BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report
Municipal elections are still a little more than six months away, but the race for mayor in Hudson has been triggered, as a challenger has stepped forward looking to unseat incumbent Chloe Hutchison.
“I know I could do much better to make Hudson the gem it should be,” said resident Chantal Perreault, a lawyer who has launched her campaign for the top job on the town’s municipal council.
“I’m not there to add a title to my CV,” Perreault said in an interview with The 1019 Report last Sunday. “I want to be there to get results, to accomplish things.”
A resident of Hudson since 2013, Perreault says she has gotten to know the community, has been involved with a number of groups and has watched how the current administration has failed to deal with a list of issues – from putting a solid administrative team together to handle the day-to-day operations at town hall, to Sandy Beach, to continuing to rack up budget surpluses, a sign, she says, that shows residents are being overtaxed for services they are not receiving.
“It’s not because you’re small,” she said, referring to the size of the town, “that you can’t accomplish great things.”
“It’s a lack of leadership and vision,” she added. “We have to put the car in drive. I feel we have been idling for four years.”
Hutchison yesterday confirmed she will seek re-election, but has yet to turn her attention to the election, which is schedule for early November.
Her focus at the moment is to put a new director-general in place, she said, ensure the treasury department is functioning at full capacity and continuing to focus on ongoing projects.
See HUDSON, Page 2.
HUDSON: Challenger seeks
top job on town council
From Page 1
Perreault, a 66-year-old mother of two who has two grandchildren, has a priority list of what she would like to tackle if elected.
Improving the town’s parks is at the top of that list.
“There is pretty much nothing” for young families when it comes to parks, Perrault said.
That will change within the first year, she pledges. Changes are also needed to how the vast trail network in Hudson is maintained, she said.
She also aims to settle the Sandy Beach issue.
“We need to find a solution to preserve Sandy Beach and guarantee access for the summer of 2026,” she said.
That solution includes striking what she described as a reasonable agreement with the current owners of the waterfront site and “exercising the power available by the law.”
“The cost of securing that land for public use has become lower than it has ever been,” she said. “We can make it an asset for our youth.”
Perreault also points to the need to put an end to what she called “the revolving door” at town hall, referring to the constant turnover of personnel in key positions.
In February, Hudson hired a new treasurer, its third in two years, and is currently looking to hire a new director-general after a deal was struck last month to part ways with the previous top administrator who had been on a leave that began only months after she was made permanent.
Other changes Perreault believes are needed include instilling a different approach to dealing with taxpayers. They need to be treated as clients, she said. And ask: “How can I serve? How can I help? It has to come from the top.”
Perreault also wants to tackle the issue of water, improving the quality and quantity of tap water available and extending the waste water network to where it can feasibly be done within the town’s core.
She also wants to put added emphasis on governance issues, including the way the town drafts its budgets and plans its priorities.
Perreault believes her experience as a lawyer, a former school commissioner, volunteer and administrative judge who dealt with issues of ethics and professional governance will lend itself to her role if elected. She wants to put her skills to work for her town, she said.
“I’m not running against anybody. I am running for Hudson. I am rooting for Hudson.”