Noah Eckstein is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media that the members of the Hudson Common Council are no longer calling themselves aldermen. The full council on March 15 adopted a resolution officially changing their titles from alderman to councilmember. Mayor Kamal Johnson signed the resolution into law the next morning. “We want to ensure that our city government is as inclusive as possible,” Johnson said. “We don’t want to discourage people from running for Common Council positions in the future because they feel excluded or misrepresented.” The word “alderman” derives from the Old English word “ealdormann,” which means an elder or a man of high ranking, according to Oxford Languages. Hudson was chartered in 1785 by Quaker New England whalers, with a residual allegiance to the British crown. Because of this, the name ‘alderman’ was adopted for the city’s Common Council. Under the new law, the city recognizes that gender-inclusive and gender-neutral language influences attitudes, behavior, and perceptions of Hudson’s government. “This is a long-overdue change,” Common Council President Thomas DePietro said. “Personally, I’ve used the term ‘councilmember’ for some time so it makes sense to me to formalize the change.” Note: DePietro is a WGXC volunteer on-air programmer. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.