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Council Member Salaam shares personal observations on deed theft prevalence
1:25:28
·
121 sec
Council Member Yusef Salaam, in his first term, expresses shock at the prevalence of deed theft issues in his constituency. He emphasizes the need for accessible services to help vulnerable residents and suggests partnering with community organizations to bridge the technology divide.
- Salaam notes that deed theft was the top concern raised during his campaign
- He proposes working with churches and community centers to assist seniors
- The council member stresses the importance of providing 'world class service' to constituents
Yusef Salaam
1:25:28
Thank you, chairs.
1:25:31
Okay.
1:25:31
Good afternoon.
1:25:34
I'm sitting here, and I'm I'm overwhelmed to say the least.
1:25:46
I'm about maybe 11 months and a few days into my first term as a first time public servant.
1:25:57
And my shock is that I'm I'm realizing that the same thing that I was hearing while I was campaigning, the number one thing was deed theft.
1:26:07
And I couldn't believe it.
1:26:08
I was like, deed theft.
1:26:09
People are stealing people's deeds.
1:26:12
That was the number one thing.
1:26:14
I would go into, a bodega or I would go into a grocery store or somebody would stop me as I'm, you know, in a restaurant.
1:26:24
And he would say, we need to talk to you about deed theft.
1:26:29
You know, I think that the noble thing to do in the spirit of righteous collaboration is to make sure that we provide the easiest way for the most vulnerable, not only of our loved ones, but constituents to have the type of world class service that will allow for us as council members to partner with you all.
1:26:56
You know, because I've heard in the audience folks say, well, what about churches and community centers and so forth and so on.
1:27:03
We know that the challenge is to bridge the the technology divide.
1:27:11
And as councilman Osei has said, in terms of a form, I think that that'll be so great because we have a lot of people that will work with us that we can then maybe not deputize is the right word, but put them to work to go into these centers and places of worship to help our seniors to actually fill out these documents.