Roger Hannigan Gilson reported today in the Times Union about a recent resignation in Hudson: "Hudson Police Commissioner Shane Bower resigns." Bower, who retired from the Hudson Police Department in November 2019, was appointed Police Commissioner by Mayor Kamal Johnson in September 2020.
The article offers this as an explanation for Bower's resignation:
Bower said "it was time" for him to retire and that departmental morale and public safety had improved. He said he believes the police department no longer needs a commissioner.
"I understand why (the position) was put into place back in the day, when Hudson was not the best place in the world, but I think we're beyond that world now," he said.
Bower said he has told Hudson Mayor Kamal Johnson he felt the city didn't need a police commissioner. "Whether he takes that advice or not, I don't know," he said.
It would seem this explanation puts the lie to the word around town that Bower's resignation, which reportedly happened last Friday, was somehow related to the recent promotion of former mayor Rick Scalera's son-in-law, Kevin Keyser, to the rank of detective--a promotion that was announced on Facebook by the Hudson Police Department this past Monday.
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If you read the city code, the police chief takes orders from the commissioner. "Police commissioner" is mentioned far more often than "police chief." Much of City Hall is an organizational mess, thanks in large part to our outdated code and too many council members, department heads and mayors who don't want to do anything about it. When the police chief has to explain on Facebook that someone else bought $140,000 of the wrong parking kiosks, you know something isn't right structurally.
ReplyDeleteBower is doing us a favor by not going silently -- his suggestion should happen, but Kamal doesn't care. He'll find another commissioner and the photo op will look great, shaking hands with another useless city official with no office or direct phone line. We don't need ANY commissioners - not at HPD, DPW nor at Youth. They're no help, and they only serve to muck up responsibility and accountability. And they tend not to live in Hudson. Remember Bower's predecessor, Peter Volkmann FROM CHATHAM, our commish for all of 8 months? The guy was a criminal who almost went to jail and he didn't give one hoot about Hudson. Bower, I believe, lives in Germantown. Remember DPW commish Peter what's-his-name from Kinderhook? What was he doing here working for free? What credentials did he have and why would anyone think he gave a shit about Hudson? One day he's the DPW commissioner doing work Rob Perry should be doing, the next day he's gone, never to be heard from again. No goodbye, no explanation, he wasn't even finished with the Stewart's intersection project he had been handed.
Jesus, if you're going to do it, do it right! The entire code should be ripped to shreds and redone from scratch.
Anyone remember how long Jason Foster was DPW commissioner? Did he last a year? Did he ever explain why he suddenly had no more interest in doing pro bono work for Hudson working alongside Rob Perry?
ReplyDeleteJason Foster was appointed at the beginning of January 2024, and he resigned at the end of September 2024, soon after his wife resigned from the Planning Board. This post talks about both resignations and speculates about what prompted them: https://gossipsofrivertown.blogspot.com/2024/09/ear-to-ground.html.
DeleteA lot of bizarre scrambling in city government lately. Sounds like the rank and file of civil servants know which way the wind is blowing and the rats are leaving the sinking ship
ReplyDelete