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Assessing the assessor
May 26, 2010 8:51 pm
[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Garth Slocum via City of Hudson."][/caption]Sam Pratt reports that Hudson assessor Garth Slocum and one of the Hudson city attorneys who lives in Spencertown, and perhaps others, are serving as officers of the city of Hudson illegally. Pratt first finds the rule:
"Section C2-4 of Hudson’s Charter says that to “be eligible to any City office under this Charter,” a person must be an elector of the City. Or, if the person is not a Hudson voter but wishes to serve in an appointed position, then s/he must meet two requirements:Then Pratt looks at Slocum's particulars:
1. The appointee must live “within 15 road miles” of Hudson; and
2. “Be a taxpayer on the real property assessment rolls of the City of Hudson.”
"Slocum lives in Chatham, well within the 15 'road miles' of Hudson.... But Slocum’s name does not seem to show up in the Hudson 2010 tentative roll as a local taxpayer. The question, then, is: Does he own some property through a corporate name? And if so, would that qualify?"And then he wonders how many other officers of Hudson do not qualify. Read the entire story at Sam Pratt.