tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723709701684173708.post2444691191535457537..comments2024-03-28T07:54:47.319-04:00Comments on The Gossips of Rivertown: HDC Contemplates Its FutureCarole Osterinkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16010623982526286408noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723709701684173708.post-80329474054671436062022-01-30T14:36:29.888-05:002022-01-30T14:36:29.888-05:00John (Friedman)
I think you have made my point abo...John (Friedman)<br />I think you have made my point about the HDC stronger than I could. <br />But fear that you misunderstand what I am advocating for. <br /><br />The dissolution of the HDC would benefit the City of Hudson in two ways. <br /><br />First, by helping fund a Comprehensive Planning process.<br /><br />And, second, by paying the salary for an urban planner within the City. <br /><br />A comprehensive plan is not only a plan, but a process of participatory community engagement that would allow us, as neighbors, to come to an agreed set of priorities.<br /><br />There’s no question, we need a new Comprehensive Plan. <br />We also need the process.<br /><br />The state recommends a new comprehensive plan every five to ten years or so. Ours is from 2002.<br /><br />This means the City of Hudson effectively has no Comprehensive Plan. <br />What’s more, it seems we lack the funds to pay for this. <br /><br />I asked around to FUTURE HUDSON collaborators and the estimates were somewhere between $250 to $400k for the City. <br /><br />(As a benchmark, Germantown spent $75k on the LWRP process that focuses only on its waterfront. What we would be doing is similar, but for the entire city. )<br /><br />The City recently applied for an received $67.5k from the State for this purpose. And there is an unclear amount from the Community Benefit Agreement from Stewart’s.<br /><br />This is a gap of at least $250k the dissolution of the HDC could finance.<br /><br />We would share in a process to set a shared vision for the first time in 18 years!<br /><br />And, by using the remaining $1.25m to provide the salary for an urban planner position in the City government, it would give the City a professional to steward these plans for up to 10 to 15 years. <br /><br />This is a transformation opportunity for the HDC to make an immediate and lasting impact on the City of Hudson.PETER SPEARhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04377970654469835056noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723709701684173708.post-27196691341809801732022-01-29T15:26:35.284-05:002022-01-29T15:26:35.284-05:00HDC hasn't had much to show for their efforts ...HDC hasn't had much to show for their efforts these last few years because their assets were not easily liquidatable. Now that their primary asset is turning to cash, a change in direction and velocity can be more reasonable expected. For what it's worth, at the beginning of the pandemic, HDC Board members were extremely active supporting the community and connecting people with resources to stay afloat and reopen businesses responsibly.<br /><br />While Mr. Friedman is correct that HDC is a private entity, its primary funding source is the sale of the KAZ site which came from the City, and its mission statement is to improve economic opportunites for businesses and residents. It conducts itself under the Open Meetings Laws and its business is FOILable. Removing the meetings from the City calendar does not change the fact that HDC has long been enmeshed with City government. Its efforts to pull away indeed bear closer scrutiny.<br /><br />Having said all that, Tom and Kamal's childish antics should be kept as far away from the adult table as possible,. $2M isn't as much money as one might think, but it can certainly grow into an operation that is self-sustaining and of long-term benefit to the Hudson community. It would not be to the community's benefit to have the two architects of the Tourism Board trainwreck having their hands anywhere near the cookie jar.<br /><br />Rasner was right to clap back at the mayor, who not only acted like a teenager getting grounded at the meeting after not doing his homework, but, as if to underscore the point, made a meme about it afterwards.John Kanehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03300676479057228139noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723709701684173708.post-10741954539760029022022-01-29T11:10:32.059-05:002022-01-29T11:10:32.059-05:00big mouth pirate screaming he controls property he...big mouth pirate screaming he controls property he did nothing to earn. Calling everyone else a socialist. That's simultaneously weak tea and doesn't quite cut it anymore.John.Dunninghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07432646800927904032noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723709701684173708.post-53610916044937127392022-01-28T14:01:50.017-05:002022-01-28T14:01:50.017-05:00Peter, I couldn't agree with you more.
And I...Peter, I couldn't agree with you more. <br /><br />And I'm a bit shocked at the idea $2 million wouldn't make a difference in a city that's currently spending almost nothing on planning. It could pay a city planner's salary for quite some time. Is that throwing money on the bonfire?<br /><br />Peter's idea can't be shoehorned in to a political philosophy (ooo scary socialism!). It's just common sense. Stephen Steimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09012141629142034121noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723709701684173708.post-68624016868261947292022-01-28T10:38:38.512-05:002022-01-28T10:38:38.512-05:00HDC is a private entity. It does what it does, or...HDC is a private entity. It does what it does, or not, as it decides. Which makes it like just about any other business in the city except its a not-for-profit that seeks to develop jobs in the city. Granted, it's not been the source of tremendous impact on the city (except perhaps negatively during misguided urban renewal times). The HDC used to get a line item in the City budget on some basis. I don't recall any allocations to it when I was on the Council but that doesn't mean it didn't happen -- but it does mean that if there were allocations they were meager. What is important, though, is that it no longer receives any support from the City at all. <br /><br />So at the end of the day, Peter, what you suggest is pure socialization of private property simply because you believe that you know better. That's simultaneously weak tea and pretty fucking scary.<br /><br />Beyond that, it's also inadequate for the task you seek to pirate it for: HDC will net a bit less than $2m through the sale of the majority of its realty. How far would that go towards the development of an urban planning capacity? From about Front Street to Second -- a metaphoric distance that is coextensive with the DRI district that so far looks exactly the same as it did when the DRI money was granted -- in 2017, right? Quicker to simply burn the $2m in a bonfire.John K. Friedmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05658184081506566069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723709701684173708.post-74846874185958779182022-01-28T09:14:14.042-05:002022-01-28T09:14:14.042-05:00The HDC is a problem, in and of itself.
The enti...The HDC is a problem, in and of itself. <br /><br />The entity itself is a holdover from another era, and is simply inappropriate for 2022.<br /><br />Meanwhile, the City of Hudson is desperate for the shared vision contained in a Comprehensive Planning process.<br /><br />(And short the funds to initiate an adequate process, despite the $67k from the state.)<br /><br />The HDC should be dissolved and used to fund the development of an urban planning capacity within the City government, and the development of a new Comprehensive Plan.PETER SPEARhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04377970654469835056noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723709701684173708.post-53244070988665255672022-01-26T19:16:28.772-05:002022-01-26T19:16:28.772-05:00Leave it to SBK to pull out the race card, this wa...Leave it to SBK to pull out the race card, this was not about race. If SBK / Housing Coalition wants to have representatives in city government, they should select someone who has the education and qualifications to hold that position. Simply being black and having a big mouth doesn't quite cut it anymore.P. Winslowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08273783030122540297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5723709701684173708.post-63068622135275207962022-01-26T14:19:51.315-05:002022-01-26T14:19:51.315-05:00Honestly, can someone name one thing that the HDC ...Honestly, can someone name one thing that the HDC has done that has benefited Hudson in the long or short term and that would not have taken place without them? <br />And this in is not the first time I've been convinced that Rasner is a tad full of himself.<br /> B HustonBILLhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06165652134301551300noreply@blogger.com