Would It Kill You, Rob and Frank?

I took the lead picture on Wednesday, March 11th of this year, a few days or weeks after DPW replaced a portion of the wood bench that is popular with a certain clientele of the 7th Street Park.  (By the way, neither Michael Madison nor evidence of his presence have been spotted there this year.)

Yesterday, exactly 156 days and nights later, I took a follow-up picture of the repaired public bench. 

Isn't one of the well-known benefits of
 paint that it protects wood from the elements,
 allowing it to last longer than in its raw state?  

Rob Perry and his foreman, Frank Rogers (who does not live in Hudson), don't give a shit about any of us, what Hudson looks like, or how much money they need to spend on replacing and repairing infrastructure, including the stuff they've worked on multiple times.  Rob is the head wasteful slob, and he expects the same of his minions.  And as long as he is in charge of all things DPW (whose responsibilities are clearly more than one person can possibly handle), Hudson will continue to tread water and sink slowly but surely, never able to reach the shore of safety, stability and success.  And the common council will be straddled with so much bullshit that nothing will get accomplished or accomplished properly.  The descent is happening right in front of us on a daily basis. 

During what decade was this storm drain
 last inspected by DPW? (Prison Alley)

A few days after the lake in the 200 block of Columbia Street was finally able to drain itself of the torrents of rain (and runoff!) we got on July 28th, I took a close look at the storm drain on the north side of the street, one of the two drains that was accepting little to none of the water being sent its way during the deluge.  Through the holes of the grate, I could clearly see that a large section of bricks -- most of them still as one unit -- had broken off one of the walls of the drain and were lying flat, no more than two feet below the grate.  There was all sorts of other debris in there as well, and it looked as though the drain hadn't been inspected or worked on for years.  Do you think Rob Perry mentioned anything about the lake that formed in front of 325 Columbia on the morning of July 29th when he gave his DPW report to the so-called CODE & Infrastructure Committee last week?  Perhaps a picture or two and an explanation as to why flooding is such a common occurrence there?  Of course he didn't!  Why the hell would he?  Lakes form there regularly, at least once every other year!  What's the problem if another storm comes and another lake forms and another house or three get flooded?  Why should such a thing concern Rob Perry, the common council, "mayor" Joe Ferris, or any Hudson resident, particularly those who live near or directly in the bowl in the lower 200 block of Columbia Street?

As far as I can tell, this is the only storm drain 
that exists directly at the intersection of 2nd & 
Mill Street.  It is obviously ignored by DPW.

If you walk or bike in our alleys often enough, you can easily spot what should be a huge concern to any Hudson mayor or resident: multiple storm drains that are clearly neglected, ancient, and in need of a DPW Superintendent who gives a shit, who isn't a wasteful slob, who isn't expected to do too much, and who can pay attention to the important details of ALL of our critical infrastructure.

Soon after HUDseen published a recent piece that included the damaged storm drain on Columbia next to the St. Charles Hotel's entrance, an orange traffic safety cone appeared over the hole next to it.  I'm pretty certain that cone appeared at least 5 weeks ago.  And there it still is today.  Still in the street. Still inches from the front of a designated parking space. Still waiting for someone to pick it up and throw it at a passing car or truck for fun. Still waiting for anyone at DPW to give a crap about it. 

Yesterday, in the 200 block of Partition Alley, I came across a crew of three DPW workers filling a small dump truck with large paper bags full of residential yard waste that had been left out for them.