Back in the spring of 2018, Common Council president Tom DePietro, then in his first term in office, expressed the opinion at a Council meeting that the Hudson Development Corporation (HDC) was "a quasi-agency that is outdated and should probably no longer exist" and asked then city attorney Andy Howard to "look into how does one get rid of an LDC (local development corporation)."
DePietro's statements had repercussions. Four members of the HDC board and the board's legal counsel resigned in response to the hostility and lack of support from an elected official who, serving ex officio, was one of their number.
Four years later, HDC continues to exist, and, after the sale of the Kaz property, which for the past decade seemed to be its raison d'etre, and with a new president, Chris Jones, the agency is refining its mission statement and honing a strategic plan for the future. Partnering with city government to strengthen the tax base and plan for the future is one of the ways HDC hopes to accomplish its goals. For this reason, they have invited the mayor and the Common Council president to update the HDC board at its meetings. At today's HDC meeting, it was announced that DePietro had not agreed to provide updates, saying, "If anyone wants to know what the Council is doing, they can attend Council meetings."
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I think the word amateurish could describe this. Perhaps even childish.
ReplyDeleteChris Jones is a solid choice to help move the HDC forward, and congratulations to her; it's unfortunate Tom's temper tantrum somewhat buried the lede of the post.
ReplyDeleteI hope HDC builds on its work to improve economic opportunities for all Hudson residents in an open and transparent environment, in order that it might invite buy-in from the community it serves.
How smug. Someone needs to run against him in the next election, also with the platform of eliminating the position in charter reform.
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