The city of Schenectady, New York, has an estimated 700 vacant houses — a situation that hurts property values, invites criminals, and is a fire hazard.
What to do about those houses, many of which are boarded-up, will likely be a major issue this fall during the election campaign for mayor.
Former Union College President Roger Hull has an idea: raise $200,000 in private donations that would provide free community college tuition to the children of parents who buy, renovate and live in homes in distressed neighborhoods.
Hull, a member of the independent Alliance Party and the endorsed Republican candidate for mayor, modeled the program after one he created when he was president of Union College. He stepped down in 2005 after 15 years leading the school.
Hull said his idea could pay full-tuition for 25 students to attend Schenectady County Community College for two years. Depending on its success, more money could be raised to help other students.
“This is not gong to be the cure to our problem, but what is obvious is that the administration for the past eight years has not focused on neighborhoods and it’s time to do something different,” Hull said.
Gary McCarthy, the acting mayor and president of the all-Democrat City Council, likes giving people an incentive to become homeowners, but said Hull’s proposal would not make a big dent in the supply of vacant homes.
“We’re identifying the problem in greater detail and then we’re going to do the more aggressive code enforcement and incentive programs and do it in a methodical, citywide basis,” McCarthy said.
At Union College, Hull’s program in the adjacent College Park neighborhood resulted in just three people getting free tuition. Hull said the incentive suffered from a lack of publicity. The total bill for the college was more than $400,000.
One funding resource not available to Hull or McCarthy is the Schenectady Metroplex Development Authority, which is prohibited from financing residential purchases and construction.
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Vacant homes are eyesores that need to be knocked down-not given to BNI to dump more tax money into. McCarthy is right on this. If these are the type of ideas Hull is proposing he will not win. He is turning off many supporters that demand major tax relief not educational opportunities. He has had time to find a message but so far it's hardly music to anyone's ears. 
