We Pay Them To Fail At This? (Part I)

 

No permit? No problem!

I don't know about you, but when I think of the various duties that any police department in America handles, issuing permits for dumpsters is not one of them.  Criminal investigations?  Check! Traffic enforcement? Check!  Responding to suspicious and criminal behavior?  Check?  Issuing permits to contractors and homeowners wanting to park a dumpster or large piece of machinery in the street?  Ummm... huh.... what you say?  The Police?

But that is indeed one of our Hudson Police Department's tasks.  The Police Clerk fills out the PARKING PERMIT if someone shows up asking for one (it has to be done in person), the permittee signs the permit, the clerk takes the $25, and Police Chief Moore signs every one of the permits.  No firearms or tasers are ever employed, or so I assume.

HPD's PARKING PERMIT has a few purposes.  Perhaps most importantly, the permit is essentially a legal document that hold the city harmless should something parked in the street that is not a passenger vehicle (say, a dumpster) cause an accident, injury or death.  No permit for a dumpster and it causes an accident?  The City of Hudson might be liable.

With that in mind, the permit requires the permittee to make the dumpster or machinery as visible as possible:  

The initial parking permit lasts two weeks and costs $25.  If the permittee wants to renew the permit after that, they will have to go back to HPD and pay $10 for another two weeks.  That is the equivalent of 70 cents a day.  Interested in occupying multiple metered or non- metered parking spaces?  It will cost you $1.60 a day for the first two weeks, then just 70 cents a day.  And don't forget, the permit MUST be displayed at the job site.

No barriers, no lights, 
no problem.

I recently FOILed for the 2 most recent parking permits which HPD issued to RAPP Construction at 522 Union.  There has been a series of dumpsters parked in front of RAPP's work site since last summer -- at least 7 months ago.  The most recent permit HPD has on file expired on January 25th, which means HPD has not issued RAPP a permit for over a month.  The next most recent permit issued to RAPP for 522 Union Street expired on October 22, 2022.  For 3 months, RAPP did not have a permit to park a dumpster on Union Street.  But they parked one there anyway.  There was never a day or night without an unpermitted dumpster in the street.

RAPP did not walk into HPD offices to pay for a permit renewal, nor did HPD knock on RAPP's door to get them to pay for a renewal.  For 3 months.  Then a permit, then no permit for a month.

A total of at least 4 months without an important permit.  4 months where the City of Hudson could have been sued for an accident at that dumpster AND the city coffers are missing at least $80.  Why would a contractor like RAPP bother with renewing their permit when it expires?  HPD doesn't seem to care if they do or don't renew it.  Why would RAPP care if a car or bicycle slammed into their dumpster?  Why would HPD?  Is it because they have much more important law enforcement duties like keeping us safe, and permit enforcement is, at best, an afterthought? 

Why on earth is Police Chief Ed Moore spending one second of his day signing parking permits for contractors hoping to park a dumpster in the street?  Why is his clerk spending one second doing any of this as well?  Why are they spending any of their precious time doing anything related to permits, especially if they fail miserably at it?  What on earth does a PARKING PERMIT for a dumpster have to do with law enforcement?