Today, Friday, October 28, The Register-Star printed its election-year profile of all candidates running for city-wide offices: Mayor, Common Council President and Treasurer.  Reporter Tom Casey's interview with me is printed below.  What is also of note is that Bart Delaney, the Republican candidate of whom virtually nothing has been heard, emerges with an interview where it appears he is actively campaigning for the position.

http://www.registerstar.com/articles/2011/10/28/news/doc4eaa35ede6199826428608.txt

Supervisor challenges sitting council prez
Moore: City needs strong council, government

By Tom Casey
Hudson-Catskill Newspapers

Published:

Friday, October 28, 2011 2:09 AM EDT

HUDSON — For Common Council President Don Moore, the past two years have been an investment.

“I’ve spent the last two years turning a part-time job into a full-time job,” said Moore. “The challenges facing the city deserved that much attention.”

Moore is seeking re-election to his position on the Common Council, and thinks the time spent there has been productive.

Citing the progress that the council had made under his tenure, Moore said he has worked to expand the responsibilities of the council with the progress made on the LWRP, the strengthening of agencies like the Hudson Development Corporation, and the completion of a re-evaluation of tax assessments by the middle of next year.

“Insofar as the goal has been to improve the economy, the tax base, and the quality of life in the city,” said Moore, “I think the council has done a good deal of work in the face of considerable challenges.”

Moore said what the city needs is strength in its government.

“What the city continues to need is a stronger administration and a stronger ability to carry out the responsibilities of the city and to meet the responsibilities of the city,” said Moore. “ I think knowing more now than I did two years ago only reinforces the fact that the office of the mayor, the office of the treasurer, and clerk can utilize the efforts of a stronger common council to assist ... that can streamline the ability of the city to carry out its duties to try and meet the needs of the city population.”

The Common Council president said his top issue for the city was to increase economic development, including attracting new businesses to bring in jobs to the city. The waterfront is one of those places, and Moore has suggested bringing in a committee of citizens and council members to address what  could be brought there.

“The LWRP is only one step on a very long road,” said Moore. “The subsequent work of developing the waterfront, the properties that are there, finding the grants, organizing the evaluation of how the South Bay can be used and restored —  these are projects that will take a great deal of time by both the people who work for the city and the people who can be brought in as volunteers.”

 Moore also wants to make property taxes fair in the city, by replacing the sole assessor.

“This city has had a series of sole assessors who have frankly not lived up to their responsibilities as public servants and have left a trail of miscalculation of erratic assessments and behavior,” said Moore. “I’d very much like to see this city be confident citywide that its assessments are as close to accurate as possible.”

Moore said the city also needs to be smart about how it spends and taxes. He pointed to last year’s property taxes saying the city was able to keep tax increases to only 1.76 percent and should look to maintain that restraint for 2012. However, he said cutting spending should not be done by undercutting services.

“Too severe a reduction means a jurisdiction might end up thoughtlessly cutting jobs,” said Moore. “That will not happen as long as I am here.”

Hudson’s Local Waterfront Revitalization Program (LWRP)

Two posts today.  Both are about the LWRP. 

The first is an editorial by Parry Teasdale in The Independent of October 7, 2011: “Hudson makes progress on waterfront” which can be read at: http://www.columbiapaper.com/index.php/editor/2284-by-parry-teasdale. 

“…last week the Hudson Common Council took one of the most significant steps in decades aimed at changing both the zoning of South Bay and opening up the  overall waterfront of the city to new uses that should give the public more access than ever before to the waterfront along the Hudson River.

“The council adopted a document called a generic environmental impact statement for the city's long-delayed Local Waterfront Revitalization Plan. That clears a  major hurdle toward adoption of both the waterfront plan and changes to city zoning designed to make a revitalized waterfront possible.”

The second is a My View I authored that appears in The Hudson Register-Star today, Friday, October 14, 2011: “Hudson’s Future Protected by the LWRP.”  http://www.registerstar.com/articles/2011/10/14/opinion/letters/doc4e97cadddaca7336068848.txt

The full text follows:

One of the biggest questions about the LWRP: Does passing it open up the waterfront to industrialization?  In fact, no, the opposite is true. The new zoning prohibits manufacturing and processing at the port (and in the entire Core-Riverfront zone). The LWRP explicitly states that the “City’s support to encourage the use of the port for the shipment of raw materials, processed and/or finished goods should in no way be construed to support a return to cement manufacturing. The City does not support cement manufacturing in or near its boundaries.

Another question: what would rejecting or just not voting on the LWRP mean? The City would lose the LWRP’s new zoning, leaving the entire waterfront industrially zoned. Developers will wait for the new zoning before making commitments. If we leave the current zoning in place, we’ll have industrial zones that exist virtually with no restrictions. The port or the causeway could be developed without any restraints.

Here is why. If we adopt the LWRP now, the changes to the City zoning code would restrict the causeway and the port to shipping only. O&G already has the permits to truck across the causeway. The NYSDEC granted that permit in October 2009. Both the permit and the resurfacing were challenged by Scenic Hudson but upheld.

If the Council adopts the LWRP with the new Core-Riverfront zoning, the current use at that time, whatever that is, is “grandfathered,” it is allowed to continue. Under the new zoning it becomes what is called a “non-conforming” use. Changes to non-conforming uses – like altering buildings, repaving roads — that require approval by the City would then be considered “changes of use” and the Hudson Planning Commission would impose conditions spelled out in the zoning code. If the City grants a conditional use permit, the owner must abide by conditions that would include: site plan approval, restrictions on hours of operation, noise, dust, light, and screening and viewshed concerns.

What about Holcim’s ownership of the Hudson port and wetland, including the causeway? To answer that, two fundamental questions need to be addressed: one of law and the other of finances. First, property rights are a legal principle that protects us all. The City cannot simply take over the South Bay and port. It could only do that through a successful eminent domain action. Second, the City could not afford to pay anything like what it would take to buy those properties even if we were to win an eminent domain decision. Would it benefit the City to own the port?  Absolutely. Must we find another way to own it? Yes. Do we hold up the LWRP while we figure how to do that? No.

Passing the LWRP is only the first step. Then, the City must determine which of the many projects and land parcels (some city- and state-owned, some privately held) on our waterfront we want to develop, in what order of priority, and then pursue the private finances and public grant money to make each a reality.

As we know, Hudson has a very limited amount of land.  Many of our potentially most attractive properties are along the waterfront. But right now our waterfront is a patchwork of well-developed park and revitalized older buildings, alongside exhausted and underutilized industrial buildings and land. The LWRP spells out policies and proposes new laws — zoning codes, consistency law — that refresh the possibilities for new business investment and jobs, housing, a more robust tax base.  It also offers a path to recovery of the South and North Bays that give us confidence we can preserve and enjoy the natural beauty right at our doorsteps. The LWRP protects against decisions that aren’t right for Hudson. It is a roadmap to smart choices for our future.

Statement by Don Moore, Common Council President Organizing Common Council Meeting, January 10, 2011

This is the second of the precious two years during which we are privileged to work together for the betterment of the City of Hudson, to fulfill our oaths of office, to accomplish the work set before us, and to help the people of our City understand the challenges as we see them.  We must act and we must communicate.

We have many specific opportunities some of which I will speak to in a moment.  The most important challenges we face are these.  We must maintain the local business growth we now enjoy, creation of jobs and how people in Hudson get to jobs -- transportation, and we must increase our tax base while at the same time looking to restrain spending in the face of reduced resources.  Couple this with the very real, and in many ways desirable possibility that the Governor and the State Legislature by the end of this year may establish a two percent cap on annual property tax increases.  The Governor believes such a cap is a matter of fairness to local tax payers.  He proposes this action at a time when the State's budget is in deficit, state costs will be cut, and our local costs are rising.  We certainly wish him well.  At the same time, it is only prudent that we keep a very close eye on our wallets while we see how this works out for him.

Hudson is fortunate in its budget for 2011.  We had and still have a general fund surplus.  We held our property tax increase to under 2 percent.  There is some comfort we can take in this -- but for how long?  I firmly believe that the Council must play a part in addressing each agency of the City to help determine where efficiencies can be accomplished now and for the years ahead. We will not do this alone.  The Mayor, the Treasurer, and I have the lead on budget formulation. But what I have learned in my first year as Common Council President is just how few people there are who make this government work. We are operating a 21st century government with a 19th century structure.  It works because we have no choice.  What makes it work are many skilled hands working cooperatively, as many as we can possibly convince to put a portion of your efforts in service to the City.  

Volunteers.  I am a tremendous fan of our fire department.  I am so for many reasons.  But the one most on my mind is that those 500 active and inactive members are a shining example of giving time and talent to our community, of volunteerism that adheres to thoroughly professional standards, with little thought of a return other than the sure knowledge that they protect the City.  They exemplify as do many others, this virtually unpaid Common Council is another excellent example, of putting time aside for the City.  In his first inaugural address, President Kennedy said this, “united, there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided, there is little we can do." 

Careful spending.  Cooperation.  These must be our guiding  principles.  And I believe they are. The record of the last year has shown that Hudson's elected officials have worked together. These are not times when any of us gets to rest on our laurels.  So what do we have ahead of us?

Since property taxes are at the top of many people's lists -- we are all aware of the controversies surrounding the 2010 assessments -- one initiative the City will soon sign is a contract with a highly respected property tax assessment firm to complete the city-wide revaluation and to do so with professionalism and transparency. Much of the current controversy remains centered in court proceedings.  Those actions will take their own course.  But in times such as we are living through, when real estate for home owners and small businesses is so much a part of what value many people hold, fair and accurate assessments must be a foremost goal of the City.  We will have more detail on this initiative soon.  But I can assure everyone that the Council must and will be an active participant in this process.  Credibility equals openness. Openness is inseparable from participation.      

Economic development, especially the small businesses that today make up the life blood of the City's economy, must continue to be a primary focus of the City's resources and advocacy, both financial and people.  I am delighted that the Columbia County Chamber of Commerce will locate its offices at the foot of Warren Street and that the renovated historic Washington Hose building will be its new home.  I am convinced that the economic vitality of the City will be measurably improved with that anchor at the gateway between Warren Street and the waterfront.  The Hudson Development Corporation will be a co-tenant of the Chamber and a leading program intended for that facility will be job counseling and playing a strong part in revitalization of underused properties owned by the City.  

We will also pass the Local Waterfront Development Program, the LWRP, and I hope that plan will spark new development and a fairly substantial increase in our property and sales taxes. The LWRP should be back in our hands from the Department of State within a month or two for Council review.  Once approved, I look forward with the Mayor to assembling a group of active and dedicated people into a new LWRP Advisory Board to help the city solicit further mixed use development -- commercial, residential, environmental, and recreational -- on our waterfront. The LWRP is a complex undertaking with many interlocking parts that involve matters of law -- who owns what and who regulates what, land use planning, grant writing and fundraising, environmental research of our bays and their remediation -- to name just a few of the moving parts. Once adopted, we need do everything we can to maintain momentum in bringing the LWRP's plans to life.

The Mayor has also announced a number of promising initiatives either as issues of spending or law that have and will come before the Council:  a new configuration of programs for youth, new programs for senior citizens, new cooperative agreements with the County to improve public transportation within Hudson and with Greenport and Albany; and consideration of a new restaurant on the waterfront.  

Finally, there is a concern that is uppermost in my consideration as an elected official representing the entire City.  That is the issue of the most vulnerable among us: those without jobs, or adequate housing, those who may be homeless.  This aspect of what government can and must do is where cooperation with the County and with private social services agencies is paramount.  Although often among the most intractable problems, time and again we have shown that if we work together, what we believe is unattainable is within our reach. We can dream, but can we see our way clear to fulfill our goals?  We can. No all of them, but certainly many.  Take one step at a time -- together. Then we can translate our beliefs into action. 

In that spirit, I leave you with a thought from Italian poet and activist Danilo Dolci, "Words don't move mountains.  Work, exacting work, moves mountains".  

Let's get back to it.  Thank you.  It is an honor to serve with you.