Hallenbeck Seeks a Third Term

Last night, Gossips shared the news that Mayor William Hallenbeck intends to run for a third term. Gossips, of course, had not received Hallenbeck's press release, but the Register-Star did, and today John Mason reports its content: "Mayor will seek third term." The article makes interesting reading.

In his press release, Hallenbeck lauds himself for keeping city property taxes low and for his "successful stand" against Common Council president Don Moore and City treasurer Heather Campbell on the issue of raising tax revenue to build a capital reserve fund. He uses figures meant to exaggerate the cost to taxpayers--a 2.97 percent increase as opposed to a 1.5 percent increase--when in fact the plan to make the City better prepared to meet major capital expenses it will face in the near future would have meant an increase in taxes of only $40 on a house with an assessed value of $250,000.

The mayor claims he "fights for the rights of business owners," citing his support for Brian Branigan, "who said Moore and Alderman John Friedman D-3rd Ward, were trying to obstruct the sale of his food truck by warning that future laws may not favor its tenure in Hudson," and for the Savoia, "when there were thoughts in committee of making it close earlier."

He talks about his commitment "to seeking qualified minorities in hiring" and boasts that in the past month he has "appointed or hired three minorities: Tyrone Hedgpeth, who was hired for a three-month stint as George Bednar's successor at the Youth Center, and Vernon Cross and Lola Roberts, who have been appointed to the Hudson Housing Authority board.

Ironically, in the list of achievements that have happened on his watch, Hallenbeck cites the police and court building, although major responsibility for pushing this project forward goes to Alderman Nick Haddad (First Ward), who narrowly lost to Hallenbeck in 2011 and intends to run against him again this year.  

Perhaps Hallenbeck's most interesting claimed achievement is revising "outdated cemetery regulations . . . to allow dogs, while increasing fines for irresponsible dog owners in the cemetery." His claim completely glosses over the fact that it was he who dredged up the arcane booklet of cemetery regulations in the first place and ordered the "No Dogs Allowed" signs to be erected in the cemetery, inspiring protest, civil disobedience, and posters like these.

    
Mason's article is recommended reading--all the way to the end, when Mason quotes Alderman Robert "Doc" Donahue (Fifth Ward), loyal supporter to this day of Rick Scalera, Hudson's former perennial mayor and now Fifth Ward supervisor and "special adviser" to Eric Galloway.

[Donahue] called the announcement "the best news I ever heard. He's done a great job the last number of years. He followed Rick Scalera, and he's continued doing a good job, just as Rick Scalera did."

Donahue credited Hallenbeck with "getting the dogs out of the waterfront. His whole agenda has been very successful."

And so it goes.
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