At a glance
The Common Council spent about 40 minutes of its September informal meeting on license plate reader cameras, hearing from Police Chief Mishanda Franklin, council members and residents in the room and online. Council President Margaret Morris said she, the chief and the mayor's office will keep working toward a city policy and report back. Three local laws on vacant buildings, demolition and parking penalties were laid on the council's desks for a vote next week. Morris asked to vote that evening rather than wait a week, and the council took roll-call votes on two resolutions tied to a $52,000 water system grant application due Wednesday: an amended equal employment opportunity policy and the designation of a fair housing officer. The meeting ended with questions about why the public hearing held before it was in person only, and about the Mill Street lawsuit.
Opening and Department Reports
Council President Margaret Morris opened the informal meeting, which she said was starting at about 6:20. Minutes were placed on file and she ran through which department reports had come in.
Key points
- Reports were received from police and fire. Youth and senior services reports had not arrived.
- There was no Department of Public Works report because no infrastructure committee meeting was held last month.
The roll call at the start is badly garbled in the automated captions, so this page does not list attendance.
Finance: Budget Requests Are In
City departments have submitted their budget documents, and the Board of Estimate and Apportionment meetings on the next budget begin soon.
Key points
- The budget documents from departments have been circulated to the council.
- Board of Estimate and Apportionment meetings are expected to begin the week of September 28. There will be no meetings the week of October 5.
- The meetings are held in the afternoons, on Tuesdays and Fridays and sometimes Mondays. The city will try to make them virtual so people can listen in, and the whole process is open to the public.
- Treasurer Heather Campbell said the schedule had not been posted yet because she was waiting on one department head to confirm a rescheduled time, and hoped to have it done the next day.
- Asked by Councilmember Jason Foster, she said the department budget requests can be posted online, probably under the treasurer's section of the city website.
Services: New Senior Services Commissioner, Youth Center Reopens
Councilmember Dominic Merante reported on the Services Committee, which met without a quorum, and previewed a transfer to fix items found in a fire inspection.
Key points
- The committee met Brittany Gillis, the new Commissioner of Senior Services, who he said is concentrating on the budget for now.
- The youth department's summer camp ended in mid-August. Oakdale was closed because of an algae bloom.
- The youth center was moving toward a September 14 opening as school started. He said the department has four or five full-time staff and will use part-time staff to fill gaps.
- Code enforcement did a fire inspection, which will now happen annually. A resolution next week would move money within the budget to fix the deficiencies it found.
- He said he will add inspections and reports for the senior and youth departments to the committee's agenda.
Safety Report and License Plate Reader Cameras
Councilmember Henry Haddad gave the Safety Committee report and opened a long discussion of license plate reader cameras, with Chief Mishanda Franklin and President Morris describing where the city stands.
Key points
- Haddad said the new fire truck should arrive soon, the police department lost an officer this month, and parking revenue for the month was about 28% over last year.
- Chief Franklin said Hudson has used license plate readers for over two decades and administers its system through Axon. She said most of the department's internal policy mirrors a state bill sponsored by Senator Michelle Hinchey, aside from a couple of items.
- The chief said the department put up a public transparency portal on the city website showing how many plates are read and hit. The hot list comes from New York State; the department enters only its own list of bootable vehicles from the parking system.
- The chief said Hudson owns the data, and that Axon cannot access it without asking permission first. Another agency, such as the sheriff's office, cannot search what Hudson's system reads unless the department shares it.
- Morris said she, the chief and the mayor's office met the previous week. She said the Hinchey bill prohibits sharing information outside the state and that they agreed with that, and that the city needs a policy balancing privacy with public safety.
- The chief said the policy calls for periodic audits, which she, Morris and the mayor's office agreed will happen every 30 days, on the first of the month, at the Safety Committee meeting.
The chair said at the September 14 Safety Committee meeting that cameras would come to this meeting. Haddad noted the draft Hinchey bill was on council desks.
Council Questions on the Cameras
Councilmembers asked how the system handles misreads, what goes on the hot list, and how searches are controlled.
Key points
- Councilmember Jen Belton said she had sent the council and county eight pages of research. She said the ACLU reports Axon has a contract with the Department of Homeland Security, cited a California study on how often plates are misread, and said there is a non-cloud option.
- The department said an officer must visually confirm a hit before taking any action, and that a wrong hit is logged with no further action.
- Councilmember Jason Foster asked about the hot list, including more than 2,000 hits for bootable vehicles and one listed for terrorism. The department said the terrorism category comes from New York State, a hit may be a partial match that needs verification, and one vehicle can produce many hits during the week it is on the list.
- Foster asked about a line in the police policy allowing use when someone is planning criminal conduct. The department said it would act on a complaint, such as a report of someone with a gun, and would send an officer rather than rely on the camera alone.
- The department said every plate search must be tied to a case number and is audited.
- Haddad said the current system helped solve Hudson's last murder, find a 2-year-old this year, and prevent a tragedy for a teenager headed to the Rip Van Winkle Bridge this summer.
The captions do not always make clear which police department speaker is talking. Answers are attributed here to the department.
Public Comment on the Cameras
Residents in the room and online raised concerns about what the cameras capture, who can reach the data, and whether they address local problems.
Key points
- Chris Bishop said Axon cameras installed this summer on light posts on Green Street at Harry Howard Avenue and on Third Street capture more than plates, including car color, bumper stickers and drivers' faces, and can take 20 or 30 photos of a single vehicle.
- Bishop also objected to the privately owned Flock camera on Warren Street. The police department said the owner has agreed to switch to the Axon system when his subscription expires.
- A student, Herman William Nichols III, raised the mosaic theory, that many pieces of camera data add up to a fuller picture, and said future administrations will inherit the technology.
- An online caller said the cameras mostly read pass-through traffic and do nothing about speeding on State Street or electric scooters and bikes on sidewalks. Morris said cameras were on the agenda because the topic came from the community.
- An online commenter said the data is stored outside the police department's control and raised the federal government's use of information to pursue people through ICE.
- A high school student said ICE has access through a Homeland Security contract with Axon and that an immigration violators hot list could be opted into in the future. Morris said New York has passed a non-cooperation law, and that 14 counties still have agreements and 16 are suing the state.
- Councilmember Gary Purnhagen asked whether the city should regulate private cameras like Flock. Morris said New Lebanon barred such cameras on its own property, but regulating what private owners install would be very difficult.
Morris said she and the chief will keep working with the mayor's office on a policy and report back, and that the topic stays on the Safety Committee agenda. No action was taken.
Bills, With One Pulled
A councilmember questioned a $10,000 bill, and the council pulled it for clarification before voting on the rest.
Key points
- The councilmember said the bill had first been emailed to her and was not something she had discussed or approved.
- Members said the $10,000 bill was for a Climate Smart project. A second, for the Local Waterfront Revitalization Program, was entered by the mayor and left on the list.
- The council moved to pay the remaining bills and took a roll call. The captions record only some of the responses.
The $10,000 bill can come back next week if questions about it are resolved.
Three Local Laws Laid on Desks
Morris introduced three local laws reviewed by the Legal Committee on September 17: vacant buildings, demolition, and parking penalties. The council expects to vote next week.
Key points
- The vacant buildings law reorders the code so that demolition is no longer listed as the first option. Morris said the code enforcement officer is working to identify and act on abandoned and vacant buildings.
- The demolition law, amending Chapter 97, makes whoever does a demolition liable for damage to an adjacent property whether or not it shares a party wall, and requires a demolished site to be left clean and level.
- The penalty for demolishing without a permit rises from $250 to $5,000 in this version. Belton and Foster had called that low, and Morris said it could be taken up again once more research is done.
- A councilmember said the city has not collected any vacancy fees since the vacancy law was passed several years ago. Members noted that the version in front of them shows only the amendments.
- Asked whether the new rules would reach a property already demolished and left with a hole, the answer given was that it probably would not, and that the question should go to Code Enforcement Officer Nick Fox.
- The third law updates parking violation penalties to match the fee schedule.
The Legal Committee reviewed all three laws on September 17.
Resolutions Previewed for Next Week
Morris walked through resolutions for next week's regular meeting.
Key points
- Appointing three new commissioners of deeds.
- Authorizing the mayor to issue a request for proposals for dock management and maintenance. Belton pointed to a simpler resolution used in Kingston; another member said Kingston's riverfront is far larger. Morris said no action would be taken until next week and suggested Belton raise it with the mayor, whose office sent the resolution.
- Budget transfers within the Department of Public Works, cemetery, water and sewer.
- Authorizing the sale of equipment.
Votes Tied to a $52,000 Water Grant
Morris asked to vote that evening on two resolutions required for a grant application to assess the water system, because the application is due Wednesday.
Key points
- The grant is for $52,000. A public hearing required for the application was held before the meeting.
- The application requires a fair housing officer. Morris said the city had one listed until December of last year, when Theresa Joyner was not reappointed.
- It also requires an equal employment opportunity policy and a named officer. Morris said the new policy, sent by the group handling the application, is more robust than the current one, which mostly covers filing complaints with the clerk and has no timelines.
- Councilmembers questioned naming the Superintendent of Public Works, Rob Perry, as the officer, since his department is among the city's largest. At the suggestion of Councilmember Mohammed Rony, the council amended the policy so that complaints concerning the officer or any of his direct or indirect reports shall be filed with the mayor, or with the council president where the complaint concerns the mayor. Foster moved the amendment and Haddad seconded.
- The council then took roll-call votes on the amended policy and on designating the fair housing officer. The captions record yes or aye responses from most members but do not capture every response.
- Heather Campbell said Rob Perry had volunteered for the role himself.
The new fair housing officer is Michelle Tullo, confirmed by Peter on 2026-09-23; the captions garbled the surname.
Why the Public Hearing Was In Person Only
Two residents online asked why the public hearing before the meeting could not be joined remotely, and why the meeting link showed as locked.
Key points
- Morris said the public hearing ran from 5:45 until about 6, and the council then held an attorney-client session on litigation until 6:15 using the council meeting's link, which is why it showed as locked.
- She said attorney-client sessions do not need to be announced, and that the meeting was posted as starting at 6:15.
- Another online commenter asked that the public be able to attend public hearings remotely. Morris said she would look into making future public hearings hybrid and find out why they are held in person only.
Other Public Comment: Tree of Peace, Mill Street
Residents asked about the Tree of Peace and the Mill Street lawsuit before the council adjourned.
Key points
- A resident asked where the Tree of Peace is and how it is doing. Morris said the council has no jurisdiction over it and suggested raising it with the mayor.
- A Mill Street resident asked whether there is a pathway to a settlement in the lawsuit. Morris said the council has received two resolutions from residents and is getting advice from its attorneys on the next step, but cannot discuss the litigation in public session.
- The meeting adjourned.
A resident raised the same lawsuit at the Legal Committee on September 17, where Morris said she was trying to schedule a meeting with the litigation attorney.
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.