Name: William Hughes Jr.
Age: 43
Place of residence: 307 State Street, Hudson NY 12534
How long you’ve lived in the county: 43 years
Office being sought: Supervisor 4th Ward Hudson
Incumbent? Yes
Party affiliation: Democrat
Endorsements received: Hudson City Democratic Committee, Working Families Party, Independence Party, Conservative Party.
Previous elected offices:
Education: Hudson High School Graduate
Occupation: Retired/ Columbia Co. employee
Years in that occupation: 10
Ever been convicted of a crime? No
Family: Wife: Adebola (Deb) Hughes, Senior Strategy Consultant, IBM
Current member:
- Shiloh Baptist Church.
- Columbia Co. Empire Zone Committee.
- 103AD Judicial Delegate.
- City of Hudson/Columbia Co./NYS Democratic Committeeman.
- Monthly payroll contributor to the United Way.
Past member:
- Chairman, Columbia Co. Youth Advisory Board.
- Hudson Youth Advisory Board.
- Columbia Co. Minority Task Force.
- Hudson Development Corp.
- Hudson Community Development and Planning Agency.
- Hudson Industrial Development Agency.
- Board of Directors of the Boy’s and Girl’s Club.
- Award: 2005 NAACP’s community service person of the year award
What do you think are the top three issues facing Hudson?
Taxes: Continue to work with City and County officials to lower City and County taxes by keeping spending down. Increase Hudson’s taxable property/housing stock, by helping private developers build new housing. Work with Mayor Scalera and other elected officials to make Hudson more attractive for capital investment. Work with and encourage municipal cooperation from other towns and villages that would save taxpayers money.
Housing: Hudson has a great deal of boarded up homes not on the tax rolls. I will continue to work with Mayor Scalera, public and private developers to get these properties fixed up and back on the tax rolls. Continue to work toward redeveloping our low-income and affordable housing stock, by working with City, State and Federal officials to build new better quality homes.
Jobs: This is the biggest issue residents of Hudson are facing. If re-elected I will work hard over the next couple of years to redevelop the lower half of Hudson. Hudson is in need of capital investments that would revitalize its economy. Developing the Waterfront is a big part of that, but not the only part. The development of Club Helsinki, Opera House and Cannonball Factory in the 4th Ward is crucial to the revitalization of Hudson’s economy. Understanding this, I have been and will continue to work with Mayor Scalera and other elected officials to address the needs of these facilities. One of which is parking. I have been working hard to address this problem, by writing a congressional appropriation for the construction of a new parking garage, which will be crucial once these businesses are operating at full capacity. Developing a working Waterfront and a vibrant city will work toward all of the issues of importance I have outlined. It will increase the need for affordable housing, help lower taxes, create jobs and encourage future capital investments.
If you are the incumbent, what are you most proud of accomplishing?
The thing I am most proud of is, I redrafted the County’s Ethics Policy and had it pass the Board of Supervisors with a unanimous vote.
Fought alongside my fellow City, County and State elected officials to keep the Hudson Correctional Facility open.
I led the fight on the County level, for the City of Hudson to get additional sales tax revenue. As a result, the City of Hudson was able to get $75,000 additional dollars, above the additional $40,000 per quarter negotiated by Mayor Scalera several years ago. In 2008 Hudson received a total of $1.4 million in sales tax revenue, which was used to keep Hudson’s 2009 taxes from going up.
I am proud to have led the fight on the County Board of Supervisors and to be one of the loudest opponents against the movement of DSS out of the City of Hudson. I believe, this move would be a financial and social blow to the City of Hudson.
Was able to encourage several changes in the County’s youth employment program. Although each Supervisor gets one spot, I was able to work with my fellow County Supervisors to get seven youth from the City of Hudson hired into the program.
I’m proud of the fact, that because of the hard work I did during my first term as a County Supervisor, my fellow Democrats voted to appoint me Deputy Minority Leader of the Columbia Co. Board of Supervisors.
