A Third Mayoral Candidate Comments
On Monday, we got the news that Galvan was giving most of its real estate holdings in Hudson to Bard College. Within hours, the Democratic candidate for mayor, Joe Ferris, commented on the development. The next day, Lloyd Koedding, the Republican candidate, issued a statement. Today, Peter Spear, who is running on his own Future Hudson party line, makes the Galvan gift to Bard the subject of an "Alley Chat." Click here to listen to what Spear has to say on Instagram.
Thank you, Carole.
ReplyDeleteHere it is for those fortunate enough to not be on Instagram:
https://www.spearformayor.com/alley-chats/v/my-thoughts-on-galvan-gifting-its-portfolio-to-bard-college
I don't know the details, but my initial reaction is: yet another example of the rich passing money to the rich. After all, this is the same Bard College that charges over $63,000 for a year of tuition, and that handed out 80 free scholarships to students from Afghanistan over the needy in our own community. So if you are counting on them to do some public service benefiting Hudson, I'd say don't hold your breath.
ReplyDeleteThe interesting thing about Bard is their self-ascribed mission: Like many others, they are a liberal arts college but like no other, they have been championing specifically the notion of participatory democracy and that is reflected in their programing.
DeletePeter alludes to it by mentioning the Hannah Ahrend center of which I am also a big fan.
Bard's reputation is on the line here and for a college with maybe 1.5k students but a massive endowment, their reputation is everything and they cannot afford to act the way Galvan did. Economic considerations still are a bit factor for them and I am curious how they will navigate this.
After financial aid, the average tuition at Bard is around $25K. That's without scholarships or grants. And they have nearly 3k students.
DeleteI don't want to live in a college town, particularly one with the college 30 miles outside of town!
ReplyDeleteSomebody should do a survey of the comments on Gossips whenever something new and different is proposed for Hudson. The pissing and moaning and grumbling here is awesome, especially given that the details have yet to be released. ~ PJ
ReplyDeleteThe commentariat of Gossips is a hot bed of optimism if you compare it to the usual bitter cesspool of any local Facebook “community” board. There you will find the usual cocktail of grievance, nativism, and nostalgia porn. They go bonkers on 200+ comment threads on any new idea/business/street improvement—basically hating anything that makes Hudson different then it’s Golden Age: which happens to be whenever years that particular person went to Hudson High. Funny enough, it’s Mayor Johnson’s preferred media bubble and explains why he was so blindsided by the primary outcome. Probably because most of those echo chambers are comprised by people who technically never did or no longer live within the city limits of Hudson. As far as the Bard news, the general facebook vibe is fear of elite academics and trust fund kids moving town in some type of cap and gown gentrification scheme.
DeleteDon’t judge all of us here by Bill’s comments. He’s more like Hudson’s very own “Oscar the Grouch,” because like Oscar, he loves dumpster diving but hates everything else.
"Jack" who loves to criticize anonymously (boy, we need more of that in this world!) - Would you be okay with Hudson becoming a college town, whatever that might look and feel like? Inescapable Bard this and Bard that, Bard students willing and able to pay exorbitant rent? And please don't reason that anything would be better than Galvanville, cus that's just silly talk.
DeleteBill, my jokes only come from love. I’m still the biggest fan of HudSeen, and seriously believe you’re doing God’s work reporting on the little known ridiculousness of our infrastructure management.
DeleteAs per the Bard question, I have little fear that Galvan’s gifting of property will turn Hudson into a college town. Especially a college that has 3,000 students over 20 miles away. They’ll probably liquidate them slowly over time to move cash into their endowment. And they’ll less likely meddle with our politics or bankroll a mayor.
Hey Bill -
DeleteHmmmmmm.... hate to break it to you.
But Hudson has:
- Lots of unemployed people
- No openly GOP members
- Big egos and low salaries
- Constant virtue signaling protests
- Lots of coffee shops
- Quasi-progressive aesthetic
- Frozen development
- Moral theatre, and poor governance (until 2026)
- Generational stratification
- Well funded police taking it easy on repeat "youth" offenders in their 20s and 50s
- One or two town crazy people that everyone "tolerates"
- Righteous retail
- "Pioneering" utopian theories that have failed before but dressed up as "research" with new names
- Reliant on non-resident donor class
- Event-driven economy and highly seasonal.
- Higher than national average gay population (thank goodness)
We do not have other things that usually come with the above: a large institutional endowment that makes it recession proof, pools of student labor, and a steady stream of six figure administrative and academic jobs.
So... you live in a Campus Town, but not one with all the upsides.
I find these thoughtful, quiet monologues very appealing and informative regarding Peter's thinking about civic matters.
ReplyDeleteAnd he certainly seems the most articulate and thoughtful of this year's crop of mayoral candidates. And, while I find his view that citizen assemblies and other types of consensus-building exercises can end political partisanship and rancor to be a bit naive (isn't a city, town, village council, legislatures at all levels, engaged in the business of consensus building? at least on paper?), at least it's a plan. And, as far as I can tell, having a plan puts him head and shoulders above the competition so far. And the fact that he has a history in, and understands the history of, Hudson is also encouraging.
Looking forward to learning more about all the candidates -- hope they can make meaningful noises so we can all make informed choices. So far, the only one I've seen out and about in the flesh is Lloyd.
I see Peter out and about and he advertises weekly Sunday meetups to discuss the issues in real life. Peter seems to understand the modern necessity of social media to get your message out, but puts value in face to face discussions.
DeleteYou’re correct about Lloyd. I see him out and about multiple times a day, engaging with people, whether they like it or not :)