Thursday, April 19, 2007

Voter Education 1.5

In today's edition of the CJ. there is an article concerning the three Democrat Mayoral candidates for New Albany's upcoming primary http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070419/NEWS02/704190509/1025/NEWS02.

The very last paragraph states the one Bill Castile has pulled out of the race. However due to the late date he made this decision, the ballots had already gone to press and his name could not be removed. As a result, he still shows on the ballot for the May 8 primary.

I point this out because there may be some voters that have not heard of his retirement from this election. A vote cast for him is a wasted vote. It may also result in your intent backfiring as it could very well give an advantage to someone you do not want in office.

Again, become as informed as you can, spread the word to your fellow voters, and then cast your vote for what you discern is the best possible government for our city.

Our future is in our hands!

Monday, April 16, 2007

Finally- A Word From the Coffey House

In the letters offerings of the April 8th, 2007 edition of the Tribune (Deatrick: What's wrong with Coffey) http://www.news-tribune.net/letters/local_story_097234455.html?start:int=15, NA Storm Water Board President Tim Deatrick informed us that the Common Council's appointee to that particular board (West End CM Dan Coffey) had as that date failed to make an appearance at any of their meetings.

After a weeks silence, Dan the man responded in Sunday's Tribune (Coffey responds to Deatrick letter) http://www.news-tribune.net/letters/local_story_104235645.html.

To be fair I must at this point state that English was not my strong suit in high school. that being said, I did score high marks in reading comprehension. I say this only to point to my perception of some obvious flaws in CM Coffey's reponse.

In my reading of Mr. Deatrick's letter I see no reference to Dan's membership nor his voting rights on said board. Only that he had been appointed as liaison by Council President Kochert to attend the meetings of such, work with this group ( as in offer insights that he may have concerning the matters at hand) and report back to the Council with real time facts in order that the fiscal body be fully and currently informed.

By CM Coffey's response, we seen once again a reluctance on the Councilman's part, to participate in a solution but rather be a promoter of division and discontent within the workings of our city government.

This phenomenon is all too familiar in New Albany. The old saw that states "if you aren't part of the solution, you must be part of the problem" appears to fit here.

Perhaps if Mr. Coffey is too busy to attend to his appointed duties as a councilman, he needs to
return to being a private citizen in order that he can attend to his own affairs and the taxpayer/voters of New Albany can get someone who has the time and inclination to attend to the cities needs.

May 8th is getting close so please, get informed and go vote wisely. Our future and that of our children depend on it!

Thursday, April 12, 2007

More Well Hidden Info

It continually aggravates me that we as citizens have to work so hard and be so diligent in order to stay currently aware of the goings on of our local government, but it seems to be our fate.

It isn't that the information is not available but rather that it's so well concealed that if one doesn't know where & when to look you'll never find it. Yes it is posted on various bulletin boards around the city/county and yes it is published in the very fine print in the local newsprint. However, (I know, our bad) many of us do not get the paper on a daily basis nor are we thinking of bulletin boards when we go to the grocery store.

The answer to this quandry? Sad but true our only option appears to be even more diligence on our part. (Am I boring you yet?)

The internet has turned out to be an excellent source of data but again, one has to know where to look.

As I was perusing today's newspaper sites I clicked on the CJ's local New Albany link and up popped the following page http://www.cityofnewalbany.com/ . The item that caught my eye was one entitled CBGD One-Year-Plan; Citizen Participation. I read thru it and at the bottom was a link labeled Complete Plan. I clicked on it to find that most of the citizen participation part is now history. However, there are still opportunities for us to voice our opinions on this plan as it still has to weather final approval from the common council at some point in the future.

My point in all of this is to add this link to the growing list of places to check on a regular basis and to pass the info along to others as currently as possible. Again, it amounts to a lot of work on our part, but it's obvious to me at least, that officialdom is not going to go out of their way to keep the public informed save for that which they are leagally required to do. In other words they ain't gonna mention such things when we meet them in the hallway or on the street corner.

By the way, there are two other links you need to add to your "must see" list if you haven't already. One is http://www.newalbany.in.gov/. This one is where you will find the meeting schedules, minutes, and agendas for the City of New Albany (Marci's webpage).

The other is http://www.floydcounty.in.gov/. This one is the couty's web and from time to time cotains info that is pertinent to us here in the city. We are still a part of Floyd County after all and some of the decisions they make affect us as well.

Real time upfront information folks. It is our best line of defense against apathy, stupidity, and political BS! Find it, share it, and act upon it.

Happy Excavating!



Monday, April 09, 2007

"And You Thought it Was Safe to Get Back in the Water"

Not so, boys & girls, for I am still in the mix! My recent 7 day hospital stay turned into almost three weeks due to post initial surgery complications. I'm not completely aware of all the technical details but it seems that there were a total of four trips to the operating room in about a week.

I've been home for going on four weeks now the first two and a half of which were in a drug fog. I could not retain a concious thought for over 5 minutes regarless of the desire to do so.

At any rate, the mental and physical strength is getting stronger by the day. As a result I'm trying to catch up with what's going on around New Albany.

So far it seems that not much has changed. City government is still deadlocked and politics are, as expected, the rule of the day. Oh well, we have less than a month to go and then on to the next phase.

On a positive note, the Neighborhood Associations seem to attempting to make their presence known in a variety of ways and that is a good thing.

By the by, for all of you who express concenr, sent cards, phoned, and came to visit me during this ordeal, THANK YOU!!! I can't express how much both I and my family appreciated your efforts.

I'm not back on the horse yet, but I am cleaning the saddle in preparation. Onward & upward!