HUDseen: It's Official: Our DPW Superintendent Really Doesn't Care About You Or ...

There might as well be a hanging sign that
says "Robert Perry hopes you get run over!"

...me, your neighbors, your grandparents, your siblings, your dog, your local friends or friends visiting from out of town, your spouse or lover, your mother or father, sister or brother or anyone else you may or may not know or care about. Robert Perry seems to only care about himself.

2 things have occurred in the past year which support my claim.

As readers may recall from a February 2023 HUDseen article, Hudson DPW ought twenty-four CROSS ONLY ON THE GREEN signs which they installed along Warren Street and along South 3rd Street the previous month. Perry explained at the February 2023 informal council meeting that the signs were needed because of a perceived safety issue of pedestrians unsafely crossing the side streets along Warren Street (he gave no evidence, pictures or data to back his claim). Apparently (and unbelievably), there was no perceived safety issue for pedestrians crossing Warren Street at any intersections, just pedestrians crossing the side streets from 3rd Street to 7th Street.

After quoting the "cross on green, not in between" safety motto from "Sesame Street when I was a kid" and actually saying that "Hudson is near New England, and in New England pedestrians jump out into the road all the time," Perry then added, "Our goal is obviously for people not to get mowed over by cars because, you know, that is bad." Will you listen to that! Robert Perry actually cares! God bless his sweet soul! (Every member of the common council bought it and no one asked him any questions about the signs!)

Sometime last October or November, while on foot preparing to cross the truck route at 6th Street, I noticed that the traffic light at the busy and scary intersection of 6th & Columbia was missing its north facing green light. Though drivers headed in the correct direction on one-way 6th Street would never notice that light being out, pedestrians sure would, and I sure did. When that green light worked, it allowed me and anyone else trying to cross Columbia Street from the north to make it across safely (as long as no one ran a red light on Columbia!). In short, that green light allowed every pedestrian to -- as we are all taught to do -- safely CROSS ON THE GREEN. As you can imagine, the green light was used by, and helpful to, pedestrians numerous times every day, especially on Saturdays. It was always there to help pedestrians -- and pedestrians alone-- avoid automobiles, not to help drivers of automobiles! That green light had a purpose, and it was regularly put to good use by all sorts of people -- a purpose that Robert Perry claimed in public to be well aware and supportive of, at least along Warren Street.

Even for the disabled and elderly, it is not
possible for pedestrians headed south
to cross on the green at 6th & Columbia.

You know how it works, don't you, just like Mr. Perry knows how it works? To cross a street safely at a lighted intersection you need to know that the traffic on that street has a red light that will not be turning green anytime soon. Of course, the only way to know that drivers have a red light that isn't going to turn green in a second or three is to view the side of the traffic light facing you that is meant for the perpendicular street, the street you are not crossing. Anyone hoping to make it to the other side alive must rely on the green light that is conveniently facing you, whether or not that light is meant for traffic. If that light is green, the other lights for the street you are trying to cross are red and will not be turning green right away, so you are good to cross in a safe manner. Do not run! If the light facing you is yellow, do not begin crossing because the red lights facing the other way will be turning green momentarily and you may get run over if you dart into the street. It's very simple, and Mr. Perry explained as much: Do not rely on any red lights; only rely on and cross when the green light that faces you is illuminated!

But what if there is a traffic light with no green light facing you to cross on? What if that light is burned out and has been for several months? Well, you are kinda screwed because, obviously, it is not possible to cross on the green if there is no green light to help you cross safely. Instead, you have to be really careful and make some extra effort to see whether the light for the street you are trying to cross is red. This is not what we are taught to do because, of course, that red light, if you can see it, may be turning green at any moment and stepping off the curb may put you immediately in harm's way. Relying on that red light to cross is a great way to get run over by a car. It's barely even worth mentioning because it so obvious to everyone except, perhaps, children: Being run over by an automobile is a bad thing and to be avoided.

It's not just that there are no CROSS ONLY
ON GREEN signs here, but there isn't
even a green light to cross on!

In late November, I spoke on the phone with mystery man, traffic safety guru and so-called Police Commissioner Shane "no show" Bower (who does not work for or at HPD) about the missing green light, explaining why it was a problem. He understood and immediately said, "That ought to be a quick fix for DPW, and I will talk to them." I don't know if that "talk" ever happened, but the burned-out light bulb behind that green lens on the traffic light at 6th & Columbia has still not been replaced to this day, more than 6 months later. My repeated calls and emails to Mr. Bower (cc'ing the mayor!) about the unfixed light went unanswered for 2 or 3 months until I finally gave up.

A few months ago, I took my complaint to then mayoral aide and ADA coordinator Michael Hoffman. He took my complaint and said he would look into it. A month or so later I asked him why the green light was still out. He responded that the green light facing north did not need to be illuminated and that pedestrians could cross using the lights facing traffic on Columbia Street as a guide. Our former ADA coordinator actually said this!

Following Robert Perry's DPW monthly report at this month's informal council meeting, a neighbor of mine informed Perry that the green light facing north on the traffic light at 6th & Columbia was out and that it made it very difficult for pedestrians like himself to cross Columbia Street safely. (He had informed the police chief of the same thing at April's meeting!) Perry began his response to the resident in his typical dismissive, childish, disrespectful, everything-is-a-joke-and-you-are-annoying-me manner by saying that if aliens landed on North 6th Street he wouldn't want them to assume the green light meant they could proceed through the intersection in the wrong direction. Okay, our DPW Superintendent makes a reference to aliens landing on 6th Street as an explanation to a serious vehicle and pedestrian safety issue brought up by a resident. Who says that but a snotty, immature clown who has zero respect for the pubic? If that wasn't immature, creepy and dismissive enough, our Great Communicator on Zoom then concluded his thoughts on the missing green light with this: "I'm glad that light is out." End of discussion! Go away annoying Hudson resident, and don't return with your stupid concerns and questions!

Our DPW Superintendent is "glad that
(this) light is out."

In other words, Robert Perry has long been aware (possibly since late last year) and done nothing about the green traffic light solely providing safety for pedestrians at 6th & Columbia that has been out for at least 6 months. In other words, our DPW Superintendent has been and is fully aware that no one walking south on 6th Street is able to CROSS Columbia Street ON THE GREEN light because there is no green light to cross on! In other words, Mr. Perry believes that pedestrians should cross 6th Street at Warren Street on the green, but not do so while crossing the truck route one block away. (Perhaps no New Englanders ever cross the truck route on foot, even at 6th Street!)

In other words, even if he wanted to, Mr. Perry couldn't install one of his CROSS ONLY ON GREEN signs for southbound pedestrians to read before crossing the truck route because it would be meaningless, disrespectful and a farce, much like Mr. Perry himself. In other words, Robert Perry doesn't care if that green light is ever illuminated again while he is the DPW Superintendent.

In other words, Robert Perry didn't buy and install those 24 CROSS ONLY ON GREEN signs last year because he wanted to prevent pedestrians from New England or Hudson from being run over. To think that Perry noticed a safety issue only for pedestrians crossing the side streets along Warren but not for pedestrians crossing Warren Street is preposterous (New Englanders don't cross Warren Street, Mr. Perry? They only cross the side streets?). No, our DPW Superintendent had those signs installed to make it look like he cares about the safety of pedestrians -- he had to do something to be able to prove to everyone that "pedestrians getting mowed over by cars is bad." Really bad. So very really bad.

In other words, contrary to what Mr. Perry proclaimed over a year ago, he does not think that pedestrians being "mowed down" trying to safely cross the truck route at 6th Street "is bad." (Is it good?) Otherwise, he would have had that green light replaced long ago, right? Maybe even right away. And maybe even put up a few CROSS ONLY ON GREEN signs at the intersection along the truck route with all those tractor trailers, trucks and cars, right? How would Mr. Perry explain the fact that he is not interested in installing any CROSS ONLY ON GREEN signs at the intersection of 6th & Columbia along the truck route but he feels the need to install two of the signs one block away on Warren Street, a less busy, less speedy street not full of tractor trailers traveling at 30 or 40 miles per hour? Mr. Perry wouldn't be able to explain his approach rationally because he does not care about anyone but himself-- not you, me, nor any Hudson resident, the hundreds of people crossing Columbia Street to visit the farmers market on Saturdays, old people, young people, disabled people, healthy people, dogs, infants in their mothers' arms, you name it. Robert Perry might have a laugh if someone were to be run over and killed at 6th & Columbia because there is no green light there to safely cross on. He might even say, "I'm glad that light is out and glad that mother and child got run over and killed. It serves them right. Get a car next time, fool."

One of the 24 signs Robert Perry wants
visitors from New England to heed.

Soon after the council meeting, I saw my neighbor (who does not walk very well) and asked him what he thought of Mr. Perry's response to his concern about the missing green light at 6th & Columbia. "What do you think of his attitude?" I asked. "He's very dismissive is all I can say," was his response.

A few years ago at an informal council meeting, during Rich Volo's first time on the Common Council, I heard him complain to the other members that Mr. Perry was missing too many informal meetings and, thus, not giving his monthly report to the council as all the other department heads consistently were. I had noticed the same thing and, until Volo's complaint, it astounded me that no one was calling out Mr. Perry for his regular unexplained absences. Over the course of 12 months, as I recall, the DPW Superintendent did not show up to 5 informal meetings and he never once offered an apology or reason for being absent. Things soon turned around.

If you go to enough meetings to watch and listen to Robert Perry in action, what you start to understand is that he is mostly full of himself, he is much full of bullshit and he is regularly dismissive of the public's and the council's concerns. He simply doesn't want to be bothered (of course, he does not even have an office in the DPW offices in City Hall and his clerks regularly tell me that "he is never here!") Frankly, I find it embarrassing and disgusting, and it never ends. I have heard it from random people, something I learned long ago: Robert Perry is not easy to deal with, he does not work well with others and he has quite the ego. Someone who once worked fairly closely with Mr. Perry once offered me this about him: "He seems like the kind of person that thinks his shit don't stink." Amen.

Is Mr. Perry glad that this green light is
not out? Would he replace it right away
if it were to burn out?

A sign that would be useless and
out of place one block away along
the truck route at a busier intersection
where accidents are more common.

Let's say that the green light pedestrians utilize to safely cross 6th Street on the north side of Warren Street (where there is a CROSS ONLY ON GREEN sign for pedestrians on each side of the street) were to burn out. This would be the same scenario as the present scenario we have had for the past several months one block away at Columbia Street where a green light's only purpose was for the safety of pedestrians, not automobiles. Would Mr. Perry ignore the situation, never replace the bulb and leave the CROSS ONLY ON GREEN signs up as well? Or would he remove the signs and leave the burned-out green light as it is? Why would he replace a burned out green light meant for pedestrians on Warren if he isn't interested in doing it one block away on the truck route? When questioned about the missing green light and the removed signs on Warren, would he stoop as low as to offer an explanation having to do with aliens landing their spaceship on 6th Street? Would he conclude with "I'm glad that light is out and those signs are gone!" as if we are all -- including every member of the common council -- children not worthy of his respect?

Would the common council accept that response from our DPW Superintendent? Would his boss, the mayor, accept that response too? Or would someone stand up and finally say "Mr. Perry, it is time for you to grow up or find yourself another line of work before someone is killed because of your lack of empathy and your disregard for the safety and well-being of the residents of this city. You seem to think this is a joke and that you can do and say whatever you like. We have news for you; this is not at all a joke! This is a serious issue that you do not seem to be able to wrap your brain around. Your behavior and attitude are reprehensible and unbecoming of a city official in your capacity and it is no longer acceptable to this council and this city. We all deserve better than your childish, dismissive and mean-spirited attitude, especially from someone paid as much money as you are. You are not helping us. Shape up or ship out. You have been warned. Some of us are long past being tired of your selfish nonsense!"

Oh, if only! It would be a long overdue reprimand for our $117,000 Great Communicator on Zoom, that's for sure!

Hundreds of visitors and residents (some with children and pets) have no choice but to cross Columbia Street at 6th Street to get to and from the farmers market every Saturday for 7 months of the year. The intersection is, of course, also crazy busy with vehicles because of the market, many of them turning. Yet, much to our DPW Superintendent's apparent delight, not one of those persons headed south is able to safely CROSS COLUMBIA STREET ON THE GREEN. Not even someone taking 10 or 15 seconds to cross the street with the use of a cane. For this, we pay Robert Perry $117,000 a year and not one Common Council member or the mayor is outraged. I don't know which is more concerning, Mr. Perry's childish, disrespectful bullshit or the lack of response and indignation from the council (especially Tom Depietro) and our so-called mayor.

Mr. Perry knows he can get away with his nonsense, and he successfully does and has been doing it for years. The rest of us have to live with it, even if it might kill us. It's difficult to believe, folks, but this is Hudon in the 21st century, where the ugly and the unsafe become the norm and hardly anyone bats an eye.