The featured story in today's Register-Star is Mayor Joseph Ferris's response to criticism for extending the contract to sell the property on Mill Street. Ferris claims, as he has before, that he was advised to take the action he did, without the knowledge or consent of the Common Council, by city attorney Andrew Howard.
In his response, Ferris makes a rather grievous error, claiming that the original contract set the closing date "on or about" May 3, so the contract had not actually expired when it was amended on May 20. The following is quoted from the Register-Star article:
"In no way did the closing date for the sale lapse," Ferris said. "(May 3, 2026) was an 'on or about' closing date (in the contract between Kearney and the city), and we, as in city were, and continue to, await the court's decision. . . ."
In fact, the contract of sale, which was executed on May 3, 2023, does not say "on or about"; it says "on or before" (boldface added). The difference between "about" and "before" is significant.
The article has not yet been posted online. When it is, Gossips will provide the link.
COPYRIGHT 2026 CAROLE OSTERINK
Update: Here's the link to the article: "Mayor responds to Mill Street criticism."
Joe was elected on the basis of one thing: he wasn't his predecessor. With no real history here in Hudson, he didn't know the city (or the City), and neither knew him. We're starting to get a clearer vision of who Joe is and what he stands for.
ReplyDeleteWho he is: a politician. Not a leader. A politician. He'll say anything, go anywhere, get his picture taken with whomever if he believes it will help advance his political career. This is clear once one compares his statements to his actions.
What he believes: that we're all quite stupid. He can lie to our faces and we won't figure it out. Again, his actions/words dichotomy supports this conclusion.
I remember talking to Joe last August or so. He said he didn't support a charter change that would replace the mayor's executive functions with a city manager because, in his words, "I believe I can do the job." On the basis of what, I asked? No answer from Joe. Well, now we have 6 months of history together. And the answer to my question is now clear: on the basis of nothing.
This is leadership? This is making tough decisions? Not from where I sit. What it is, is bullshit. Plain, unadulterated, good old American political horse apples.
Congratulations, Joe. You've joined the ranks of Donald Trump and other worthless politicians who will say anything to get elected/re-elected without giving one thought to his/her "constituents." No doubt you're fit for higher office in this regard -- just don't count on too many votes from electors here in Hudson. We may not be geniuses, but we know the difference between truth and everything else.
Ditto everything John posted.
ReplyDeleteThe adjective that comes to mind to describe our so-called mayor is MEALYMOUTHED.
ReplyDeleteI also think it's highly likely that the number of current council members who dislike Ferris is more than there were at any point during his predecessor's six years. Even if the number is the same or similar, that can't be good for the city.
Solution: No more mayors! No more amateur shady bullshit. Halve the number of council members. Hire a professional manager who is accountable to the council and residents. This two-year mayor crap has got to go! I used to think the term needed to be 4 years. Now it's zero years.
As someone who voted for Ferris, I am really disappointed to see that his way of dealing with issues is to throw members of his team under the bus. This is not the first time. As a leader, would love to see more accountability and ownership of the decisions he's made (even if they involve changing his mind).
ReplyDeleteYes , Mayor Ferris was elected, solely because he wasn't his predecessor.
ReplyDeleteThat was how terrible his
predecessor was for Hudson. The thought of him and his sycophants returning and squandering our property taxes, water & sewer and sidewalk,
when he has paid no property, taxes, county taxes, School taxes, water & now sidewalk fees ever;
makes me physically ill.and on top of that, his housing was suppled by Galloway (GALVAN) and he never came clean about that..
Peter Spear dropped out of the mayoral race as he did not want to risk splitting the vote with Joe Ferris and letting
Kamal Johnson back in for another term.
I would like to know if Peter Spear would consider running again in Nov 2027..
Kamal Johnson is chomping at the bit to get back to his free ride again, at the city tax payers expense.Meanwhile, I am going to start getting ready to.put my house up for sale, if it is worst case scenario.
I am disappointed and frustrated with how things are being played out in our fair city right now. The following are my views and my views only:
Delete1. I am very disappointed with Mayor Joe signing that contract. I do believe that he entrusted his next steps to the City Attorney to accurately guide him in what is/was best for the city. (for me - a good/great leader surrounds herself/himself with great people to assist in guiding). Having said that, he is ultimately the leader of the pack and has to own the actions.
The City Attorney seems to be making some significant mistakes.. It would very powerful if this said attorney, spoke out to say exactly what had him conclude (legally) the advise he gave the Mayor.
2. As we know, there is a time period between the signing of the contract and the making it public. What happened there? What precipated the delay? Was the Mayor again counseled to delay?
3. John's F - comment regarding what the 'Mayor believes'...without getting into a verbal warfare with you, JF, we don't 'know' what the Mayor beleives unless and until he states it. Something might appear a particular way that would have us conclude something. I think there is value in all of us being responsible for the words we use, how we use them ...It allows us to be more powerful in our arguments. (tho JF, you are not in need of this...:))
4. Many may not agree with me, some may even think me a bleeding heart, however I do not think Mayor Joe is not malicious. It seems he has made some significant mistakes that have caused many, including me to question what happened along the way...Maybe there is some calculation his part, having to figuring out how to 'get out of this mess' (think Laurel and Hardy). But not malicious.
I did not edit my comments sufficiently. For clarity - I don't beleive Mayor Joe to be malicious.
DeleteTruly, of course, we can't know what anyone really thinks. Even when they tell us what they think. My point was that actions speaker louder than words, a point I could have made more artfully. And, by the way, I agree with you in that I don't think Joe is malicious, either. I think he's in the same bind the last several mayors have found themselves in: the job is not doable by an amateur anymore. We need a city manager.
DeleteI think the real problem with the position of mayor here in Hudson -- more critical than the amateurs it continues to attract -- is that it/they can't get much of anything done. The council gets most everything accomplished, despite the mayor. Ferris probably sincerely thought he could get all sorts of things accomplished but soon realized it's simply not possible. No, he's not malicious. He's stuck with a job that restricts him, and now it looks like he has overreached, trying to get something, anything, accomplished, doing whatever it takes. Maybe he soon decided that micromanaging was the only way to get anything done. And take the ten intersections he campaigned on to improve. IMPROVING INTERSECTIONS HAS TO GO THROUGH THE SAFETY COMMITTEE! THROUGH HPD! THROUGH ROB PERRY! It's a process that does not involve the mayor. This is why you haven't heard a peep out of Ferris in 6 months in regard to his ten unsafe intersections. He said it was going to happen in his first 100 days! Just about everything he campaigned on was wishful thinking at best.
DeleteMy understanding is that "on or before" is generally to mean the same thing as "on or about" in absence of a "time of the essence" clause. Maybe we have a contract lawyer lurking here who could chime in on this.
ReplyDeleteNot the same.
DeleteDo you pay your US taxes on or before April 15th, or on or about April 15th?
Why don't you try on or "about" April 15th next year, or whatever next HCSD school tax deadline exists, and see what happens and report back to this thread.
The bigger point Max.. is a City Manager or competent mayor would not let it come to residents debating these details.
It would be clear, simple, and resolved.
The fact that Mill street even got into this mess thanks to the Joyner PB is a scandal. The fact that Ferris expanded the scandal, is ruinous for Hudson and for the mayor's term.
My comment was about how the two phrases are treated legally. There is case law supporting the viewpoint that they mean the same thing. If so, that would eliminate one objection to how the mayor acted here. He might be, at least as far as the law is concerned, in the right.
DeleteOn the issue of mayor vs city manager, I've been thinking about this since last year. Seems to me that the current debate is very much predicated on who the specific current mayor is or was; and that that should be the guiding principle in this matter: Some people didn't like Kamal, hence we needed a city manager.
I no longer believe this. What the current mayor as well as his predecessor Kamal represent is a point of view that with Margaret as council president would be non-existing if we had a city manager instead of a strong mayor.
Margaret is a strict budgetary authoritarian, something that had been missing for a long time. I think you want that counterbalanced by a mayor who is thinking of the other half: those not owning property and thus not directly paying property or school taxes.
In years prior, the pendulum had swung far to the left. Now, instead of swinging all the way into libertarian territory, it's somewhere in the middle with Margaret and Joe butting heads.
I think the pendulum is exactly where it should be. What would be helpful is if those two could communicate more effectively rather than using the Register Star for their interaction. There's no doubt in my mind that they want the same thing at the end of the day.
Our comment was also about how the two phrases are treated legally.
DeleteMax - less than 6000 people in Hudson. The goal is not to create government jobs and drama.
The goal is to run basic municipal services (safety, public works administration) efficiently, evenly, and treat residents equally.
The idea of the City Manager never goes away.... it simply pops up when we all re-realize (again) that A) the Charter is broken and B) Hudson, unlike other towns of our size, seems to attract career politicians.
Kamal and Joe have very little in common. And last year we rated Kamal a low D, and Joe a low B, on our Voter Guide.
But it now seems they have one major thing in common; Albany ambitions.
And that means they put Albany interested above Hudson interests.
Joe is a PR guy. It has been 6 months... no newsletter, the Hub App is broken, all the meetings are on random and broken Zooms/Meets etc.
Yet, he found the time for Hochul photo ops, making speeches about NY State level corporate taxes, going to and speaking at every #NoKings rally.
And if you really believed this was true "I think the pendulum is exactly where it should be." why don't you move to Hudson and pay property taxes here?
Please explain to us how Greenport/Kinderhook/Claverack/Ghent all roughly the same size as Hudson and gets by with less than 1/3 of the elected politicians?
Max is correct. Without the magic words "time being of the essence," "on or before" doesn't carry any weight or mean anything different than "on or about." I think the City's biggest problem in the Contract is the representation that the City "has the full right, power and authority to sell, convey and transfer" the property. With the parkland restriction, that was a representation we should not have made.
DeleteThank you for the clarity, Kristal. I wonder how many other ‘legal opinions’ bandied about in these comments are just the ‘opinion’ part.
DeleteI'd love to see the title report. Typically the seller would receive a copy from the buyer. If that's the case here, it should be FOILable.
DeleteYou and me both, John! I wonder how the buyer's title company treated the reverted clause.
DeleteI agree with all the commenters’ sentiments. They are 100% spot on. I think the real problem is the fact that Hudson is incorporated as a city and not a village within a town, like most municipalities of our size. We are, I believe, the second smallest city by population in New York State. And being a city means we have to pay and manage most of our infrastructure and services seperatly from the town and county, plus have our own separate elected leadership. And because we’re so damn small we have both a limited tax base—exacerbated by both being the county seat and hosting a sizable nonprofit industrial complex. Some of these nonprofits do good, but most are just a form of tax evasion and fundraising for their salaries. The other issue with our “small city” is that we have a very limited talent pool for elected office. And the people who are talented enough have better jobs or are too busy running their own businesses. The mayor’s office always seems to attract a couple of types: Hudson High favorites with limited job prospects, or a wannabe politician’s first gig.
ReplyDeleteAs I see it, there are about two solutions:
1) merge with Greenport, which would become the Town of Hudson, with the Village of Hudson within. Even though it would fix their unfortunate name and identity complex, Greenport won’t do it because Hudson’s too progressive, and probably too tax happy for their tastes. Plus, they got their own problems with their supervisor. I feel like Kamal Johnson should move and run for Greenport Supervisor, since they love him so much and we can foist him on them.
2) Charter Reform to a city manager. Unfortunately, after the last attempt, I feel like that ship has sailed. The alarm was raised and now the nonprofits and developers are organized to campaign against it—as they depend on having a mayor who’s easily manipulated for their tax draining schemes. And no matter what John Friedman believes what Joe thinks about the public, I do think they’re mostly stupid. Maybe ignorant is a better word. But they don’t understand that a city mayor is basically a management position and it’s about running the departments and keeping the machine working and bills paid. But for some reason, most people here want some kinda Mayor McCheese figure walking around town with a sash, shaking hands and kissing babies, and making speeches at No Kings rallies about things that have nothing to do with their current job, but deep down hope they go to Albany and DC one day and make it their job.
So yeah, electing people questionably better than Kamal is all we got. Hey, at least we got rid of Tom too.
Baby steps, Hudsonians. 😘
I am not sure how many town meetings in Greenport you've actually attended. But if you had attended any, you'd be able to judge more accurately how people in Greenport actually think.
DeleteAsk yourself why the WFP plays no role here. There's only two Hudson politicians that could successfully run in Greenport: Dominik Merante and Rick Scalera.
I have to correct a vicious misconception, too: If Hudson and Greenport merged, we would still be the Town of Greenport and you'd be the Village of Hudson inside. And you'd be paying both the village and town taxes whereas we'd only pay the town tax. 😊
It of course will never happen because Hudson is unreasonably proud of its city status and would never give it up.
Spot on diagnosis UJ.
DeleteCharter Reform (+City Manager) more likely than merger with Greenport.
The latter, to truly happen beyond "shared services agreement" require Albany legislative action.
So we can update the Charter (City Manager, 5 Common Council members, one per ward, and 1 County Supervisor) all by ourselves, in 2-4 years.
Also Max... Greenport is already "Greater Hudson" ... don't blame us... blame USPS that expanded the 12534 zipcode to confuse Airbnb guests, help realtors, and Greater Hudson Promise Neighborhood and similar "Greater Hudson" things...
Max,
DeleteDidn’t I say that Hudson is too progressive for Greenport’s tastes? I don’t need to go to Greenport meetings. I have a life and I don’t bother myself with the concerns of a municipality that I don’t live in. I just think they’d elect Kamal because there were many signs for him in your town and I think many put provincialism over party. Why do you think his signs were in the Bluehawks Blue and Gold? But I agree our 5th ward politicians would do well; the 5th ward is spiritually Greenport. Less so lately since all the young progressives bought the more starter level houses. Apparently they all have neighborly chats about the dangers of charter reform and have way way more Community™️ than us in the first ward, since all we do is complain about taxes and swim in our money bins like Scrouge McDuck.
Also, Greenport was historically part of Hudson before the split. And for some reason they took a name that was already taken in NY state by a much nicer town on the north fork of Long Island. Plus, all the goofballs from Greenport on the local Facebook groups are always confused and keep calling their beloved McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Walmart and Dunkin as the “Hudson” locations of such chains.
And I understand how town and village systems work. The savings would be in shared services with the town and county.
As far as Hudsonians being “unreasonably proud” to be a city… again, like the Facebook goof balls, I bet most people don’t know the difference between a city and town in New York State. I think it’s mostly nerds that comment on Gossips—myself included, that understand these details.
Correction: Changing Hudson from 5 to 1 County Supervisors require Columbia County level change. And obviously that has been an issue... throwback to Sam Hodge.
DeleteBut if the City and the existing Supervisors establish the position to only have 1... it can be another driver for the Dems to motivate change.
HCS, I’m afraid the other county supervisors will never allow Hudson to have only one, with the full power of our population/vote on the BoS. They got us exactly how they want: divided and conquered.
DeleteIndeed UJ, and condolences for the Three Lions squad, sir.
Delete~
Another observation about the 18 elected politicians of Hudson. *
In the recent past ward Common Council members work on County issues, while County Supervisors work within the City.
Is there any coordination about who tackles what?
Imagine if the 5 Supervisors had a monthly meal, picked one issue to really advocate on together for the City, and execute. 11 Warren street now, then shared funding for Youth etc. etc.
Imagine if the 10 CC members hosted listening/topic events in their wards.
Are any of them, for example, telling their voters about the Planning Board public meeting next week on Bliss/HHA?
Are they sharing their view on the financing issue?
And this is how we all get surprised, budget goes up etc.
⚽️ Since it is the World Cup, it is like watching 7 year olds play without any strategy, just running in the general direction of the ball.
*Heather/Finance is elected city-wide but she doesn't politick.
P.s. Mayor Ferris is under fire on a few fronts, but give the man credit for twice convening Town Halls (Ward Halls).
Now if only we had a Hudson Municipal newsletter... then we could email all residents about the sidewalk grant / match issue, and about next week's important meetings.
https://www.hudsoncommonsense.com/nomail
It would be extremely unusual for Hudson to be represented at the county by only one supervisor. In fact, it would be unique*.
ReplyDeleteThere are seven NYS counties that a) are governed by Boards of Supervisors, and b) contain at least one city that uses a ward system (not all do). In all seven, city residents are represented at the county by multiple supervisors. In four of the counties, each city ward sends a supervisor, ranging from two to six representatives. In the remaining three, city supervisors represent multiple wards (no fewer than 2, no more than 3).
This is not to imply that the current Hudson-County system is infallible, but rather to illustrate how very normal it is.
*I don’t know if there is historical precedent for ward system cities sending a single representative to a County BoS, but right now, any city that did so would be a one of one.
What other municipalities do is irrelevant. The NYS Constitution permits each municipality to determine its own governance structure limited only by constitutional restrictions. Of course the US Constitution also applies. So if the City of Hudson decided it wanted to send only 1 county rep to 410 State Street, that's permissible.
DeleteNormal in New York... which is why we write about Municipal Capture:
Deletehttps://www.hudsoncommonsense.com/manifesto
Again, no implications of efficiency or effectiveness are being made. I consider it noteworthy that no other municipality in the state operates in the way that some have suggested Hudson should. Were I someone serious about that type of reform, I think I’d have a more curious mindset about why that might be.
DeleteFor what it’s worth, there are six states in the US (Arizona, California, Iowa, Mississippi, Virginia and Wisconsin) whose counties are predominantly managed by Boards of Supervisors. I’m not so interested in this train of thought that I’m going to look at how many supervisors the cities in those counties send to their respective county boards. However that’s a fairly eclectic mix of states, and I’d wager that the cities with wards or similar sectioning tend to send multiple supervisors.
DeleteI’m not so interested in this line of thought that I will keep digging, but a quick search reveals that Wisconsin cities are similarly divided into districts, and each district elects a supervisor to go to the county BoS. This system is normal beyond New York, normal across ostensible state political leanings, normal in disparate regions and both coasts, normal in states that are losing population as well as gaining, normal in states with both high taxes and low taxes.
Of course the only thing that really matters is the answer to the question, “in what way(s) would Hudson residents be better served with less representation at the county?”
Thank you for the research Michael B. The American federal experiment really is a great learning and testing tool.
Deletere: "“in what way(s) would Hudson residents be better served with less representation at the county?”"
Right now 4 of 5 Supervisors ran unopposed, and once they are in they often stay in for several terms until there is a staged swap (in some but not all cases).
Only Madero won a truly competitive race.
Our point: If 5 good candidates ran for 1 spot. The race would surface good ideas, the threat of the next election would compel more work. Look up how many committee meetings Cousins missed when she was 1st Ward Supervisor, when the 11 Warren St situation unfolded. If Madero had been there at the time it would have ended differently, or at least we would not have found out in the press.
And in the end, due to the federal law about 1 man 1 vote. 1 Supervisor in Kinderhook or Ghent can swing the whole County. If Hudson has 1 Supervisor, she would have roughly 10% of the weighted power in the County.
Additionally, as the Supervisors of Hudson, when over the last 5 years have they all been together in one place other than the Supervisor photo-op at the beginning of term.
If the Hudson supervisor were capable, and had weighted power, maybe Hudson could get more of the substantial County tax revenue... after all... Hudson gets all of the County's more challenging projects.
This would be the same argument made by every city in every county in the above named states, yet it seems that the current Hudson-County arrangement is the norm. Learning why no other city has gone the single-supervisor route (or stayed on that route) seems worthwhile. I’m quite certain that this is not a novel idea.
DeleteBerkshire County in MA simply voted their County government out. Split duties to state and to hyper local municipal. Seems to be going well...
DeleteMiddle managers like middle government.
All of Massachusetts abolished over half its county governments in the late 90s. Berkshire County is only notable for being the last of that cohort.
DeleteIn any event: the suggestion was to send one supervisor to the county board, not to abolish county government altogether. I’m not sure how the latter strengthens the case for, or has anything to do with, the former.
State CDBG grants don’t have have matching fund criteria in NY for infrastructure improvements. Also the sidewalk tax would potentially count.
ReplyDeleteI’m not chomping at anything. I am enjoying life.
ReplyDelete