"Oh, Boy"? "Oh, Too Bad"? WTF!

There were a few instances during the most recent Informal Common Council meeting worth highlighting that show the depths of Robert Perry's childish, damaging nonsense.  It's almost unbelievable to me the things I hear from this man's mouth, even and especially during public meetings.  He has no shame or sense of decency.  He is an embarrassment and, dare I say, he would probably have been shown the door long ago if he worked for any other municipality.  Honestly, what Robert Perry brings to the table, so to speak, is disgusting and pathetic.  And so-called Council "President" Tom Depietro has no issue with Perry's behavior, merely encouraging more of it. 

Toward the end of Chief Franklin's HPD report, a discussion ensued about codifying the rules and procedures for the booting and towing of vehicles.  At one point a resident in attendance was acknowledged by council "president" Tom Depietro to speak about the issue.  He offered information to the council about his experience last year when his van was towed off of private property, what it took to get his van back and how much it cost him.  He was not complaining, rather merely trying to help the council understand what the towing process entails and how much money can be involved.  At least some council members seemed interested in what he had to say.  At minute 32:30 of the meeting, as the resident spoke, a voice from someone "attending" virtually can be heard that no one quite understood what was said or who said it.  When the room quieted down to try to figure out who had just spoke, the virtual "attendee" repeated what he had just said so that everyone could clearly understand him:  "Don't park illegally."  It was DPW Superintendent Robert Perry's voice, and what he said was simply an unhelpful, mean-spirited comment directed at the person who had been allowed to speak during the HPD report.  Of course, Mr. Perry did not ask to speak or "raise his hand" as everyone who wants to speak is expected to do. You remember what your parents taught you about interrupting others and waiting your turn to speak, don't you?  Interrupting others, especially with negativity, is immature and not acceptable behavior.  Apparently, Robert Perry was never taught this important lesson or he has forgotten it.  

To make his comments, our $117,000 Great Communicator On Zoom (GCOZ) simply unmuted his microphone and interrupted the meeting because he has difficulty behaving like an adult and can't shut the fuck up when he should (and could) be quiet and respectful of others who are speaking.  Mr. Perry spoke during the HPD report, not the DPW report, after all, and our $117,000 GCOZ made a snide comment to a member of the public that had nothing to do with DPW matters.  People often refer to these types of people who are so full of themselves as, well, jerks.  (More accurately, the word has 7 letters and begins with ASS, but I will refrain.)  You know a few don't you?  Well, we have at least one in City Hall, and he's been around for far too long.  He is nothing but a bad seed. 

Unsurprisingly, Council President Tom Depietro did not reprimand Mr. Perry for speaking out of turn and interrupting the meeting during public comment time prior to his DPW report.  In fact, Tom said nothing to Mr. Perry about his interruptive behavior.  However, the resident in attendance whom Mr. Perry had interrupted did have something to say, reminding him that, "This is public comment time."  It was a decent way to say, "Why don't you shut the hell up and wait your turn like everyone else, jerk!  Who the hell do you think you are interrupting me?  Who are you and why did you not identify yourself or ask to speak?"  Then Tom Depietro made a comment which I could not decipher, followed by one of his hearty laughs, though no one else laughed because I don't think anyone understood what Tom was laughing about.  It certainly wasn't an appropriate time to be making jokes or laughing, especially from the person supposedly running the meeting.  Soon the meeting continued. 

The camera's and council member's view of the 
Common Council "president"!  (That's the top of his head
above his laptop)

Moments later I was acknowledged by Tom to speak soon after I had "raised my hand" via my laptop to ask two questions of Chief Franklin.  Tom began by saying, "Oh, boy," then groaned, his typical reaction to my desire to speak.  Initially, I had difficulty knowing if my microphone was live, and there were a few awkward moments, as there often can be during Zoom meetings.  When it seemed that Tom and the council had given up on me, everyone heard Robert Perry say this over his unmuted mic:  "Oh, too bad."  Again, mind you, this was his second derisive comment during the HPD portion of the meeting!  As soon as Mr. Perry voiced his subtle disdain for me (which I did not hear at the time), I got my mic properly unmuted and was prepared to speak.  Before I could speak, though, Margaret Morris turned to Tom Depietro and said, "I think we should ask Rob Perry to mute himself."  

Can you believe that this is what our city council meeting have devolved into in the year 2024?  A Hudson Common Council meeting supposedly involving adults, not junior high school students?

Tom Depetrio then said, "Rob, you should mute yourself.  We can hear what you're saying."  "Should," Tom? Just "Should"?  Tom Depietro obviously heard the DPW Superintendent's comments but wasn't going to do anything about it on his own! The so-called council "president" needed someone to tell him to do something about Mr. Perry's boorish and unwelcome interruptions because he really had no problem with at all!  Considering that Mr. Perry was fully aware of his microphone being unmuted and that everyone in City Hall and online could hear him, Tom's words show his complete lack of understanding of meeting decorum as well as his lack of control over his own meetings.   To Tom, Robert Perry can do no wrong, even if he is being a rude, immature jerk.  Imagine if every department head were as big a jerk as Robert Perry, interrupting people and making rude comments at will.

Our GCOZ wasn't muttering to himself while being unaware that his mic was unmuted.  No, he wanted everyone to hear his comments and interruptions to show everyone the entitled jerk he is at heart.  To show that he is the bully at the meetings and that he can say whatever he likes and get away with it, he intentionally unmuted his mic and spoke.  This is what jerks and bullies do, even a department head with a salary over $117,000, if you can believe it.  It bears repeating:  the council and all the department heads are supposedly adults and the year is 2024.  

In the normal world outside of Hudson, a worthwhile council president would have said this:  "Mr. Perry, you are expected to show the council, the public and the other departments heads the respect they show you.   You are expected to keep your comments to yourself and your mic muted until you are recognized to speak.  If you continue with the interruptions and unnecessary, mean-spirited comments, I will dispatch you from this meeting and possibly future meetings.  Your behavior is intolerable, and you have been warned.  Please grow up and act like an adult at all times during council meetings!  You are free to act like an insolent, spoiled brat on your own time, but not during my meetings.  This is not a joke, and neither are my meetings."  Of course, our GCOZ would be more than happy to be forced to not give his report, primarily because he is not there for, or with, the council.  He is there for himself, and only because he is expected to give a monthly report.  "There" likely being a couch or his favorite recliner in his house during every monthly meeting that he has no interest attending in person.

When I was considered to be speaking out of line and too loudly at a meeting last year, the Police Chief tried to confiscate all my belongings as if she were meeting security (I broke no law) and I was a child.  She tried to have me arrested or removed from the meeting (neither of which happened).  It took me a few days to get to the police station to retrieve my belongings that the chief did confiscate, where I was surprised not to be told to sit in the corner facing the wall as I waited in the lobby for my things.  But Tom Depietro allows Robert Perry to say whatever he wants, whenever he wants, even allowing him to interrupt members of the public with nasty, childish comments prior to his DPW report.  Tom does and says nothing, unless, of course, a member of the council convinces him he should act.  What a complete train wreck our council meetings have become!  

Our Great Communicator On Zoom was once a council president
who actually showed up in person to conduct meetings.

It has been my belief for several years that Hudson is essentially run by thugs.  Not necessarily a gang of thugs (City Hall' strengths are not organization or communication), but individual thugs protecting their turf, paychecks and ballooning budgets. (Let's not forget that Tom Depietro physically assaulted a council member a few years ago.)   I'm thinking that the city has always been run by thugs and likely always will be run by thugs until something truly atrocious goes down and possibly brings the entire city down with it.  Perhaps it is time for another visit by the State Police.  Or possibly the Comptroller's Office or the Attorney General's Office to make sure there isn't something truly rotten going on in the depths of City Hall. 

You can't say that a city (let alone a meeting) is being properly run if a council member essentially requests that a $117,000 DPW Superintendent shut the fuck up during a meeting while he is sitting or lying somewhere in a different room on a computer.  It's merely a sign of a City Hall that is deeply flawed, if not completely broken and compromised by corruption, dysfunction and a bad seed or three.  

"Oh, too bad!"

When Mr. Perry used to regularly attend council meetings in person, I would often see him drinking a large soda from McDonald's.  Not that there's anything necessarily wrong with that --that's just how he rolls!