Dear Henry Haddad, Chair of the So-Called SAFETY Committee:

During the HPD report at this past Monday's Safety Committee meeting, I think you forgot to ask Police Chief Mishanda Franklin a few questions.  (At least a few!)  It seemed as though the cat got your tongue or you missed something that you were told.  Please forgive me if I am mistaken.

It took three months for Chief Franklin to finally admit -- though indirectly -- what we, possibly even you, have known for years:  that HPD does no enforcement of the speed limit downtown.  She told you (only after being forced to, of course) that HPD issued 15 speeding tickets in the 3 months comprising the second quarter of this year (April, May and June), and that the majority of the tickets were on "South 3rd Street" (aka the Bay Road/9G) and "Harry Howard" (also far from downtown) where HPD has historically only ever enforced the speed limit. 15, Henry!  Not 150!  Just 15, barley more than a dozen!  

Of course, the reveal that HPD is issuing one speeding ticket per week only outside of downtown came a few months after HPD's second-in-command gave everyone the impression that HPD had issued 250 or more speeding tickets in the first quarter of this year, or about 3 speeding tickets every day. Do you remember that, Henry?  Do you remember that bullshit that you didn't call Captain Miller out on?  Do you remember how silent you were in the face of such disrespect and disinformation?  I sure do.  I wonder if you are able to pay attention to the important details put in front of you at SAFETY Committee meetings.  I wonder if you are a good fit for the position.  But, please, this is just my view from the cheap seats.

Here is my question to you, Henry, from over here on State Street where the speeding problem is a daily and nightly reality that you may not be aware of.  Why the heck didn't you ask the Chief of Police why not one of those 15 speeding tickets was issued to a speeding driver on State Street?  Or, for that matter, on Columbia Street or Warren Street, the street you recently told everyone you have lived on for several years?  Why didn't you demand to know why HPD is not enforcing the speed limit on State Street?  Why didn't you demand to know why HPD is only enforcing the speed limit (and rarely, I might add) outside of downtown and not on the downtown streets that need it most where families live and pedestrians and cyclists are everywhere?  Why didn't you ask Mishanda Franklin if she is satisfied with her officers only issuing one speeding ticket every 6 or 7 days, with none of them going to speedy drivers downtown?  Why didn't you ask her if she is satisfied that HPD does no enforcement of the speed limit downtown? Why didn't you ask her she isn't able to enforce the speed limit downtown or if she just doesn't want to?  It has to be one or the other, doesn't it, Henry?  Either they can't use a speed radar gun downtown or they aren't interested in using one, right?  Don't you want to know what is really going on at HPD?  Or are you afraid to ask?  She was right in front of you and you had nothing to say in response to the ludicrous speeding ticket data that you had requested!  Actually, as I recall, you thanked her for the data, didn't you?

If you are hoping for saner, safer streets where drivers are not speeding so often (you are, aren't you?), then why were you so silent after the police chief's admission that there is still no enforcement of the speed limit downtown?  How is the problem of speeding vehicles going to be solved if you are such a pushover when it comes to dealing with HPD and their lack of interest in the issue of speeding vehicles? What is your purpose as the chair of the SAFETY Committee?   To do nothing but listen to HPD and accept everything they say as just the way it's always been and always will be?  Are you there to make progress or to maintain the status quo that is no longer healthy for this city of yours?

Were you happy to hear that HPD issued all of 15 speeding tickets over the past three months and that none of them were issued on any downtown streets?  Were you pleasantly surprised or were you hoping for more than 15 tickets?  Or did you have no expectations whatsoever?

Henry, what is your purpose as the chair of the SAFETY Committee?  What do you hope to get accomplished?  What has Margaret Morris told you that you should be doing and accomplishing?  What has your committee accomplished in the past 6 months, if anything?  What are you planning on doing with the speeding ticket data that was given to you on Monday that you had requested last month?  Have you already moved on from it, on to chickens, rats and business signs on National Grid's utility poles that have nothing to do with issues of public safety?

Last questions for you, Henry.  What is the speeding situation like on Warren Street, and what are you hoping to do about it?  Has it gotten better or worse recently?  Will you continue to hope that HPD won't do anything about it?  And for how much longer do you hope that HPD won't bother with making any effort at speed enforcement downtown?  For as long as you are the chair of the SAFETY Committee?  For as long as you live in Hudson?

If you think there is a speeding problem on your street, Henry, I suggest you come on over to upper State Street some day or night and see what a true speeding problem looks, feels and sounds like.  Maybe bring the chief of police with you to have a look.  Just a suggestion.  Maybe hang out in front of the mayor's house for a few minutes, too -- it's not far from State Street.  Heck, have him join you, too!  Why not?  After all, he is our "safety" mayor, isn't he? 

Here's a fact for you.  The first time I ever spoke with Joe Ferris at length we discussed the quality-of-life issue of speeding and loud vehicles on North 6th Street between State and Washington.  He was not happy about a situation I had been well aware of for years.  That chat of ours took place two or three years ago, and I can tell you -- and our mayor probably can, too -- that the situation there has not gotten any better.  He might tell you it's only gotten worse.  Would that be of any interest to you, your fellow committee members, and Police Chief Mishanda Franklin?  Why do I think the answer to that question is a resounding NO?