Ear to the Ground
There was another budget workshop today, and Gossips has learned that, as of this afternoon, the budget for the Youth Department will see an increase of 46 percent, and the overall budget for 2019 will increase by 4 percent.
COPYRIGHT 2018 CAROLE OSTERINK
Love the mob.
ReplyDeleteIs that supposed to mean that the firing of Nick Zachos is okay? Where is this budget?
ReplyDeleteIf NZ merely required assistance then presumably he got it with the new, hands-on Commissioner of Youth.
DeleteWere there trust issues which also informed the City's action? I don't know for sure, though I'd understand.
1. But as soon as somebody throws something at someone, then that takes precedence. That is the story.
2. Afterwards, any attempt to normalize such behavior advances automatically to secondary importance.
3. Lastly, and of tertiary concern, is the righteousness of the protests (if any). Unless the deplorable single action be normalized and legitimized by the supposed outrage of someone's demotion (possibly deserved), then your own potentially valid complaint must take third place. The projectile insured as much.
If interest groups are incapable of policing themselves, then by default they shift that responsibility to the HPD. Whatever the complaint, how mature is that?
For the good of our diverse views, everyone should want this miscreant punished.
Dear UH, I don't think anyone said the person should not be punished. But to punish the youth of Hudson because of your logic, or to deny the citizens of Hudson their right to speak because of such a person is, shall we say, nuts, not to mention undemocratic. Please, focus on the issues at hand; I'm sure the cops will find their culprit.
DeleteFor me the pressing issue 1) the identity of the poo-flinger, and 2) to what degree, if any, he is involved with the Youth Department. That must remain a possibility.
DeleteIf it turns out that the latter is true, then your indignation and straw man arguments will have something to answer for. But let's wait and see.
Nick was/is doing a great job..Dose the youth department need to be restructured again ?? ...Perhaps what it needs is CFO, and let Nick take care of the kids
ReplyDeleteExactly. I have lived through 20 years of politics running (and often ruining the recreational lives of our children. I was on the board of the Boys & Girls Club, which had money in the bank and was running wonderfully -- so wonderfully that then Mayor Scalera decided to take it over.... It's another long and terrible story, now being duplicated. As MBD suggests, the politicians need to let the folks who know kids and recreation and have the respect of their parents -- and there are many more than just Nick -- run the programs, as they have been doing very sucessfully for the last five+ years
DeleteFormer mayor Rick Scalera submitted this response:
DeleteI hate to respond to someone who in my opinion is a pathological liar or is just suffering from memory loss but Peter Meyer fits right in one of those. Indeed Peter Meyer sat on the Boys and girls club board years back but having “money in the bank and running wonderfully ,” was far removed from the truth. In fact it was that very board absent Peter that approached the City to be rescued! They were broke…building in disrepair and had not raised any money to help the situation. Just ask the other board members if you think otherwise. The board voted to have the city take ownership of the building and fund the operations and after months of getting state approvals it did just that. We received thousands of State dollars in successful grants to repair the building and an unexpected $500g grant over 5 years for equipment and program money….all documented. During this Mayor’s time the building went from a site not fit for anybody’s kids to one we were all proud of. I have many pictures to prove the point. So Peter while you sat on that board crying “whoa is me,” the rest of the board understood the dire situation the club was in and did the right thing. The one thing you may not be aware of is that I have this habit of keeping all papers, documents and statements and a wonderful collection of pictures that my friend Chip Moon took Just to look back now and then….Rick Scalera
Thou prosteth a bit too much, Rick. I would love to relive the those moments when the B&G Club director pulled me aside and said, "Don't you know what they're doing? Bankrupting the club?" or when I finally got a copy of the Clubs' Bylaws and saw that we could/should have had 10 more board members. I don't mind taking on Rick (again) and I'd love to see all those papers he talks about. It was Hokus-Pokus then; and my guess is that it's still hokus pokus.
Deletep.s. As mayor Rick bankrupted the Club (by withholding City funds and convincing board members not to do any more fundraiseing) and then rushed in to "save" the club. He's sticking to that story, which was as trumped-up then as it is now.
DeleteRick Scalera submitted this response:
DeleteOk it’s clear to me now...I wasn’t sure if Peter was a pathological liar or had a memory loss. The answer is both! For the record Peter when you served on the board the B&G club was independent of the City. At that time, the City budgeted a small amount of money (7000.) because the club was funded by five major grants and supposedly it’s own fundraising which didn’t happen. By law the City cannot donate money but can contract with an organization for services such as those provided by the B&G Club. The club had a 125,000 nest egg from the 1970’s sale of the clubs Camp Anderson in Kinderhook and that was running very low. So Peter, the City could not bankrupt the club , you helped do that did by not fundraising and the well went dry. It was then the B&G club board and director approached the City requesting a lifeline. Next if your bylaws said you could add 10 more board members then why didn’t that happen either. That also had nothing to do with the city! Trust me if you want to take me on (again) try to remember this. It didn’t work then and it won’t work now. The Boys and Girls club has enjoyed many successful years since the City takeover despite you and your failures as a board member!.............Rick Scalera
Youth Department will see an increase of 46 percent, and the overall budget for 2019 will increase by 4 percent...
ReplyDeleteHow do managers of Hudson's decline justify an ever increasing budgt?
More tax, less use and fewer users?!
Exactly. The folks that have worked so hard to earn the respect that justifies such a wild increase are being tossed aside. The mayor thinks, as another mayor once thought when he killed the Boys & Girls Club, that he can use kids to trick the voters into voting for a terrible program. He should be impeached for such cynicism.
DeleteRegarding the supposed 46% increase, please see my comment to the original post on this BEA meeting, which notes that the increase is not nearly so high when compared to the adjusted budget amount for the Youth Department in 2018.
ReplyDeleteWill someone please post the actual dollar amounts the Youth Department receives? Talking about percentages is pretty useless.
ReplyDelete