For Information Contact:

Brian Adey
 798-5800

Oneida County Executive Joseph A. Griffo today said Oneida County is acting to support the Cosmopolitan Center and provide vital services to the youth of Utica.

After communicating with leaders of the Oneida County Board of Legislators as well as representatives of the United Way of Greater Utica and Community Foundation of Oneida and Herkimer Counties, Griffo said the county will:

• Create a Loaned Executive Program to assist the Center. David Mathis, Director of the Office of Workforce Development, will be loaned to the Center to serve as its acting operations director for a period of no more than 60 days.
• Enhance that support with in-kind financial expertise from County Comptroller Joseph Timpano and his office and other services needed to ensure that the Center remains open on a short-term basis while long-range options are evaluated.
• Encourage the United Way of Greater Utica to reconsider its decision to stop funding that supports Cosmopolitan Center programming.

“The Cosmopolitan Center has an outstanding history of providing valuable services to the youth and families of Utica,” Griffo said. “They are a major contractor to provide services for at-risk youth, and a major force for community improvement. At this very difficult time in the Center’s history, we are stepping up to support its mission of service.”

Griffo said Mathis, who is currently president of the Center’s Board of Directors, has a long and close history of work with the Center. “We are in a unique situation because David Mathis has an in-depth understanding of the Center, its programs and the challenges it faces,” Griffo said. “For the next few weeks, I am freeing him from his normal duties to devote his full efforts to providing leadership that can save the Cosmopolitan Center and prepare the foundation for a stronger future for the Center.”

Board of Legislators Minority Leader Harry Hertline, D-Utica, said the action is needed. “The services that are provided by the Cosmopolitan Center are important to the people of my district and all of our Utica neighborhoods,” Hertline said. “All of us at the county are committed to ensuring that needed services continue to be provided and that this organization be given every possible chance to fix its problems and restructure itself for the future.”

Legislator Edward Welsh, Chairman of the Board of Legislators Committee on Education, Youth and Agriculture, said that he supports vital services for Utica youth. “We have a case here of a long-time community agency that is having difficulties and needs our support so that the very unique services provided by the Cosmopolitan Center can continue,” Welsh said. “We want to work in partnership with the Cosmopolitan Center to go forward.”

Mathis said that in the coming weeks, he will meet with funders, government partners at the city, county and state levels and the community. “The doors will be open for the youth and families of Cornhill,” Mathis said. “While we continue to provide services that are needed, we will use this time to develop options that can lead to a stronger future for the Center.”

Griffo said the county’s action is designed to stabilize operations. “The Community Foundation has developed some options for the future of the Cosmopolitan Center, and we are anxious that these options become the framework for the future configuration of the Center’s structure and operations. I believe that the county’s actions are going to make a difference, and I hope that the United Way – which has been a very strong supporter of the Cosmopolitan Center through the years – will look favorably on these actions and very seriously review its decision to pull its funding of the agency.”