Tuesday, February 9, 2021

News from the Common Council Meeting; Part 1

As predicted, last night's informal Common Council meeting lasted long into the night, beginning at 7:00 p.m. and not adjourning until at 10:45. At one point, when the meeting had passed the three hour mark, Council president Tom DePietro observed that Planning Board meetings regularly lasted for three hours or more, and, unlike the aldermen, the members of the Planning Board "were not being paid."

Gossips will make no attempt to cover the entire meeting in one post. If you have the time, the full meeting can be viewed on YouTube. Instead Gossips will offer a series of posts focusing on information of interest presented at the meeting, reported in the order it was revealed.

In his report, Nick Zachos, director of the Youth Department, after reporting that the Youth Center is currently closed for all after-school programming, the staff has been working on repairing and sprucing up the building, virtual programming and academic support continue, and the staff has been engaged in training on the subjects of therapeutic crisis intervention, restorative justice practices, and harassment in the workplace, announced that the search would soon begin for his replacement.

Zachos explained that when he started the job in 2017, hired by Mayor Tiffany Martin as the part-time director of the Youth Department, he didn't think he would be doing it for four years. He told the Council that the Youth Department is now "in a place where they are ready to make a transition." He assured the alderman that he is "not going to stop advocating for the youth" and promised that he would be "overseeing the entire process" of finding his replacement--from the search to the transition. 

There are rumors around town that Zachos contemplating a run for mayor.
COPYRIGHT 2021 CAROLE OSTERINK

11 comments:

  1. Carole: Thanks for the great portrait, you caught my good side! And we always appreciate it when you cover the Youth Department on your blog. I hate to disappoint, but I will not be running for mayor this year or anytime soon. I have to ask, where are you getting your rumors from these days?

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    1. I invented that rumor for the opportunity to explain to people why you shouldn't be in government.

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  2. UNHEIMLICH.That is a bit below the belt.Technicaly he is part of Hudsons City Gouverment ,and whether or you disagree with him or not,Nick has put a lot of time and effort into his job.

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    1. On the contrary, I'd say what's below the belt is abusing one's position in government to publicly question the honesty of neighbors with whom you merely disagree.

      What hope is there when a citizen's reputation can be flippantly slandered by a government official who merely wants his own way? It's not just bad manners, it's bad faith. It undermines the public's trust in fair governance.

      Public service is not for everyone.

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  3. Carole - UNHEIMLICH's "rumor" is distasteful. Posting it is odious. ~ Bernadette

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    1. Oh PLEASE explain how a rumor that a city official may run for public office is "distasteful" and "odious."

      I'll get the popcorn!

      This tactic recalls the race-bullying we've seen here lately, but because race is not an issue above you're now scraping the bottom of the barrel.

      Thanks, though, for showing the same bullying tactic for what it is.

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  4. Replies
    1. Oh right, it's that odious free speech making waves again. Good Lord, what on earth were the Founders thinking?!

      Here's what they were thinking: you can either create your own blog or suck it up.

      But before you throw the baby out with the bathwater, consider that it was on the 200 block of Warren Street (next to Vico) that the fledgling US saw one of the greatest advances in free speech ever attempted by any nation. And even though the Croswell case was left unresolved, Croswell's defense, argued by Alexnder Hamilton, formed the cornerstone of the American libel laws I'm enjoying at the very moment I'm writing this comment.

      Croswell was the early 19th century's version of a 21st c. blogger:

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People_v._Croswell

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  5. I'm commenting on the great portrait. Carole, if you did take it, good job. It has a painterly quality, so unusual. Please let us know what device you used, thanks. Otherwise, the discussion here is disheartening.

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    1. It's a screen capture from the Zoom meeting.

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    2. Thanks. That explains the painterly quality. Still, a good capture!

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