"If I Were To Park Behind Your Vehicle, Mr. Parking Enforcer, How Much Would The Ticket You Issue Me Cost? And Can You Please Tell Me Why The Curb Is Yellow For Such A Long Stretch?"

 

While at work for hours on our streets 2 or 3 days per week, the veteran Hudson parking enforcer who owns this pickup truck typically parks it on North 5th Street in a metered space or, when one is not available or easily parked in, along the yellow curb on the west side of the street, also known to just about everyone as a NO PARKING ZONE, an area to respect and avoid when parking (whether there are NO PARKING ZONE signs or not) and which can get you a $25 NO PARKING ZONE ticket from a Hudson parking enforcer if you don't!  It's a convenient place to park, no doubt, if a bit, um, awkward for most!  If we were all only so fortunate!

Apparently, at the one-person unsupervised Hudson Parking Bureau and/or Hudson Police Department (for whom the enforcers work), employees are allowed to park their personal vehicles for as long as they like in NO PARKING zones, presumably because doing so does not endanger anyone (else!) or any vehicles, including the employees' own personal vehicles which they also often use while working.  One has to wonder why the fuck DPW paints that curb yellow every few years and if enforcers have been told (by whom, though?) that they are allowed to park wherever they see fit for as long as they need to, perhaps even next to a fire hydrant surrounded by a painted yellow curb.  (Is it possible that the one of the reasons that the curb on N. 5th is painted yellow is to KEEP VEHICLES FROM PARKING THERE SO THAT A HUDSON FIRE TRUCK OR TWO CAN MAKE THE TURN OUT OF THE ALLEY EASILY AND WITHOUT DELAY? No, that couldn't be the reason!!!)

Keep in mind that the city is supposedly working on 
upgrading its parking ticket system to install high-tech 
parking kiosks all over town, a change that will not be cheap 
or easy to implement. Have you heard much about 
progress on that front lately?  Neither has HUDseen!

I have noticed another parking enforcer who regularly parks his personal vehicle in a metered space on North or South 5th Street when one is available, though I have never seen it parked along a yellow curb.  His vehicle remains for hours in a revenue-producing space that no one else can use or pay for.  Yes, even on busy Saturdays with downtown Hudson full of cars and drivers searching for a place to park for a few hours (and pay for it).  A few hundred feet away, up Prison Alley and behind City Hall, is a large parking lot with no shortage of available spaces set aside for city employees, especially on Saturdays.  I would guess that lot is a one-minute walk to the end of the alley at N. 5th Street.  Plenty of visitors park in that lot, especially those who can't find on-street parking. 

Where is that parking supervisor who the parking consultant we paid tens of thousands of dollars to two years ago told us we must hire as soon as possible?  It was one his two main suggestions for the city THAT WE PAID OVER TWENTY THOUSAND DOLLARS FOR:  "CREATE A PARKING DEPARTMENT AND HIRE A PARKING SUPERVISOR TO MANAGE THINGS PROPERLY AND EFFICIENTLY."  Otherwise, he implied, you will continue to lose money and fail.  And, as he likely knew but did not articulate in similar words, without a supervisor, enforcers will continue to make mistakes and exercise poor judgement, further complicating matters and hindering progress.  This ain't fucking rocket science.  

I attended the consultant's presentation nearly two years ago, as did "mayor" Kamal Johnson and a few other important people, including Tom Depietro.  Kamal and I heard everything that paid consultant mentioned in his detailed and well prepared 30- or 45-minute presentation two long years ago.  Oh, wait one second, maybe Kamal didn't hear one thing or even care about what the paid consultant told us was needed to be done so urgently for our old and in-need-of-repair parking system.  Maybe Kamal's the problem!  The fly in the ointment!  (From just two years ago: Our Distracted, So-Called Mayor)

Do we still not have a proper supervised Parking Department because Kamal Johnson can't keep his eyes and mind off of his fucking Facebook pages?  Or can we blame Tom Depietro for his lack of attention and vague, numerous and ever-changing responsibilities as the so-called president of the Common Council? Someone isn't getting it done, that's for damn sure! Who the heck is running the ship that is Hudson City Hall?  Anyone?  Or is it everyone and no one at the same time?

Is it time for another paid consultant to tell us what and who the problems are on the second floor of 520 Warren Street, upstairs from the one-person, unsupervised Parking Bureau?

I have no doubt that things at Hudson City Hall 
 are worse than you think.  Possibly much, much 
worse! I first noticed these "signs" over two years ago,
but you know they've needed replacing for like five or ten.