Ear to the Ground

In September 2023, Peter Bujanow resigned as Commissioner of Public Works. Bujanow had served in that position since 2016 when he was first appointed by Mayor Tiffany Martin. It was rumored that Mayor Kamal Johnson's zeal to have the contract for the construction of the new Ferry Street Bridge awarded to A. Colarusso & Son rather than rebidding the project may have had something to do with Bujanow's decision to resign. At the time, Johnson said that "out of respect for Bujanow" he would not appoint a new Commissioner of Public Works until the beginning of the new year.

At the beginning of the year, Johnson did appoint a new Commissioner of Public Works, although that appointment has never been officially announced. The new commissioner is Jason Foster, who has been a regular attendee and contributor at meetings of the Common Council ad hoc Truck Route Committee. Foster lives on Green Street, the street in Hudson that sees the heaviest truck traffic because every truck passing through Hudson travels on Green Street. In June, Foster and his wife, Susan Vernovage Foster, wrote a letter to the Planning Board urging them to approve the Colarusso haul road. Linda Mussmann published that letter on her Facebook page. Also at the beginning of the year, Johnson appointed Susan Vernovage Foster to the Planning Board. 

Susan Foster is one of three new members of the Planning Board this year. Another is Gini Casasco, who previously served on the Historic Preservation Commission from September 2014 until sometime in 2017, when she moved out of Hudson. She has since returned. The third new member is Gene Shetsky, who was appointed to the Planning Board by Johnson in June 2021 but resigned last summer because he had taken a job working for the City as clerk of the cemetery. Apparently, it's been determined that being employed by the City no longer prohibits someone from serving on a regulatory board, because Shetsky is back on the Planning Board. 

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