He's "OUT," She's "Not Getting Answers" and We're Screwed! All Bad Signs!

If there is one positive thing about our good old fashioned parking meters (and there is more than one), it is this:  THEY DON'T REQUIRE SIGNS. Not one! Meters act as their own signs.  They are basically self-explanatory, and what little information anyone needs to know about a parking meter is written on it (or should be).  No signage is needed to direct someone to a parking meter -- they are always right there next to every metered parking space.  No questions, no ambiguity, and no signs (or poles) to purchase, install (in concrete), maintain (graffiti, cars hitting them, fading) or to replace.  Ever.  And, of course, like everything else, signs and sign poles ain't cheap.  Parking meters help keep costs DOWN!

Sentence Structure, Grammar, Effective Communication and Helpfulness Are Not City Hall's Strengths. But Parking Sure Is! Welcome To Hudson!

 

This is the most recent ANNOUNCEMENT on the city's website.  Did Kamal Johnson have something to do with its creation?  Did he write it or just sign off on it?  How about letting people know that 701 Union is at the corner of 7th and Union Streets for those who don't know their way around Hudson?  And what the heck is a 701A anyway?

The coup is complete, or at least it seems as if it is.  The Hudson Police Department has taken over control of all parking matters.  Law enforcement can wait.  First, though, they have to find a clerk to handle all the tickets and money money money!  (Read carefully!)

HPD's Fakebook posting for the same position, which appeared before the posting on the city's website, still indicates a salary range of "$35,000 - $45,000."  Make up your mind, Mishanda!  How much will the clerk will be paid?

Big Hole$, Big Money Pit$!

Yesterday at 2 pm, I came across 8 DPW workers -- and just as many vehicles and pieces of machinery -- working in and around an enormous hole in the middle of South Front Street at the bottom of the hill by the train station.  They had all likely been there for hours, because the hole was pretty goddamn deep and wide.  8 workers, each making at least twenty dollars an hour, with most of them standing at the side of the hole looking in.

I Just Gotta Say....

...Last summer, one week before the Youth Department was forced to close down Oakdale Lake to humans and pets due to a bloom of toxic algae, HUDseen published a piece about the concerning situation with the lake.  That was in early August. 

Here we are just 10 months later, and the situation with the lake appears to be worse than it was last summer when HUDseen put out the warning that something was wrong and possibly dangerous with the water.  Yesterday, I published a similar, though less wordy, article.

Great News For A Change (But Don't Forget Your Aqua Hazmat Suit!)

 

I was told yesterday by soon-to-depart Youth Department Director and all-around nice person, Liz Yorck, that DEC's recent test of water from Oakdale Lake passed, allowing swimming in our only public swimming hole (at least for now).  Hooray! (Of course, this was not the case beginning early in August last year.)  Liz also informed me of something else I was not aware of: that lifeguards had been at the lake last weekend keeping an eye on things and that they would also be in their chairs this weekend and beyond.  I asked Liz if swimming was allowed with so much algae on the surface for swimmers to contend with, to which she responded that the algae was a sign of a healthy water ecosystem.  (The lead picture was taken yesterday, June 3rd.)

This Occurs Far Too Frequently in Our Tiny City, Particularly On 5th Street

DPW, HPD, the Mayor's Office and the Police Commissioner (who "doesn't work for the police department") are not doing enough to prevent wrong way drivers.  I guess they all look at it as part of the inescapable reality of having one-way streets.  It's not really a problem to anyone at City Hall, and nothing else can be done besides sticking with the existing small, often poorly located (or obscured), black and white ONE WAY signs.

It's The Quality Of DPW's Work And Their Follow Up That Is So Impressive! (Part TWO!)

 

LAST WEEK

Here is the top of the curb as seen late last year, a few months after DPW repainted the side and top of the curb for the 2nd time after first painting it yellow about a year and half ago.