ROCHESTER, N.Y. — A decision by Monroe County GOP legislators to reallocate American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds has sparked controversy. The amendment, which passed Tuesday with a 15-13 vote in the county Legislature, shifted approximately $6,000 from Metro Justice to the Veterans Outreach Center (VOC).

Both organizations, Metro Justice and the VOC, expressed their desire not to be pitted against each other. Metro Justice supports providing resources to veterans but opposes their funding being used as a political tool.

Mohini Sharma, Organizing Director of Metro Justice, criticized the move, saying, “It’s a shame that a Republican-led majority has made this into a politically motivated zero-sum game.”

Metro Justice has been active in Rochester for nearly 60 years, focusing on key cost-of-living issues like affordable healthcare and energy. They are among several local organizations that applied for funding through the ARPA nonprofit initiative. So Sharma argues that the funding shift hurts Monroe County residents.

“What this Republican-led majority and the two Democrats that joined them are showing is that they are willing to privilege their own political opinions over actually resourcing efforts that address the cost-of-living crisis,” Sharma said.

Michael Yudelson, the Monroe County Legislature’s Democratic majority leader, was one of the two Democrats (along with Howard Mafucci) who supported the amendment introduced by Republican legislator Jackie Smith. Yudelson explained his decision, saying, “This one (Metro Justice) stood out to me as an organization that doesn’t really provide direct services to people.”

Marsha Augustin, News10NBC: “Why did you support it (Smith’s amendment)?”

Michael Yudelson, Monroe County legislator: “When I saw the amendment that was being proposed by the Republican conference, it just really struck me that this was a better use of the money and that we have an obligation to pass judgment on whether it was the original intent of the funding.”

Yudelson says it wasn’t about crossing the political aisle — he said he believes in this case, giving that funding to the VOC made more sense.

Marsha Augustin: “Was this an easy vote for you?”

Michael Yudelson: “it struck me right from the beginning that this (Metro Justice) wasn’t an appropriate use of the ARPA funds.”

News10NBC reached out to the Veterans Outreach Center, which did not provide a comment on the matter.

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