. Wiley Speaks at Hendricks. Dr. George A. Wiley, right, delivers the first of three lectures in Hendricks Chapel on the topic, “Welfare: the Issues, the Controversy, and the Movement.”

The program is sponsored by the Maxwell School and the university’s Division of Summer Programs. Dr. Wiley will deliver two more lectures, at 8 pm today and tomorrow.

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Human Rights Matter!

DEFENDING HUMAN RIGHTS

“We had a range of leaders who could deal with a range of things. We had people who could demonstrate in the streets and we had people who could sit around the conference table.

I myself … (sat) around the conference table often times but realized the only strength I had was due to the fact (that) people were demonstrating in the streets….

I always told my conferees, if you don’t do business HR!

with me, they’re going to get you out there, and that was very effective. The civil rights leaders who tried to separate themselves from the demonstrations actually found themselves less effective.”

Dr. Charles V. Willie Sociologist

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Human Rights Matter!

Sit-in outside Syracuse Mayor’s office, 1963

HR!

Syracuse Post-Standard, Courtesy of Onondaga County Central Library

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Human Rights Matter!

War on Poverty In 1964 the federal government passed the Economic Opportunity Act, commencing the “War on Poverty.”

HR!

The War on Poverty called for “community action programs” that were developed and run “with the maximum feasible participation of residents of the areas and members of the groups served.”

In other words, the most affected people should have every opportunity to develop and run the programs themselves.

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Human Rights Matter!

Syracuse Post-Standard, July 29, 1966, courtesy of the Onondaga County Central Library

Caption: Confer on Neighborhood Needs. Meeting last night with public housing tenants and other residents of their neighborhoods to discuss sources of funding for social service needs were, seated from left, Mrs. Gloria Mims of the Crusade for Opportunity’s East Side Neighborhood Board, meeting chairman; James A. Tillman Jr., executive director of the Crusade, and Daniel Mitchell, field director of the Syracuse Community Development Association.

Standing are Fenton Gage, assistant executive director of the Syracuse Housing Authority, and Miss Dolores Yorba, director of the Action Area Planning Services of the Community Chest.

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HR!

Human Rights Matter!

Crusade for Opportunity Community Action Training Center PEACE, Inc. Syracuse created two programs, Crusade for Opportunity and the Community Action Training Center (CATC).

Crusade for Opportunity had programs for teacher training, preschool, educating teenage inmates, neighborhood centers, skill centers, and providing jobs for 700 youth. It later changed into PEACE, Inc. The CATC trained people who wanted to make a career out of community organizing, including people who already had experience from the civil rights movement in the South.

HR!

CATC students went out door-to-door in groups of two or three, meeting people and getting them to join together. Eventually they organized around 9,000 people into 9 neighborhood organizations.

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CAMPAIGN ORGANIZERS: MOTHERS

“I happened to live in one of the neighborhoods that they had targeted for organization and did … get to know many of the …people who were organizing…. They were demanding that we take more charge of our own destiny…. For me, in particular, that was really encouraging.

After all, I was home sorting socks and having babies and here was someone saying, ‘That may be something you’re doing, but here’s something else you can do….’”

Dolores Morgan CATC Student

HR!

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Human Rights Matter!

CAMPAIGN ORGANIZERS: STUDENTS

“(CATC) was probably the best combination of church, civil rights, union, community and educational activism combined in ... an action institute where people exchanged their experiences.

Everyone came in. We had a forum for that. Then, of course, we would go out and translate it into action in the streets and organize nine low income neighborhood organizations…

Most of the people who rose to the leadership in those organizations are now in leadership positions in this community.”

Walt Shepperd CATC student

HR!

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Human Rights Matter!

CAMPAIGN ORGANIZERS: STUDENTS

“In the early stages (of CATC) …the politicians really didn’t get the full implications of it, … but (they did) once the neighborhoods began to be organized, and the people were encouraged to work on issues, that were political issues such as better housing, asking for more refrigerators from the Syracuse Housing Authority… more money from social services…

demands for things that cost money from the system.

HR!

This immediately had the effect of coming back with a lot of pressure….”

Frank Woolever CATC student and former priest at St. Andrew the Apostle Roman Catholic Church in Syracuse

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Human Rights Matter!

“

“If the lowest people in a democracy are not having an opportunity to enjoy the fruits of the democracy, then there’s something wrong.…”

Frank Woolever HR!

CATC student and former priest at St. Andrew the Apostle Roman Catholic Church in Syracuse

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Human Rights Matter!

Photo courtesy of Onondaga Historical Association

HR!

Syracuse CORE Protest, 1963

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Community Organizing

COMMUNITY ORGANIZING RESOURCES

“

“Community members should be offered trainings in grassroots organizing, leadership, and other community based participatory approaches.”

Mona Hanna-Attisha Emily Benfer Emily Coffey Allyson E. Gold Bruce Lanphear

COR COR

“Health Justice Strategies to Eradicate Lead Poisoning” p. 157 Yale Journal of Health Policy, Law, and Ethics, Vol. 19, Iss. 2, 2020

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”

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Community Organizing

“At a minimum, community members must be consulted during the development, implementation, and enforcement of lead poisoning prevention laws, regulations, and policies.”

Mona Hanna-Attisha* Mother, Activist, Doctor Emily Benfer Mother, Activist, Lawyer Emily Coffey Housing Lawyer Allyson E. Gold Housing Lawyer and Professor of Law Bruce Lanphear Doctor “Health Justice Strategies to Eradicate Lead Poisoning” p. 157 Yale Journal of Health Policy, Law, and Ethics, Vol. 19, Iss. 2, 2020

COR

*The medical doctor who told the world about lead poisoning in Flint.

”

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Community Organizing

Community Organizing Main Goals

1. People win real, immediate, and concrete improvements in their lives.

2. People develop a feel for, and a good sense of, their own community-based power.

3. People’s actions, together and through co-ordination, change:

COR

•

the way

things are done in the community

•

who manages

resources in the city and county

•

how decisions

are made about resources and

priorities on the Public Agenda

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Community Organizing

Community Organizing Principles for Organizers by Fred Ross, Sr.

1. The duty of the organizer is to provide people with the opportunity to work for what they believe in.

2. 90% of organizing is follow-up.

3. Organizers never give up; they get the opposition to do that.

4. Organizing is providing people with the opportunity to become aware of their own capabilities and potential.

5. If there is something to be done, do it now.

6. People power must be visible.

7. It isn’t hard to organize if you take it granule by granule, brick by brick.

8. The way to break monotony is with motion and emotion.

COR

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”

Barack Obama

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Community Organizing

Equity Framework for Community Organizing*

Goals      

What do we really want?

What are the intermediate goals to get the big goal?

Does the problem affect different groups differently?

Does the solution affect different groups differently?

How will we make sure victory results in equity?

Are we promoting solidarity?

Building Our Organization COR

      

Who can we call upon now?

Who can we convince to join us?

How will we solve internal communication issues?

Does our leadership come from our membership?

Do affected families help set the goals?

Do we have hard conversations on identities, when needed?

How do those conversations help unite us?

*Source: Midwest Academy’s National Training Institute for Social Justice 142

Community Organizing

People Power      

Who is directly affected? What do they win if they win?

Who is an ally on our issue? What is their equity practice?

What power for change do they have, by working together?

Are we ready to respond to opponents?

What makes it easy or difficult for families to participate?

What cultural differences do we need to respect?

Decision-Makers      

A decision-maker has the power to give us what we want.

What is the decision-maker’s identity?

Is the decision-maker elected? Corporate? Appointed?

Is electoral power moving things, or consumer power?

Who is the person? Who has influence with this person?

Who does this person rely upon for support?

COR

Tactics 

Are the tactics a culturally good fit? Fun? Relatable?  Do they help us build solidarity?  Do they make your power visible to the decision-maker?  How do they help public education and organization building?

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Community Organizing

Childhood Lead Poisoning is an Issue of Racial Justice: Syracuse must address it June 20, 2020 Syracuse Post-Standard

By Sandra D. Lane and Jesse Harasta

COR

Syracuse has one of the worst lead poisoning problems in the United States. Over 600 Syracuse children were diagnosed with lead poisoning — over 10% of all children tested — in 2018. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control confirms there is no safe level of lead in the blood. Tragically, in our neighborhoods of the South, Southwest and Near North sides of Syracuse, over 20% of children have lead poisoning, based on testing results.

This environmental toxin is transmitted to children primarily by paint dust particles in homes where the landlord has failed to protect residents from peeling, chipping, chalking paint, particularly in the older one- and two -family rental units. Yet protection of our children begins both by understanding the danger of lead poisoning, and also its disproportionate impact upon those living in our most segregated areas of the city.

Lead in a child’s body hurts the developing brain. Studies show that lead poisoned children cannot learn as well as others. Adolescents who were poisoned in early childhood often drop out of school and engage in other risky behavior. For girls, lead poisoning is linked to teen pregnancy; boys who have been lead poisoned are more likely to be drawn into activity that results in an arrest record or other high-risk dangers. Adults who have been lead poisoned are more likely to have high blood pressure and other chronic health problems — meanwhile, lead absorbed by girls stays in the bones and is released years later during pregnancy as a neurotoxin to the fetal brain, and a risk factor for low birth weight.

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Community Organizing

Syracuse’s lead problem is a main driver of the failure of many children in the Syracuse City School District, where in 2018 only 20% of all thirdgraders were able to read at grade level. It is a driver of the epidemic of neighborhood violence, in which we have shootings and stabbings that traumatize entire neighborhoods. In addition to the harm to children, an analysis by Sandra Lane, Robert A. Rubinstein and their students in 2008 showed that the cost to local taxpayers of ongoing lead poisoning tops $500,000 per year in Medicaid, special education and juvenile justice expenses.

Lane’s study also documented that childhood lead poisoning is an issue of racial injustice. She assessed statistics from the New York State Health Department showing that children of color in Syracuse are more than twice as likely to be lead poisoned, compared with white children, and comprised over two-thirds those with elevated blood lead. Our research on the ground locally as anthropologists confirms that communities of color disproportionately bear this terrible burden.

Our city and nation are entering a long-needed reckoning with racial injustice and we encourage the Syracuse city leadership and our leaders at all levels of government to treat these concerns with the appropriate seriousness.

We are concerned that if childhood lead poisoning is not understood as an issue of racial injustice, it may be set aside in this moment, and that would be a failure to serve this city’s children, especially its black and brown children who disproportionately bear the damage of this toxin in their bodies. We encourage policymakers to consider including the end to childhood lead poisoning as a necessary part of any package of policies meant to address the systemic roots of racial inequities in our city.

Sandra Lane, Ph.D., MPH, is the Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professor of Public Health and Anthropology Syracuse University & Research Professor Obstetrics and Gynecology at SUNY Upstate Medical University.

Jesse Harasta, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Social Science and Director of the Cazenovia College Lead Poisoning Mapping Project at Cazenovia College.

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COR

Community Organizing

Candidate: Onondaga County Should Compel Landlords to Clean up Lead June 17, 2021 Syracuse Post-Standard

By Joe Bennett

COR

As a longtime Onondaga County resident, it is disheartening to see that so many of our young neighbors suffer. Every year about 600 children are poisoned in Syracuse due to lead exposure in their homes. The effects of lead poisoning are permanent; they can cause behavioral disorders and impaired cognitive ability. This poisoning is no accident; it is the deliberate choice of slumlords who refuse to maintain safe properties and local governments that have failed to mandate them to action. Lead poisoning disproportionately affects Black communities and communities of color. A 2018 study showed that over 20% of children in the South, Southwest, and North sides of Syracuse suffer from lead poisoning. In independent testing of 705 refugee children living in Syracuse, 30% suffered from lead poisoning.

These studies tell a story of racial capitalism: how the wealth extracted by landlords from Black and communities of color takes priority over the health and safety of our community.

Families for Lead Freedom Now! formed as a group for local families directly affected by childhood lead poisoning. I joined this group and Syracuse DSA to campaign for the Syracuse Lead Ordinance, passed by the Common Council in July 2020. Residents have called for stronger code enforcement and transparency on who owns the rental properties.

The county can ensure compliance with the registry and ordinance through policy solutions. Section 8 funds, a significant source of income to landlords of lowincome housing, are controlled by the county. They can require properties to pass a lead inspection and register the rental property before releasing Section 8 funds, compelling landlords to improve conditions. Widespread lead poisoning is a symptom of the broader housing crisis affecting the city and county for decades.

Community members have faced increasing rent in aging, unsafe housing. We must step up to change these conditions and end lead poisoning now. We owe this to the current and future generations of county residents.

Joe Bennett is a public-school teacher, union rep, and community advocate. He previously campaigned for Onondaga County Legislator in District 15.

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Map of Childhood Lead Poisoning

Year 2018 is the most recently available map from the Onondaga County Health Department.

For more health data: http://www.ongov.net/health/lead/data.html 147

Syracuse Lead Ordinance Law

Law

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Syracuse Lead Ordinance Law

•

To see a copy of the full ordinance, please visit: https://www.leadfreedomcny.org/lead-ordinance

Or scan this QR code:

Law

Scan the QR code with your phone camera and tap the link to see the Syracuse Lead Ordinance

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Acknowledgments

Attendance by Public Officials On short notice, all Syracuse and Onondaga County and Board of Education elected officials were invited to attend the June 12, 2021 People’s Public Hearing.

The following is a list of the elected officials who appeared.

We greatly appreciated their attendance.

Helen Hudson, Syracuse Common Council President Joe Driscoll, Syracuse Common Councilor Peggy Chase, Onondaga County Legislator Mary Kuhn, Onondaga County Legislator *

Acknowledgements Families for Lead Freedom Now! and Legal Services of Central New York want to acknowledge the great care and dedicated effort of all those who turned the recording of the People’s Public Hearing into the Community Report. Thank you, also, to Mary Cunningham, whose determination to make a difference helped give wings to the People’s Public Hearing. Thank you to Troy Parker for the breakthrough design of the front and back covers, and to Esther Chung for insightful editorial guidance. Thank you to Oceanna Fair, Sandy Lane, Marianna Pernia, Mary Cunningham, and Jocelyn Richards for careful review of the first draft. Thank you to Paul and Cathy of KinaneCo./FLP Group for helpful guidance throughout the printing process. And thank you to Darrell Buckingham at CNY Community Foundation for his early support.

Finally, thank you to every branch leader of the Families group, and the directors of Legal Services of Central New York, whose support, trust, and enthusiasm gave us the freedom to give our all to this project.

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