The Initialism Strikes Back

John Gilstrap

This evening, the Common Council received a communication from John Gilstrap, president of the HDC (Hudson Development Corporation) Board of Directors, responding to Council president Tom DePietro's declaration that HDC "should probably no longer exist." The entire memorandum can be read here, but Gossips will quote some of it. Gilstrap starts out by asserting: "The dissolution of HDC is not an action that the City of Hudson has the authority to undertake. This option is solely available to HDC." He goes on to say:

What would the dissolution [of HDC] mean for the City of Hudson? Even without a more thorough and complete examination of the consequences, we can conclude that, absent cooperation and support from the Common Council, the Kaz redevelopment project and the purchase of the adjacent CSX property are no longer viable. The pursuit of housing, small supermarket, transportation enhancements and increased tax revenue at the Kaz site are terminated and very likely will become the responsibility of the City. . . .

Other issues that the City of Hudson will need to address and for which it will need to accept immediate responsibility are:

The guidance, preparation, application and administration of state and federal grants to the City and to HDC, such as those under the 2018 State Consolidated Funding Application.

The administration of grants received by the City and HDC under the Downtown Redevelopment [sic] Initiative that are the responsibility of either the City of Hudson or HDC that will require administration by another agency or agencies such as by the City of Hudson or Columbia County, or the postponement, renegotiation or termination of funded projects.

That without administration of either the Kaz-redevelopment, CFA or DRI projects, HDC will exhaust its revenue within four to six months.

That the action to dissolve HDC also implies shuttering the Hudson Development and Planning Agency, since that agency shares staff with HDC and will exhaust its revenue by the end of May.

Gilstrap's memo also discloses that Sheena Salvino, executive director of HDC and HCDPA announced to the HDC board at the end of March her intention to resign, effective August 1.

In introducing the communication, DePietro said there was no need to discuss it because "the aldermen already know my response." He called the language of the memo "incorrect and misguided," saying that his comments at the informal meeting were "the beginning of a conversation." At the end of the meeting, he told the audience, "If you're here about HDC, you should come to the next HDC meeting." When audience member Karla Roberts protested that HDC meetings were "not really an open avenue" for public comment, DePietro told her, "We on the Council have made it clear they need to do more" by way of accepting input from the public. Alderman Tiffany Garriga (Second Ward) threatened, "If they shut us down, we will shut them down."

The next HDC meeting takes place on Tuesday, May 22, at noon, at 1 North Front Street.
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