Raise Those Parking Ticket Fees Right Away, Our Mayor Needs Another Stop Sign And Pole!!

It was August 25th when I first wrote about mayor Ferris' new stop sign at Warren & Park, one week after it had been installed 8 feet from the curb.  At the time, I gave it two weeks to be demolished.  In a rare case, I was proven wrong.  I should have chosen TWO MONTHS instead!

Earlier tonight, about 55 days after Joe Ferris' new stop sign atop a new sign pole was installed by DPW, I noticed it was no longer there.  In its place, in the street 8 feet from the curb, was a much shorter temporary stop sign.  Anyone with a pair of eyes and half a brain could have seen this coming.  I did.  What am I, a genius?

Why Did Officer Eric Dunham Depart HPD After Just Three Years? We May Never Know. Shouldn't We Know?

 

As regular HUDseen readers may know, during the HPD report at last month's meeting of the so-called SAFETY Committee, Chief Mishanda Franklin mentioned that a police officer had recently resigned.  "We are down an officer.  Under unfortunate circumstance we had an officer resign last week.  So, we will be our doing our best to fill that position prior to year end."  Head Code Enforcement Officer Nick Fox, sitting next to Franklin and always on top of safety issues, then asked a critical question that was begging to be asked:  "Do you guys hire part-time or is it only full-time?"  (I'm not kidding!)  Is Nick looking for another job?  A new job?

Blog vs Rob: Who Wins? Hudson Does! Sanity Does!

This past Wednesday at 1:45 in the afternoon, just 48 hours after last Monday's HUDseen article showing the Fire Department's and DPW's absurd, obscene, and hypocritical approach to out of service fire hydrants, I came across a DPW Water Department crew of three repairing a long out of service hydrant on the sidewalk adjacent to the south side of Bliss Towers and across Columbia Street from another very large apartment building.  Can you imagine?  

This Is Not A Story About Traffic Signs. It Is An Examination of Normalized Dysfunction, Incompetence, and Wasting of Time & Money At Hudson City Hall.

If memory serves me, I believe it took two months, possibly three, for the Common Council (or was it just the so-called SAFETY Committee?) to come to the conclusion that it would not be possible for the city to be like Manhattan where the NO RIGHT TURN ON RED rule exists at every signalized intersection without the use of signs.  A blanket or default rule, if you will.  But that was the hope -- to make it illegal in Hudson to turn right on red at every intersection with a traffic light, likely with the only signs indicating the rule at every city entrance.  It sure would have saved on the cost of installing dozens of NO TURN ON RED signs all over town, a project that Rob Perry claimed would cost about $300 per installed sign, including hardware.  Then, in early June at a SAFETY Committee meeting, with the grand right on red blanket rule idea officially nixed at the previous month's meeting of the Code & Infrastructure Committee, chair Henry Haddad made his first ever sign request of HPD to hand off to DPW:  three DO NOT ENTER signs and one NO TURN ON RED sign.  That ONE sign was meant for North 6th Street traffic approaching Columbia, and it was installed within a few weeks. (See above.)

Is Our Mayor Sleeping On The Second Floor Of City Hall At Night Too? Including On Holiday Weekends?

 

It's not unusual to see our mayor's personal car parked in one of his two designated parking spaces directly behind City Hall late at night on just about any day of the week. Or on a Saturday or Sunday morning, exactly as I noticed his car parked this morning.  (There's also a space for the mayor in the parking lot.)  In other words, our new mayor, who lives in a house he owns just a 5-minute walk from his place of employment, has decided that the two parking spaces behind City Hall reserved for his one car are his 24/7 personal parking spaces, whether or not he is working on making Hudson a better place to live and do business in, and even if he is out wining and dining in town or sleeping in his bed three blocks away.  He has decided that leaving his car parked behind City Hall while he sleeps at home is perfectly acceptable, implying that every employee working at City Hall ought to take advantage of the situation.  

They're On Different Planets. Perhaps In Separate Galaxies! It's The Hudson, NY, Common Council!

Early this week, I saw another youngster on an electrified two-wheeled vehicle blow through one of the four stop signs at 6th & State with no apparent fear of being killed or getting caught by the police.  No helmet, dressed in black, on a hybrid type scooter with seat.  Then he zipped past two DO NOT ENTER signs on his way to Columbia, Warren, or Union.  I'm almost certain I've seen this person do the same thing on at least two other occasions recently. And what would or should a Hudson cop in a multi-ton vehicle do if they see such a clear traffic violation?  Chase the violator down a one-way street headed the wrong direction to somehow stop him and have a talk with him, perhaps issue a ticket of some sort? 

CLOSED AGAIN! SURPRISED? GET USED TO IT!

I'm not sure how long the Huddson Parking Bureau has been closed to the public this week, but it is closed today and, according to an automated email response I received from the bureau, it will reopen Tuesday (Monday is a holiday).  Word on the sidewalk is that the Parking Bureau Clerk, Emily, is pregnant. It will be interesting to see who, if anyone, fills in for her when she goes on maternity leave, which could last as long as 6 months.  Right now, there is no one to take her place behind the window when she is gone for whatever reason.  The public relies on that bureau and that office being open at all times when it is supposed to be.  No one should be driving over there to find out no one is available to help.  Allowing the office to be closed is rude, disrespectful and disgraceful.  It's no surprise that HPD Captain David Miller is involved with the Parking Bureau (though he does not work for the bureau).