HUDseen: Another Rainstorm, Another Sinkhole! Still No Sign Of Our DPW Superintendent At City Hall!

Due to the overwhelming amount of infrastructure projects, repairs and trouble that HUDseen was distracted by last week, the weekly Friday Features segment didn't make it to deadline, and for that I apologize to readers. I am considering changing the name and focus of the weekly feature or adding another feature. The new column will be called something like THE SINKHOLE DIARIES, and today I will give a taste of what it will entail (if you haven't already figured it out!).

Over a week ago, while biking in the 200 block of Long Alley, I noticed what has become a very common sight on Hudson's streets and alleys this year: a hole in the pavement adjacent to a storm drain grate. Then, two days ago, I noticed that a hole had sprouted a few feet away towards the middle of the alley on a patch of asphalt that DPW had put down sometime in the past few years. The new hole was between two drains on opposite sides of the alley, with a sewer manhole cover nearby, all three of them looking equally neglected for years or decades.

Obviously ignored

Does this look like a storm grate that has
been removed once in the past twenty years so
that someone with a pair of keen eyes can
see what is going on in the ancient storm drain to
make sure it is okay? PS -- the ENTIRE surface
of the 200 block of Long Alley is a disgraceful,
wavy, patched mess worthy of a ghetto or
bankrupt city! Does Mr. Perry ever mention
that that block of alley in our most challenged
neighborhood needs to be completely redone?
Do any 2nd ward council members ever ask
him when that alley will be completely redone
so that it is decent and won't allow so many
problems below it to arise?

Ignore at our peril, Mr. Perry!

One of two things happened there a while ago, and the results are not encouraging. Either DPW discovered a problem in the alley -- possibly a sinkhole -- and dug out the area, "fixed" the problem, filled the excavation back in and patched the surface. Or they simply patched over the problem they found without doing any excavation. Whatever the case was and whenever it occurred, DPW's work was not a long-term solution -- either they didn't do a good enough repair job, or the asphalt patch job was unwisely considered the "solution."

On Monday, guiding a three-foot 5-inch mop handle into the new small hole toward the storm drain, I was nearly able to get the entire stick inside. So satisfying!

Yesterday, a DPW crew of four was busy repairing whatever damage they found under Long Alley after excavating the area in front of the storm drain. When I arrived to the blocked alley, there were three DPW vehicles and one backhoe, with the foreman's pickup truck unnecessarily idling. The foreman and two other workers were seemingly doing nothing but watching the new, young Black worker in the hole doing all or most of the work (this is not an uncommon sight around town lately, according to my eyes). This included replacing what were likely ancient bricks that made up the storm drain and were probably long past due for replacement. It's important to note that, as is the norm lately, this was by no means DPW's effort at preventive maintenance of an important piece of water and street/alley infrastructure. Rather, this was, yet again, DPW responding to a problem that arose in an area they had attended to in the not-too-distant past and/or had not even recently checked for problems.

That's the DPW foreman's truck on the right. It
was idling while he was watching the Black
worker in the hole who was busy with bricks and mortar.

The DPW worker on the right is our new DPW
foreman, second in command to Robert Perry.
I believe his name is Frank Rogers. He and two
other White men are seen here watching a Black
man do all, or nearly all, of the laborious, dirty work.
Notice the other drain surrounded by damaged
asphalt in the foreground.

About 150 feet further east in the alley was another triplet of water infrastructure, these three also looking neglected and worn. The DPW crew wanted nothing to do with them. That would require a bit of preventive maintenance, a concept and approach that may be unheard of at DPW.

This morning, biking in the 300 block of Partition Alley, I came across evidence of another sinkhole under a DPW asphalt patch. There it was, yet another failed DPW asphalt patch ready to be removed and examined below. (If I could find out when that patch job was done, believe me I would, but I cannot). This hole does not appear to be associated with a storm drain.

More rain, more sinkholes -- especially under streets that
are poorly maintained, often ignored and never approached
as a resource that must be maintained in a preventative manner.

Any Common Council member that is truly concerned about our ancient, decaying (and often ignored) infrastructure would be wise to make a simple request (demand?) of DPW Superintendent Robert Perry for each of his monthly DPW reports to the council. It would require him to provide at least one picture and a detailed explanation of every sinkhole or other water related-issue his department has come across in the previous month, whether they have finished attending to the problem or not. His infrastructure report would also include the approximate amount of money each issue cost the city, including materials and the labor hours that were spent. Then, at the end of the year, Mr. Perry will read the tally of all the sinkholes and storm drain issues, etc. that were taken care of that year, explaining which tasks were responses to problems and which were the result of preventive maintenance. And, of course, the total amount of money spent for the year. Any worthwhile DPW Superintendent should gladly agree to the request without hesitation. If Mr. Perry were to even flinch or grimace, let alone balk, at the request, he should immediately be shown the exit door and replaced with someone who at least appears to give a shit about the future and well-being of Hudson and its ancient and quickly deteriorating water infrastructure.

Yesterday, at the corner of Union and East Court Street, I got the attention of a DPW worker driving a white DPW pickup truck. I had only seen the worker once or twice before, though I had never spoken to him. He was friendly enough to answer a simple question of mine while at a stop sign. I asked him if he knew where Rob Perry's office was.

He responded, "No, I don't know. I don't even think he has an office."

"Don't you think that's strange? I mean, he is the DPW Superintendent, right?" I asked.

"Yeah, he is my boss, and you'd think I would know where his office is if he has one," was the response I got and was hoping for.

"Yeah, that's about what I would expect, too," I said, thanking him and going on my way.

On Monday, I walked into the DPW offices on the second floor of City Hall. I asked the only clerk there, Samantha, if Rob Perry was in the office. Samantha responded with an extra dose of vehemence and frustration, "How many fucking times do I have to tell you, Rob doesn't have an office here!"

Do you know where his office is located or if he even has an office?" I asked calmly.

"No, I do not," was all Robert Perry's DPW clerk said, that being at least the tenth time I have heard her repeat that to me over the past year or two.

Prior to Kamal Johnson becoming our mayor in 2020, there was a sign on the back wall of City Hall that read PARKING FOR DPW SUPERINTENDENT ONLY. Mr. Perry parked either his city-issued vehicle or his personal vehicle there regularly and he could sometimes be found in the now unoccupied office adjacent to Samantha's office. Unlike the main door to the DPW offices at the top of the stairs with the words on the glass that read DEPARTMENT OF WATER - SEWER, the inside door to Robert Perry's former office has a glass window with the words DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS on it that no one ever has the need to read. The sign outside that replaced Mr. Perry's parking space sign reads RESERVED PARKING MAYOR, though you will never see Kamal's car parked there. The sign still looks brand new. Maybe, for some odd reason we will never know, in 2020 Kamal Johnson told Mr. Perry to beat it and never come back to City Hall. And he hasn't been back since. When at work, Kamal does park his car across the alley in the parking lot in a reserved space for the mayor which is indicated on a vintage yellow sign.