Meetings of Interest in the Week Ahead

We've fallen back. Yesterday, the sun set at 4:41 p.m. Today, it will set a minute earlier. As we plunge deeper into darkness, here's what's happening this week.

• On Monday, November 8, the Common Council holds its informal meeting at 6:00 p.m. On the agenda is a resolution in support of the "good cause" eviction legislation that has been introduced at the state level (A5573/S3082). Also on the agenda is a resolution outlining the process by which majority and minority leaders are determined when all members of the Common Council are of the same party. 

In the event that all members of the Council belong to the same political party, the entire Council shall hold one vote to designate the Majority leader and another vote to designate the Minority leader.

If there are two members who belong to different minority parties, they will split the two-year term for minority leader, unless one cedes the right to the other.

If there are more than two members who belong to different minority parties, they will divide the two-year term by that number, unless one or more of the members cedes their right.

To avoid the situation that occurred in 2020, when Calvin Lewis and Shershah Mizan decided to "identify" as Working Families Party in order to elect Rebecca Wolff the minority leader, the resolution states: "party membership shall be determined by the party membership of the Council member at the time of commencement of the most recent city election cycle which shall be deemed the last day for submitting petitions to be placed on the ballot." Click here to join the Zoom meeting. 

• On Tuesday, November 9, the Hudson Community Development and Planning Agency (HCDPA) meets at noon. This meeting will take place in person at City Hall.
• At 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 9, the Conservation Advisory Council will hold what seems to be a special meeting, since the CAC has already met once this month. Unlike the CAC meeting last Tuesday, this one is on Zoom. Click here to join.   
• At 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, November 9, the Planning Board holds its regular monthly meeting. Last week, when the Planning Board canceled a special meeting, it was announced that the Colarusso issue, which was the topic of the special meeting, would be taken up at the regular meeting on November 9. It's not clear if that will happen. Gossips learned this morning that the meeting agenda for Tuesday is still in flux. Like the agenda, the link to the Zoom meeting has not yet been published.

• On Wednesday, November 10, the Hudson Housing Authority Board of Commissioners meets at 6:00 p.m. This is an in-person meeting which will take place in the Community Room at Bliss Towers, 41 North Second Street. Very likely one or both of the new interim directors of HHA--Nick Zachos and Aiesha Davie--will be present for the meeting.
• Also at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, November 10, the Common Council holds a special meeting to "receive and consider" the city budget for 2022. This meeting will be held on Zoom, but the link to the Zoom meeting has not yet been published.

• On Friday, November 12, there will be a public hearing on the proposed 2022 budget. The hearing will take place on Zoom, but the link to the meeting has not yet been published.
• On Sunday, November 14, at 3:00 p.m., Friends of the Public Square (FOPS) will hold a Community Engagement Day at Seventh Street Park. According to the announcement of the event on Facebook, "This is the first of a series of community engagement events that FOPS will be holding. Before we apply for grants and plan anything major, we would like to hear from the people of Hudson what you want in our shared public space."

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Developing News

The Register-Star reported minutes ago that the New York State Department of Corrections is meeting right at this moment. The suspected topic of the meeting is prison closures: "DOCCS, union to meet, prison closure announcements expected."

Many in Hudson have long hoped that Hudson Correctional Facility would someday be on the list of prison closures. It was in 2008, but protests from the community and the influence of Mayor Rick Scalera and State Senator Steve Saland kept the prison open. Can you imagine what could be if the historic buildings of the prison, originally constructed in 1887 as the Women's House of Refuge, were repurposed and the grounds of the prison, once the Bronson Estate, became a public park?

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COVID-19 Update

The Columbia County Department of Health released its numbers at 5:00 p.m. today. Since yesterday, there have been 11 new cases of COVID-19. The number of active cases being reported today is 4 more than yesterday, from which it can be inferred that, since yesterday, 7 county residents have recovered from the virus. The number of county residents in mandatory quarantine today is 11 fewer than yesterday, but the number hospitalized and in the ICU remains the same. There has not been a death from COVID-19 in Columbia County since October 26. 

The New York Forward dashboard is reporting a positivity rate for Columbia County yesterday of 4.8 percent and a seven-day average of 3.5 percent. By comparison, the daily positivity rate for the Capital Region was 4.7 percent and the seven-day average was 4.1 percent.

A year ago today, the CCDOH reported 6 new cases of COVID-19. The total number of cases was 746, and the number of active cases was 100. There were 332 county residents in mandatory quarantine, 22 were hospitalized, and 2 were in the ICU. The total number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 at this time last year was 43.

Considering the Future Council

In 2020, there were only three rookie members of the Common Council. In 2022, only three of the members will be the same as those who took the oath of office in 2020. The aldermen serving their first term in 2022 will constitute 70 percent on the Council. (Of course, in 2018, 90 percent of the aldermen were starting their first term.) 

Although the results of Tuesday's election are still unofficial, and the absentee ballots have yet to be counted, Gossips is pretty confident that the outcome will not change. So, let's review the changes on the Council from 2020 to 2022.

In the First Ward, Rebecca Wolff and Jane Trombley, both beginning their first term in 2020 and neither seeking reelection for 2022 . . .

will be replaced by Art Frick and Margaret Morris.

In the Second Ward, Dewan Sarowar was beginning his second term in 2020, and Tiffany Garriga her fourth term.

In 2022, Sarowar will return for his third term, but Garriga, who chose not to seek reelection to the Council but instead challenged Abdus Miah for the position of Second Ward  supervisor and lost, will be replaced by Mohammed Rony.

In the Third Ward, Calvin Lewis and Shershah Mizan were both beginning their second terms in 2020.

Lewis resigned from the Council in July 2021 because he had taken a job with the Youth Department, and Mizan did not seek reelection in a timely manner. In July, the Council chose Ryan Wallace to replace Lewis, and on Tuesday, Ryan was elected to a new term. Who will be the second alderman for the Third Ward will not be decided until January.

In the Fourth Ward, Malachi Walker was starting his first term in 2020, and John Rosenthal his second.

In 2o22, Walker will return for his second term, and Rosenthal, who did not seek reelection, will be replaced by Theo Anthony.

In the Fifth Ward, Dominic Merante and Eileen Halloran were both beginning their second terms on the Common Council in 2020.

In 2022, Merante will return, and Halloran, who did not seek reelection, will be replaced by Vicky Daskaloudi.

We still don't know who will be the second alderman in the Third Ward, but as it stands now, the future Council is down two women, and only one alderman is African American.

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Hello, Darkness . . .

Don't forget to turn your clocks back an hour before going to sleep tonight. The good news is we get an extra hour of sleep tonight. The bad news is the sun will set tomorrow at 4:41 p.m.

COVID-19 Update

The Columbia County Department of Health released its numbers at 5:00 p.m. yesterday. Since Thursday, there have been 15 new cases of COVID-19. The number of active cases reported on Friday was 9 fewer than on Thursday, from which it can be inferred that, from Thursday to Friday, 24 county residents recovered from the virus. There were 45 more county residents in mandatory quarantine on Friday than on Thursday, but the number hospitalized and in the ICU remains the same. There has not been a death from COVID-19 in Columbia County since October 26.

The New York Forward dashboard is reporting a positivity rate in Columbia County yesterday of 4.0 percent and a seven-day average of 3.5 percent. By comparison, the daily positivity rate for the Capital Region was 3.9 percent and the seven-day average was 4.0 percent.

On Friday a year ago, the CCDOH reported 9 new cases of COVID-19. The total number of cases was 740, and the number of active cases was 98. There were 316 county residents in mandatory quarantine, 25 were hospitalized, and 3 were in the ICU. The total number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 at this time last year was 43.

In Memoriam: Albert Roberts

Next Saturday, November 13, from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m., there will be a remembrance and celebration of the life of Albert Roberts, who died earlier this year. His obituary, published in the Register-Star, can be found here. The event will take place at the Albany Institute of History & Art, where Roberts was a member of the Board of Directors and where he had donated many of the art works acquired in his years collecting. 

Those who wish to attend should RSVP to Ellie Burhans at burhanse@albanyinstitute.org by Monday, November 8. 

The event will be held at the museum. All guests must provide proof of vaccination at check in to attend. Proof of vaccination includes a vaccination card, photo of a vaccination card, or the New York State Excelsior and Excelsior Plus passport. Masks are welcome where social distancing is not possible but are not required.

Directions and information about parking can be found at www.albanyinstitute.org/directions.

About the New Ferry Street Bridge

First the big news. "Storyboards" showing the design of the new Ferry Street Bridge, the construction of which is to begin next year, can now be viewed at the Hudson Area Library, 51 North Fifth Street. Gossips has not gone to the library to see them yet, but it has been confirmed that they are there and on display.

This morning, Rob Perry, superintendent of Public Works, was at the Historic Preservation Commission meeting seeking the HPC's recommendations for retaining walls, fencing, and lamp posts. Perry indicated that "98 to 99 percent" of the design components for the bridge were dictated by Amtrak/CSX, but in those three things--materials for retaining walls and fencing and design of lamp posts--the City had some discretion.

The new bridge, which will be higher than the existing bridge, requires higher retaining walls. The new walls will be constructed on top of the existing walls and will be made of rusticated concrete instead of natural stone. The HPC urged that in color and texture of the rusticated concrete blocks be as compatible as possible with the existing stone blocks.

Regarding the fencing, required by the railroad to prevent people from tumbling onto the tracks, the HPC expressed a preference fencing with a vertical wire pattern instead the usual chain link. 

The HPC was presented with some choices for the street lamps on the bridge, to be positioned at each of the four corners and in some spots midway along the bridge. 

The HPC was not definitive in its recommendations about the street lamps for the bridge, wanting to know the placement and height of the lamps relative to the scale of the bridge. The commissioners did, however, recommend that the street lamps on the bridge be consistent with the existing street lamps along Warren Street. HPC architect member, Chip Bohl observed that the overall design for the bridge was "appropriately industrial," and the lighting should be simple and integrated into that design.

Perry pointed out this morning that, in addition to being higher, to provide more clearance for trains, the new bridge will be significantly wider. In addition to two lanes for cars, there will be bicycle lanes and sidewalks on each side of the roadway.

A public meeting is being planned sometime in December to present the final plans.

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A Reminder

You have until Saturday, November 6, to complete the parking survey. Click here to access the survey.

COVID-19 Update

The Columbia County Department of Health has released its numbers for today. Since yesterday, there have been 10 new cases of COVID-19. The number of active cases being reported today are 11 more than yesterday, from which it can be inferred that there was an error in reporting at some point. There are 48 more county residents in mandatory quarantine today than yesterday, and there is one more hospitalized. The number in the ICU remains the same. There has not been a death from COVID-19 reported in Columbia County since October 26.

The New York Forward dashboard is reporting a positivity rate in Columbia County yesterday of 3.1 percent and a seven-day average of 3.2 percent. By comparison, the daily positivity rate for the Capital Region was 3.4 percent and the seven-day average was 3.8 percent.

A year ago today, the CCDOH reported another death and 23 new cases of COVID-19. The total number of cases was 731, and the number of active cases was 96. There were 352 county residents in mandatory quarantine, 25 were hospitalized, and 3 were in the ICU. The total number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 at this time last year was 43.

The Graying of Hudson

The title of this post is not a reference to the sad truth that those of us who found our way to Hudson in the 1990s and first decade of the new millennium are getting astonishingly old but to the impression that every building getting painted in Hudson these days seems to be painted some shade of gray. The latest is the late John Ashbery's home on West Court Street. During the many years that the house belonged to Ashbery and his partner, David Kermani, the house was painted pale yellow, with gray to match the stone on the tower and the cornice and Essex green shutters. (I'm told that when Ashbery acquired the house, it had traditionally been painted brown, and some in Hudson were scandalized by the colors Ashbery and Kermani chose for the house.)

Today, the shutters are gone, and the house is painted entirely gray.

Election Results

Gossips stayed up late to report the Hudson election results, publishing the final post, providing the write-in results, at 1:16 a.m. on Wednesday morning. Today, a reader asked about the results throughout the county. Those can be found in the Register-Star: "Columbia County election results 2021." If you are blocked by the pay wall, you can go straight to the source: the Columbia County Board of Elections. To access the results on the CCBOE website, click here.

Last Night with the Legal Committee

The Common Council Legal Committee met last night and discussed a couple of items of interest. The first was the RFP/RFQ for a developer of affordable housing on the City-owned vacant lot at Fourth and State streets. 

The committee seemed to be working with a document that had been updated since Gossips saw it. Fortunately gone was this troublesome sentence--troublesome because only the Galvan Foundation would appear to meet the requirement: "The City prefers a developer with access to multiple scattered sites to further the aims of the SHAP [Strategic Housing Action Plan]." 

In discussing the document and the aspirations for the site, Alderman Ryan Wallace (Third Ward) said he wanted to see potential for ownership of the apartments. Someone mentioned the possibility of "condo-ops" or "condop"--a combination of condominium and cooperative ownership. It was suggested that the Mitchell-Lama program in New York City might be a model for apartment ownership in Hudson. The idea of ownership is to help tenants build wealth, but the Mitchell-Lama program put strict constraints on the resale price of apartments, limiting the potential for appreciation in value.

It is expected that the RFP/RFQ will be ready for consideration by the entire Council at its informal meeting, which takes place on Monday, November 8. Prior to that meeting, the document should be posted on the City of Hudson website.

The "good cause" eviction law, which was vetoed by Mayor Kamal Johnson on October 9 so that amendments requested by Alderman Rebecca Wolff (First Ward) could be made, was also discussed at last night's meeting. At the beginning of the discussion, Council president Tom DePietro told the committee, "The mayor has asked us to come up with revisions to put before the Council." That did not happen.

Alderman Dominic Merante (Fifth Ward) brought up a memo to the Beacon City Council from its attorneys regarding a similar law being considered in Beacon. The following paragraph is from that memo:

Members of City Council expressed an interest in adopting a Good Cause Eviction Local Law for Beacon similar to those adopted in Albany and Hudson. However, after reviewing the Good Cause Eviction Local Laws adopted, speaking with municipal attorneys and officials at the NYS Conference of Mayors, and researching the authority granted to municipalities to adopt such legislation, it is our opinion that the City does not have the authority to enact a Good Cause Eviction Local Law and would be subject to litigation if adopted. Those reasons are explained in more detail below but can best be summarized as stating the State Legislature has preempted the ability of a municipality to regulate the Landlord/Tenant relationship in this manner. The State Legislature has adopted a statewide regulatory scheme which courts have interpreted prevent[s] a municipality from enacting its own Landlord/Tenant statute. If this were permitted, then each municipality in the State could have its own unique regulatory scheme, some that might protect tenants and others that might grant more rights to landlords. Courts have held that is not permitted. 

Jeff Baker, counsel to our Common Council, told the committee, "The field is dominated and preempted by the State. Adding a whole set of burdens that a landlord must meet in order to evict a tenant needs an opinion from the Attorney General if a municipality has the authority to do it." Baker also noted that a law with a similar intent has been introduced in the state legislature, but he did not know the status of the legislation. Gossips' research has found that Senate Bill S3082, relating to prohibiting eviction without good cause, was introduced on January 27, 2021, and is still in committee, as is Assembly Bill A5573, which was introduced on February 19, 2021.

Wolff asked if Baker's concern was that such a law would be struck down. Baker indicated he was concerned that the City would be sued over it and would lose the lawsuit. Wolff objected to what she called "the constant fear of lawsuits," saying, "I don't see that as a compelling reason." Baker responded, "It's a compelling reason if you are likely to lose." He continued, "My legal advice is you would be exposing the City to legal cost and not be successful."

In the end, it was decided that Council would pass a resolution stating its support for the state law and would also send a letter to the Attorney General requesting an opinion about the legality of such a law being adopted by a municipality. Baker indicated it would probably be two or three months before they would get a legal opinion from the AG's office. When Alderman Jane Trombley (First Ward) suggested it might "not be prudent to burden the next Council with this," DePietro retorted, "How very Mitch McConnell of you."

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Election Day Beyond Hudson

Earlier today, Sam Pratt published his "Election Roundup for 2021." Pratt offers some interesting insights into the political landscape in Columbia County, but when he gets to Hudson, he starts with the head "Hudson Results Are Too Berserk to Parse" and refers readers to The Gossips of Rivertown.

COVID-19 Update

It seems the Columbia County Department of Health took Election Day off from reporting the COVID numbers, but here are the numbers for today. Since Monday, there have been 26 new cases of COVID-19. The number of active cases being reported today is 1 more than on Monday, from which it can be inferred that, since Monday, 25 county residents have recovered from the virus. There are 12 more county residents in mandatory quarantine today than on Monday, and 1 more is hospitalized. The number of hospitalized who are in the ICU remains the unchanged. There has not been a death from COVID-19 in Columbia County since October 26.

The New York Forward dashboard is reporting a positivity rate from Monday to Tuesday for Columbia County of 4.9 percent and a seven-day average of 3.2 percent. By comparison, the positivity rate for the same period for the Capital Region was 5.9 percent and the seven-day average was 3.8 percent.

A year ago on November 2, the CCDOH reported 9 new cases of COVID-19. The total number of cases was 708, and the number of active cases was 77. There were 368 county residents in mandatory quarantine, 21 were hospitalized, and 2 were in the ICU. The total number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 at this time last year was 42.

The Word on the Third Ward Race

Gossips took the question of who, besides Ryan Wallace, will be Third Ward alderman in 2022 to Ken Dow, Democratic Commissioner of Elections. Dow's response was that issue was covered not by Election Law but by Public Officers Law, specifically Section 13 and Section 30. The Board of Elections' role is to certify which two candidates received the most votes. After that, it is up to the City to work things out. Should Calvin Lewis not take the oath of office within 30 days from the date when his term is to begin--in this case, January 1, 2022--the remainder of the Council will decide who will fill that position. The procedure would be the same as if an alderman resigned before completing his or her term. If the Council will decide who will serve the Third Ward, the question is will they pay any regard to the will of the voters in the Third Ward?

Earlier this year, after Calvin Lewis resigned, the Council appointed Ryan Wallace to fill the vacancy. The choice, it seems, was prompted by a letter of interest from Wallace submitted to Council president Tom DePietro. Wallace was at that point an uncontested candidate for Third Ward alderman, having filed designating petitions back in March. 

In the past, when aldermen have resigned, things were handled a bit differently. In March 2012, when recently elected First Ward alderman Larissa Thomas resigned after serving for only two months, voters in the First Ward gathered to hear from candidates seeking the office, and in a straw poll, they chose Nick Haddad. The Council respected the wishes of the voters of the ward and appointed Haddad to the vacant position. A similar thing happened in April 2015, when there was a vacancy resulting from David Marston's resignation to take a job in Minnesota. First Ward voters gathered again and in a straw poll demonstrated their preference for Rick Rector as their new alderman. Once again, the Council respected the wishes of the voters.

Now it would seem that the voters of the Third Ward have shown their preference about who should replace Lewis if he does not take his oath of office. That choice is Amber Harris. The question is will the Council respect that choice?

Amber Harris with Mayor Kamal Johnson at a "Meet the Candidate" event last week

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Final Unofficial Election Night Results

The Columbia County Board of Elections has updated the results one more time to include the write-ins in the First and Third wards. 

In the First Ward, Margaret Morris received 161 votes, beating out Gary Purnhagen for a seat on the Council. The final numbers were: Art Frick 163; Gary Purnhagen 137; Margaret Morris 161; and other 26.

In the Third Ward, among the write-in candidates, Amber Harris received the greater number of votes. The final numbers were: Calvin Lewis 131; Ryan Wallace 170; Amber Harris 84; Shershah Mizan 22; and other 22. Since Lewis resigned as Third Ward alderman in July as a consequence of taking a job with the Youth Department, it would seem that he would/should decline the office now, thus giving Harris the Council seat.

Photo: Sarah Sterling

Still More Unofficial Election Night Results

The Columbia County Board of Elections just updated the unofficial results to include the numbers in the race for Columbia County Sheriff. The totals are: David Bartlett 8,495; Don Krapf 10,366.  

More Unofficial Election Night Results

The Columbia County Board of Elections has just updated its unofficial results to include the races for mayor and Common Council president. It's no surprise that Kamal Johnson and Tom DePietro, both incumbents running unopposed, won their respective races. What is interesting is how many voters wrote in someone else: 106 voters wrote in someone else for mayor, half of them in the First Ward; 79 voters wrote in someone else for Council president, more than half of them in the First Ward.

Unofficial Election Night Results

The unofficial election night results are now available here. The write-ins have yet to be counted.

In the races of greatest interest, Heather Campbell defeated Michael Hofmann 935 to 241 to remain the city treasurer.

In the race for First Ward alderman, Art Frick has 163 votes, Gary Purnhagen has 137, and there are 187 write-ins. 

In the race for Third Ward alderman, Calvin Lewis has 131 votes, Ryan Wallace has 170, and there are 118 write-ins.

In the race for Fifth Ward alderman, Vicky Daskaloudi has 258 votes, Dominic Merante has 230, and Rebecca Borrer has 67.

The absentee ballots, as well as the write-ins, have yet to be counted.

Hyperlocal and Incomplete Election News

Below is the machine tape which shows the results from today's voting in the First and Second wards. It does not include the results from nine days of early voting, nor does it indicate how many of the 131 write-in votes for First Ward alderman went to Margaret Morris and how many went to Jeff Binder.

In the Second Ward, the results from today's voting seem much more conclusive. It appears that Abdus Miah has survived the challenge from Tiffany Garriga and will remain the supervisor representing the Second Ward on the Columbia County Board of Supervisors. It also appears that the two Democrats on the ballot, Dewan Sarowar and Mohammed Rony, have soundly defeated the Republican candidate, Lee Bradshaw. It would seem that, for the first time in as long as most people can remember, there will be no African Americans representing the Second Ward on the Common Council or the Board of Supervisors.

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Election News

Gossips has just gotten word that write-in votes will be counted tonight. Gossips will report the results as soon as they are available.

Open Meetings and RFPs

On October 19, Governor Kathy Hochul signed a bill that requires documents that are to be discussed at meetings to be posted to the public body's website at least 24 hours prior to the meeting. Gossips has learned that tomorrow night, the Common Council Legal Committee will be discussing a draft RFP for the City-owned vacant lot at Fourth and State streets, but, at this point, less than 21 hours before the Legal Committee meeting, that document has not been made available on the City of Hudson website. Gossips, however, has obtained a copy of the draft.

It will be remembered that, at the September 30 meeting of the  Common Council ad hoc "Properties" committee, Alderman Rebecca Wolff (First Ward) announced her discovery that, in February 2020, the Council had passed a resolution calling for the sale of the vacant lot for the purpose of developing affordable housing. At that meeting, it was also made known that an RFQ (request for qualifications) was being drafted by Michelle Tullo, the City's Housing Justice Manager, using a template provided by Joe Czajka of Pattern for Progress, the group working on Hudson's Affordable Housing Development Plan. 

The document that the Legal Committee will be discussing tomorrow night is identified as an RFP (request for proposals) not an RFQ (request for qualifications). The draft RFP makes this statement: "This City will prioritize projects that include a diversity of housing units such as those for AMI's ranging between 40% and 130% with a range of bedroom counts." It also includes this statement: "The City prefers a developer with access to multiple scattered sites to further the aims of the SHAP [Strategic Housing Action Plan]." This statement, of course, raises the question: What developer besides the Galvan Foundation has access to multiple scattered sites?

The Legal Committee meeting at which this draft RFP is to be discussed takes place at 6:00 p.m. tomorrow, November 3. Click here to join the Zoom meeting.

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It Isn't Over Until It's Over

Liz Yorck, director of the Youth Department, issued this notice today. Gossips found it on the City of Hudson website.

I am sorry to have to inform you that the Department of Youth after school program will need to be closed until further notice. We have a staff member who tested positive for COVID, and since the health of safety of our community is our number one priority, we have made the decision to close the facility for the mandatory quarantine time to minimize the risk of exposure.

We have reached out to any families whose child may have been exposed to the staff member directly, and the Department of Health will be conducting their own contact tracing and reaching out individually to anybody that may need more information.

It is our hope to reopen on Monday, November 15. By then we hope that our staff and the families we serve will have had the time to invest in their health to ensure that we are opening back up in a safe and responsible way. . . .

The entire announcement can be found here.

Midday on Election Day

This year's election in Hudson doesn't exactly have everyone in the edge of their seats in anticipation, but in the final hours (the polls opened at 6:00 a.m. this morning and will remain open until 9:00 p.m. tonight), there seems to be more interest in city offices than there was back in March when this whole process began. For those who haven't voted yet, here's an update of what's happening in the City of Hudson.

Mayor 

Incumbent mayor Kamal Johnson is running unopposed on the ballot, appearing both on the Democratic and Working Families Party lines. There is, however, a movement afoot to write in former Council president Don Moore for the office of mayor.

Common Council President

Incumbent Council president Tom DePietro is running unopposed on the ballot, appearing both on the Democratic and Working Families Party lines. There is some talk of an effort to write in former Third Ward alderman John Friedman for the position of Council president.

Treasurer

Incumbent treasurer Heather Campbell appears on the Democratic line and her own Heather4Hudson line. Campbell was challenged in the Democratic primary by Michael Hofmann, who now serves as mayoral aide. Campbell was the clear winner in the primary, but Hofmann's name still appears on the ballot on the Working Families Party line.

FIRST WARD 

Supervisor

Housing activist Claire Cousin is running unopposed for this position, on the Democratic and Working Families Party line.

Aldermen

In the First Ward, there are four candidates vying for two seats--two on the ballot, two as write-ins. Only two candidates submitted petitions in March: Gary Purnhagen and Art Frick, both Democrats. In July, Purnhagen announced he had a work conflict and was not running. In his statement at the time, he urged "someone else to step up and declare yourself a write-in candidate." In late September, Margaret Morris declared her write-in candidacy and has been campaigning steadfastly ever since. On October 14, Purnhagen announced he was back in the race. On that same day, Jeffrey Binder announced he was launching a write-in campaign. Of the four candidates, Morris seems to be the only one genuinely invested in this campaign and genuinely committed to serving the First Ward.

SECOND WARD

Supervisor

Incumbent Abdus Miah was challenged in the Democratic primary by Tiffany Garriga, Second Ward alderman and Council majority leader. Garriga was soundly defeated in the primary, but her name remains on the ballot on the Working Families Party line.  

Aldermen

Dewan Sarowar and Mohammed Rony were the winners of a three-way race in the Democratic primary. They are being challenged in the general election by Republican Lee Bradshaw.

THIRD WARD

Supervisor

Incumbent Michael Chameides is running unopposed for this office.

Aldermen

The names of former Third Ward alderman Calvin Lewis and current Third Ward alderman Ryan Wallace appear on the ballot. Lewis cannot take office should we win, because he is now employed by the City of Hudson at the Youth Department. Wallace was appointed to fill Lewis's seat on the Council when Lewis resigned in July. There are two write-in candidates for alderman in the Third Ward: Shershah Mizan, who apparently decided not to run in March and then changed his mind in October; and Amber Harris, who announced her candidacy on October 14 and has been actively campaigning.

FOURTH WARD

There are no contests in the Fourth Ward. Incumbent Linda Mussmann is running unopposed for Fourth Ward supervisor, and incumbent Malachi Walker and newcomer Theo Anthony are running unopposed for the two alderman seats on the Common Council.

FIFTH WARD

Supervisor

Incumbent Richard Scalera is running unopposed for this position.

Aldermen

The winners of the Democratic primary, Dominic Merante and Vicky Daskaloudi appear on the ballot on the Democratic line. Rebecca Borrer lost in the Democratic primary, but her name remains on the ballot on the Working Families Party line.

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About That Parking Study

In December 2020, the Tourism Board agreed to provide the $17,500 needed to fund a parking study. At tonight's meeting of the Tourism Board, Ryan Wallace, who currently serves as Third Ward alderman and chairs the Tourism Board, lamented the fact that the survey for the parking study had only gotten one response. Survey? What survey?

It turns out there is a survey, but it's not the easiest thing in the world to find. You have to go to the City of Hudson website, click on "Mayor's Office" in the menu at the top, then click on "Parking Study" in the left column, and then scroll down to find the link to the survey. Of course, the necessary prerequisite to all this is knowing that such a survey exists. Gossips provides a shortcut. To complete the survey, click here. 

The survey began, unbeknownst to many, on Friday, October 22, and will continue through Saturday, November 6. You have a few days left to complete it, so act now!

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The Soon-to-Be Phantom Tollbooths

The Register-Star reported last week that the tollbooths on the Rip Van Winkle Bridge are soon to be demolished: "Rip Van Winkle tollbooths to be razed in days." In the article, Chris Steber, public information officer for the Bridge Authority, explains that the present tollbooths were constructed in 2003 and are neither historic nor replicas of original tollbooths. The photograph below provides evidence of that. Taken in 1937, it shows the western approach to the bridge two years after the bridge first opened in 1935.

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COVID-19 Update

The Columbia County Department of Health has released its numbers for today. Since Saturday, there have been 13 new cases of COVID-19. The number of active cases being reported today is 23 fewer than on Saturday, from which it can be inferred that, since Saturday, 36 county residents have recovered from the virus. There are 53 fewer county residents in mandatory quarantine today than on Saturday, one more is hospitalized, but one fewer is in the ICU. There has not been a death from COVID-19 in Columbia County since Tuesday, October 26. 

The New York Forward dashboard is reporting a positivity rate for Columbia County yesterday of 2.6 percent and a seven-day average of 3.2 percent. By comparison, the daily positivity rate for the Capital Region was 4.6 percent and the seven-day average was 3.7 percent.

A year ago today, the CCDOH reported 7 new cases of COVID-19. The total number of cases was 699, and the number of active cases was 76. There were 376 county residents in mandatory quarantine, 19 were hospitalized, and 2 were in the ICU. The total number of deaths attributed to COVID-19 at this time last year was 42.

Meetings of Interest in the Week Ahead

This is our final week of Daylight Saving Time. Next weekend, we experience the annual depressing plunge into early darkness as we fall back and Standard Time returns in the early hours of Sunday morning. Before that happens, here are the meetings scheduled for this week.

• On Monday, November 1, the Tourism Board meets at 7:00 p.m. A topic of discussion may well be the decision by the Board of Estimate and Apportionment (BEA) to reduce the Tourism Board's 2022 budget from the requested $160,000 to $30,000. Click here to join the Zoom meeting.
• Tuesday, November 2, is Election Day. The polls are open from 6 a.m. until 9 p.m. Voters in the First, Second, and Third wards vote at St. Mary's Academy, 301 Allen Street; Fourth Ward voters vote at the County Office Building, 401 State Street; Fifth Ward voters vote at the Central Fire Station, 77 North Seventh Street.    

• Also on Tuesday, November 2, the Conservation Advisory Council meets at 6:00 p.m. It is not clear if this meeting is to be an in-person meeting or if it will take place on Zoom. So far, no Zoom link has been provided.
• On Wednesday, November 3, the Hudson Industrial Development Agency (IDA) meets at 1:00 p.m. The proposal for the adaptive reuse of the Pocketbook Factory will no doubt be a topic of discussion. At its October 20 meeting, it seemed the IDA was ready to schedule a public hearing on the project, but that has not happened. Click here to join the Zoom meeting.

• On Thursday, November 4, Mayor Kamal Johnson holds a public hearing on the proposed local law reducing the speed limit on Glenwood Boulevard and Union Street from 30 mph to 25 mph. The public hearing takes place at 4:00 p.m. The link to the Zoom meeting will be published on the City of Hudson website prior to the meeting.  
• It is worth noting that the Planning Board had scheduled and then canceled a special meeting to take place at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, November 4. That meeting was to take up the issue of Colarusso and its applications for conditional use permits. Gossips has been informed that Colarusso will now be part of the agenda for the Planning Board's regular meeting, which will take place on Tuesday, November 9, at 6:00 p.m.

• On Friday, November 5, the Historic Preservation Commission holds its first meeting of two meetings for the month at 10:00 a.m. No agenda is available for the meeting, but HPC meetings are rarely without interest. Click here to join the Zoom meeting.

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The BEA Ends Its Work

The Board of Estimate and Apportionment (BEA) held its final budget workshop on Friday, October 29. At that time, they decided that attorneys providing counsel to the Common Council, Planning Board, Zoning Board of Appeals, and Historic Preservation Commission would not receive a flat fee. Rather they would be paid by the hour and would be in attendance at meetings only when they were needed. Council president Tom DePietro opined that "maybe the Planning Board will be more efficient" if its legal counsel is being paid by the hour. In recent years, Planning Board meetings have been known to go on for four and sometimes as many as five hours.

The next step for the budget is a public hearing, which has yet to be scheduled.

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COVID-19 Update

The Columbia County Department of Health has released its numbers for today. Since yesterday, there have been 11 new cases of COVID-19. The number of active cases being reported today is 2 fewer than yesterday, from which it can be inferred that, since yesterday, 13 county residents have recovered from the virus. There are 26 fewer county residents in mandatory quarantine today than yesterday, but the number hospitalized and in the ICU remains the same. There has not been a death from COVID-19 in Columbia County since Tuesday, October 26.

The New York Forward dashboard is reporting a positivity rate for Columbia County yesterday of 4.5 percent and a seven-day average of 3.3 percent. By comparison, the daily positivity rate for the Capital Region was 4.4 percent and the seven-day average was 3.7 percent.

A year ago today, the CCDOH reported no new cases of COVID-19, but there was another death, bringing the total to 42. The total number of cases was 689, and the number of active cases was 72. There were 271 county residents in mandatory quarantine, 20 were hospitalized, and 2 were in the ICU.

Cheryl Roberts and Colarusso

Late last night, the Register-Star published an article exploring city attorney Cheryl Roberts' relationship to A. Colarusso and Sons: "City attorney 'steps away' from Colarusso matters."

It will be remembered that in July 2021, Colarusso's lawyers submitted a FOIL (Freedom of Information Law) request for: "All 'records' . . . related to (i) A. Colarusso & Sons, Inc., (ii) the property with an address of 175 South Front Street, Hudson, NY . . . and (iii) the adjacent haul road used to service the Property . . . from January 1, 2015 to the present date, including but not limited to correspondence, emails, public comments, reports, studies, memorandums, resolutions, proposed legislations, meeting minutes, committee meeting minutes, etc." Specifically named in the FOIL request was everyone who has served on the Planning Board in the past five and a half years. What is revealed in the article is that it seems Roberts has been involved in reviewing those FOILed documents.

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Events of Interest This Halloween Weekend

The weather this Halloween weekend is disappointing, but here are a few events that may persuade you to get out of the house.

• Early voting continues today and tomorrow at 401 State Street. The polling place is open each day from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The next opportunity to vote is Election Day, Tuesday, November 2, when the polls will be open from 6 a.m. until 9 p.m.
• Today, from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m., Friends of Oakdale Lake and the Hudson Youth Center are sponsoring the Fall Oakdale Community Clean Up. Participants are asked to meet at the pavilion. Those who come out and lend their efforts to the cause will be rewarded with a delicious array of hearty snacks prepared by Tamar Adler, with ingredients donated by Talbott & Arding, Rolling Grocer 19, and Le Perche. If you are interested in learning about invasive species at Oakdale and helping to remove them, Vanessa Baehr will be on hand to provide a short hands-on tutorial.

• Also today, the Robert Jenkins House, the home of the Hendrick Hudson Chapter of the DAR at 113 Warren Street, will be open for tours from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.

• Tomorrow--Halloween--trick-or-treating on Warren Street happens from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. The Halloween Parade down Warren Street begins at 4:00 p.m. For trick-or-treaters, look for the Halloween sticker that marks businesses participating in the Halloween treat giveaway.

• Also tomorrow, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m., you can meet two of the write-in candidates for aldermen--Margaret Morris in the First Ward and Amber Harris in the Third Ward--at Oak Pizzeria Napoletana, 523 Warren Street. Proof of vaccination is required. RSVP here.

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