Woah! WOAH! WOAH, Nellie! 35 PAGES??? (And That's Not All Of Them!)

Readers may recall that there was a nasty car collision at the intersection of 7th & State on December 6th, 2024. (7th is the only intersection on State where State traffic does not stop.)  In early 2025, I wrote that the city, for reasons having to do with "ongoing litigation," was not disclosing any documents related to that crash.  Later last year, as part of a repeat FOIL request I made to pry this information from HPD, I was told -- in the form of another letter from HPD via email -- that any documents related to the incident at 7th & State would be available in June of 2026!  I couldn't even get my hands on a simple accident report for several more months.  Patience!

One month ago, I made the same FOIL request for all documents and reports related to the crash.  Today, I got a response that did not include any documents, just another letter from HPD.  Instead of telling me that no documents were available, I was told that if I wanted to see the "35 pages of records" related to the crash, I would have to pay a copy fee of $8.75.  I plan to pay the fee.  I've waited too long to give up now!

Just about any FOIL request for the accident reports and any other documents related to a vehicle crash that HPD responds to will get you -- AT NO COST AND ALWAYS WITHIN 30 DAYS -- no more than five pages (often just two) of a simple accident report or two (there is a DMV accident report and an internal HPD Case Report for every vehicle collision). 35 pages of documents related to a vehicle crash that take a year and a half to surface is a sure sign that this crash was something special, something that should have made headlines at the time, and something we should all know about if only because the City of Hudson had to be involved in some way. And not involved in a good way! But it turns out there are actually more than 35 pages of documents related to this crash, because the letter from HPD states, "the remaining records... portion of your request is denied."  How many pages of records the public will never know about is a mystery to anyone outside HPD.  This should never be the case.  EVER!  Redact personal information but give us the particulars of the story!

The City of Hudson was somehow involved in this crash -- either at the time of impact or afterwards. I still believe, as I stated over a year ago, that one or both of the drivers sued the city for creating a dangerous intersection, for causing the crash. (I have no idea if anyone was injured; presumably, no one was killed.)  Someone had to have sued the city for my FOIL requests to be denied for so long.  When the documents finally arrive, let's hope there aren't too many redactions to keep us in the dark. 

Stay tuned -- give me about 40 days.

Wasn't the Common Council just trying to figure out a way to pay for all the recent surprise attorney fees that have sapped the attorney fee budget for the year?  Hmmmm......