HUDseen: How Low Has The City of Hudson Sunk?

Does 26 inches sound about right? (I came across this long unmaintained sidewalk tree in the 500 block of Columbia about one week ago.)

Hudson in the year 2026 is the dirtiest, sloppiest, noisiest, least walkable, least welcoming, least attractive, least friendly, most unsafe, most traffic-congested, most poorly maintained, and most neglected that it has been during my 13 years here. So many aspects of life in Hudson have taken a nosedive this year that it can be overwhelming to consider them all. I will let a few more pictures (with commentary) make my point.

About one month ago, for the umpteenth time this year, I called HPD in the early evening to let them know that the rear door to the flat roof of City Hall was unlocked. The dispatcher asked me why I was still calling about the unlocked door if I knew that "Captain Miller had made it clear that the door was to remain unlocked at all times." (There was no reason for me to know this; Miller never sent me the memo.) Two HPD patrol cops who had answered the phone on previous calls about the door told me that the door was part of a fire escape and that it "couldn't be locked." Sergeant Nicholas Hodges, who successfully dealt with Rob Perry about the door last year, told me a few months ago that "HPD can't control what City Hall does with their doors." And for at least the past 5 months, our new so-called mayor has been well aware that there is 24/7 access to the roof of City Hall that leads to 3 windows and a door to the rear of the DPW offices on the same second floor that his office is located. He couldn't care less about (or simply doesn't understand) the implications and potential consequences of being so careless, reckless, and dumb with his own place of employment.

ALWAYS UNLOCKED!

Below are two pictures of what is left of the gutter for the roof over the two parking spaces directly behind City Hall. It has obviously been rammed into at least once by a tall truck, likely several years ago. When it rains hard, there is no shortage of water that falls on cars parked under the roof, a fact that our present and most recent City Clerks can confirm. And you absolutely know you are dealing with a property owner who probably shouldn't be one when vegetation can be seen growing out of a gutter annually.

Exposing eaves to the elements is
ALWAYS A FANTASTIC IDEA!

What else is neglected at City Hall that isn't easily seen, perhaps inside? The budget?

Evidence of a slob property owner!

DPW was made aware of this at least 3 weeks ago.
(Should they need to be told AND REMINDED?)

At least 3 months ago, with a picture or two, I notified the mayor that the only tree in the City Hall parking lot was long overdue for some branch removal and TLC. He responded to let me know that something would be done about it, implying that he agreed with me. That something turned out to be nothing; the lot's only tree still has far too many dead branches, some directly above public parking spaces. I have recently definitively concluded that our mayor is full of hooey and that he's not much better or different than Kamal Johnson.

This past Saturday marked the third or fourth consecutive weekend that the $10,000 parking kiosk for the 700 block of Warren (all blocks get just one!) has been DEAD. DEAD, as in out of service and useless. For the past few weeks (or more), pressing a key on the kiosk to activate the screen to pay for a parking space is an exercise in futility. There might as well be a picture taped to it of a laughing Parking Captain Miller extending both of his middle fingers to all the fools not using a cell phone to pay for their parking space. No, he doesn't seem to mind that the parking payment machine hasn't worked for weeks, and neither do his parking enforcers. I took the picture below yesterday, moments after a parking enforcer walked past the long DEAD kiosk and continued scanning registration tickets in his quest to issue as many "meter violation" tickets to those people who failed to (or weren't able to) pay for their space. (The enforcer, all in black, can be seen in the background.) He couldn't have cared less that the kiosk was DEAD, how long it's been DEAD, or how much longer it will remain DEAD (and without an OUT OF SERVICE sign). He couldn't have cared less if a parked car was in violation because the driver wasn't able to pay for their space using the only kiosk in the block. I suppose it's entirely possible that he wasn't even aware that the kiosk was DEAD and that is has been for weeks. Hell, there's no need for any of the four enforcers to know if the parking kiosks are DEAD or ALIVE, or for how long they remain DEAD. Even if they were to be made aware that a kiosk is DEAD -- perhaps by someone who tried to use one but got nowhere -- why would they even let anyone they work for know about it?

A City Hall that can't or won't properly tend to its own property will allow all property owners to be just as sloppy, neglectful, and unsafe. SLOBS CAN BE CONTAGIOUS IF YOU HANG AROUND THEM LONG ENOUGH!