On City Commissioners and Our Mayor's Empty, Absurd and Laughable Comment

I got a good laugh recently when I listened carefully to the YouTube video of November's Informal Common Council meeting.  That was the meeting during which I was asked to leave when things got too loud or vulgar or disruptive (or all of the above) for some in attendance.  After the Fire Chief's report and a wild, baseless claim (and rude interruption) by 3rd ward council member Ryan Wallace, our dear mayor's voice suddenly appeared on the speaker in the middle of the room, and this is what he said, speaking about me:  

"Y'all gotta remove him.  It's getting to the point where he's making things unruly for people and I'm going to ask my commissioners no longer to attend the council meetings if they're going to be treated like this."

Such strong, confident words from our mayor! 

The absurdity of Hudson Mayor Kamal Johnson trying his best to control a council meeting over which he has zero authority; his rude interruption before which he did not ask to speak and Tom DePietro did not give him permission to speak; also the fact that commissioners are rarely called on to speak at meetings and I hadn't spoken to any commissioners that night (and no one at meetings ever has any interest in speaking to them or asking questions of them)  -- on top of all that, add to it the reality of the present situation with Kamal's commissioners, and the mayor's comments could have been part of a comedy sketch. In my book, it's up there with the incident 5 years ago when Council President Tom Depietro physically attacked alderperson John Friedman during a break in a meeting (not comedic, though, just pathetic) -- both examples displaying just how poorly council meetings are conducted and how such a poor job of getting things done in Hudson has become the norm.  But this is our mayor and his commissioners I am talking about.  Back to them.

Let's take a look at the people occupying the 4 city commissioner positions (always appointed by the mayor) that Kamal Johnson threatened to remove to safety to make informal council meetings operate more civilly and effectively.  

The only commissioner who ever shows up in person regularly at meetings is Maija Reed of the Youth Department, and she was also the only commissioner attending November's meeting, either in person or virtually. Now, I may talk too much or too loudly for some, but at least I speak, or try to. The last time I remember hearing Reed offer anything at a meeting was about 3 years ago, and I think it was to decline Tom Depietro's offer of adding anything to the Youth Department's report.  Reed's appointment expired at the end of 2023, though I have no idea if she is planning on remaining in that position for another year. For all I know, Maija Reed is a hard-working, fantastic commissioner, though I have no idea what the work for that unpaid position entails, if anything.

Former HPD cop and current
HPD Commissioner Shane Bower

Then there's the person referred to as our Police Commissioner, a mysterious guy (outside of HPD circles anyway) by the name of Shane Bower.  He played a part in a different comedy sketch: You Can't Make This Stuff Up.  Since he is never at meetings, neither in person nor by Zoom, Kamal may have to drag Mr. Bower to City Hall to attend a meeting in person just to "ask him to no longer attend the meetings" in case I'm in the same room.  More laughable is the fact that our mighty mayor can't even ask Bower to stop attending meetings virtually!  Whenever I ask the council president where Shane is during a meeting so that I can ask him a question or point out something to him, all Tom can say is "Bill, you know that he doesn't have to be here." I guess that's why Shane never bothers to attend, but Maija Reed always does.  Is it also possible that Shane has nothing to offer anyway?

There's also the DPW commissioner.  No, sorry, I mean There's no DPW Commissioner, because Kamal didn't see eye to eye with the most recent person to hold that position, Peter Bujanow.  Back to Kinderhook the silent but apparently hard working Bujanow went a few months ago for not being "one with the mayor's mission," as I recall reading in the Register Star. 

For the few years prior to his exile in late September after 8 years as commissioner, Bujanow only ever "attended" meetings by Zoom and rarely had anything to add to DPW matters. Last fall at a meeting, at the conclusion of Rob Perry's DPW report and with Tom Depietro ready to move on to another department, I had to remind Tom to ask Bujanow for an update on a few of the important projects he had been working on and had not mentioned anything about recently. "Oh, yeah, right, sorry," said Tom. "Peter, do you want to give us any updates?"  He did.  That was then, but now (and since October's meeting) the DPW Commissioner is yet another commissioner that Kamal cannot remove from the room even if he wanted to, if only because there is no one to remove or even to talk to. How about you appoint a commissioner, Kamal, before threatening the council and the public to have a non-existent commissioner "no longer attend meetings"?

One commissioner never shows up and
the other left the position
vacant 3 months ago.

I guess there is a commissioner of the Senior Services Department, but she is regularly absent from meetings. More often than not there is no monthly report from Senior Services.  Nea McKiney's appointment ended a few days ago as well, and I have not heard whether she will continue to head the department. As far as I know, Nea is doing a fine job heading that department (I'm not yet old enough to know first hand!).

There you have Kamal's 4 commissioners "attending" November's meeting who are so critical to the functioning of the city and who he so desperately wants to protect: one was there, sitting in the public area as usual, as quiet as ever, not even called on for input; another was absent because he never attends, neither on screen nor in person (because he "doesn't have to"); the third commissioner was also absent because the position was, and still is, vacant; and, the fourth was, as usual, absent as well.

The way meetings are run, and the things I hear (and don't hear) during them, would be hilarious if it weren't such important work.

A future article may focus on the usefulness of having commissioners at all.  What do they do?  What are they expected to do and to whom are they accountable?  If they are appointed by the mayor and accountable to him, how is that relationship structured? It's often the case that you get what you pay for, and this is true for the unpaid commissioner positions -- which, in some cases, is little or nothing at all, especially when the position is vacant. 

I recently got an email response from Lieutenant Miller of the Hudson Police Department after I repeatedly failed to get a response from the HPD Commissioner Shane Bower about a few traffic-related safety concerns in and near my neighborhood.  Miller explained Bower's position, and I think the first sentence was the most helpful:  

The Police Commissioner does not work out of the City of Hudson Police Department.  The Police Commissioner is appointed by the Mayor and works for the CITY administration.  He does not act as a Police Officer nor does he have to be a sworn Police Officer.  The Police Commissioner position is not a full time job and he does not get paid hourly... City Administration and Police Administration are completely different.

We do assist the Police Commissioner in making decisions regarding traffic, we supply and share with him all factual information he may need to help with his overall decision.

Does that help you to understand how things operate, or don't, at City Hall?  

Here is how Merriam Webster defines the word commissioner:  The officer in charge of a department or bureau of the public service.  With the possible exception of the Senior Services Commissioner, this is not the case in Hudson.  Our other commissioners, when the positions are filled, are unpaid, and they have no office or desk or city issued phone number at City Hall or any other city building -- just an email address to contact them. They can live outside of Hudson, and they are not required to attend Informal Common Council meetings representing the department they are "working" for. If you speak to them on the phone, it is on their private phone.

Welcome to Hudson's circus of confusion.

For what it's worth, the City of Ithaca, NY has no commissioner positions, paid or unpaid.  If you work for Ithaca City Hall -- if you are an official in a department there -- you are a paid civil servant and you have a desk and office, phone number, etc.  Sounds smart, doesn't it?  

Convicted of grand larceny and official misconduct,
former Hudson Police Commissioner Peter Volkmann

It's worth remembering that it was just over 3 years ago when our Police Commissioner, after just 9 months on the "job," had to resign because of serious legal trouble he faced back in Chatham where he was the Police Chief.  Prior to that waste of time and ignominy, the city was without a police commissioner for at least two years (and no worse for it, honestly!).  

If Kamal Johnson really wants to make his city operate more smoothly, less dysfunctionally and be the best that it can be, he shouldn't bother figuring out a way to remove his commissioners from meetings, especially those who don't attend meetings or don't exist.  Instead, we would all be better off if he would rid City Hall of the commissioner positions altogether and focus on getting something useful accomplished in the next few years rather than making absurd, empty and laughable threats during meetings in which he has no authority.     

Then the Common Council should eliminate the Mayor's Office and create an Office of the City Manager, hiring someone with experience and education in municipal management to steer our ship properly.  Someone we can refer to as a professional adult.