At a glance
Hudson held a public hearing on the proposed 2026 city budget. Residents spoke overwhelmingly in defense of the Hudson Youth Center, whose budget faces two staff position cuts due to a hiring freeze. Speakers described the center as vital childcare infrastructure serving youth across the district, not just Hudson, and warned that charging fees would exclude struggling families. The mayor clarified the fund balance is healthy and noted the youth center is uniquely scrutinized every budget cycle.
Call to Order and Civility Appeal
The mayor opened the hearing and a resident urged respectful civic dialogue, citing harassment of elected officials during past budget discussions.
Key points
- Peter Meyer spoke about repeated harassment and threats against the mayor and council members over budget debates in recent years, including cease-and-desist letters and restraining orders.
- He said council president Margaret Morris was harshly criticized last week for asking budget questions.
- A second speaker, Kenny Peter, agreed harassment is a problem across the city and said he himself was suspended from the senior center without explanation last year.
- Both speakers called for treating each other decently despite budget disagreements.
Youth Center as Safe Space and Second Home
Multiple speakers testified that the Hudson Youth Center provides free, accessible childcare and recreation that no other organization can replace.
Key points
- Justin Weaver read a letter from a resident calling the youth center a place where children feel safe, supported, and can explore goals and activities.
- The letter said boys and girls clubs have existed since 1860 and asked parents to pay fees is shameful in the current economic climate.
- Akira Rosher, youth center coordinator and former participant, said the center offers opportunities like camping and circus arts that many families could not otherwise afford.
- Joan Hunt, executive director of Greater Hudson Promise Neighborhood, said only three organizations in Hudson provide consistent year-round programming that fills the childcare gap: the youth center, the school district's after-school program, and Promise Neighborhood.
- Hunt emphasized no nonprofit, including hers, can replace what the youth center does.
The youth center is one of only three providers of consistent year-round out-of-school programming in Hudson, according to the Greater Hudson Promise Neighborhood's co-host collaborative of 30 youth-serving organizations.
Budget Concerns and Fund Balance Use
Crystal Hines questioned the city's reliance on fund balance reserves to cover expenses and urged finding revenue sources instead.
Key points
- Hines noted last year the city budgeted to use $892,470 from the fund balance but ended up spending $1,667,357, a difference of $858,010.
- She said the proposed 2026 budget would already put the fund balance below the state's recommended level.
- She called it irresponsible to continue using reserves as a way to fund city operations and urged finding revenue sources like grants or a youth center concession stand.
- She noted the 3.9% tax increase will be passed along to renters and make everything more expensive.
Fund balance figures are as stated by the speaker. The transcript does not include verification from city officials.
Clarification on Youth Center Budget Cuts
The mayor clarified that two youth center positions were cut due to a hiring freeze: a new athletic director position and the assistant director role.
Key points
- Multiple speakers said they had seen online mention of budget cuts to the youth center and came to oppose them.
- The mayor clarified two positions were cut during the budget process: a proposed new athletic director position and the assistant director position.
- The assistant director role is currently frozen and cannot be filled unless approved by council or mayor.
- A speaker from the Friends of Hudson Youth said custodian and secretary cuts were also discussed in multiple meetings, and offered transcripts as evidence.
Youth Center Serves the Entire District
Speakers emphasized the youth center serves students from across the Hudson City School District, not just city residents, and maintains significant public infrastructure.
Key points
- A speaker from the Friends of Hudson Youth noted the youth center is responsible for multiple acres of land, a lake, two buildings, and the Oakdale library space, serving the entire public.
- She said the custodian position maintains far more than a single room and suggested renaming the department to include recreation and public space.
- Stephanie Kamal from the McLean Family Circus said Hudson City School District students are bused in from Greenport, Livingston, Stockport, and as far as Valmont.
- Kamal said suggesting families outside Hudson pay fees is beyond imagination given current family expenses and job opportunities.
The youth center serves students across the Hudson City School District, which includes Greenport, Livingston, Stockport, and other towns. Families in those towns cannot afford to live in Hudson but their children still attend city schools.
Youth Employment and Crime Prevention
A young staff member presented research linking youth programs to reduced juvenile crime and warned that fees would force families to choose between their child's recreation and basic needs.
Key points
- Gabrielle, age 20, started at the center at 12 and worked her way up to youth staff leader.
- She cited a study of New York City's summer youth employment program showing participation decreases arrests during the program summer by 17% and felony arrests by 23%.
- She said 26% of juvenile crimes occur between 2:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m., after-school hours.
- She warned that working families struggling to keep housing and food on the table will stop sending their kids if fees are required, and the ones who try will have to choose every month between their child's socialization and necessities like hot water and heat.
- She noted Hudson has already lost 30% of its youth population from 2012 to 2020.
The arrest and crime data cited are from the speaker's testimony. The transcript does not include verification of these figures.
Youth Center Staff Structure
Former youth commissioner Maya Reed described the multi-year effort to build a strong administrative structure and said the assistant director role is critical to daily operations.
Key points
- Reed served five and a half years as youth commissioner under Mayor Johnson and worked with three youth directors.
- She said the first director worked tirelessly with her to develop an administrative structure that could support staff working directly with children.
- The second director, Liz York, benefited from having an assistant director, cleaner, and secretary, creating a team that could oversee, run, and grow the department.
- The third director, Calvin Lewis, moved from assistant director to director, and the hope was someone would step into his former role to support his work on the floor with full-time and part-time attendants.
- Reed said it is distressing to think that structure could come tumbling down.
Call for Budget Review and Other Departments
A resident speaking remotely said every department budget needs scrutiny and asked what work is being done to shift cuts away from youth if that budget is so compelling.
Key points
- Carla Satov said every organization has to navigate budgets and asked if the youth budget should not be touched, where can cuts come from other departments.
- She said there is a finite amount of money and every budget needs scrutiny and due diligence.
- She framed her comment as both a business and emotional perspective.
Proposal for Municipal Cost-Sharing
Crystal Hines clarified that her past suggestions about other municipalities contributing to the youth center meant towns like Greenport and Stockport should pay for services their residents use, not families paying at the door.
Key points
- Hines said she has suggested other municipalities that use Hudson services should contribute, similar to how they contribute to the library.
- She said this would be a shared service and shared expense, not individual families paying at the door.
- She said it seems unfair to look only to Hudson taxpayers to provide services to kids in Greenport, Stockport, and other municipalities.
- She said if the youth center is important, the community should look for ways to keep it going at the current level rather than saying it should all be on Hudson taxpayers.
Revenue Sources and Fees
Speakers discussed the youth center's existing revenue efforts and the Budget and Efficiency Advisory committee's work to bring expenses in line with revenues.
Key points
- Kenny Peter noted the senior center collects fees for some programs and the county lunch program charges $4 for guests.
- Jenna Castillo, youth center secretary, said the department does bring in revenue through building rentals and summer camp fees, and revisits the fee schedule every year.
- She said this round of budget cuts breaks down the infrastructure of staff and the assistant director role is pivotal to operations.
- Peter praised the Budget and Efficiency Advisory committee for scrutinizing the budget painstakingly and finding ways to bring expenses within revenues.
- He said people should get energetic about finding grants and revenue sources, noting Greater Promise got a $290,000 state grant that was in the newspaper.
Mayor's Closing Statement
Mayor Johnson defended the use of fund balance to balance the budget, said the fund balance is healthy, and noted the youth center is uniquely scrutinized every budget cycle.
Key points
- Johnson said the city has used fund balance to balance the budget since before she was mayor and cannot remember a time it was not done.
- She said the fund balance is healthy, not dwindling, and more funds will come from the sale of the Dunn warehouse.
- She said the city is not in debt and the proposed budget is a good budget.
- She said the youth center is at the forefront of every budget process and is the only department where people knew the exact amount of positions and questioned whether people outside the city use services.
- She noted no one at the dog park questions people from all over using it or the riverfront, which tax dollars also support.
- She thanked everyone for coming and said to remember who was present in person to defend their comments and who was not.
Council president Margaret Morris clarified early in the meeting that several council members were attending remotely, including Dewan Sarowar and Mohammed Rony (2nd Ward), Jennifer Belton and Rich Volo (4th Ward), and Vicky Daskaloudi (5th Ward). Dominic Merante attended in person.
About this page
FUTURE HUDSON is an experiment in civic engagement: every public meeting of the City of Hudson since January 2026, transcribed and made readable, so any resident can follow what the city is deciding without attending every meeting. This page covers one meeting; see the full archive.
How it was made
The meeting video was transcribed automatically; the transcript was then organized into sections and summarized. The raw transcript is above, every claim can be checked against it.
What to be skeptical of
The transcript is automated and contains speech-recognition errors; names and numbers may be wrong. This page has not been reviewed by a human. Nothing here is an official record, the city's official minutes are authoritative.
About coverage of this body
Meetings of the Other / Committee are uploaded to the city YouTube channel by members on a best-effort basis (not by the city audiovisual coordinator, who posts only the Common Council family, Planning Board, and HCDPA). If a meeting of this body is missing from the archive, it usually means the recording was not uploaded. See the archive index for the full coverage note.