Incompetence? Dysfunction? Lack Of Awareness Of The Obvious? Plain Old Lack of Communication Between Our County And Our City? Lack Of Respect For Hudson? Or Could It Be All Of The Above?

Columbia County's five very new parking signs on the south sidewalk side of the first block of Warren Street -- four found on city lampposts and one on a (soon to be installed) permanent signpost -- indicate what we all knew was coming.  The county's new parking rules on one block of the city's main thoroughfare prohibits the general public from parking anywhere in front of 11 Warren on weekdays from 8 am - 5 pm lest they get their vehicle towed.  Not ticketed, just towed!  Those once public parking spaces that were always free until this year are now reserved for county employees during workdays.  So, is it safe to say that as of the past week or two the first block of Warren has new county parking rules that trump the city's new paid parking rules that exist along all of Warren?  Well, no, it does not appear that way.  This is, after all, where county meets city, where nothing is simple or straightforward, and where things can get dumb, ugly, and confusing quicker than you can say 11 Warren Street.

In a fascinating display of clear-as-day inter-governmental incompetence, information on the city's four scannable paid parking signs on that side of the block that were installed a few months ago by DPW - two now found directly above county parking signs -- offers a far different and less punitive story for anyone who reads them any day of the week, no matter where they have driven to Warren Street from. 

The city's message to all parkers in the first block of Warren is still the same and as clear as it has been for the past few months since HPD installed a pair of scannable signs each on two lampposts.  In effect (as we all know by now), the signs say, SO THAT YOUR CAR WON'T BE TICKETED MONDAY THRU SATURDAY FROM 9 TO 5, PLEASE PAY FOR YOUR PARKING SPACE BY SCANNING THIS SIGN OR USING THE CITY'S PARKING APP.   (Notice that there is no mention of towing or county employees.)

Who at both the city and the county might we have to thank for this stupidity that is a huge red flag of incompetence and zero communication?  Let's see... for starters, HPD Captain David Miller constantly reminds the so-called SAFETY Committee during his so-called parking reports (a new duty of his) that "parking has been great since HPD took over last July."  (For better or for worse, our second-in-command at HPD is the face of parking these days. He seems to be the spokesperson for all things paid parking; no one else is stepping forward.) Was Miller at all involved in the negotiations with the county about the new parking rules in front of 11 Warren? Was Miller -- or anyone at HPD or the Parking Bureau -- in the loop about any of the parking changes the city approved with the county to allow a handful of county employees working at 11 Warren to have a place to park on the street five days a week?  From the looks of the conflicting parking signs in that block, the answer appears to be NO, NOT AT ALL!  And if by some miracle anyone from HPD or the Parking Bureau was involved they certainly weren't paying attention.   

And how about on the county side?  I don't follow county politics much, but the name Matt Murell comes to mind.  Did County Supervisor Chairman Murell -- or anyone from the county -- call David Miller -- or anyone at HPD or the Parking Bureau -- to let him know that there was now a discrepancy with the parking rules in front of 11 Warren since the county had put up its signs?  Why do I think the answer is NO? When the county employee or employees installed those parking signs in front of 11 Warren recently, did they not notice the discrepancies they were creating?  Was there anyone at the county level supervising the installation of those signs?

Let's see... Parking signs and rules, ticketing and towing, Margaret Morris's Hudson Common Council, her "SAFETY Committee," law enforcement, HPD top brass, Joe Ferris and possibly Tiffany Martin, the Hudson Parking Bureau, county, city, Matt Murell, 11 Warren Street, 610 State (with its departments to relocate to 11 Warren).  It's quite a stew, and you know it tastes awful!  Perhaps it's even toxic!

South 1st Street will soon get two new permanent    
  parking signs and 4 or 5 parking spaces for county   
employees in a primarily residential area.

What no one at City Hall realized when they decided to give away the first block of Warren (and a portion of North 1st Street!) to Columbia County was that HPD's new parking signs in the first block of Warren would be rendered inaccurate, unhelpful, confusing and need to be changed.  If City Hall can get its act together, it will need to buy new paid parking signs that reflect the reality of the new parking situation in front of 11 Warren, signs that will inform parkers that paid parking on the block is only allowed and in effect on Saturdays.  They might want to also include a warning on the new signs, just to help people out a bit:  PLEASE ABIDE BY THE SPECIAL PARKING RULES THAT ONLY EXIST ON THIS BLOCK OR YOUR CAR MAY BE TOWED BY OUR FRIENDS AT COLUMBIA COUNTY.  AND REMEMBER, THE CITY OF HUDSON WELCOMED THIS SITUATION.

That ought to clear things up for everyone.

While I'm on the topic of dysfunctional city/county relations, the entire 600 block of Rope Alley is still closed to all traffic (including emergency vehicles) after 16 days because the county has not fixed their broken sewer pipe that Hudson DPW discovered on July 18th after digging a large hole in the middle of the alley to inspect what had caused a small sinkhole directly behind 610 State.  DPW dug the hole in the alley, then probably showed someone from the county that the leaking pipe was theirs, and the hole in the narrow alley was covered with metal plates, plywood and barriers, and with barriers and a ROAD CLOSED sign at each end of the block blocking traffic.  This took place over two weeks ago!  This coming Wednesdays it will have been three weeks.  One wonders how long it would have taken the county to begin the repair effort had the busted pipe been under State Street instead.  They don't see the situation on and under a city roadway as anything approaching an emergency, and, apparently, neither does anyone from Hudson City Hall.  "Whatever!!!  LaDeeDa! Sorry, city residents, were too busy preparing 11 Warren Street for occupancy and putting up employee parking signs on your streets to worry about your stupid alley.  Sorry, city residents, over here at 520 Warren we're too busy twiddling our thumbs and worrying about lawsuits and our bank account to care about another portion of Rope Alley being closed to traffic for weeks that we don't even know the reasons for!  You're on your own.  Get used to it!"

It's true.  While the county continued to ignore the problem of theirs underneath the middle of the 600 block of Rope Alley for a second week, they were busy installing their employee parking signs on Warren Street and on 1st Street!  What the hell are the signs up for if the building has yet to be occupied?

Early this week, I sent an email to every member of the Columbia County Board of Supervisors and Hudson Common Council, as well as mayor Ferris, informing them of the issue behind 610 State that has been ignored for far too long. (Why wouldn't they all want to know if they didn't already?)  The only response I got was from longtime supervisor from Stuyvesant and Columbia County Public Works Chairman, Ron Knott.  His message was succinct and appreciative:  "Well aware Bill; Thanks."

Is that so, Ron? Are you speaking for all supervisors? Do you or any supervisors live near the intersection of 6th & State?

I wouldn't be the first person to make the claim that Columbia County has little respect for Hudson, its own county seat.  Of course, the amateurs at the revolving door that is Hudson City Hall don't help matters much, do they?