Is Our New Mayor The Same As Former Mayors, Including A Former Mayor Who Is Now The New Mayor's Aide and ADA Coordinator?

 

I had my first opportunity to speak with Mayor Joe Ferris and his Aide and ADA Coordinator, Tiffany Martin, when I visited 520 Warren last Tuesday to ask them a question about a sidewalk that had been completely blocked by snow for over two weeks.  Let's just say that I was not impressed with the results.

Today marks 3 weeks and 4 days since we got 16 inches or so of snow.  It also marks 25 days since the sidewalk surrounding the CSX rail crossing on the north side of Columbia Street has been impassible due to untouched snow, much of it pushed there from the adjacent gas station lot, forcing every pedestrian unfortunate enough to find themselves there to walk in the busy bend in the street, also known as our truck route.

I had a simple question for Ferris and Martin, who both seemed to be glad to entertain it.  They didn't ask me to leave, nor did they ask me to come in.  I stood in the doorway of Martin's office -- she was seated and Ferris was standing nearby -- and asked, "Are you aware that the sidewalk is still completely blocked at the railroad crossing on Columbia Street near Lucky's after 17 days?"

Apparently, they were both aware of the situation, though Ferris first asked me this:  "Is it impassible?"

Here are the other highlights, as I recall them.  I was told that there was "nothing the city can do about it"; that the snow "is not in our jurisdiction"; and that "CSX is not responding."  I let them both know how disappointed I was and wrong they were and I left. 

(If the mayor and his aide were both well aware of the weekslong problem on the sidewalk at the CSX crossing when I showed up to be certain they were aware of it, why did Mayor Ferris first ask me if the sidewalk at the tracks was "impassible"?)

I soon got an email from Martin.  Her first criticism of my interaction with her and the mayor was that -- and I am not kidding -- I had been "standing in the doorway blocking egress" while talking to them both.  Neither of them had invited me inside the office, not even to have a seat.  While we spoke for a minute or two, neither one of them had a problem with me "blocking egress" to their offices, whatever the hell that means.  That only became an issue after I left.

These are pictures I took last week of my disabled neighbor as he made his way back home from shopping at Lucky's, something he does just about every day.  Notice his cane and notice that he is walking in the street alongside the snow-blocked sidewalk, as he had to do 15 minutes prior when he was heading to Lucky's.  Like so many others, this is what he has been forced to do so many times for the past three fucking weeks, walking very slowly and unstably with a cane in the truck route twice a day to simply get some food and drink.  This could be me or it could be you.  And Mayor Ferris and his ADA Coordinator claim there is NOTHING THE CITY CAN DO ABOUT SNOW BLOCKING A SIDEWALK WHEN IT IS NOT IN THE CITY'S "JURSIDICTION," WHATEVER THE F'N HELL THAT MEANS.  Who informed the mayor and his ADA Coordinator about this so-called "jurisdiction" bullshit?  Was it DPW Superintendent Rob Perry?  Or could it have been from a note left behind by former mayor Kamal Johnson and his ADA Coordinator?

If, as he has publicly claimed, Mayor Ferris is serious about wanting to improve the city's 10 most dangerous intersections to make them safer for pedestrians, what do you think his chances of success are?  And how long will it take him to do it, if he can?  Heck, his term only lasts two years. 

Last Thursday, 18 days after the snowstorm, I called Code Enforcement to let them know about snow and ice still on the sidewalk in front of three properties, one of them being Galvan's Tennis Community building and the others being 604 Columbia and 610 Columbia. 

I asked the enforcement officer how wide a swath of the sidewalk property owners are required to clear of snow.  This was his response:  "They're supposed to clear it to the curb."  I did my best to keep from laughing.

3 weeks and counting!

17 days after the snow fell! "There's
nothing the city can do!"

My feeling is that no matter how well-intentioned and capable a Hudson mayor or aide or common council member might be, their ability to get any positive changes made in Hudson is made nearly impossible by an ancient, broken and dysfunctional system of government that is always getting in the way.  For example, at the end of Monday's Code and Infrastructure Committee meeting -- where no one seemed to mind that no one from the Code Enforcement Department was present and won't be present at future meetings unless and until the charter is amended to allow it -- newly elected committee chair Jason Foster offered an issue that he wanted to put on the agenda.  It had to do with making intersections safer for pedestrians.  (Yawn! Yawn!  Yack! Yack!  Same old reassuring words that go nowhere EVER.)  Foster's issue was related to safety, a topic probably better suited for the SAFETY Committee, don't you think?  Of course, that group does not include DPW, just the Police and Fire Departments.  No room for DPW!  

Foster didn't mention that the issue of unsafe sidewalks is also high on Mayor Ferris' agenda, perhaps because he was unaware that Ferris ever mentioned anything about pedestrian safety (of course, Foster should have mentioned it if he was aware).  Of course, Mayor Ferris wasn't in attendance of the meeting (nor was his ADA Coordinator), so he couldn't let Forster know he was already on it!  Do you think that Foster -- or any Code & Infrastructure Committee members -- are aware that Mayor Ferris may be working on that pedestrian safety issue already or might be soon?  Have Ferris and his ADA Coordinator reached out the SAFETY COMMITTEE about their plans to make ten intersections safer for pedestrians?  Have they reached out to the other poorly named committee that may or may not be dealing with issues of safety?  Do these people ever talk to one another?

Today, same as the past 25 days and nights

Do you see the structural mess that is constantly getting in the way of progress and much needed improvements we could all use and have been waiting for years for?  Who the hell creates a SAFETY COMMITTEE that doesn't involve the Department of Public Works?  Who creates a SAFETY COMMITTEE whose meetings are made up primarily of updates related to paid parking that have nothing at all to do with safety? Margaret Morris does, that's who!

SAFETY COMMITTEE, my big toe!  "To the curb," my ass!

"To the curb"?