At the Planning Board meeting on June 11, Theresa Joyner announced that the Planning Board had been invited to designate three members to be part of the mayor's working group. It was decided that Joyner, Randall Martin, and Gene Shetsky would be the three members.
On June 12, the Planning Board received a letter from Colarusso's attorneys, asserting that "there is no authority or mechanism under New York State law or the City of Hudson Code for the establishment of a 'task force' to review and deliberate or provide recommendations on an application before the Planning Board." The letter further stated: ". . . the Applicant has respectfully declined to participate in the meeting with the Mayor's Office to 'negotiate' or discuss permit conditions."
Despite the objections expressed by Colarusso's attorneys, such a meeting reportedly did take place on June 25. So far, Gossips has only been able to confirm who was present at the meeting: Mayor Johnson and his aide, Justin Weaver; city attorney Andy Howard and Planning Board attorney Cassondra Britton; Paul Colarusso, JR Heffner, and two attorneys for Colarusso, probably John Privatera and T. J. Ruane; Theresa Joyner and Randall Martin from the Planning Board; Tony Stone of Basilica Hudson; Ben Fain of Kitty's and The Caboose; and Nick Zachos, presumably representing the Hudson Sloop Club. What happened at the meeting and what, if anything, was decided remain shrouded in mystery.
COPYRIGHT 2025 CAROLE OSTERINK
The temperature in that room, like this Article, is approaching 78°...
ReplyDeleteI look forward to the video of that proceeding. LOL.... PJ
ReplyDeleteOne wonders if that clandestine meeting doesn't prepare the ground for a very effective Article 78 against the Planning Board and the Office Of The Mayor? Since when does a land use issue get handled by an ad hoc gathering that has no basis in law? WTF????? ~ PJ
ReplyDeleteWe don't know what was discussed. First of all, there were three lawyers in the room. Between them, they would probably be cognizant of the legal situations.
DeleteHowever, even such an ad-hoc meeting can probably be used to work out a compromise. If they come up with something that ACS and the other parties - Tony Stone, Ben Fain, Nich Zachos - can live with, who's left to sue?
The issue is that Planning Board exists as an independent agency that is supposed to operate within the legal boundaries of its mission. Good 'ol boy handshake deals conducted out of sight of the public are not a legitimate part of the process. And please don't tell us that you are naive enough to think that because there were lawyers in the room that everything is kosher. And I'm still waiting for someone to tell us why the citizens and taxpayers of Hudson should welcome a gravel dump and dangerous industrial truck route in our community? Is there some wonderful upside here that I'm not seeing? - PJ
ReplyDeleteThat is not what is happening here. Whatever the agreement that was reached (if there was one) - the Planning Board will still render its decision in public. By your logic, two belligerents in front of the PB should never be able to settle their disagreements behind closed doors since that would constitute a "Good 'ol boy handshake".
DeleteIt seems to me that you prefer the route of an endless series of public hearings which are 95% made up of non-stakeholders or legal proceedings in front of a court. Both are unproductive.
As for advantages: If you were to pop out of your Hudson bubble for a second you'd realize that transporting bulk cargo on barges is economically and ecologically vastly superior to putting them on trucks. I fully recognize that you don't want these barges to originate in Hudson but that is nothing but NIMBYism.
The grave dangers you are alluding to are meanwhile entirely undocumented. They remain an unproven assertion.
The authority you project is not based on understanding Tassilo, but in the pose you stage in relation to it.
DeleteI can't readily think of anything wrong with a mayor bringing the major players in a controversy of civic importance together to try to find a mutually-acceptable outcome with the understanding of course that if the decision requires official sanction that the body empowered to provide the sanction operates on the proposal that results from such a meeting within its statutory powers. It would be ideal if such a thing could happen in public but this particular operator in this particular city . . . the combo is somewhat toxic/explosive.
DeleteNothing that comes out of a private meeting is writ. It's just potential. Besides, the PB could just decide to issue its decision within the 62-day window and manage to short-circuit any private negotiations. Or ACS could file an Art. 78 on the 63rd day to force a decision.
So why not wait and learn what is proposed (if anything) by this "cabal?" Nothing else anyone has tried has cut through this problem. The important thing is that reasonable, rational and workable limits and controls are put on the use of our streets, the south bay and its river frontage so the city and its citizens are protected now and in the future.
Tassilo, if you've lived in Hudson, or Columbia County long enough, in no way would you be ok with good 'ol boy handshake deals. These are not 2 belligerents with a disagreement. You should have seen the shit that went on. And honestly, we all know diesel fumes and road dust are dangers to our air quality and quality of life. That's not an unproven assertion.
DeleteMS, I have "seen the shit that went on". It's precisely been going on because no face-to-face meetings between the protagonists have happened.
DeleteIt's happening now because Ben Fain is quite a bit more level-headed than Peter Jung and Sam Pratt were in as recently as 2023 when they assumed a general opposition to anything related to Colarusso. They achieved nothing with their approach.
Diesel fumes meanwhile are happening regardless. You get a choice between fumes spread across five counties as trucks drive gravel down to NYC or a far more moderate amount as the same gravel is shipped down the Hudson. This is not a null-sum game and one of the two methods of transport is far superior to the other.
I don't disagree with your comments about the transportation aspect at all. It was your comment about unproven assertions, and the way it was stated as fact. And I'm talking about Hudson before Sam or Peter.
DeleteAs far as besmirching others’ involvement over the years in protecting the Waterfront, all I’ll say is that no one would have an opportunity today to be still discussing this matter if projects like the 80s oil project and SLC hadn't been stopped, and thousands of citizens hadn't intervened in that and multiple other reviews (Vision Plan, Comp Plan, LWRP, South Bay Creek & Marsh, land title, alternative truck route reviews, on and on).
DeleteSome like Tassilo either weren't here or never bothered to participate in any of those long slogs (or others like the late 90s through mid-2000s Waterfront Committees).
So when shooting off your mouth, be sure to thank the literal thousands of citizens who came before you, whose decades of research and work to secure a better Waterfront while preventing outright stupidity causing its ruination. The only reason anyone still has the opportunity to opine on or influence the current issue is that others intervened, and I’m talking about far more people than myself. Tassilo may not know any other names but mine and Peter’s, but we do and are grateful.
I just want to be clear....
DeleteMax is from Greenport, Austrian, and while he means well he can be feisty and we all know how German speakers are not as into their history as the French or for that matter Hudsonians.
Just kidding. Wanted to make more International Relations jokes on Gossips.
Calling a German Austrian is like calling an American, Canadian. Or an Australian, New Zealander.
Or a Hudsonian, a Greenporter.
Max - Sam and co saved the valley long before you got your first visa. Doesn't mean you shouldn't voice an opinion but just look at his body of work on his blog.
Diejenigen, die die Geschichte nicht studieren, sind dazu verdammt, sie zu wiederholen.
Thank you Sam, and thank you Carole, and thank you Peter, and thank you many others for _writing_ things down.
Oh, Sam, I know a lot more people than you think I do. That includes those that used to be your allies back in the glory days of the mid-2000s and that now no longer are.
DeleteYou seem to be purity-testing me on what I might have said about the SLC fight 20 years ago had I been here. Rest assured that I would have been on your side.
We are however not dealing with SLC or Holcim anymore. They are a distant past and your efforts of painting Colarusso as the modern-day Holcim aren't believable to most normal people.
Either way, I'm always happy when you chime in. 2023 was so much better when you were still an active player.
And to Hugo: He of course knows full well that I possess two passports, neither one of which is Austrian. I will say that out of the German-speaking sphere some of the world's most notable historians arose: Theodor Mommsen (the world's greatest authority on Roman history) and Jacob Burckhardt, oddly enough a Swiss - normally a figurative death penalty if you wanted to write on anything historic and be taken seriously.
Truth of the matter is we love history, albeit maybe not always our own. But we are quite good at contextualizing it.
It's worth noting that when the Mayor's office came up with this half-ass idea of private negotiations, Colarusso responded with a letter which said that it was inappropriate, outside the bounds of normal process, and the company would not participate. So if such a meeting actually did take place, we the people are being deceived. Stuff like this is exactly why there are rules and protocols to protect the public interest. Amateur hour in City Hall.
ReplyDeleteIt's always amateur hour at 520 Warren!
ReplyDeleteOur local media should reach out to the participants of that meeting and ask them to share the details. I'd bet my last nickel that they would claim that it was private, and off-the-record. So they would be admitting that they are trying to do the business of the City out of public view.
ReplyDeleteSo it looks like the business owners on both sides are represented in these “Kamp Kamal Accords,” but who’s representing the residents, the people? Theresa and Randall? Lord help us ðŸ«
ReplyDelete👀
DeleteI ran into Theresa Joyner at City Hall last week, unplanned.
She did not recognize me at first when I walked past.
I extended my hand, introduced myself, and made clear that while I think she is a really bad Planning Board Chair, she is still a neighbor and I wanted to be polite and upfront. It is possible and ok to criticize poor performance and action, and still see and respect the human.
She refused to shake my hand and repeatedly asked, "Where were you born?" and "Were your parents born in X country?" I replied that where someone is born is besides the point and asked her to make some other point or deliver the put down she was trying to land by getting me to admit that, god forbid, I was not born at Columbia Memorial Hospital a few blocks up the street.
She never deliver the comment or made a point.
I left thinking, how sad, but also how apt:
"Where were you born?" "Where were your parents born?" As the requirement for dialogue, participation, and respect. And this in Kamal's "sanctuary" city, or is it "welcoming" city?
That is the test, the loyalty oath.
Not merit, current Hudson residence, taxes paid, or even intent. Leaving aside the clear bias and possible New York State Human Rights Law violation (discrimination based on nationality, immigration status) by an appointed officer and current Fair Housing Director.
It is sad that Theresa is such a nativist and so utterly incapable of communicating her point of view in writing or verbally. It is also ironic since she used to work at USPS...
I do not mind her as a neighbor, even when she spreads lies at pubic meetings about City of Hudson water containing lead. (I had to contact Rob Perry, who had water quality tests on hand to disprove, and even shared them over the weekend).
My quarrel is with Theresa's monumental incompetence that is costing the city and tax payers millions.
P.s. As Steve Jobs said about teams & recruiting: A players bring A players and B players bring C players.
Kamal is a C player. So I guess he brings D players like Theresa?
But that makes me wonder if voters should eventually ask the four mayoral candidates who they would hire/appoint as a Mayoral Aide, Planning Board Chair, Commissioners of Fire, Police etc.
It is not just the mayor, but who they appoint, that makes the city flounder or flourish.
Let's raise the bar.