At the conclusion of his Police Department report during Monday night's Informal Common Council meeting, Acting Police Chief (and possibly Acting Police Commissioner) Captain David Miller had this to say (you will be pardoned for being confused by what he said): "... In my opinion, for the suspension of parking during December. Considering everything you guys spoke about, I don't think we should do that this year." Rather than the suspension of parking next month, a difficult feat for anyone, let along the Acting Police Chief, what Captain Miller was suggesting to the council since, as he also said, "now that this is on my lap," (meaning all things parking), was that the annual holiday goodwill gesture that is free metered parking on streets and in parking lots during the month of December should not take place this year so that the city can increase much needed revenue through quarters in the meters, the use of kiosks in parking lots and, of course, $10 meter violation tickets. As I understand things, though, all parking revenue goes straight to HPD or the Parking Bureau that HPD now controls, not to the general fund. Not that that really matters.
Outgoing 5th ward council member Vicky Daskaloudi was a bit confused as to what Miller was trying to get across, and rightly so. After some clarification from Miller (in clearer words, thank goodness -- "we should just do enforcement" in December) as well as discussion about whether the mayor, the council or the missing Police Commissioner could get the free December downtown parking "suspended" this year, Daskaloudi said, "I definitely think we should do it."
Then Margaret Morris, attending the meeting virtually and after trying to interrupt Vicky before she was finished speaking, was allowed to speak. "I just want to vehemently agree with Vicky and Captain Miller that in December we should not suspend parking." Even Dewan Sarowar, Lola Roberts and Shershah Mizan might have been on board with that idea (if they weren't asleep)! Margaret continued, this time with a sentence that might have made more sense to everyone in the room, at least to those whose heads had stopped spinning: "That we should continue to have parking enforced throughout the month of December, and I thank Captain Miller for bringing that up." Free at last!
No other council members spoke about the issue. No one questioned or pushed back on the idea to do away with the month of free parking that is as much of a part of the holiday season in Hudson as perhaps Winter Walk is. What next, no more holiday lights in the trees?
There is also this to consider. Plenty of Warren Street (and nearby) residents have no choice but to park their cars in metered spaces during the day. Of course, no council member stood up for those people. No holiday cheer for them!
As the lead picture indicates (and as the one Parking Bureau employee recently confirmed to me), HPD's Grinchy idea arrived on the heels of HPD deciding that the free parking in city parking lots on Saturdays (and possibly Sundays?) throughout the year was a bad idea whose time had come. (The word FREE seems to be on the way out.) How, how well and when our law enforcement/parking officials (Captain Chief Miller?) make that announcement and change will be something to look for. What will those signs look like, where will they be posted and will they be made of metal or plastic laminated paper?
I seem to remember a discussion a few years ago at a council meeting about the free downtown parking in December. No one had anything bad to say about the effort, with someone even clearly stating the reason for it: not only did it help attract visitors and shoppers to downtown Hudson in the winter when things typically slow down commercially, but it was also just a cordial gesture to everyone during the holidays. Well, those were, of course, better, more flush times for City Hall when Mayor Kamal Johnson was taking care of business by ignoring everything and everyone surrounding him (except perhaps for the Housing Justice Director in the office next to his). Plus, it seems to me, it's much more difficult to properly decorate a parking kiosk for the holidays than it is a parking meter.
One wonders how local retailers in the downtown business district will feel about this year's Grinchy approach to parking in December. (I'd be fucking pissed if I were one, especially if no one from City Hall had talked to me about it first.) Did David Miller reach out to any of the business owners who are so vital to downtown Hudson and who have likely welcomed the free parking for 30 days at the end of the year when they are hoping for as much business as possible? Does he plan to speak with any of them to get their take on suspending the free parking in December? Will Vicky and Margaret reach out to the local business owners who may be negatively affected by the change in tradition and goodwill to see if they're as glad about the change as HPD and the Council are? How about Jen Belton and Rich Volo? I didn't hear a peep out of either of them on the subject.
Captain Chief Commissioner Miller concluded the discussion with a justification of his suggestion of doing away with free holiday parking, obliquely referring to the city's money woes: "I only say it because it sounds like we're just in a different position and maybe we can get back to that position sometime..." But Miller was unable to finish his thought because he was interrupted by the council chairman, Tom Depietro, the guy running the sloppy meetings with few stated or adhered-to rules and who has a horrible habit of interrupting people before they have a chance to finish their thoughts.
"I would agree," Tom blurted out, as if he had already heard enough. Captain Miller thanked him, and that was that.
At the beginning of the discussion, prior to his suggestion, Miller announced, "I'm glad that the suspension of the overnight parking during the weekend is going to be lifted on November 21st." Of course, Miller once again omitted that one crucial 4-letter word, meaning to say (I hope), "I'm glad that the suspension of FREE overnight parking during the weekend is going to be lifted," a change that comes every November, lasts for several months and that no one should be glad about doing away with, unless of course you don't live in Hudson, you don't ever have to worry about your car being ticketed by HPD at 2:00 in the morning, or you don't give a crap about Hudson residents at all, particularly the ones paying your salary. Unlike HPD, no city resident with no choice but to park their car on the street is ever glad when this change takes place every November. We're glad when it ends in March or April, for sure, though it appears that HPD is not. Anyway, you heard it right, the person in charge of law enforcement and all things parking is glad that HPD will soon be resuming ticketing cars parked on the "wrong side" of the street for several months on Friday and Saturday nights so that car owners are reminded not to park in the way of the DPW street sweeper that does not sweep any sides of any city streets when air temperatures approach and fall below the water-freezing level. Like last night. And tonight. And tomorrow night...
I have no doubt that HPD would be glad to never again offer free overnight parking on the weekends throughout the entire city. They love the revenue the tickets bring ($25 on some streets, $15 on most), they're more than glad to be issuing them, especially to residents who forget to move their cars at night, even if the DPW street sweeper isn't doing its thing and no parked cars are in its way. Plus, it gives an officer or two something to do for a few hours early in the morning. HPD is addicted to the tickets! So don't be surprised if HPD "forgets" to reinstate free weekend overnight parking next spring, explaining (if someone bothers to ask for an explanation), "Well, the mayor still hasn't appointed a police commissioner, so there was nothing we could do about it."
But it gets better. Or worse.
4th ward council member Rich Volo raised his hand following the short discussion (if you can call it that) about the suspension of parking in December. Oops, I mean free metered parking in December! Volo had a related parking issue on his mind, something that his constituents may have wanted him to ask about but likely didn't. His question to Captain Chief Miller was difficult if not impossible to decipher and, once again, you are pardoned for being confused by it: "Did you mention the overnight... I'm sorry... um, the street cleaning parking on the weekends? Is that still in effect?" (What the hell is "street cleaning parking"? Also, it's difficult to know for sure if Volo omitted the word free, but no one should be surprised if he did. It seems to be contagious among council members.)
Miller responded, "You'd have to ask Rob, I'm not sure..." (Is that because you're not interested in knowing yourself?)
Depietro interrupted Miller: "It's not Police, it's DPW!"
Miller: "They may have a schedule, I don't know. We just do the Wrong Side tickets." (I don't know and I don't care.")
Volo: "Okay, never mind."
30 minutes later, following the DPW report (done virtually, of course), one council member had a question for Rob Perry about funding of the cemetery. Rich Volo had nothing to ask Rob about, not even the issue of "street cleaning parking" he seemed so curious about just a half hour prior.
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| Two weeks ago, on a Friday, this car was ticketed for not obeying the rule stated on the signs! |
With such dreadful communication over and over again from what seems like every member (at least from those who bother to speak) and every department head, do you ever wonder why the Hudson common council never seems to accomplish much of anything worthwhile and why we suddenly find ourselves in the current financial pickle that certainly won't be improved by the HPD Parking Bureau?
Just about everything is a confusing, garbled mess, and the Acting Police Chief is suggesting parking policy changes to fill the city's depleted general fund. Welcome to Hudson.
Consider this: The discussion about ridding the month of December of free parking following Miller's report lasted about as long as his entire report did. He referenced "HPD's Parking Division," even though the supposedly independent department in charge of parking tickets and revenue, now located in the HPD station, is known as the Parking Bureau. Not the HPD Parking Bureau or HPD Parking Division. Just the Parking Bureau. And while Captain Chief Miller referenced, for the first time ever during a HPD report, data from a "parking report," he failed to mention the elephant in the room: the 16 $10,000 parking kiosks that don't accept paper money, 6 of which have been "up and running" at our 6 parking lots for the past few weeks (actually, one or two of them may not be activated yet). Miller didn't give an update on how well the recently up and running kiosks were faring, nor did he bother to mention what HPD's plans are with the remaining ten $10,000 parking kiosks still sitting in the DPW storage shed on Dock Street that were delivered with the others in February. And what about the necessary signage the kiosks, parking lots and customers need? When will the obsolete and unwanted parking meters in parking lots be removed, if ever? Are the up and running kiosks working well for customers? Does HPD still have time for law enforcement like catching criminals, preventing assaults and ticketing speeders and redlight runners? Does the department have enough officers and coffee to handle everything?
Parking kiosks, you say? What kiosks on the sidewalks with all sorts of paper signs taped to them? What $100,000 worth of unused kiosks still in storage? Hell, the freed parking revenue that HPD and the Common Council are glad to finally begin collecting at the meters and kiosks in December, in the parking lots on weekends forever, and on city streets overnight on weekends for the next five months when the DPW street sweeper isn't out will all contribute to cover the revenue those stored kiosks still aren't collecting and will continue to do so for the unforeseeable future!
Had I been seated at the table on Monday night, I would have asked Rob Perry the following questions: Why are you not in this room again this month? Do you feel that it is better for the council and the functioning of the city in general for you to offer us your report and answer questions virtually every month? Do you not want to be here in the room in person with us as we try to keep the city afloat? Do you not want to be physically near any of us? Do you not want to meet with us during the monthly meetings? (I would have asked the same of Heather Campbell.)
Second, Mr. Perry, do you think it is fair to anyone -- particularly Hudson residents whose only option is to park their cars on city streets nightly -- for HPD to issue $15 wrong side and $25 no parking zone parking tickets 7 nights a week when the DPW street sweeper is retired for the winter? You do know that HPD issues overnight parking violation tickets whether or not your street sweeper is active in the early morning hours, don't you, Rob? Does it make you glad to know that you and HPD are unnecessarily ticketing the cars of residents for several months of the year? Does it make you glad that DPW and HPD are screwing the residents of Hudson, sucking as much money out of us as possible?
Oh, and one last question, Mr. Perry: Why is there no overnight wrong side parking rule on the street you live on? Is that how you prefer it to be? How is that FREE parking working out for you and your one neighbor?
And of Captain Chief Commissioner Miller, I would have asked this: Do you think it is fair that your department issues $15 and $25 overnight parking tickets to cars owned by residents and visitors on nights when the DPW street sweeper is not active? Is anyone at HPD aware that DPW does not sweep streets when temperatures are too cold for it to operate properly? How can there be a so-called wrong side of the street on nights when the DPW street sweeper is not sweeping any side of any street? Does anyone at HPD, including yourself, care about these facts that Rob Perry would rather not discuss? Finally, Acting Chief Miller, can you explain to the council why there is no overnight parking rule on lower Prospect Avenue or on North 6th Street between State and Washington, both adjacent to the city's only two car repair stations? Isn't the sole reason for the overnight parking rules to allow DPW to properly and efficiently sweep the streets at night without parked cars in its way? Why would any street or portion of street be without an overnight alternate side parking rule for the entire year? Additionally, don't the overnight parking rules create revenue for the city in the form of $15 and $25 parking tickets issued by HPD? Aren't you trying to maximize parking revenue? Isn't that one the tasks now "in your lap"?
And if Tom Depietro had interrupted me once, I would have shot back, "Will you please shut up, man!"
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| Effective communication is definitely not one of City Hall's skills! In my eyes, it is the cause of most, if not all, of our quality-of-life issues, including the current financial and budget woes. |
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