- On Tuesday, December 17, at 5:30 p.m., Livingston Neighborhood Democrats will be holding an impeachment rally in front of the office of Congressman Antonio Delgado at 420 Warren Street. It is assumed that the rally will still be happening even though Delgado announced yesterday that he would be voting for impeachment. The rally is part of a nationwide movement of impeachment rallies coordinated by MoveOn.
- Also on Tuesday, December 17, the Common Council Finance Committee meets at 5:30 p.m. and the full Council meets at 7:00 p.m. Both meetings take place at City Hall. A vote to overturn the mayor's veto of the nine-month moratorium on establishing any new short-term rental facilities expected to happen during the Council meeting.
- On Friday, December 20, the Hudson Development Corporation Board of Directors holds a special meeting at noon at 1 North Front Street. Amendments to the bylaws, including once again making the majority and minority leaders of the Common Council ex officio members of the HDC board, will be taken up at the meeting.
Monday, December 16, 2019
Meetings and Events in the Week Ahead
In the week before Christmas, there isn't much going on in the way of meetings or other nonholiday-related events.
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I would like to see the finance committee account to the Hudson taxpayers about the grant it gave for open artist studio last Oct.Where was that money spent ?
ReplyDeleteOddly, the event brought several Brooklyn-based artists to exhibit here while several resident artists were never informed about it.
DeleteIt was, or would have been, a great opportunity for local artists, but it was misrepresented to the Finance Committee by the person managing the program. She didn't end up advertising in the places she'd promised.
Then again, it never occurred to the Finance Committee to recommend the event be advertised on the City's own website! Mismanagement all around.
Studio visits are fine and are being used in many communities, but they are limited as many artists work in their home and are not always comfortable putting themselves on public display. Also depending on the studio location there is limited traffic as the visit is dependent on people traveling there and after a few visits they become tired, or bored and move on.
ReplyDeleteA more interesting display that would also be good for local business would be an outdoor, sidewalk art exhibit. This has been used traditionally in many small town as a way to promote artists and local busines simultaneously. Local artists could be offered a free or reduced fee pass and others an affordable exhibition fee that would pay for promotion. Traffic would not have to be disrupted much as the displays could be limited to the sidewalk or in the parking area on one side of the street.
I strongly disagree, outdoor art fairs are in an entirely different category, they exist for crafts or for artists who crank out schlock that is made to sell. Don’t get me wrong, I love crafts but that is an entirely different animal.
DeleteAlso I think critiquing the city govt. in this case is not appropriate. Is it the job of a council member to promote a privately organized art event? Did the organizers approach the council to find out who manages the web site and request a posting of the event? Best to learn from the failings of an event and work to correct it next time, than pointing the blame at others.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I'm very sorry to have missed out on this event. My only aim is to improve local participation in future.
ReplyDeleteThat said, how can it be inappropriate to critique a City committee when it occurred to no committee member to advertise the event on the City website? Where public money is used, the City website must ALWAYS be the first venue that comes to mind.
Instead, we're seeing local governments everywhere increasingly turn to Facebook to conduct public business. (This was a problem with the City's Conservation Advisory Council, too, whose website was run privately by the controversial former Chairman and then removed the day he stepped down.)
As for the organizers of Open Studio Hudson, they made certain promises in their application which, according to the Chairman of the Finance Committee, will be compared with the program's actual expenses come January.
Is the Finance Committee's planned accounting a case of "pointing fingers"?
Are residents wrong to want publicly-sponsored events advertised on our publicly-funded website?
Not in my world.
Correct me if I am wrong ,the organizer charged $50.00 to have your studio listed in her flyer.
ReplyDeleteDoug Holst submitted this comment by email:
ReplyDeleteAs one of 42 Hudson artists who proudly participated in Open Studio Hudson I have to say that I am offended by "man bites dog’s" cowardly, anonymous comment. Who are you and just what are you implying? By all accounts Open Studio Hudson was a huge success and an amazing event for Hudson. Many visitors came to town and not only toured our studios but no doubt shopped and dined and otherwise spent money in Hudson that weekend. I would encourage people to visit our website www.openstudiohudson.com. Beautifully designed brochures with walking maps were distributed far and wide, and all participating artists were photographed by local photographer David McIntyre who did a fantastic job. The grant was a relatively small one and all of the proper paperwork was filed. There are plenty of things worth criticizing in Hudson but I’m confused why "man bites dog" would decide to go after such an excellent, successful event like Open Studio Hudson.
The Open Studio Hudson participation deadline was advertised relentlessly on, yes, Facebook and Instagram. Most artists that want their work seen use both of those outlets as a promotional tool. As a result there were over 40 artists participating, of whom, I know of only one from the city and he was an invited guest of a resident artist.
ReplyDeleteThe advertising was not only effective in the notification of artists, it brought many, many people from outside of town. Of the 150-175 visitors to go through my sculpture studio, easily half were from outside of Hudson. As with local government business, the CAC, and OHS, Facebook is a very convenient promotional tool.
As with the bi-annual Mrs. Greenthumbs garden tour this is a wonderful public outreach event celebrating creativity. The fact that Hudson is more than just a wedding venue should lauded.
The artist's websites are apparently better than your memory: Kylie Heidenheimer "lives and works in New York, New York"; Sienna Reid "lives in Brooklyn"; Mark Power "lives and works in New York City"; Jessica Willis "resides in Hudson Valley" … (other out-of-towners reportedly exhibited as guests grouped in alternative spaces).
DeleteIt's sounds dreadful that "most artists" depend on social media to survive these days, and I'm truly sorry if that's the case. The world's going to hell, no doubt about it.
Though I'm genuinely happy for anyone who got to exhibit in Hudson, my complaint concerns public money being used for something which also would have benefited me, and yet nobody on the Finance Committee considered the first option for advertising a public event in Hudson: the City website (duh!).
I'm not the only painter who missed out either.
$50.00 is incorrect.
ReplyDeleteJust for clarity, at the time the grants were made, this is what Gossips reported:
ReplyDeleteOpen Studio Hudson 2019 A new event planned for Columbus Day weekend, with $2,850 of the budget going toward creating a website Total budget: $3,350; amount requested: $3,350; amount approved: $1,675
A lot of nonsense comments from the usual bunch that weren't there and don't have a clue. Open Studio was extensively publicized. Any artist that missed it is just out of touch with the art community. For a first time event of this magnitude Open Studio was a great success. A lot of work went into planning this event and it was handled very professionally.
ReplyDeleteThe "art community"? Reminds me of Henry Miller's crack about ant colonies.
ReplyDeleteWill these same artists be paying for our public services next?
Guess what genius: USE THE DAMNED CITY WEBSITE!
Susan Meyer submitted this comment by email:
ReplyDeleteI participated in Open Studio Hudson, along with my husband (a painter) as guest artists in our generous neighbor’s converted garage studio. Lots of people came: friends, neighbors, fellow artists, and numerous visitors to Hudson. There was a real sense of community.
I heard about the event well ahead of time due to multiple social media posts; attended one of the planning meetings; and went to the celebration afterward at TSL. I was very impressed by the hard work and commitment of the organizers. The website looked great, and the map, both on the site and hard copy, was crucial to the success of the event.
From other comments I gather that there is, as there should be, a post-event review process for the Tourism Board budget’s grants. From my perspective as a participating artist, the event was a great success, the grant went to a worthy cause, and the funds were well spent.
An additional note:
It would never occur to me to check a city’s municipal website to see what cultural events were going on and to learn detailed information about them. Who would monitor and update such a site?
Naturally it would never occur to a person who's comfortably surrounded by like-minded others that there might be other kinds of artists who are unlike them, who perhaps don't even wish to know them, and who reject participation in all social media for the sake of their souls. It's "natural," but in a way we should strive to overcome.
DeleteThese otherwise overlooked artists still deserve consideration in the political unit supported by their extremely high taxes. (Why else were conditions placed on the money to advertise the event?)
What I'm saying is, because public monies supported this excellent event - including the exorbitant cost of a website which may now be used elsewhere, even in other states - it should have been posted as a "News" item on the City website.
That this option rarely if ever occurs to our elected representatives is echoed by the above writer's incredulity that anyone would "check a city’s municipal website to see what cultural events were going on."
I check the City website every day, so for me the lapse explained by the writer's incredulity and the Finance Committee's confused sense of obligation are just more signs of the general deterioration of our civic life.
Ultimately, anyone defending the Committee's failure to reach artists like myself (and others!) through the established municipal organ probably routinely disregards those who are not exactly like them. This is evidenced in so many of the above comments which merely repeat the phrase "social media - social media - social media."
To me, this obtuseness about how public money should be spent is proof enough that any attempt to affect even the slightest improvement in one small civic consideration requires a sledge hammer. How else to penetrate such thick hides of self-involvement?
You ask who would monitor and update such a website? The City of Hudson, of course, for a service my taxes already pay for:
http://cityofhudson.org/residents/news.php
Was any part of the city's grant used to fund the post event celebration at TSL?
ReplyDeleteI am confused; Unheimlich and Man Bites Dog post often to criticize Open Studios Hudson’s original proposal last year yet they both turn around and claim that they did not know about the event, which is it? This annoying power couple both obviously follow Gossips of Rivertown obsessively yet they seem to have missed her post about the grant. You seem particularly upset for some bizarre reason about the fact that the event was not listed on the city’s website: who the hell looks at the city’s website?! I saw posters for their event all over town. You seem to understand how to use the internet well enough to stalk people and post their names but you can’t figure out how to join Facebook or Instagram? You are apparently too saintly to lower yourself to joining Facebook but you are not too good to make a nuisance of yourself on Gossips day after day. You say you have no interest in knowing other local artists but then you lament missing out on an event that was entirely about socializing. Perhaps someone will contact you for the next Open Studios Hudson event, but wait, they CAN’T because no one knows who you are. Oh the irony. I doubt that you are even artists at all, you both just seem to get off on being annoying trolls. It actually ought to be pretty obvious by now who this annoying couple is, it’s obvious to me.
ReplyDeleteI only learned of the event here, at Gossips, a day or two before it was held. I attended the last one in 2012, so I was profoundly disappointed not to be able to take part this time as an exhibitor.
DeleteI contacted the organizer who explained to me how it was advertised: social media. Next I contacted the Common Council Finance Committee that had supplied the public funds. They directed me to the terms of the grant which included advertising agreements (which didn’t match the efforts the organizer explained to me), but even the Committee made no mention of the City's public website. Next I approached the City Clerk who was never asked by anyone to advertise it. Lastly, I went to find other local artists who'd not heard about it.
It seems that many artist's immersion in Facebook is so total that if someone's not on Facebook, they simply mustn't exist. It's unintentionally but obnoxiously elitist. (And here you are, John A, making the same assumptions, as if social media is the hearth around which you "socialize.")
My point is, people shouldn't need to be on Facebook (I'm not) to learn where the City is spending its money. Recall that I also complained about the CAC's reliance on social media, yet it's the one venue that comes to mind for politicians spending our public money. Congratulations for not being totally creeped out by that.
I'd be wildly supportive of the Open Studio program if it was more inclusive. As an organizer, I'd make sure it included the merest dauber of crummy little paintings alongside the (nonexistent) vanguard's most pretentious practitioners.
As the Chair of Finance, I would share some background on the awards. The concern about the website was brought to me about 2 months ago - in which I did respond and agreed we could have used the city's website and would suggest this for future awards, if they are any. The award money was taken out of the 2019 budget in 2018 and the Tourism Board transferred the money over for 2019 - from the lodging tax collected. All the minutes, proposals, requested amounts, approved amounts and back up for this process can be found on the city website by going to committees and clicking on finance and minutes in great detail. My email about this is below:
ReplyDeleteI received your email, and the copy of your email exchange with Jane, who put Open Studio together. The Finance Committee was charged with what was known as the AET Awards in May of 2018 and put on the agenda the following month. We had a very short amount of time to process these as the events were occurring as we were attempting to work through the proposals. All events required a mass gathering permit and awards were given through the end of the year. We made a decision to adjust the application process and make it more applicable to the data we wanted to collect and also find an easier process that was using the same format for reporting.
The 2019 budget was set and the $20K was taken out of the city's budget to fund other budgetary expenses, so we didn't recreate the process.
Fast forward to May of 2019 and the Tourism board had presented a resolution to fund the events in June of 2019 for 2019 - using the funds from the lodging tax collected by hotels, motels & short term rentals. Again - we were faced with a short period to put this project together as some events required the funding to be able to happen. We did make a decision to change the reporting document on income and expense so we could compare equal data across the board. We also changed the finance meeting so we had the time in order to be able to review all the proposals and not push it off an additional month that would have gotten us into July/August/September.
We also received a much larger amount of inquiries than the year before. All totaling over $28K - and including 3 events that were brand new and some that have been in existence for over 20 years. We also had, for the first time, events that didn't require a mass gathering permit.
Part of the process this year was to report back on their actual income and expenses - which is due at the end of the year. We will also be asking them to circle back on the questions we asked, with regard to expended attendees and how they spent the money they received from the city. We don't know if we are going to get funds next year, but in light of the fact that we could, from Tourism, we are going to do the work, or at least start it, to streamline the process.
One item that we will include with this, will be to be sure to get the events added to the city website, if they don't have a permit. I think that is a great idea - one that we didn't have to address last year. I also think that we will make an announcement on the city website under news to provide a blurb about the awards & a link to the minutes, so that folks can see who was awarded what.
I am also in full agreement that we can use our city website better. An opt in, as one does on a blog, where weekly updates are sent out under news or calendars to those who opt in, would be a great start. We can't rely on our local newspaper & bloggers to maintain this - I think it is a great opportunity for us to be able to provide this on the city website.
We will also have in the finance minutes in Jan/Feb 2020 (I would assume and hope) - the end of year reports from the awardees. They are required to report back or risk sitting out the following year.
Thank you for your insight and feedback.
Thanks - Rob
And my follow up email outlining the requirement to report by end of the year is also below:
ReplyDeleteDear Finance Awardees for 2019 -
I wanted to personally thank each and every one of you for participating in the 2019 City of Hudson Finance Awards this year. Your contribution to this wonderful & diverse city is so very critically important and part of the fabric of our entire community. As we were awarding the programs, we talked about the number of years represented by each of you - from our brand new applicants to those who have been part of this cultural event programming for 27 years - collectively - 107 years in total!
It takes each of us, in our own way, to be able to build upon this programming and I wanted to express my gratitude for the work you did putting 2019 events together for us all to enjoy - both local and visitors. I look forward to seeing what is in planning for 2020!
This is a good segue into the last requirement you have, as an awardee, to be able to apply if the Finance Committee and council provide these awards next year. We need each of you to complete the attached report - that shows what your expected expenses were - what your actual expenses were, along with expected income & actual income. This was part of the application process & your agreement signed with the city this year.
We also have asked you to report on two new items for 2019: what your estimated crowd size was AND where your advertising was done, compared to what you outlined in your original application. We used a very similar format as we did for the application reporting - please we need this document back and any other reporting and documentation you feel will support the data reported back.
There are two tabs on this excel file - an example & the budget form itself. Please have this completed and submitted back to me prior to 5PM on 12/31/2019. Failure to submit this will exclude you from apply for any future awards.
Please submit ALL Documentation by 12/31 - 5PM to:
rbujan@grouphealthsolutions.com
with a cc to:
cityclerk@cityofhudson.org
councilpres@cityofhudson.org
I hope you all enjoy the Holidays and get to spend time with your family and friends. It has been a total pleasure working with each of you to make this year a successful award season.
Best,
Rob
Thank you Mr. Bujan for addressing my specific complaint so satisfactorily.
DeleteAnd you did indeed respond with genuine concern to my same complaint soon after the event. You've also exercised full transparency throughout and I trust I wasn't misunderstood to be saying otherwise.
I agree that not requiring a mass gatherings permit was another way this event slipped through the cracks for some - I mean, aside from not considering the City website at all.
In this sentence you've provided everything I was hoping to achieve for Hudson: "I think it is a great opportunity for us to be able to provide this on the city website."
Unfortunately, Hudson's taught me repeatedly that if you want to get something accomplished you either need friends in power or you need to make a big noise. (Since we don’t really know one another, I'm glad we're not talking about the first option.)
As I keep reminding anyone who'll listen, I heartily support Open Studio Hudson and I'll definitely participate next year as long as public funding is involved. I only seek its greater success through wider outreach - both public and private - which may even lead to greater participation by locals and, well, anyone.
You're already aware that my disappointment was not to have been informed and included simply because I forswear Facebook and Instagram.
In this thread, however, and before your thoughtful comment, it seemed I was engaging the monolithic "art community," a generally self-involved and hypocritical subculture which I'm hardly the first to find lacking in civic virtues. (Notice that no one agreed, as you have, that a public notice at the City website is a worthy idea.)
Anyway, I take you for a gentleman and I thank you.
The illiberal message of my critics here is, essentially, that the City website should not be used to notify residents concerning opportunities created with public monies. In the end, that's the position they're defending when they argue that private venues are acceptable for conducting government business. Anyone who disagrees with them is a "troll." (More elitism.)
ReplyDeleteAnd while they're entitled to this anti-democratic bias which happens to be anathema to me (and further suggests why I don’t seek their company), our government representatives are not entitled to exercise this same bias. They actually have an obligation which they either forgot or never understood in the first place (as with the CAC).
Unfortunately, these elitist assumptions will never change without the application of verbal sledge hammers.
ReplyDeleteMy Name is Pauline Decarmo an artist living and working between Hudson and New York City.
For the record Open Studio Hudson was a big success. That being said I would like to thank Jane Ehrlich, Doug Holst, Dave McIntyre and all that contributed to making Open Studio Hudson happen.
unheimlich- If you are going to write a post and accuse someone of wrong doing you should have the common courtesy or guts to say state your name and not behind a hideous post. You give the full name of several artists you claim to not live in Hudson. Yes some artists may not live in Hudson but work and have studios in the town of Hudson just like some business owners live outside of Hudson and have businesses here.
It’s a shame you that you are behaving like a petulant child by writing such negativity because you “missed out” on Open Studio. Again Open studio was a huge success. I had 130-150+ visitors come through my studio and most of the visitors were not from Hudson or the Hudson valley (I asked them personally).
Posters were put up all over Hudson and surrounded towns because I personally put them up my self along with other artists. It was heavily publicized on facebook, instagram and Imby etc). We artists use social media to show our work and to connect with other artists near and far. Disgruntle unheimlich - you are stuck in the past and by the way Gossips of River town is also part of Social Media. I agree with John A - You seem to understand how to use the internet well enough to stalk people and post their names but you can’t figure out how to join Facebook or Instagram?
Go Figure.
FYI - The $1,675 that was given toward the creation of the Open Studio website is much appreciated but was not near enough needed to create a beautiful well informed website of 40+ artists. Websites can cause thousands of dollars to create and maintain.
The fee for each artist was not $50.00 but $25.00 which seems really reasonable considering the amount of traffic that it bought to Hudson. Thank goodness you were not involved as an organizer or participant. You are a true downer for sure with bad energy and bad vibes.
But good luck to you and Happy Holidays.
Unknown, you're not reading very closely.
DeleteIt's a great event, but the artists who actualy live here should be better served when municipal money is ostensibly being spent on their behalves. (But everyone else is welcome too.)
I reject Facebook personally, but I also reject it for you if you're conducting public business on it. If that really offends you then we don't have much to talk about.
The first thing I did was to write the organizer inquiring as to how the event was advertised. She listed social media only.
I have every right to make sure that public money is spent correctly, and yet that's unseemly to you?
Because Mr. Bujan is actually in public service, I'm most grateful that he replied in the right spirit. We should have left it at that, but I'll keep saying the same things over and over and over as long as we don't wear down the blog owner's patience.