New York State Sen. George Borrello and Assemblyman Andrew Molitor hosted the discussion at the SUNY Fredonia Center for Innovation & Economic Development, aka “the incubator.” The panel had about 20 politicians and law enforcers — though it didn’t appear to include anyone from the city of Dunkirk, site of the event.

“It’s become a huge burden on local law enforcement and public safety in general,” Borrello said of the homeless problem. “It’s been very costly.”

He added, “These folks need services, they need housing. But the model that’s being used right now…is essentially to get these folks into a hotel room, and then that’s pretty much it. Unless they decide they want to pursue the service they need — addiction counseling, mental health services, job training.”

Borrello said the discussion group wants to “address this issue by creating some real, supportive housing for these folks.” He said homelessness rose 103% in Chautauqua County between 2022 and 2024.

Local officials attend a panel Friday in Dunkirk concerning the housing of homeless people in hotels. P-J photo by M.J. Stafford

The senator went on to call the use of hotels to house the homeless “guaranteed revenue, but we have a lot of problems there… we’ve had multiple issues with law enforcement, we’ve had child endangerment in our school system… we’ve had countless issues of threat and it’s become a tremendous burden.”

Borrello said he hopes the group can come to a consensus on a letter it can send to state officials, demanding help to address the issue.

Molitor, an ex-prosecutor, focused on law enforcement.

“It’s not just about providing services and help to those who need them, it’s also about providing an enforcement mechanism,” he said. “The problem with the bail law as currently constituted is it’s created quality of life issues in all of our communities.”

Molitor continued, “Those people that are going to take state money and live rent free in motels and hotels, then go out and commit crimes in our community — that’s unacceptable. That’s wrong and we need leadership in Albany to address this issue. We need carve-outs in the bail law so that people who repeatedly commit crimes can be arrested and held in county jails.”

Chautauqua County PJ Wendel praised the “unity of effort” shown in the round table discussion. “We’re going to use a different approach — we’re going to start to find ways to work to change the pendulum, get this swinging in our favor.”

Borrello, Molitor and Wendel all criticized indigent out-of-state residents who come to New York but wind up in state-subsidized housing.

“They’re people who feel that coming here is a good way to live and then endangering their communities,” Wendel said. “We have to make a change, we have to stop. I feel this group is a group that’s going to do that.”

Borrello brought up the Sheriff’s Homeless Improvement Project of Albany County. The county sheriff there “has basically taken a closed portion of their county jail and they’ve turned it into a homeless shelter — a place for folks that need to get transitional housing or wraparound services. That’s really what our discussion today was — how do we build something like that here?”

Borrello later said there is plenty of space available at the closed Gowanda Correctional Facility, and there is a vacant annex at the Lakeview Correctional Facility.

“This is going to require cooperation from the state. There’s a lot of red tape involved … so we want to do what we can to help fast track that process as much as we can,” he said.

The senator boiled the issue down to this question: “How do we get these people help, and also ensure that it’s done in a safe manner that is not an undue burden on local government, law enforcement, and the taxpayers?”

Borrello also expressed concerns that too many hotel beds were getting taken from tourists and other visitors by the demand for homeless shelter.

Wendel concluded, “If you want to come here and be a productive member of our community, even if you need service, that means taking a step to get those services and abiding by the plan. You’re very welcome to be here. But we also want to say: If you’re coming here to cause harm, to steal from our stores, to rob from our residents and create problems, you’re not welcome. Plain and simple.”

Some of the other participants in Friday’s discussion included Jamestown Mayor Kim Ecklund, Falconer Mayor James Jaroszynski, Fredonia Mayor Michael Ferguson, Dunkirk Town Supervisor Shari Miller, Pomfret Town Supervisor Dan Pacos, Sgt. Marcus Spinuzza of the New York State Police, Fredonia Police Chief Gregory Myers and Fredonia Fire Chief Joshua Myers.