Thank Goodness HPD Is Part of The Common Council's New SAFETY Committee! They're Going To Have To Justify The Unjustifiable, Defend The Indefensible and Explain The Inexplicable!

All the new scannable paid parking signs that DPW attached to the top of meter poles on side streets and Columbia Street this week are facing parking spaces in the street, not the sidewalk. NOT ONE OF THE SIGNS IS FACING THE SIDEWALK THEY ARE FOUND ON.  FACING THE SIDEWALKS ARE THE BLANK BACKS OF PARKING SIGNS MEANT TO ALLOW DRIVERS TO EASILY AND QUICKLY PAY FOR THEIR PARKING SPACES.  

Walking On Floor Framing Beams and Steel Re-Bar, Walking Up Steps, Stepping Off the Back of a Garbage Truck and Other Ways City Workers Hurt Themselves Last Year.

If I were the King of Hudson, one of the changes to Common Council meetings I would institute would be a requirement that each department head reveal any injuries that occurred in their department the previous month.  And since most injuries to municipal workers occur in public works departments, Rob Perry would have an extra task every month: to announce to the council how many days his department has gone without an injury and how many days away from work any injured workers had.

With that in mind, let's have a look at the nine accidents involving city workers in 2025 that the city reported to OSHA on Form 300, titled Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses.  

24 Hours Later. Well Looky Looky!

 

Yesterday, a few minutes after I notified Code Enforcement in-person of all the snow still on the sidewalk around the corner in front of 60-68 North 6th Street, I noticed something interesting.  Two city employees, having come from the Code office, approached the first mound of snow in front of 60-68 North 6th.  They stopped and spoke for a few seconds, though I was too far away to hear their conversation.  They then turned around, walked back to Washington Street and took a right to return to where they had just come from.  The two people were a plainclothes Hudson Police Department Lieutenant Nicolas Pierro (likely not on duty) and a long-time part-time Code Enforcement officer, possibly Peter Merante, the same person I had just notified of the sidewalk code violation.  Nearly all of the snow on the sidewalk -- that had been there for 10 days just a literal stone's throw from the Code Enforcement Office -- was gone by this morning.  (I would have done a more complete job, but not everyone is as perfect as I am!)

Are Foxes Guarding Our Henhouse? It Sure Looks That Way!

At some point today I'm hoping to inform the Code Enforcement Office of all the 10-day-old hard snow and slippery stuff blocking much of the long sidewalk in front of 80-86 North Sixth Street.  That's the wide property just south of Washington Street and a few steps from the Code Enforcement Office with the 2-family house flanked by two garages.  Over the past two years, I've complained to Code at least three times about litter that accumulates in the hedgerow along the sidewalk that the property owner seems to be okay with continually ignoring.  It's also not unusual for a large grey empty recycling bin to remain on the narrow sidewalk for days after pickup.  I expect to be calling the Code office again this summer about the unmaintained property, because nothing ever seems to change around here.

Is It SAFE to Walk or Park In Hudson?

About two years ago, at my suggestion, 5th Ward council member Vicky Daskaloudi requested of Police Chief Mishanda Franklin that during her HPD reports to the council she mention any traffic "accidents" that involved pedestrians or bicyclists during the previous month.  If a pedestrian or bicyclist had been hit by a vehicle -- whether killed, injured or uninjured -- Mishanda was to let the council know about it the following month.  And that practice was soon employed; Mishanda mentioned a few pedestrian/bicycle incidents when she wasn't on maternity leave. Late last year, Captain Miller, standing in for Chief Franklin while she was on maternity leave, mentioned that an ebiker on the bike path along Joslen Avenue had been hit to the ground by a car that was turning into the Fireman's home.  (One wonders if that driver was issued a traffic ticket for failing to yield the right of way to a biker.  Doubtful.)

Good Luck Finding Someone To WORK Those JOBS!

Five days ago, a help wanted posting appeared near the bottom of the main page of the city's website in the ANNOUNCEMENTS section where the three most recent important local news announcements are always present.  Next to the help wanted ad for the city's head Code Enforcement Officer position were the two previous announcements, both regarding snow removal amid the snow emergency. 

Well, At Least There's A Beautiful Full Moon Out Tonight

 

There's so much to say about the obscene parking situation surrounding the Pocketbook business complex, but I'll stick to three things that first came to mind tonight when I noticed a sign perched on the back of a car parked on Prospect Street.