Noah Eckstein reports for Columbia-Greene Media that the Hudson Common Council voted unanimously Feb. 15 join the Columbia County Board of Supervisors resolution against hate. There have been several racist incidents in the Hudson Valley lately, with a hate group rallying in Chatham, East Greenbush, and Woodstock. Currently 12 Columbia County towns have signed on to the resolution: New Lebanon, Taghkanic, Germantown, Ancram, the town and village of Chatham, Hillsdale, Ghent, Austerlitz, Livingston, Canaan, Gallatin and now Hudson. Three towns are considering backing the resolution: Clermont, Copake, and Greenport. But seven towns have taken no action on the issue: Claverack, the town and village of Kinderhook, Stockport, Stuyvesant, Philmont, and Valatie. The lack of action does not sit well with Michael Richardson, founder of Hate Watch Report, a website tracking acts of hate in New York. “Hate and violence happen right here,” Richardson said. “When government leaders are silent it sends a message that maybe hate is OK and it’s not.” Hudson officials are not being silent about the recent hate acts that include recruiting stickers for hate groups on telephone poles and electrical boxes in Hudson and Stockport. “I wholeheartedly support Hudson backing the resolution against hate,” Mayor Kamal Johnson said. “I think our city has to make every effort to show that we are an inclusive and loving community and hate will not be tolerated here.” Full disclosure: Johnson is a volunteer programmer at WGXC. Read more about this story at HudsonValley360.com.