Let the Sting Continue

Gossips wasn't at last night's Common Council meeting, but reports have been received that the issue most vigorously debated was the resolution allowing the Hudson Police Department to accept a grant from Catholic Charities to conduct more sting operations in Hudson. 

When this resolution first came before the Common Council on February 7, Council President Don Moore referred it to committee for more discussion before it was voted on. He questioned whether a sting operation was the most effective way to deal with the problem of under-age drinking. On February 28, the issue was discussed at the Common Council Police Committee meeting, but the committee did not vote to move the resolution to the full Council, so technically it was still "in committee." Last night, however, First Ward Alderman Geeta Cheddie forced the issue, wanting to know why the Council wasn't going to vote on it.

According to reports, what followed was a contentious discussion, the details of which I will leave to Register-Star reporter Jamie Larson to recount since he actually witnessed it. At one point, it was determined that the Council's rules of order permitted Moore to refer the resolution to committee a second time, but, toward the end of the meeting, when Hudson Police Chief Ellis Richardson arrived, with his two sons in tow, wanting to know the fate of the resolution, it was decided that a vote would be taken after all. Third Ward Aldermen Ellen Thurston and Chris Wagoner voted with Moore in opposition to accepting the grant from Catholic Charities; First Ward Aldermen Cheddie and Sarah Sterling, Second Ward Aldermen Wanda Pertilla and Abdus Miah (himself caught in similar sting in Greene County), Fourth Ward Aldermen Ohrine Stewart and Sheila Ramsey, and Fifth Ward Alderman Bob Donahue all voted in favor of accepting the grant. Had Sterling not voted with the majority, the resolution would not have passed.