Is Code Enforcement Valued at Hudson City Hall? By All Appearances, No!

After 9 years of interacting with, and observing, our Code Enforcement Office, I have always felt that they are the forgotten sibling in City Hall.  The runt, if you will, that no one wants, or knows how, to deal with. 

A few years ago, when CEO had to vacate their offices in the 400 block of Warren Street -- with City Hall full and nowhere else to go -- there was talk among the Common Council of housing the CEO in a trailer in the dirt lot across from the Firehouse on Washington Street at 7th Street (I kid you not).  Then the offices for rent at 751 Warren were found (a floor shared with a podiatrist), and that is where CEO offices can be found today.  

City of Hudson taxpayers pay to house the CEO in a rented office at a cost of $2,000 per month, or $24,000 a year.  As far as I can tell, this is the only city department that is located on a property not owned by the city.  So, who pays that rent -- where does one find that amount of $24,000 in the 2023 budget?  Why, it comes out of the CEO's own budget, of course!   They must use 14% of their budget to pay the rent.  The general fund isn't paying the $24,000 in rent -- CEO is responsible for paying for the roof that they work under.  They are expected to pay the rent because they had to get out of an old office that was owned by the city, and the only place that anyone could find was a rental.  

It is as if the rest of City Hall, and those who approve the budget (for example, the mayor), are penalizing our Code Enforcement Office for having no choice but to do their work in a rental.  Sorry, you have to pay for it yourself! So, residents suffer because the CEO can't afford to, let's say, make one of its part-time code officers into a full-time officer.  Because CEO, unlike any other city department, has to pay their own rent so they have a place to, well, enforce the code we all expect them to.

If rent were not part of the CEO's $173,745 budget, their budget this year would have been $150,000, nearly half of which would be Craig Haigh's salary.  As it stands, the salary of the one full-time employee at CEO (Craig Haigh) takes up 37% of the department's budget.  The CEO doesn't have enough money in its budget to hire a full-time clerk to answer the phone, deal with walk-ins, sharpen the pencils, fill out permits, etc., 5 days a week.  But it sure found room in its budget to pay for the friggin' rent!  

The Department of Public Work's total budget for 2023 is over 5 and a half million dollars. This includes the Water Department, Cemetery, Streets, Garbage, etc.  DPW Superintendent Robert Perry has a salary of over $114,000.  Perry requested (and was granted) $140,000 in funds for SNOW REMOVAL by DPW this year.  In other words, the City of Hudson has budgeted nearly as much money for snow removal this year as it has budgeted for the total expenses at our Code Enforcement Office (excluding their rent).  The salaries paid to the 3 code officers at CEO (one full time, 2 part time, totaling $107,300), is about $7,000 less than the salary paid to the person in charge at DPW, Robert Perry.  It's obscene.

I'm no accountant, but if I read the Hudson Police Department's 2023 budget correctly, it is around 4 million dollars.  4 HPD officers make over $100,000 in salary, anywhere from $102,000 to just over $111,000.  2 of those HPD officers each make more than the total combined salaries of our 3 Code officers found working in the rental at 751 Warren Street.  This includes Craig Haigh's salary!

A few years ago, HPD and the City Court moved out of their old, cramped offices in the 400 block of Warren, adjacent to the Code Enforcement Office.  They both moved directly into the newly built police station, court and offices at 701 Union.  Meanwhile, CEO was left to fend for themselves.  They had nowhere to go but into a rental.  And pay for it!  Since 701 Union Street is owned by the City of Hudson, there is no rent involved in the HPD's budget.

Next time you hear someone complain that our Code Enforcement Office should be enforcing the sidewalk Code or fining homeowners for leaving garbage on the sidewalk or in the alleys, tell them that there is no way they are able to do these things because they have to spend one-seventh of their meager $150,000 budget on rent for their offices, the only city department required to do so.  And, for some peculiar reason, City Hall doesn't feel that our CEO deserves funds to adequately enforce the city's Code.

I have been asking people at City Hall for years why no one from the Code Enforcement Office appears before the Common Council every month to offer a monthly report and take questions and comments from the Council and the public.  I have been told two different things, neither of which make any sense.  A city attorney (whose name I have forgotten) explained that since Craig Haigh has to abide by the City Code, there was no reason for him to attend Informal Council meetings.  Then last year at a Council meeting, Tom Depietro explained to me that "Craig Haigh isn't required to be here.  If you want him here, start a referendum to make it happen."  How does one respond to that?  What I should have said in response was:  "Why don't you, Mr. President of the Council?"

It turns out that none of the department heads are required to attend the Informal Council meetings, but 5 of them do regularly.  It is as if no one at City Hall (including all ten of the alders) actually wants Craig Haigh to attend the monthly meetings to offer a monthly report, maybe even answer a question or two about how things are going at 751 Warren.  Council President Tom Depietro is obviously not interested in that happening.  No, siree, Tom hasn't started a petition to include Craig Haigh in the Council meetings.

The question is:  Why does the City of Hudson fail to properly respect and invest in the Code Enforcement Office year after year?  Is it a case of OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND?