During the 2003 Hudson campaign, former Police Commissioner Geoffrey Bagnall was moved by a Rick Scalera TV ad to write an open letter to the community. The bulk of Bagnall’s statement follows below.
HUDSON POLITICS & HUDSON POLICE:
MYTH VS. REALITY
I was amused to see Mr. Scalera’s television commercial wherein he portrays Hudson as a safer city because of all he has done for the Hudson Police Department.
In his commercial, Mr. Scalera takes credit for the introduction of the Police Department’s bicycle patrol. As a point of information, Mr. Scalera cut last year’s budget for the Department, and did not fund these bicycles or the cost of training the officers. The funds came from private donations.
It costs approximately $1,700 to buy and equip a police bike and train the officer in its use. These bicycles and training were paid for as a result of the Hudson Police Benevolent Association raising the funds on their own. [...]
In his commercial, Mr. Scalera takes credit for the Hudson K-9 units. These units came into existence during the prior administration as a direct result of funding found and provided by New York State Senator Stephen Saland. Mr. Scalera, on the other hand, has a long history of public opposition to any Hudson K-9 operation. Further, the police union, which has chosen not to endorse candidates, has filed a grievance over Mr. Scalera’s forced use of the Police Officer in the filming of the commercial.
In his commercial, Mr. Scalera points to the creation of surveillance cameras, which are wired directly into the Police Station. The point of fact is that this project was commenced by Chief Richardson and myself, before Mr. Scalera became mayor.
In his commercial, Mr. Scalera points to a sign indicating an area as a “Neighborhood Watch” community. That program was a direct outgrowth of something called “N.J.A.” or “Neighbors Joined in Action”, a private group of residents who literally took to the streets to put pressure on drug dealers. [...]
When it comes to the upcoming Hudson City election, there are only three local propositions on the upcoming ballot. One deals with the Library budget while the other two deal with the city charter. The salary increase for a “full-time” mayor is not among them.
That’s right, the increase in the Mayor of Hudson’s salary to $60,000.00 is not going before the voters for approval. In fact, it is already a done deal, and, interestingly enough, it did not require a change to the city charter or voter approval. [...]
Even more interesting is the concept that the mayor’s job was sold as a “full time” position, and that therefore this salary increase was necessary for a “full-time” mayor. However, the section of New York State law which covers elected officials has no provisions for how many hours an elected official need put in. In the case of this already approved, “full-time” mayor, the mayor can work more or fewer hours, as few as he/she wants, and there are no minimum hours. In effect, one becomes one’s own boss; accountable to no one for what hours he or she works. In effect, it is nothing more than a smokescreen for a huge pay increase for the same job. [...]
Mr. Scalera has claimed the salary increase, which is now law, was done months ago in the hope of “removing politics from the issue.” I would suggest the true way to remove politics from this issue would have been to put the proposition for his salary increase in front of the voters, in the same fashion that the Library budget is on the ballot. Had he chosen to do so, perhaps it would not have been as necessary for him to cut the Police Department’s budget.
