The proposed oversight board is to be made up of five representatives from the City of Hudson (the Mayor; an alderman, a supervisor, and a resident from the Second Ward, where the Charles Williams site is located; and the Hudson Police Chief) and five representatives from Columbia County.

Scalera presented the proposal flanked by Hudson Treasurer Eileen Halloran, Second Ward Supervisor Ed Cross, Second Ward Alderman Wanda Pertilla, and Fourth Ward Supervisor William Hughes. After the mayor had made the initial presentation, each declared his or her support for the plan. Pertilla and Cross—both representatives of the Second Ward—talked about the need to educate their constituents and deal with the apprehensions and misconceptions that exist, but Cross shared his belief that “the neighborhood will be OK with it when they understand.”

Pertilla and Hughes shared similar sentiments about County government’s efforts to address the need for temporary and transitional housing. Hughes said, “You cannot continue to look to Hudson for siting all these facilities.” Pertilla agreed, saying, “Other places have to step up. Towns contiguous to Hudson—Greenport and Claverack—need to be part of this solution.”

Although Scalera took the lead in presenting the proposal at the press conference, Pertilla told ccSCOOP that the proposal was her initiative. She, as did other members of the Common Council, took issue with Baer’s statement in the published interview that “We’ve been trying to get the [Hudson] Common Council to go along with Charles Williams for a shelter. They’ve stonewalled.” The only proposal for Charles Williams School the County made to the City, Pertilla explained—and Scalera in his comments at the press conference concurred—was for structured transitional housing, such as the program run by Father Peter Young in the Albany area, which rehabilitates people with a history of drug abuse or criminal activity and transitions them back into the community. The idea of using Charles Williams to provide temporary emergency shelter for women with children abandoned by husbands or left homeless by misfortune was never suggested to the Council by the County.

Pertilla said that after reading the interview with Baer she talked with Hughes, whose ward borders the Charles Williams site, and then presented the idea of offering Charles Williams to the County as an alternative to Scalera. Pertilla admitted there was apprehension among her constituents about using Charles Williams to shelter homeless people, but she added “I do not want to see a landmark building used in this way” and said it was her goal to “preserve the integrity of the neighborhood” surrounding the former school site.

Charles Williams School was built in the 1930s—one of several neighborhood elementary schools in the Hudson Public School System. In the 1960s—when the laws governing small school districts permitted such things—the school building was sold to Columbia County for one dollar. The County used the building first as a headquarters for the Sheriff’s Department and later as the office building for the Health Department. In 2003, the City of Hudson swapped with the County, accepting the old Charles Williams School in exchange for the land on which the new county office building at 325 Columbia and its two-tiered parking lot are located.

In the years since the City has owned it, the 20,000 square foot building has stood vacant—but not for want of ideas about how to use it. The first idea—discussed in 2004 and again in 2006—was to adapt the building for Hudson Police headquarters and city court. In between, the idea of turning the building into an intergenerational center—combining the Youth Department, a senior center, and day care—was explored. In 2007, city officials were in discussion with representatives of the Hudson City School District about returning the building to an educational purpose, using it to house the district’s Alternative Learning Program.

Last December, the Common Council gave tacit approval for selling the building when it passed a budget for 2009 that included proceeds from the sale of Charles Williams as anticipated revenue. On June 16, the Council passed a resolution authorizing the Mayor to negotiate a nonexclusive contract with a real estate broker to sell the building for fair market value.

Tomorrow night—Tuesday, June 23—a special meeting of the Common Council will be held "to discuss and consider the City’s options related to Columbia County’s possible location of a homeless/transitional housing facility in the City."