The Common Council breezed through a series of resolutions and ordinances involving the regulation of scrap metal processing facilities, creating more parking facilities, and extending a lease agreement with the Mid-Hudson Children’s Museum with little comment or debate in its meeting held on Monday, July 21.
But when the issue of the storm-induced power outages of early June came up on the agenda, strong passions were expressed on the need for Central Hudson to meet its obligations to its customers by Councilwoman Gwen Johnson (D-7th Ward).
The scrap metal resolution, which passed unanimously without debate, was the result of extensive discussions, including input from Poughkeepsie residents, which occurred at the council’s June meeting. Like so many social problems which are deepening with a worsening economy, the problem of vagrants stealing valuable copper and other metals in the form of rain gutters, house ornaments and even whole fences has exploded exponentially in the City of Poughkeepsie over the last three years. The purpose of the thefts is to obtain often paltry sums of cash which are paid for scrap metal by area dealers.
From four such incidents in 2005 and six in 2006, the problem has grown to 24 thefts in 2007 and 36 in the first six months of 2008, to the point where the crime has become a major local nuisance. Poughkeepsie Police Chief Ronald Knapp explained at the June session that local ordinances are not sufficient to deal with the criminality, as the thieves can simply steal in the city and sell elsewhere. Ultimately, statewide regulations which strictly monitor who is selling the metal and where it came from are needed to ensure that the trade is legitimate, and the resolution urged the state legislators to enact it.
In the final part of the council meeting, after City Administrator Michael Long gave an update on his communications with Central Hudson on the power outages which occurred as a result of storms on June 10 and 14, Johnson complained about the need for the power company to be accountable to its customers.
Long related that in the latter instance, Central Hudson claimed that the cause of the problem was not identified until the next Tuesday, June 17, hence the long wait before a restoration of service in the affected area.
But Johnson, who represents the affected area, was having none of it.
“The problem was not identified? It was identified immediately,” she said. “That whole story was false. These people pay their bills to Central Hudson on time. The least they could have done was acknowledge their version of the story. These are elderly people, who are severely affected by power outages.”
“Power outages happen; we understand that,” she continued. “The question is whether there was negligence. Especially if the problem was only in front of one home, you didn’t have to be a rocket scientist to get to the source of the problem.”
Council Chairman Brian Doyle (D-4th Ward) offered a solution by arranging with Long that Johnson attend a meeting with Central Hudson representatives that will examine the whole issue of what happened and how it can be avoided in the future.
“She is closer to the facts of what happened, and can represent the views of those affected,” he said.