Has Our New Paid Parking System Reached The Level Of A Shitshow Yet? Or Is It Still Just A Disgrace?

Yesterday, on Columbia Street just west of 8th Street, three days after noticing one pair of paid parking signs dangling from a meter pole and another pair completely fallen off an adjacent parking meter pole also in the 700 block of Columbia, I came across yet more evidence that no one at HPD -- absolutely no one -- is supervising our new ambitious paid parking system or even cares if it fails miserably. 

Two things bear repeating here.  First, Parking Captain David Miller -- the apparent spokesperson for the Parking Bureau and our new and expanded paid parking system -- has publicly stated on at least two occasions that "HPD took over parking in July [of last year]."  Therefore, according to him, any successes, problems, issues, dead kiosks, or broken or missing signs having to do with the new parking system can be attributed to someone at HPD.  But who at HPD?  Miller and Miller alone?  Your guess is as good as mine!  Show up to the next meeting of the so-called SAFETY Committee and ask him for an answer if you really want to know who is in charge of the new paid parking system.   "Is it safe to say that you, Captain Miller, are the sole employee at HPD who is in charge of all things parking and have been since last July?  If it's not you, then who is it?  It has to be someone, doesn't it?  And if it is you who is in charge of all things parking, how much time do you have to handle the law enforcement duties you took an oath to uphold as a Hudson police officer?  Are you spending your time doing law enforcement or overseeing the implementation and success of the city's expanded and ambitious new paid parking system?  You can't possibly be doing both and doing them both thoroughly and successfully, can you?

Second, no one from our police department was a member of the laughable Parking Study Committee that concocted this whole mess and then "handed it off to Police Chief Franklin," words that came from the mouth of 4th ward council member and parking expert Jen Belton last July when her committee had nothing left to do.  She might as well have announced, "Since you're the law enforcement expert, Chief Franklin, we thought you would be best suited to supervise an expanded and convoluted, half-assed new paid parking system that Tom Depietro, Mohammed Rony, some guy that lives in Greenport, Dominic Merante, myself, and a well-paid parking consultant from Long Island came up with over the past year.  It's the best we could do, though there might be some glitches you'll need to work out to get it up and running smoothly. 

After considering the situation for endless hours, Tom and I concluded that you and/or someone else at HPD, perhaps Captain Miller, were best suited to successfully handle the new parking system.  We assumed that you and Captain Miller have plenty of time to focus daily on all things parking and make our new paid parking system something every Hudson resident can be proud of for decades to come.  And we're really hoping that all the work you'll be required to do doesn't get in the way of keeping Hudson residents safe and secure and our houses and apartments free of burglars, marauders, arsonists, rapists, trespassers, and other bad people.  Let us know how it goes.  We're counting on you; please don't make us look bad!  Oh, by the way, Chief Franklin, the $10,000 kiosks that were delivered 6 months ago are still in storage at the DPW garage on Dock Street waiting to be installed.  Talk to Rob Perry if you want to take a look at them; he just might remember where they've been gathering dust for months. 

You are okay with this big responsibility, aren't you, and you have the time and brain space to focus on it?  Hell, no one else is interested in taking over parking! You're all we've got!  Thanks, and good luck, Chief Franklin, I'm afraid you're going to need it!"

Still DEAD after at least
 five weeks!  A minor glitch?
Or evidence of a shitshow?