Licorice Lampposts

Warren Street will soon be graced by fiberglass composite lampposts, which to my eye look a bit like giant straightened licorice twists. The "licorice lampposts" are the unsatisfactory conclusion to a process that, considering the effort and people involved, should have turned out better, but it didn't. (See my October 23 post, "New Streetlights.")

The Common Council and the City had a choice between cast aluminum and fiberglass composite poles. Cast aluminum poles were what celebrated lighting expert Howard Brandston recommended for the City. Some of us on the Council also preferred cast aluminum poles for several reasons: they can be recycled, the fluting has more definition, and they can be repainted if the color chips or fades. Fiberglass poles are touted to be "maintenance free," but in this case that mostly means they can't be repaired. Fiberglass poles will fade, and once that happens, there is nothing that can be done about it. Fiberglass poles also cost more--in the case of our poles, at least $30,000 more.

The Council should have had a choice, but the process seemed from the beginning to want to deny the Council that choice.

First, there was the resolution to issue a request for proposal (RFP) for the poles. As it was originally presented to the Council at the informal meeting on November 10, the resolution contained language--notably the stipulation that the poles be "maintenance free"--that would have prevented anyone from submitting a bid for anything other than fiberglass poles. Fortunately, Carrie Haddad and I, advocates for cast aluminum poles, read the resolution, recognized the restrictive impact of the language, and insisted that the resolution be changed to allow bids for cast aluminum poles to be submitted.

Then, there was the whole conflict of interest issue, which was not raised by anyone until it was too late. Three bids for the poles were submitted: one from an electrical supply company in Kingston, one from Red Hook Electric, and one from Hudson Electric. Two bids were for fiberglass poles; one for cast aluminum poles. The problem is that Red Hook Electric and Hudson Electric are both Haddad family businesses, and the only bid for cast aluminum poles came from a Haddad business.

Carrie believed that conflict of interest was not a problem so long as she recused herself from the vote. The fact that her husband would be bidding on the poles was a secret to no one. She had picked up the bid packages herself from Cappy Pierro, and reportedly then Common Council President soon-to-be interim DPW Superintendent Rob Perry was present when she did. Nobody suggested that it was a conflict of interest for Nick Haddad to bid on the project until the bids came in. It was only after the bids had been received--and presumably opened--that it occurred to Cappy Pierro and Jack Connor that the bids from Red Hook Electric and Hudson Electric had to be rejected. As a consequence, there remained only one bid--for fiberglass poles.

On December 16, a resolution to accept the one remaining bid was presented to the Common Council. We never got to see any of the bids, and it was never clear who had opened them or when. I objected to a resolution that stated we had "received the bids" when we hadn't. My colleagues in the First and Third Wards and I objected vehemently to being denied a choice. We wanted to reissue the RFP to be sure that we got at least one bid for cast aluminum poles.

Jack Connor, city attorney, told us if we didn't accept the single bid before us, the company submitting that bid "could sue the City." The only recourse we had was to bring the resolution to a vote and vote it down, which we succeeded in doing the first time, primarily because Abdus Miah, in the midst of a heated discussion about conflict of interest, municipal law, sole source bidding, and threats of lawsuits, decided to abstain, which--with Carrie having to recuse herself and the rest of the "southside gang" voting against it--meant that the resolution did not have the votes required to pass.

We had dodged another bullet, or so I thought. Defeating the resolution had bought us some time to persuade our fellow aldermen that cast aluminum was not only more attractive but less expensive. (How often does that happen?) It was reason for celebration, but then at the end of the meeting, just as I was about to move to adjourn, Mayor Scalera stood up and requested--maybe it was more like demanded--that we reconsider the resolution.

In my opinion, this request need not and should not have been entertained, but Wanda Pertilla, who was chairing the meeting in the temporary absence of a Common Council president, thought otherwise. For a motion to be reconsidered, someone who voted on the prevailing side--in this case the nays--has to make the motion to reconsider. Abdus Miah, who had abstained and therefore technically had voted with the prevailing side, moved to reintroduce the resolution. By this time, for reasons not disclosed, Abdus no longer felt he needed to abstain. He voted in favor, and the resolution passed, authorizing the mayor to enter into a contract to purchase 158 fiberglass lampposts for Warren Street.

Before casting her vote, Wanda Pertilla said, "We've spent enough time talking about streetlights. It's time to move on." Alas! In my opinion, there are few things that impact the appearance and character of our main street more than street lamps. Selecting new ones should be done thoughtfully and carefully--soliciting and following the advice of experts. But that's a minority opinion.

What will go at the top of the licorice lampposts has not yet been determined. You can view the options--Acorn, Aspen Grove, and Williamsville--in Council Chambers at City Hall. Go in anytime that City Hall is open. They are all sitting there on the floor.

I am unclear about how it will be decided which of the three is chosen, but I invite you to share your preferences with me. I do want to assure you, however, that lighting experts have offered the opinion that "light pollution" does not need to be a huge concern in making our choice. Given the relatively short height of our poles and the overall light production, the difference in amount of light spilling into the atmosphere from Aspen Grove, which has a "hat," as compared with Acorn and Williamsville, which do not, is inconsequential. Apparently, we have the luxury of deciding purely on aesthetic considerations.