Welcome To The Neighborhood! (or ONE MINUTE, ONE DOLLAR!)

It seems that Hudson City Hall (or possibly just DPW) has lost its mind.  Or have things ALWAYS been this bad?  (Things certainly are not improving!)

It was at least 6 weeks ago when I first noticed a bunch of upright orange temporary NO PARKING sign lining the south side of Oakwood Boulevard.  And now?  What the hell! 

If this is insulting to someone passing by, how have the people living on both sides of Oakwood felt for the past several weeks?  "Meh"? 

I'm pretty sure that at least two of the signs
originally posted are missing.

During the DPW portion of an informal meeting a few months ago, DPW Superintendent Robert Perry, our Great Communicator on Zoom, showed a picture or two of new orange NO PARKING signs being built at the DPW garage.  Obviously, this was something important enough that he felt the council and the public should be made aware of it.  I'm thinking he spent at least 15 minutes taking the pictures, uploading them to his computer, adding them to his report and talking about them.*  However, our Great Communicator on Zoom failed to mention how much each painted wooden sign costs Hudson taxpayers, how long it takes to make them, or if he does his best to make sure the signs are not quickly trashed or lost.

W T F ?

*  Let's do the math together, shall we? 

Q:  If the Superintendent of a Public Works Department in a small upstate New York city has a salary of $117,000 and spends 15 minutes dealing with and talking about pictures of his or her department's activities, how much of his or her salary was spent on the pictures?  You must show your work!

A:  $117,000/year divided by 52 weeks/year is $2,250/week.

$2,250/week divided by 40 hours/week is $56.25/hour.

$56.25/hour divided by 4 is $14.06/15 minutes.

Therefore, the Department of Public Works Superintendent of a small upstate NY city is paid approximately $14 every 15 minutes to work on a project, whatever it might be, including taking, preparing, showing and speaking about pictures.  If the Superintendent spends 15 minutes in their city-issued vehicle, they are even paid $14.  In fact, if these calculations are accurate, every minute the DPW Superintendent is "on the clock," he or she is paid nearly one dollar.  One minute, one dollar!  One minute spent taking pictures of orange NO PARKING signs being made?  "One (tax payer) dollar, please!"    

Grade:  A-plus! Excellent work, class!  You have clearly and accurately depicted the absurdity of the situation in this fictional small upstate New York city.  You get an A+, the city gets an F-! 

At the end of his DPW report during April's informal meeting, our DPW Superintendent showed a picture of the solar eclipse that his daughter had taken in Dallas, Texas.  He spoke about the photo for twenty seconds as if everyone cared.  He ended his report with this:  "Happy Eclipse Day!  I guess the next one for most of the United States is in 2045, so I won't be talking to you guys then."  Oh, that's too bad!  "One dollar, please!"  Can you imagine how much weirder it would have been if, during her monthly report, Heather Campbell were the one to show and tell about a picture of the eclipse which a family member had sent her?  But for our $117,00 a year/one dollar an hour DPW Superintendent it's just another day at the office (wherever that might be!).

At the end of his DPW report in December of last year, via Zoom, as always, Mr. Perry twice showed a picture of an original Frederic Church painting he came across in a museum.  He made a little quiz out of the picture, trying to see if any council members knew where the painting was located.   It turns out he took the picture of the painting in Dallas, Texas, where he had been on vacation visiting his daughter.  The painting was on the screen for a total of 45 seconds.  "That'll be at least one dollar!  Now fork it over!"  

What the hell does a Frederic Church painting, or a picture of a solar eclipse as seen from Texas, have to do with Hudson DPW matters?  How about nothing! Did any council members interrupt the superintendent and ask him why on earth he was spending their time and city money on such nonsense that had nothing to do with city matters?  Of course not!  They all loved it and joined in the "everything is just fine and we are having so much fun ha ha" gala that has become the norm at Common Council meetings.  Why ask any incisive questions or make any critical comments to upset the good mood and the great times?  Leave Mr. Perry alone, let him say whatever he wants, let him show pictures of whatever he fancies and give him a dollar for every minute of it all.

You also gotta wonder:  If Mr. Perry is able to so easily waste his time and city money on pictures of an eclipse, DPW signs being built and a Frederic Church painting, what else is he wasting time and money on that maybe no one will ever know about?  You also gotta wonder:  Would Mr. Perry's "boss," our so-called Mayor Kamal Johnson, do anything if he suspected his DPW Superintendent were up to no good?  Or would he just consider it business as usual, drop the matter, and get back to writing another self-congratulating post on his facebook page?