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Fate of DSS, One City Centre worries officials
By Jamie Larson
Hudson officials raised concerns Wednesday with the possibility that Columbia County may reconsider keeping the Department of Social Services in Hudson if the current plan to buy the One City Centre building for new county office space falls through. The city officials said they’re ready to take up the fight again to keep DSS in the city, if necessary.
While Board of Supervisors Chairman Art Baer, R-Hillsdale, said DSS would stay in Hudson at a public press conference July 21, he now says circumstances have changed. Baer said that in the wake of a recently discovered decade long, $9 million DSS budget accounting error, if the county does not win bidding on One City Centre, all “viable options” will be up for discussion again, including the old Ockawamick school building in Claverack.
According to the chairman, the county’s fund balance will drop from $26.6 million to $15 million in 2010, due to the error which led the county to fire the firm — Patterson, Koskey, Howe and Bucci — which audits its budget.
Hudson Mayor Richard Scalera said he understands that the county’s budgetary mistake has put them in a difficult situation but that does not change the fact that Hudson proved to the county through months of protest that DSS belongs in the city, the county seat, and the population with the highest concentration of DSS patrons.
“In front of cameras the chairman said that regardless of One City Centre, DSS will stay in the city of Hudson,” Scalera said. “I take him at his word.”
Baer said a new search would be undertaken by the Space Utilization Subcommittee and would have the fiduciary responsibility to the taxpayers to look at locations both within and outside the city.
Ockawamick was previously chosen by the Board of Supervisors as the future location of DSS after the school was purchased by the county. The move was protested vehemently by Hudson residents upon its introduction in early 2009, until it was abandoned with the public announcement on July 21.
“If the One City Centre deal doesn’t happen,” Baer said hypothetically, “we’ll quickly pull together in committee all the options in light of our fund balance issue.”
Scalera has been invited by the county to join the search for an alternate location. He has accepted the invitation with a condition. “If the word Ockawamick comes up, I stop going to meetings and we take back out Linda Mussmann’s signs,” the mayor said. “it’s just that simple.”
Mussmann, a community organizer and founder of the Bottom Line Party, lead protests and public meetings which helped to bring an end to the Ockawamick plan. Mussmann said she hasn’t removed the protest signs from the back of her pickup truck since July and will hit the streets again if necessary.
The Space Utilization Subcommittee will reconvene for the first time Nov. 5, two days after election day, and Mussmann said the timing is suspect.
“I’m concerned that this mysterious letter has been kept from the public,” she said, referring to a letter concerning bidding for One City Centre. “Many of the people running for re-election have used Ockawamick as a big issue. The silence from the county is extremely hard to take. I have yet to find anyone who thinks it’s a good idea to move DSS out of Hudson. It has been a bad idea and to return to that bad idea is folly.”
Things recently changed for the county when Baer received the letter from the firm handling the sale of One City Centre — Pyramid Brokerage — last Thursday, which he said states the county has been out-bid for the building. Baer said Wednesday that while the county is still in the running with Pyramid with its $2.6 million bid the brokers did not specify who the other bidder might be or the size of the competing bid.
Baer argued that he will assess the possibility of making a higher bid, but not without knowing what the next highest offer is. “I’m not going to bid with myself in the dark,” he said.
Supervisor William Hughes, D-Hudson4, and Supervisor Edward Cross, D-Hudson2, both said that they feel the supervisors need to meet on this issue now, before Pyramid makes a decision, to prepare. They feel that the decision shouldn’t just be made by Baer and his deputies. They also said that waiting until after the Nov. 3 election feels like a political maneuver.
“The whole deal smells of election protection,” Hughes said. “They once again are ignoring the people and doing what they want.”
“I think some of the board is handling this like a spring shower when it’s a tempest storm to the rest of us,” Cross said. “This should be done quickly and the public should know about it. I encourage all the voters to seek out their representatives and ask them where they stand.”
Baer said that it’s important to remember that the county is still working on the acquisition of One City Centre and could still have their bid selected by Pyramid, making Hudson’s concerns vanish.
On a related note, while Baer said he has no knowledge of the identity of the other bidder on One City Centre, on July 21 Richard Koskey, of Patterson, Koskey, Howe and Bucci, confirmed that he had made a bid for the property, with the intent to lease it back to the county at “below market value.” Koskey’s firm has refused repeatedly to give any comment since they were dismissed by the county.
To reach reporter Jamie Larson, call 518-828-1616, ext. 2269, or e-mail jlarson@registerstar.com.
While Board of Supervisors Chairman Art Baer, R-Hillsdale, said DSS would stay in Hudson at a public press conference July 21, he now says circumstances have changed. Baer said that in the wake of a recently discovered decade long, $9 million DSS budget accounting error, if the county does not win bidding on One City Centre, all “viable options” will be up for discussion again, including the old Ockawamick school building in Claverack.
According to the chairman, the county’s fund balance will drop from $26.6 million to $15 million in 2010, due to the error which led the county to fire the firm — Patterson, Koskey, Howe and Bucci — which audits its budget.
Hudson Mayor Richard Scalera said he understands that the county’s budgetary mistake has put them in a difficult situation but that does not change the fact that Hudson proved to the county through months of protest that DSS belongs in the city, the county seat, and the population with the highest concentration of DSS patrons.
“In front of cameras the chairman said that regardless of One City Centre, DSS will stay in the city of Hudson,” Scalera said. “I take him at his word.”
Baer said a new search would be undertaken by the Space Utilization Subcommittee and would have the fiduciary responsibility to the taxpayers to look at locations both within and outside the city.
Ockawamick was previously chosen by the Board of Supervisors as the future location of DSS after the school was purchased by the county. The move was protested vehemently by Hudson residents upon its introduction in early 2009, until it was abandoned with the public announcement on July 21.
“If the One City Centre deal doesn’t happen,” Baer said hypothetically, “we’ll quickly pull together in committee all the options in light of our fund balance issue.”
Scalera has been invited by the county to join the search for an alternate location. He has accepted the invitation with a condition. “If the word Ockawamick comes up, I stop going to meetings and we take back out Linda Mussmann’s signs,” the mayor said. “it’s just that simple.”
Mussmann, a community organizer and founder of the Bottom Line Party, lead protests and public meetings which helped to bring an end to the Ockawamick plan. Mussmann said she hasn’t removed the protest signs from the back of her pickup truck since July and will hit the streets again if necessary.
The Space Utilization Subcommittee will reconvene for the first time Nov. 5, two days after election day, and Mussmann said the timing is suspect.
“I’m concerned that this mysterious letter has been kept from the public,” she said, referring to a letter concerning bidding for One City Centre. “Many of the people running for re-election have used Ockawamick as a big issue. The silence from the county is extremely hard to take. I have yet to find anyone who thinks it’s a good idea to move DSS out of Hudson. It has been a bad idea and to return to that bad idea is folly.”
Things recently changed for the county when Baer received the letter from the firm handling the sale of One City Centre — Pyramid Brokerage — last Thursday, which he said states the county has been out-bid for the building. Baer said Wednesday that while the county is still in the running with Pyramid with its $2.6 million bid the brokers did not specify who the other bidder might be or the size of the competing bid.
Baer argued that he will assess the possibility of making a higher bid, but not without knowing what the next highest offer is. “I’m not going to bid with myself in the dark,” he said.
Supervisor William Hughes, D-Hudson4, and Supervisor Edward Cross, D-Hudson2, both said that they feel the supervisors need to meet on this issue now, before Pyramid makes a decision, to prepare. They feel that the decision shouldn’t just be made by Baer and his deputies. They also said that waiting until after the Nov. 3 election feels like a political maneuver.
“The whole deal smells of election protection,” Hughes said. “They once again are ignoring the people and doing what they want.”
“I think some of the board is handling this like a spring shower when it’s a tempest storm to the rest of us,” Cross said. “This should be done quickly and the public should know about it. I encourage all the voters to seek out their representatives and ask them where they stand.”
Baer said that it’s important to remember that the county is still working on the acquisition of One City Centre and could still have their bid selected by Pyramid, making Hudson’s concerns vanish.
On a related note, while Baer said he has no knowledge of the identity of the other bidder on One City Centre, on July 21 Richard Koskey, of Patterson, Koskey, Howe and Bucci, confirmed that he had made a bid for the property, with the intent to lease it back to the county at “below market value.” Koskey’s firm has refused repeatedly to give any comment since they were dismissed by the county.
To reach reporter Jamie Larson, call 518-828-1616, ext. 2269, or e-mail jlarson@registerstar.com.
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stonepound wrote on Oct 29, 2009 6:30 PM: