Last week, signs like this one started appearing all over town. Fortunately, most of the signs, unlike this one, actually tell you the date of the budget vote and the school board election: Tuesday, May 18.
Regarding the school board vote, there are three openings on the school board and only one candidate running: Lucy Segar, wife of Nick Zachos, who is just ending his tenure as director of the Hudson Youth Department.
This year as last year, Ken Steffer, who watches the HCSD Board of Education far more closely than Gossips can manage, has shared his views about the state of the Hudson City School District and its proposed budget in an opinion piece, and Gossips is grateful for the opportunity to publish it: "COVID and the Students and Teachers and the Missed Opportunity to Create a Real 'Community' for the HCSD." It is recommended reading before Tuesday.
The polling place for Hudson voters this year is the Central Fire Station at 71 North Seventh Street. The polls are open from noon to 9 p.m.
COPYRIGHT 2021 CAROLE OSTERINK
So Nick is out.A thankless job from those who dangle the purse strings.His presence will be missed around 3rd & Union.
ReplyDeleteHis profligate spending, inept management and constant self-aggrandizement won't be.
DeleteConstant.
DeleteBeautifully written and dead on accurate. Hopefully the apathy that has been present for so long regarding this money grubbing entity will fade before the vote.
ReplyDeleteLucy Segar, in addition to being married to Nick Zachos, is a high school English teacher at Catskill High School, has been a dedicated member of the school board since 2017, and is disappointed that this platform failed to distinguish her beyond her marital status. Do better, Carol.
ReplyDeleteDoes shameless self-promotion sound less pompous when written in the third person? It certainly doesn't read as less obnoxious.
DeleteMs. Segar, your absence rate to meetings of the school board in 2020 was 25%, and only slightly better in 2019. There is limited data to go on, but the available metrics aren't on your side. Certainly we all have competing priorities in our lives, but 'dedicated' seems, at the very least, an unsubstantiated thesis standing in the presence of contradictory evidence.
Additionally, two Hudson residents are running write in campaigns: Selha Graham and Mark DePace, please consider writing them in on your ballot, as mentioned there are three open seats!
ReplyDeleteJohn Kane, Appreciator of the Universe's Well-Constructed Sense of Irony, notes that in the above post, Ms. Segar took issue with the fact that Gossips failed to list any of her roles beyond being Mrs. Zachos, yet two minutes later posted an endorsement for two write-in candidates simply by listing their names.
DeleteA little context: Ms. Graham has been sitting on the Tourism Board that has allocated hundreds of thousands of dollars to wasteful projects that have little or nothing to do with promoting Hudson as a tourist destination, and has in fact diverted some of that money to Rolling Grocer to expand operations (a worthy goal, though not one that promotes additional sales or tax revenue through increased spending.) She is a resident of Claverack, not Hudson, though Mr. Kane would stipulate that this issue is minor as she still resides within the school district.
Speaking of the same Tourism Board, Mr. DePace, who is as far as Mr. Kane is aware a part-time resident, is the partner of Kate Treacy, another member of the Tourism Board, who diverted Tourism funds to the DePace Family Music truck, which was essentially their kid being pulled around singing on the back of a truck with piano accompaniment. It is unclear how many tourists were drawn to Hudson by this endeavor. As Ms. Treacy is the Chair of the Hudson City Democratic Committee, it seems especially telling that Mr. DePace is pressing forward with a write-in campaign, as though the household was totally unprepared or only half-interested in the role.
Hudson's community owes its youth something more meaningful than wasteful spending and half-ass oversight.
Furthermore, Mr. Kane, an Avid Twister of Knives, would like to point out that a high school English teacher should know better than to throw not one but two comma splices into a paragraph when independent clauses would be better separated by a period or semicolon. Do better, Lucy.
That school will eventually bankrupt its district.
ReplyDeleteSitting board members are not allowed to endorse any candidate of any form, even by publishing their names - write-in or otherwise. I think Ms. Segar’s comment should have been less about herself and more about the mess that the HCSD needs to fix. And that was created by the Board she serves on. But that is how this Board works. They think their volunteer time makes them special and above the issues that bother the taxpayers. Bulletproof irresponsible behavior. They alone know best. Well then, get the academics moving and then promote yourself. Ken Sheffer
ReplyDeleteBy law Selha Graham cannot run for the Hudson School Board without dumping her City role. Has this been done yet? This is different than being an elected Council person. It is based on a state mandated conflict of interest rules related to patronage appointments.
ReplyDeleteAs for Mr. DePace, his connection to the Democratic Party leadership of Hudson also disqualifies him, regardless if he is unmarried to Ms. Treacy. He would need to denounce his political connections to his partner before running. It is the law. Partisan political persons cannot stand for school boards. But I suppose since Maria, Carrie, Sage and Lucy arranged all of this they will do what they want. Regardless, I have reported this to State Ed officials and ethics officers. Go ahead and run an then we will remove you. What a farce. More money more craziness. Maria and Carrie, these people will eat you alive. Get ready.
On that point, it is worth noting that Ms. Segar's husband also sits on the Hudson City Democratic Committee, which seems to indicate there are a host of ethical concerns surrounding this election.
DeleteAlso, why on Earth was the date of the election not posted on the sign? Were they trying to discourage participation? Did an English teacher edit it?
Regarding the signs--and this is only inference--it seems the signs were made before the actual date was determined, and the date was stuck on afterward. After photographing this sign, which is on State Street in front of JLE, I realized it was probably the only sign that had escaped getting the date sticker added, but I decided to use it anyway.
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