The city of Rochester will launch two so-called “Neighborhood Ambassador” programs on Jefferson and North Clinton avenues, a tactic meant to create more dynamic neighborhoods while simultaneously providing on-the-ground responses to the opioid epidemic.
The program will consist of ambassadors from community organizations hand-picked by the administration of Mayor Malik Evans. Ambassadors will play several roles in the neighborhoods and are meant to address the specific needs of each. Their responsibilities will include picking up litter, guiding visitors towards local amenities, and directing people to mental health and addiction services.
Similar programs already exist in cities across the country, including San Francisco, Kansas City, and Pittsburgh.
The legislation allocates $125,000 for each neighborhood’s program. The funding, which will be distributed to community groups, comes from settlements with opioid manufacturers and distributors made last year.
City Council unanimously approved the initiative during its meeting Tuesday. Council President Miguel Melendez said he sees the program as the first step toward developing an encompassing city-wide program.
“In our discussions, we’re also looking at the Northwest and East districts, and in our engagement with the community and my colleagues here, we’ve had some conversations particularly on Lyell Avenue and Monroe Avenue,” Melendez said.
The bill creating the ambassador program was first introduced in September, but it became controversial among Council and community members due to the inclusion of $125,000 for a downtown ambassador program.
The downtown ambassador program would differ from the Jefferson and North Clinton efforts. It would be tied to the Business Improvement District (BID) that the Rochester Downtown Development Corporation has proposed for downtown. A BID collects fees from property owners and uses them to fund maintenance, beautification efforts, and other non-municipal projects
Businesses and Monroe County have already committed $600,000 toward that initiative. Proponents say the downtown ambassadors would serve as guides and critical outreach resources for the neighborhood. Critics have expressed concern that they would function as a private security force against the local homeless population.
“BIDs often focus on beautification projects, increased security, and marketing campaigns,” said Gary Harding, a homeless outreach worker, during a rally outside City Hall in September. “They divert resources from more pressing issues, like affordable housing, education, and social services, things that directly benefit the underprivileged.”
Melendez shelved the bill in September and reintroduced it in November, but with funding for only the Jefferson and North Clinton programs. Critics called for this action, which they referred to as “splitting the bill.”
Mayor Malik Evans said that the city is still focused on an ambassador program for downtown, even though the proposed funding didn’t make it to a City Council vote.
“The president made the decision that we don’t want to stop this important work while there was a back-and-forth going on with what was going to happen downtown,” Evans said. “But we seriously need the same thing downtown. For the first time in Rochester history, we have 10,000 people living downtown, and they’re living with the exact same issues related to the opioid epidemic.”
