Missing Meter$, Missing Monie$

As you may know by now, I have thrown my hat in the ring to become 3rd ward alderman on November 7th.  Running as an independent, I was allowed to create my own party name.  I chose Fiscal Responsibility, even if it does sound like some sort of Republican small government party label (I assure you that was not my intention).  The amount of money I see wasted in Hudson City Hall never ceases to astound me, and that is one of the issues that I hope to focus on as an alderman. In the meantime, I will continue to use Hudseen to illustrate the ridiculous waste of money and inefficient use of resources at City Hall.  

Today's topic:  Parking meters!  Broken meters, to be specific.

On Sunday, I took a close look at all 100 parking meters in the City Hall Municipal Parking Lot on Columbia Street.  Many meters were nearly impossible to read due to moisture on the inside of the plastic screen from the previous day's small amount of rain, but I did my best. 

12 meters were in BLANK mode (nothing on the display)

11 meters were in DEAD mode

1 meter was in FAIL mode

24 of the 100 meters were inoperable on Sunday.  Nearly one-quarter of the meters in the lot behind City Hall are not working.  The 24 out of service meters includes 2 wrapped in blue tape -- one of those has been out of service for more than a year, and the other for at least 8 months.

I also took a look at the 29 meters in the Union Street Municipal Lot.

3 meters were in BLANK mode

4 meters were in DEAD mode 

1 meter was in FAIL mode

2 meters have been covered in black soot for well over a year, possibly as long as 2 years.  No one at DPW or the Parking Bureau has ever bothered to remove these meters or cover them with a bag of some sort.

Over one-third (10 of 29) of the meters in the Union lot are presently out of service.

I'm pretty sure that the BLANK mode is a result of a dead 9-volt battery.

It appears that this year's budget has no funds for purchasing new meters to replace old ones, many of which are in the two lots I examined.  At some point, all the meters in town will be replaced with the latest technology to gather parking revenue -- at least that is the plan that has been discussed at recent Parking Committee meetings.  Of course, this could take several years to happen, if it happens at all.  First, a true Parking Department needs to be established.  In the meantime, what about all these meters that aren't taking quarters? 

A few other things to note about the city's parking lots, including the two on Warren Street:  The lots' paved surfaces are in horrible condition, especially the City Hall lot; weeds are ignored in both of the lots on Warren; the lights are still always on in the City Hall lot.  It seems that Hudson City Hall has given up on more than just the meters. 

The recently formed Parking Committee is made up of the following 5 council members:

Dewan Sarowar and Mohammed Rony of the second ward, one of whom may not be returning as an alderman next year as they are not running unopposed.

Ryan Wallace (will not be on the council as of next year)

Margaret Morris (may or may not be back next year)

Dominic Merante 

We don't need a committee made up of regular people to endlessly discuss parking and meter issues.  We need a Parking Department, run by two competent professionals.