City Hall issued the following press release yesterday.
The City of Hudson has been awarded two housing rehabilitation grants from New York State’s Office of Homes and Community Renewal. Hudson received a $520,000 HOME grant to fund critical health and safety repairs for single-family owner-occupied housing and a $120,000 Access to Home Grant to make residential units accessible for low- and moderate-income persons with disabilities. . . .
The HOME grant will fund critical repairs of owner-occupied single-family houses in the City of Hudson for households at or under 80% of the Area Median Income (approximately $57,800 for a household of one and $66,000 for a household of two). Examples of eligible repairs include, but are not limited to: roof repairs, structural repairs, plumbing, or electrical repairs. The main goal of the program is to help keep housing safe and healthy for homeowners and to prevent displacement due to prohibitive costs of repairs.
The second grant, ACCESS TO HOME, provides funding to make residential units accessible for low- and moderate- income persons with disabilities. Both tenants and homeowners in the City of Hudson are eligible for this funding if they have a documented disability and meet the income eligibility guidelines. Examples of modification may include wheelchair ramps and lifts, handrails, doorway widening, and roll-in showers.
Local organizations such as the Independent Living Center of the Hudson Valley, the Columbia County Office for the Aging, and the Columbia County Veterans Service Agency helped support the grant application for the Access to Home grants, and the City will continue working with these groups to identify and support program applicants.
The City is currently accepting pre-applications from interested households. Residents of Hudson interested in either grant can read more on the City’s website. Interested households can submit a pre-application here or by calling 518-828-7217 no later than February 10, 2025. Pre-applications will be screened for eligibility. Funding is limited and projects will be selected based off household eligibility, severity of need, and project feasibility.
Inquiries related to either grant may be directed to Housing Justice Director Michelle Tullo at housing@cityofhudson.org.
This seems unnecessarily murky and convoluted to me:
ReplyDeleteSo you have to pre-apply for it, only to be then potentially given the approval to file the actual application. Where does that second, real application go to? To the city or to some state agency in Albany?
Who amongst the city employees or officials screens the pre-application? Is it Michelle Tullo herself? For questions, they direct folks to the email of Tullo but the phone number of mayoral aide Justin Weaver.
And finally, the pre-application is to be submitted via airtable, a third-party provider of customizable business apps. Can the applications still be FOIL'ed for auditing purposes given that this is a private service?
Could this be made a little more transparent, please?
I think the real question one could ask is the ultimate destination of the money. For these grants and the rehab ones that came before that have been fully utilized. Who is getting the contracts for the work? What is the bidding process?
DeleteThomas, I figured all of these things out myself, after I had posted. But that was due to no help from the post the city put up.
DeleteWhat they should have done is provide a clear link to the documents pertaining to these programs, provided by the HTFC.
Instead, they provide a link to their main page under the "HOME Repair Program" header. That is a program however I cannot find any reference to.
Through that link I can however find the Local Program Administrator manual, but that is for the "Access to Home Program". Under that header, the city provides no links.
The city website on this grant is shoddily done and thus invites conspiratorial speculations. This can easily be avoided by properly pointing to the supporting documentation provided by the state.
We are in really bad shape as a town if instead of being excited that we can keep community members in their homes without any increase in taxes we immediately huff and glower swiping at the dark illuminations of our minds. Just try for a second to think, hey maybe they went out to get these grants because it’s a good and helpful thing and that’s good! The only way a town this size can affect positive change without depleting the budget is through grants, and they’re doing that đ
DeleteI just won a $5 bet with myself -- I bet that if anyone asked a reasonably intelligent question about the City's staggering incompetence and seeming inability to communicate with its citizens a shill for the fools in charge would show up and bloviate. And look -- here you are, Thomas R. I got another saw buck riding on the fact that you're really Dorothy Heyl.
DeleteClarity. I’d like clarity, Dorothy.
DeleteThomas R... as a keen observer of speech rights and violations...
DeleteI noticed that CC President Tom DePietro censored various letters public in a government PUBLIC forum, but Carole allows almost all comments on her PRIVATELY owned blog, especially from those who critique her and ones that she disagrees with...
If you sincerely care about what donors "buy" with their money... instead of making an unsubstantiated allegation about Gossip's relatively small donations... why don't you look into and write about the massive political donations/loans by SuperPACs to local politicians in such a small town... or the curious overlap between appointed or elected public officials, what they vote on and influence, and if they live in subsidized housing provided by recipients of PILOT tax breaks.
DeleteSorry, Thomas R. I considered your comment--"Are they hiring a proofreader?"--irrelevant, so I didn't publish it.
Chris, you entirely missed the whole point.
DeleteI wasn't looking for specific answers to my questions. If I had, I could have in fact used any of the communication channels listed on the website provided by the City of Hudson.
I have seen for a while now the leadership of the city act with Watergate-levels of sketchiness. I believe I do not need to spell them out in abundant detail as Carole generally does a pretty admirable job of doing it herself here on this blog.
What you incorrectly assume is that there is even trace amounts of trust left for the current city administration. It no longer enjoys that luxury.
When I see a website like the one provided haphazardly thrown together the way it is, I ask myself if the reason is just incompetence or malintent. I believe now it is the former but even that isn't an especially soothing outcome and it shouldn't have taken an anonymous internet person to set the record straight when the City could have easily done it herself.
I regret to inform you, Chris, that the penny still hasn't dropped apparently.
DeleteThe question about whether this is subject to a FOIL or not is a proxy for why the city is using a private service provider to gather this, according to you highly sensitive information, in the first place. It's not about whether anyone would want to do it or would even be able to if desired.
I work for a privately owned company that deals with all kinds of sensitive data, all the while we use various third-party providers, mainly in the realm of cloud storage. We have very strict policies in place what we can and what we can't put there.
Maybe the question I should have asked (just so that someone like you could have understood it) is this: Why can't that application simply be mailed in to a cityofhudson.org email address? The form the city put up on airtable isn't particularly complex in nature.
Mischaracterizing critiques of Hudson’s poor leadership and its arrogant lack of clear communication isn’t bitching about the program. It’s critiquing the sad state of affairs in city hall created by the incompetent office holders. Full stop. But it is fun to out Dorothy. I think Chris is likely the mayor’s girlfriend, our fabulously overpaid housing justice coordinator. Is it woke to impersonate others on blogs?
ReplyDeleteThomas R. You think $25 a month buys a lot of influence in this town? On this or any blog? You’re either living in the 1800s or just Dorothy being full of shit. As usual. Truth hurts only when you make your life lying to the public. Perhaps you should try being honest for a change.
ReplyDeleteHi Thomas R / Chris / Henry Workin,
ReplyDeleteDid you miss me? Let's see if we can hit 40 comments on this story… before hitting Godwin's Law…
These programs are funded by our tax dollars. It is my and your taxes, coming back to our town in a relatively small way. This is not magical munificence from the mayor. This is penny's on the tax dollar in a state with the second highest tax rate in the nation.
re: Tone & Skepticism
đŠ It would be nice for some to live in a positive news bubble ... and given the vibes here I find myself often looking for areas to compliment and praise public officials (go DPW and Trixie for getting those infrastructure grants for local projects that benefit ALL residents! Go Hudson Athens Lighthouse! đ„ł )...
đ„ But if citizens stop asking questions, and journalists stop investigating… (and Columbia County does not have a robust 4th Estate by any measure)... regulators are the last line of defense and they often fail or are stretched thin… and then you end up with a poorly prepared fire department during a crises (LA), a wave of financial failures (FTX), water issues (Flint, Michigan), or the Sackler / Purdue Pharma cover up, to name a few that impact middle class families.
You might say those are national issues, don't be dramatic… but the Central Hudson Gas & Electric billing issue was only discovered when many residents complained and connected on public forums like Gossips.
đŠč♀️ Just a few months ago the Housing Authority in New York (NYCHA) had one of the largest modern corruptions scandals in the industry. Feds arrested 70 employees in a massive round up for bribery, extortion, and conspiracy… basically bribes and no-bid contracts for… HOME REPAIRS paid by Uncle Sam.
đź♂️ SDNY's Damian Williams called it at the time "the largest single-day bribery takedown in the Justice Department's history". And that is saying something because his office goes after Wall Street and Manhattan based organizations and officials, which is a big chunk of the economy.
So if you take this near-local public housing related and very recent fraud… and you connect it with other possible conflicts of interests and observations about Hudson's Housing Hegemony, to name a few;
1️⃣ - Hudson's Federal Fair Housing Officer is also head of Hudson's Planning Board
2️⃣ - Hudson's Mayor (whose main campaign promise, and it seems area of work, is publicly funded housing) is allegedly in an undisclosed romantic relationship with Hudson's newly appointed Housing Justice Director
3️⃣ - Same Mayor allegedly lives in some form of public / subsidized housing provided by a relatively large recipient of special local tax breaks. See Galvan PILOTs.
4️⃣ - When a resident, related fiduciary, and elected official, simply queried HHA's compliance to a contract deadline in a public meeting (when a for-profit private developer that could make 10s of millions of dollars rebuilding HHA's Bliss acted as an agent on behalf of the HHA, which itself should sound alarm bells) the act was labelled "disgusting" by the HHA Board Chair, and the other HHA board members and CC President DePietro pounced to squash the query. See HHA / HCDPA Oct 30th, 2024.
...then Tassilo's general concern for transparency is not unfounded.
And as far as I know the City of Hudson does not have a process to handle these possible conflicts of interests, a public disclosure process, or other ethical breaches…
ReplyDeleteSo Thomas R, if some local officials did not have a history of hiding the proverbial (tax) ball I suspect residents would be less concerned about the transparent allocation of public funds.
An easy fix would be to disclose all these issues, show the receipts, open up to occasional 3rd party audits, instead of doing more and more work in "Executive Sessions" and pre-planning / pre-deciding the outcome of most public matters before public meetings. See the Restore New York Grant Public Hearing Fiasco or the recent Supervisor vote.
Total transparency could show that most everything is kosher and then we can all get on with it. That would really be awesome (sincere comment).
~
☀️ Most people are familiar with the Brandeis quote "Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants", especially when they use it against corporate greed and corruption. But they neglect to point out, or may not know the full quote and context;
“Publicity is justly commended as a remedy for social and industrial diseases. Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants; electric light the most efficient policeman.”
đ» And so while the City's budget/taxes continue its inexorable increase by a $1m a year pushing out the middle class… and the same group of pre-tired (Kamal and the "community organizers"), re-tired (Tom) and tired (HCDC) career politicians play shuffling chairs with our tax dollars to keep busy…
đł️ these 50 United States elected an oddball team to trim government expenditures… government expenditure was/is that bad...
đ» And while you three complain about 1) a comment on a privately owned blog, 2) a typo on a press release!!!, and 3) equate a $25 donation to buying media influence…
đł️ Decades long and days new residents of Hudson exercise their democratic right and muscle to update the charter, stop tax raises, and insist on transparent and competent public systems…
~
What do you stand for Thomas R / Chris / Henry?
Right now you pounce on typos and critique the style (but not the substance) of public criticism and concern, without noticing the irony.
Tell us what the City is doing well with our tax dollars and should do more of? Share with us your original ideas to make Hudson grow and provide equal opportunity.
Surely the city can do more than beg for grants and UBI?
p.s. Chris, there is a way to shield private information but ensure certain residents aren't unfairly elevated above others. Henry, if you think the only way to grow a small city on a major train line and equidistant between 3 global economic powerhouse cities is with grants... then I suggest you travel more.
Dorothy. You need a dictionary. I’m not paranoid. I didn’t say I think “they” are out to get me or even allude to such a thing. Perhaps you’re just so full of shit that you make things up as you go along. I said the powers that be suck at their jobs. And this is demonstrably true — even you have to admit your husband is a floundering fish fully out of water.
ReplyDeleteNo, Jennifer. You’re incorrect. None of the commenters said that what they said was that the city government’s announcement about the grant and its verbiage about on the city web site is unclear.
ReplyDeleteAs for my “unmasking” the mayor’s girlfriend (or not), that’s pretty tongue in cheek.
Hi Jennifer -
ReplyDelete1️⃣ - love a good acronym and KDS is funny. But KDS is not the same as TDS, imo. When Kamal is no longer mayor and no longer in a position to make bad decisions on behalf of others no one will care and everyone will leave him alone, which was not true for Trump. Most residents just want a quiet and competent government and lower taxes.
2️⃣ - if a passenger is made to drive a Lada Riva (famously bad and unsafe 1980s car from USSR) and they complain... do you fault the passenger or do you recognize that they may have driven a German or American car before and just know what a proper car is supposed look, do, and feel like?
3️⃣ Hudson's Mayor/CC President = Lada. Hudson's unelected and hard-working civil servants = not Lada.
3️⃣ - when did grants become an unquestionable good thing?
The grant money comes from somewhere… it is usually never enough… and who decides who gets it… there is no free lunch… somewhere someone is taxed to pay for it… grants are often not spent wisely (principle agent problem), carry reporting overheads, and do not take post-grant maintenance costs into account. Wouldn't it be smarter to just lower everyone's taxes so that everyone can pay for their home repairs or use their hard earned money how they see fit.
Grants can also lead to odd incentives and misalignments.
Related, take a look at Richard Thaler's work on mental accounting and "windfall" money; most humans treat/spend money differently based on how they have earned/received it.
đ "Mental Accounting and Consumer Choice" (1985) by Richard Thaler
re: Principle Agent Problem and Mental Accounting: Would Mayor Kamal have spent $200k of his own personal money on a poorly conceived and executed SurveyMoneky community survey consultant… probably not. But he sure did spend the City of Hudson's $200k on it… i.e. he took $80 from every adult Hudsonians pocket. Did he ask your permission? I'd rather have spent my $80 with local entrepreneurs and artists.
~
Shouldn't we celebrate self-reliance, industry, and residents growing the economic pie vs. leaders begging for handouts from the government and billionaires?
Maybe I didn't get the memo but I thought Hudson was still a part of America. See Jefferson and Franklin on self-reliance;
"I am for a government rigorously frugal and simple, applying all the possible savings of the public revenue to the discharge of the national debt; and not for a multiplication of officers and salaries merely to make partisans, and for increasing, by every device, the public debt, on the principle of its being a public blessing."
They knew 250 years ago...
Helping people with limited income to fix up their house is a great idea. The problem with the program are the conditions of the grant. From what I was told if you receive the grant the city will put a lien on the property. The city must also be added to the homeowners insurance policy and would be entering the property to make inspections whenever it wanted. The city would also increase the taxes to recover the grant money over time.
ReplyDeleteI don't see how it is really a grant, and not a loan, if the money granted is to be recovered by adding it to the tax bill. I think if you really wanted to help someone, to fix a roof for example, the grant would pay someone to fix it and call it a day.
Here is an interesting story. Back in the 1990s I bought a rotting old cabin in the Catskills from an elderly musician. He had tried to sell it to neighbors for years but no one would buy it, because he refused to talk to lawyers. He told me, "I bought this cabin in 1958 for $5000 and a handshake, and God-damnit that's how I am going to sell it. I'm not talking to any lawyers." So I shook his hand, gave him $5000 and bought the place.
It seems to me, these restrictions and rules created by lawyers and administrators are encumbrances and obstacles. If you want to help someone out, just do it. Get the job done and write a check to pay for it. As an added bonus, the City would save a lot of money on legal and administrative fees.
The grants are not from Hudson’s general fund or reserve, it’s a grant from the state. So while the money does come from all of tax dollars, it’s from the entire state, not from our local taxes. If the money is already sitting in the state coffers it only makes sense for Hudson to claim as big of a piece of the pie as possible. We should be clear about what we criticize.
DeleteA curious question to ask would be if those that receive the repairs likely to receive an assessment increase after the building permit closes out? An issue for those with the limited income required to qualify in the first place.
Hi Jack -
Deleteđ Noted that it may not be City of Hudson funds per se... but you prove my point that residents, and especially elected officials, often care less about spending other people's (or other government's) money.
đ This is literally The Tragedy of the Commons...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons
Reminds me of a public HHA meeting where tax paying city residents complained about the cost / value of the proposed changes... and the newly appointed Executive Director (Dodson) said something to the effect of... "it is federal/state money, so why do you care". đ±
đ€ Hudson has half a dozen public officials who make it their full-time job to spend other people's money.
đ And this is why the federal government has the largest peace time deficit, which increases our inflation, and why New York State is in for some painful budget cuts soon...
Between these grants and those received during the first round, we now have over $1.5 million dedicated to helping property owners retain and manage their homes. This is a significant achievement that will provide meaningful support to our community.
ReplyDeleteWhile we acknowledge that we don't allocate extensive resources to this blog, we remain focused on the impact of these efforts. We also understand that there may be attempts to discredit our work, and while that is beyond our control. Plus we don't care the community is bigger than the few who comment every second on this blog.
The thing that would help me retain and manage my home in Hudson Is not increasing my taxes from $11,000 to $25,000 in a single year. As an artist who moved here recently to be in a community of other artists, I am horrified that this can even happen, and am already considering moving away, because something is clearly wrong with this city. Having to come up with this amount of cash every year as a self-employed photographer is simply unsustainable. Why would I ever want to stay here?
Deleteđ«¶đŒ Please don't leave Tanya.
DeleteHudson is better with you and lucky to have you. And we need to figure this out... if Hudson cannot retain talented single mothers and artists like you then something is very wrong and broken.
It is really something when certain politicians (read Tom and Kamal) will grandstand about human rights, "displacement", immigrants... etc. when you, Tanya, a life-long progressive, have worked for years alongside the Nobel laureates they idolize to actually advance human rights and help persecuted immigrants.
We all live on "Mill Street" now...
Mayor, that would be wonderful if only it were true.
ReplyDeleteA significant portion of those folks that have so far signed the charter petition have done so because they were recently unfairly reassessed.
I know of at least one person already that is now in the process of selling because they cannot afford their new property tax.
What you should be doing is undertake a complete reassessment of Hudson property values. Greenport is currently doing it whereas Hudson is doing nothing other than placing the burden of a ballooning budget increasingly on a small group of property owners.
As these properties get sold out of necessity, who do you think will buy them? The locals that you claim to represent or rather even wealthier people from the city that can afford the property taxes that are now associated with that property? Are you not concerned with the wealth spread in Hudson that is widening thanks to your inaction?
Do we really need to push for charter change so that we can have a city manager that finally tackles the things that you don't?
Add me to that list of people who intend to sell because of the tax insanity here!
Delete[1/2]
ReplyDeleteI told you we'd hit 40 comments…
Hi Kamal -
Publicizing an existing federal and state tax program is well intentioned for sure… and while it is heartening to know that one of the programs seem to call out veterans as one of the intended beneficiaries….
$1.5m is basically the cost of a Galvan House in the 1st Ward that is occupied by a single family, as you know well.
đ There are more than 2000 households in Hudson… let's assume 1/4 of them may qualify due to low income or disability…. Hudson will need 500 grants like this. And then another 500 grants in 5-10 years when the weather and wear and tear takes its toll on the grant funded home repairs.
Acting as a arguably unnecessary middleman that takes credit for distributing our own federal and state tax funds… is not a long-term solution for growth, though it might be a short-term political strategy for some politicians?
đ Hudson is vulnerable if NY State grants, Spark grants, or Galvan grants dry up… is your strategy to make Hudson a donor and grant-reliant municipality… that is risky… look no further than Hudson's own history with whaling to see what happens when a town relies on a single source of growth, not to mention the inequality.
1️⃣ what if hypothetically an incoming national President with a strong dislike for NY State makes it his mission to trim the national budget and all that trickles down to NY, and to Hudson?
2️⃣ what if one of the two major philanthropists in Hudson (who just sued the city) decamp to another state and town more fully?
3️⃣ what if NY state's projections of significant budget gaps in the future, when its own one-time non-recurring federal aid and tax surcharges end, come home to roost?
đŁ Of course all 3 of these events are converging on Hudson…
And I can't speak for others… but my goal is not to "discredit (y)our work". Frankly, it is hard to discredit your work because I don't know what you do.
đ€ You do not hold open office hours, you don't write an annual state of the town, and other towns surrounding Hudson without full-time paid mayors have less acrimony and no budget deficit. Residents see Supervisors from other towns more often in Hudson than they see you.
¯\_(ă)_/¯
We know exactly what the City Department heads do… we see it every day and they are at their posts. Ditto at least 5 current Common Council members…
Yes this Gossips comment section may have some snark, snipe, sarcasm, and occasional impolite comments… which publication doesn't in 2024, (sadly)… but if you look carefully you will notice residents are trying to connect the dots, connect with you, and "learn in public together" as we look for answers and try to understand the spider web of grants, government bureaucracy, and grievances from long before our time. You and Tom also insult the blog regularly… but you do not realize that like twitter or Wikipedia…. "~1% Rule" of internet culture applies 1% creates the content but the other 99% reads and lurks. ^1
This comment section will be more tame if City Hall leadership was more transparent. Ok, maybe there will always be some snark on architectural and historic details đ it is Hudson after all…
References:
^1 1% Rule https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1%25_rule
[2/2]
ReplyDeleteLet me illustrate my point…
Can you please answer here or in an open and public channel of your choice ^2:
1️⃣ the allegations of a possible conflict of interest about your alleged undisclosed relationship with the Housing Justice Dir., Ms. Tullo, who recently received the largest proportional raise in the entire city? Doesn't everyone in City Hall (except the CC) ultimately report to you?
- Are the allegations not true, or are they true but you do not believe it constitutes a conflict?
- Maybe there is some perfectly reasonable explanation, and a mechanism to avoid conflicts of interests and liability was instituted with the City attorney's help and the GC of Enterprise Community Partners, and by simply sharing it with residents this issue will not be a distraction for your, and her, work int he public interest.
2️⃣ the concern of a conflict of interest when Ms. Joyner (until recently a real estate agent) is both the Chair of the Planning Board and the Fair Housing Director (e.g. bias risk, regulatory changes)?
Are you not concerned about pending lawsuits based on this conflict?
For those unfamiliar with the role… one is supposed to work closely with developers, and one with renters and underserved communities. It should not be the same person.
3️⃣ the appearance (and possible real) conflict of interest when several local officials, including yourself, live in Galvan housing, when Galvan receives large multi-million $ PILOT tax breaks from the City?
BTW - when is Galvan's next PILOT tax lowering application up for review?
4️⃣ you were quoted in the Registrar to be in favor of a Mayor-Council system over a City Manager-Council system. Can you please write out your reasoning for your constituents so that residents do not have to parse possibly inaccurate quotes and oddball FB posts. You are a college educated 40 something mayor with statewide office ambitions in your 3rd term as Mayor of Hudson… why not write out your thinking and share your experience?
We pay you $80k a year, and approximately $50k for your Mayoral Aide to work on these issues. Your lack of response and engagement on this issue may show your prioritization of political objectives over the apolitical responsibilities of the Mayor's Office.
đ And in this requested essay let's forget, for the sake of argument, who is mayor today or next term or who is leading the Charter Reform movement… let's just look at the objective facts of which system is better for a 5000 person town like Hudson.
Finally Kamal…. I understand that you must not particularly enjoy my open questions and critique… but you decided to run for office 3X, and that carries a burden and a responsibility of public office.
đ And you will do well to remember that I (and many others before me) asked you many of these questions privately months ago, in person, and in writing copying your relevant colleagues, with no answer…. (i.e. Calling In, first vs. Calling Out. ^2 Reference).
So my issue is not with you personally.
đł️ It is the inefficiency and demagoguery of your administration, the high taxes driving out the middle class, the unnecessary politics, and the unwise division of residents by immutable traits that remind me of Southern Africa, the Balkans, and Malaysia, not America in the 20th century. đșđž
Please let us know if we can expect an answer on questions 1-4 from Hudson's current mayor.
đ References:
^1 And you can answer this on the City website, because like Trump during his first term you block those who do not applaud you blindly from your social media channels, but then use the social media channel for official public announcements and business. As a public official you should re-familiarize yourself with the Knight First Amendment Institute v. Trump.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knight_First_Amendment_Institute_v._Trump
^2 I’m a Black Feminist. I Think Call-Out Culture Is Toxic. Loretta Ross
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/17/opinion/sunday/cancel-culture-call-out.html
Count me in the 99% of lurkers who would also like to know the answers to all of these questions.
ReplyDelete