Hudson Just Might Be, Hands Down, The Most Poorly Managed City In America!

 

A few months ago, while out for a walk, I was able to talk to a Washington Street neighbor who had grown up in Hudson, having attended Hudson High School in the 1980's.  After telling me stories about what kids did for fun around here in the 80's ("driving up and down Warren Street among all the vacant buildings..."), the conversation became all about the parking mess surrounding the Pocketbook Hotel and business complex.  One of the last things my neighbor said to me was, "For as long as I can remember, parking in Hudson has been a problem."  It still is, but it doesn't need to be.  And, unless we start over, parking likely always will be "a problem."  Even on Warren Street.  

The following is further evidence to be added to the file titled, "Parking is Great As Long As Parking Captain David Miller Says It Is."

On each side of the half block of North 5th Street from Prisoner Alley to Warren Street there are 3 paid public parking spaces (I can't call them metered spaces anymore, and kiosked spaces sounds wrong!), for a total of 6 not-free spaces on North 5th.  The two city-owned lampposts on the east side each have a pair of unvandalizable, scannable parking signs 8 or 9 feet above the sidewalk -- for a total of 4 paid parking signs -- offering drivers two options to pay for their parking space.  Yes, there are more signs than parking spaces within a 100-foot distance, which includes about twenty feet of a NO PARKING ZONE! The east side, with no lampposts available, has a sign on each of the two remaining parking meter poles, for a total of just 2 signs.  All 6 of these signs were installed several months ago.  

Summation:  There is a one-half block area included in the new paid parking system that has a total of 6 paid parking spaces and 6 paid parking signs, with 4 signs up high above the sidewalk on one side and two signs down low facing the street at the curb on the other side.  Impressive sign coverage, isn't it?  One sign for each parking space!

Notice that one sign is not facing any parking 
spaces, just a NO PARKING ZONE.  What's the 
point of posting that sign?  Who would ever 
read or scan it?  Put it somewhere useful, please!
How much did that sign cost city taxpayers? 

However, one block to the east where there are nearly four times as many parking spaces to be found, the sign coverage situation is quite different, just as it has been ever since our police department's experiment in improved paid parking began over 8 months ago.  Concerningly different.  Dysfunctionally different!  Head-spinningly different!  WTF-ly different!   Are you ready? 

Each side of the 600 block along the city's main commercial strip has 11 public parking spaces, for a total of 22 spaces in the block.  On the north (even) side of the block are two pairs of scannable parking signs -- the same kind seen on North 5th Street -- that can be found on 2 of the 5 lamp posts, for a total of 4 signs.   11 consecutive parking spaces, 5 lampposts, 4 signs on 2 lampposts (and, newar 6th, the block's sole parking kiosk).  But, just as on 5th Street where the sign situations on both sides are different, things get truly creepy on the south side of the 600 block of Warren.  It's clear that no one has been paying attention for at least the past 8 months.

For anyone parking among the 11 parking spaces on the odd side of the street, there are just two parking signs to read or scan, both of them found back-to-back on the second lamppost closest to 7th Street and directly in front of CVS.  This side of the block also has 5 lampposts, but 4 of them have not been fitted with any parking signs.  (And how could they be if all the extra parking signs were installed on North 5th?!)  The sign in front of CVS that faces east is, presumably, meant for the only two parking spaces to the east toward 7th, one of them being a free handicap space.  In other words, there is one scannable paid parking sign meant for one paid parking space. The complementary parking sign facing west is a gift for the drivers occupying the other 9 parking spaces that reach nearly to 6th Street.  In other words, there is one scannable paid parking sign meant for 9 paid parking spaces adjacent to one paid parking sign meant for one paid parking space.  Sounds about right to me!

Can you see the only scannable parking sign
that is 200 feet away?  Neither can I!

I recently counted my steps from the middle of the parking space closest to 6th Street (the first space in line) to the nearest paid parking sign in the block, the one in front of CVS and behind the 10th space in line.  Along the way, I passed three empty/unsigned lampposts. The total distance was, and still is, 80 paces.  That's the equivalent of about 200 feet, and, depending on certain factors and conditions (Age! Children! A-frame signs! Ice! Electric scooters and bikes headed your way from behind or ahead! Slow-walking tourists on a Saturday!), at least a 20-second walk. (And don't you even think of window shopping, buddy!)  Of course, if you want to read or scan that one sign so that your vehicle isn't issued a $10 "meter violation" ticket (that's what they are still known as!), it might help to determine that the sign even exists... if you can.  Alas, there are no arrows, signs, blinking lights, or helpful hints leading you to that one sign 80 or more steps away at the far end of the block.  You are on your own!

About two weeks ago, while walking near that first parking space 8 spaces from the nearest sign on the block, a woman looking dazed and confused (aka, "on her own") got my attention by asking me if I could help her.  The next thing out of her mouth was, "I don't see any signs to pay for parking.  Do you know if there are any?"  

I laughed and said, "Welcome to Hudson.  The nearest parking sign is around the corner on 6th.  You can't see it from here, but it's there.  For some reason, the only sign for this side of the street is all the way up there at the other end of the block at the CVS.  You'd be better off walking around the corner, I think.  Maybe someday there will be a sign or two down here, but I wouldn't count on it."

She thanked me and headed toward 6th.

I know of a few people who are certain that story is made up, but they can go...    

Summation:  What the hell is going on with Parking Captain David Miller? Is he MIA? Should his PARKING EXPERT license be revoked?  Does he need to return to school, possibly to Miss Manners Etiquette School?  Shouldn't he be completely unconcerned with matters related to parking and instead exclusively be concentrating on law enforcement matters?  Did Miller's -- or anyone's at HPD -- oath to "PROTECT AND SERVE HUDSON RESIDENTS" include anything having to do with scannable paid parking signs, parking kiosks, parking apps, or lampposts?  

3 weeks!  "And your point is?"

Last week, a neighbor of mine told me that a few days prior she had heard gunshots early in the morning, something I was unaware of. I haven't heard, read or seen anything from HPD indicating if this is true or not, have you?

Still DEAD, still no Out Of Order SIGN! 
"And your point is?"

The parking kiosk for the 700 block of Warren -- found near Park Place -- has been out of order (aka, DEAD) for at least the past ten days.  Maybe PC Miller is struggling to figure out how to word the sign letting the public know that the city's $10,000 parking kiosk that was installed 5 or 6 months ago is dead and that no one knows how to fix it or even cares if it ever works again.  How much is our second-in-command at HPD being paid to create that sign?  Or has he given up on parking signs and parking kiosks to focus solely on reacting to and preventing crime so that Hudson is a better and safer place to live for all residents?

It's worth repeating every chance that HUDseen has to repeat the following.  On his way out the door in 2023, one of the last things that former Police Chief Ed Moore warned the common council about was prescient.  In essence he told all of us, "KEEP PARKING OUT OF HPD'S HANDS.  LET THEM CONCENTRATE ON LAW ENFORCEMENT!"  Ed knew where things were headed, and he never would have allowed HPD to "take over parking," as they did last July.  Ed knew what he was talking about, but his successor, Mishanda Franklin, freshly minted HPD Captain David Miller, the entire common council (a few, including Tom De-what's-his-name, who would soon be on the so-called Parking Study Committee), and "mayor" Kamal Johnson all ignored Ed's words of wisdom and warning.  Now we are paying for that ignorance.  And we will continue to do so for years.  It'll be GREAT!