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Marist College officials call it “fear mongering.” Fairness for Fairview representatives call it necessary. Whatever you call it, it was happening this past weekend as protestors greeted more than 1,000 freshman and their parents as they descended on the riverfront campus in the Town of Poughkeepsie.
“It is a terrible thing, trying to instill fear in the mind of an 18-year-old and his or her parents on the first day of school, when there is no question in anyone’s mind … that every building at Marist is safe,” said the college’s Chief Public Affairs Officer Tim Massie.
Massie saw the Fairness for Fairview protestors, who stationed themselves at the intersection of Route 9 and Fulton Street over Labor Day weekend, and he says their message is offensive.
“What is most offensive,” said Massie, “is to suggest Marist isn’t a safe place.”
But according to some residents in the Fairview Fire District, decades of increasing fire taxes are equally as offensive, and the district’s resident-to-fire personnel ratio is sparking concern.
“Students may feel like we’re attacking them, but we’re not – that’s not the case,” said Fairness for Fairview media chairperson Karin Hanson. “This is about the safety of the students as much as it is about the safety of the residents. We need people to know the hardship that residents in the Fairview Fire District face.”
Fairness for Fairview supporter and State Assembly candidate Gary Levine, who appeared at the protest, agreed. “People in the Fairview Fire District get crushed under the weight of their taxes and it really needs to change. People need to start paying their fair share or Dutchess County is going to be one big ‘for sale’ sign.”
Levine, a candidate in the Democratic Primary in the 102nd District, lives in the Arlington fire district and says he has been a longtime supporter of tax fairness.
Hanson and Levine were just two of more than a dozen protestors who picketed the intersection in front of the campus’ entrance over the three-day weekend, holding signs reading “Fairness for Fairview,” “Dorms of Doom” and “We Pay Your Bills!” while handing out informational fliers.
Their presence was met with mixed responses from passersby. Some motorists honked and waived, some inquired about the alleged danger, and others questioned whether the display was necessary.
But with the college’s recent addition of 264 on-campus residents in the newly constructed Fulton Street townhouses, there are approximately 3,100 students living in on-campus housing.
History
Fire taxes have always been high in the Fairview district, but the issue was recently reignited in late March when Dutchess County legislators voted 13-12 to support a land-lease agreement for the development of dorms between the county and the Dutchess Community College Association (DCCA). Though some were pleased with the bipartisan vote, others were concerned about what the move would mean for Fairview taxpayers.
“The Fairview Fire District is extremely understaffed. If these dormitories were to go up, the safety of the firefighters, the safety of the students, and the safety of the residents would all be at stake,” said Hanson in an April interview.
The fire district is small, just over four square miles, and it includes parts of the towns of Poughkeepsie and Hyde Park. It is also home to some of the area’s largest tax-exempt entities, including Dutchess County Community College (DCC), Marist College and St. Francis hospital.
DCC’s proposed dorm plan would include space for 450 students, and would be located on county property off Cottage Road in the Town of Poughkeepsie. Combined with Marist College’s existing dorms and recently completed townhouses, the Fairview Fire District – which has four paid fireman per shift – would be home to nearly 4,000 students.
In July, the Town of Poughkeepsie challenged the legislature’s March decision, suing the county and suggesting that the legislature should have initiated the SEQR (State Environmental Quality Review) process when it approved the March resolution. The case was shot down on Aug. 12 by Judge Francis A. Nicolai in state Supreme Court in Westchester County. Nicolai ruled that the legislature’s vote was not determinative of future action on the site.
The town intends to appeal the judge’s decision, and in the meantime has enacted a town-imposed nine-month building moratorium on residential construction in institutional zones.
Back to the future
“Are taxes too high in Fairview? I won’t argue that. But I think everyone has to argue the real issues. Marist cannot be a financial scapegoat for the larger issue,” said Massie.
According to Massie, Marist College has contributed more to the Fairview Fire District than any other individual organization throughout the district in the last decade. He estimates that the college has contributed at least $700,000 and says that Marist is the only nonprofit that has made donations to the fire district.
“We want to work with Fairview. There has to a broader discussion on the issue here,” Massie said.
“We want to continue to raise awareness about this issue,” said Hanson. “We want to keep the issue in the forefront. We need help. We need people to understand that there are safety concerns here.”
