Second, with this article, I am not out to get anyone fired, in trouble, thrown under the bus or dragged in the mud. If it happens, then so be it. I am here to report what I saw and the facts surrounding what I saw that I think the general public and the Hudson Common Council should be made aware of. I do not write this easily or lightly.
The laborers at Hudson DPW are a tough, reliable bunch and they mostly do good work, at least as far as I can tell. Yes, I am often unimpressed with their work, but I have lots of respect for them and know that they are simply doing what they are told to do and trained to do. But I am absolutely convinced that there is something rotten above them directed their way. If there is malfeasance at the top of DPW, well, the truth should come out and there should be corrective actions taken and certain people should be held to account for their actions. This is not a novel idea in the history of local government. City Hall (the mayor?), including the Common Council, should react swiftly, forcefully and appropriately to the circumstances surrounding scene I witnessed yesterday and not, as it tends to do, just bury its collective heads in the sand to allow the poor optics, possible malfeasance and misspending of money to continue. A dysfunctional, poorly run city that continually wastes money and has little to no accountability is going absolutely nowhere but backwards and is likely headed for an ignominious, disastrous fall. I say this is in all seriousness. Things appear to be getting out of hand at City Hall, particularly at DPW. But that's just my view from the street.
With that said, why on earth was a crew of four Hudson Department of Public Works employees filling dozens of potholes in the parking areas and driveway at 99 South 3rd Street yesterday morning? Here is what I initially saw on the driveway along the south side of the building at 10:45 am: One employee driving a DPW dump truck full of hot asphalt patch (likely purchased at Colarusso's plant on Newman Road), one employee with a rake smoothing the asphalt falling from the truck into a pothole, one employee sitting in an idling asphalt-smoothing roller vehicle waiting to move forward and one employee seemingly supervising and doing various tasks. I watched them fill one decent-sized pothole. They worked like a team.
Here is a screenshot from a county parcel map showing all of the 99 South 3rd Street property with the areas I circled in red showing where DPW filled dozens of potholes that I noticed yesterday morning. The red finger sticking up to the top ends at the southern terminus of Front Street. The boot, if you will, of the red circled area ends at Route 9G. The yellow lines denote the official property lines.
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| Who paid for DPW to fill these potholes and who ordered it to be done? |
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| Whose property is this? |
I then moved on west along the building to the parking lot in front, passing several freshly filled and still warm potholes along the way. Then I noticed several more fresh patches of asphalt scattered around the parking lot, primarily in the southwest area. I followed those filled potholes to the entrance/exit of the parking lot which leads to and from the southern terminus of Front Street. Circles and various shapes of fresh asphalt dotted the entrance too. If I had to guess, I would say that before I showed up to 99 S. 3rd Street, the DPW crew of 4 had been busy for at least 45 minutes filling at least 30 potholes on property not owned by the City of Hudson. It could have been much longer than 45 minutes and more than 30 potholes.
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| This is not a city-owned parking lot! |
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| Is this the only private property that our DPW maintains? Does DPW clear snow and ice here too? |
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| Parking area for the Amtrak Engineering office, free of potholes thanks to DPW. |
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| City vehicle exiting Front Street onto private property! |
While taking pictures of the crew's earlier patch work at the entrance to the lot, I was unsurprised to see the new DPW foreman arrive in his city-issued vehicle from Front Street. He drove slowly, stopped in front of me, rolled up his windows and immediately put his phone to his ear. I took a picture of him. As he rolled up his windows, I asked him, "Is this city property?" No response was offered.
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| Our new foreman on private property in his city-issued vehicle |
Our new DPW foreman, Frank Rogers, was recently promoted to fill the vacant position left by the always friendly, helpful and approachable, if a bit crass, Ronnie Van Benschoten who retired in April. From what I have witnessed of our new foreman, he has none of Ronnie's better qualities about him. Perhaps I am mistaken, though.
Last week one morning, from his truck parked across the street from the 7th Street Park, our new DPW foreman saw me - but could not hear me -- talking for no more than 15 seconds to a DPW park maintenance worker who I had spoken to several times before. But because the DPW foreman could not hear me speaking to the DPW worker, he had to get out of his truck to enter the park so that he could ask his worker what I had said to him. (Yes, he actually did this.) Our new foreman was told the truth by the worker: "He asked me about that graffiti on the clock base that I noticed a while ago." With that, the DPW foreman called HPD and told someone there that I was "harassing" his DPW workers and "hovering" around him. Two police officers in separate vehicles soon arrived to the park to speak with me, asking for my "version of the event," and it was a complete waste of their time and mine. I was not arrested for harassment or anything else because I did nothing wrong. I had asked a DPW maintenance worker who I am on friendly terms with a simple question and he had politely responded to my question while we were both in a public park, something our new DPW foreman considered harassment and did not at all appreciate. (Who was the true harasser?) Unlike his predecessor and for reasons I cannot explain, Frank Rogers doesn't want me anywhere near, or talking to, any of the DPW workers he supervises. Anyone taking pictures of DPW activity probably boils his blood.
According to a city employee salary list I am in legal possession of, Frank Rogers has been with DPW for quite a while -- he is getting more annual longevity pay ($4,5000) than his boss Robert Perry is receiving ($3,000). For all I know, he may be the greatest, most reliable worker DPW has ever had. Or the worst.
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| Did Hudson DPW install this sign? Does DPW or HPD order the removal of certain vehicles parked in the private lot? No and no! |
Our DPW foreman then drove across the parking lot of 99 South 3rd Street -- having passed two signs clearly identifying the lot as private property, as well as driving over and near many freshly filled potholes -- to join his crew still filling potholes further east along the driveway headed to 9G. When Rogers arrived to check on his busy crew, he did not tell them to stop the work they were doing. The work continued as more potholes were filled on property not owned by the City of Hudson.
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| How often does this take place? |
Before I left the property, I took a picture near the exit to 9G with the DPW crew in the background and a few filled potholes in the foreground that I first noticed a few months ago which had been recently filled. (I was well aware of the potholes, as I often bike there.) Did the property owner, South 99 LLC, hire a paver to have those potholes filled a few months ago, or did the taxpayers of Hudson pay for the holes to be filled by DPW? If DPW filled those potholes a few months ago, just as they filled dozens of potholes at 99 South 3rd Street yesterday, on whose order were they following? Was it DPW Superintendent Robert Perry's order, Frank Rogers' order, Ronie Van Benschoten's order or the shady folks behind South 99 LLC's order? It had to be somebody -- these things don't just happen themselves!
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| Holes filled a few months ago. By whom and on whose orders? |
If the mayor and the common council (including the council president) know what is good for this city, they would immediately demand the following:
Robert Perry must come in person before the council at a special public meeting to take questions from the council and the mayor and also be given a few minutes to explain why four on-duty DPW workers with machinery, tools and vehicles were filling dozens of potholes with asphalt on private property on the morning of May 4th, 2024. Once Mr. Perry is finished with his public explanation and has answered any questions, the council will then go into executive session to determine whether they have faith in the DPW Superintendent any longer. Once the council has made their determination, they will return to the meeting to tell the mayor and the public whether or not they have any faith in Mr. Perry to properly fulfill his duties going forward. Then, either the council president will give Mr. Perry a public rebuke and warning or he will offer a rebuke and tell Mayor Kamal Johnson that the council would like the DPW Superintendent to be fired if he does not resign immediately. This should also be the case if Mr. Perry refuses the council's request to come before them to offer an explanation of the filling of dozens of potholes by his department on private property.
Mr. Perry should be required to answer most, if not all, of the following questions:
Mr. Perry, do you understand why you have been asked to come in front of the council, the mayor and the public today? If you do, can you please explain why you think we have requested your presence here today?
Mr. Perry, how long have you been aware that your department has been filling potholes on the property of 99 South 3rd Street, now known as the Antiques Warehouse, or was the activity on May 4th the first time it took place under your watch?
If not you, do you know who ordered your DPW crew to fill potholes on the driveway and the parking lots surrounding the Antiques Warehouse building?
How many potholes did your crew fill on the morning of May 4th at 99 South 3rd Street, how many hours did it take them to complete the task and approximately how much money did it cost the City of Hudson in wages, fuel and materials, including the asphalt?
Have you ever been in contact with the owners of 99 South 3rd Street regarding potholes on their property? If so, what was said or written? Do you know exactly who the people, or person, behind South 99 LLC are/is?
Would you say that you and only you are responsible for a DPW crew filling potholes whether it be on private property or city property? If not you, then who is responsible for it?
Are there any other private properties on which DPW regularly or irregularly fills potholes or has in the past but doesn't anymore? If so, please identify the properties and how long that activity has been going on at those properties.
Finally, Mr. Perry, what part of the DPW's 5-million-dollar budget does the money come from which allows potholes to be filled with asphalt by DPW workers with machinery on private property?
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| Does this post need an additional sign? "THIS IS NOT CITY OF HUDSON PROPERTY" |
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