View From the Highway

Hello Friends & Neighbors!

2008-11-16T12:17:00.005-05:00

Yes I'm still around!

No I haven't lost interest!

I've just been in one of my periodic slumps of not having much to say of a constructive/enlightening nature and as much as I like to rant, it really doesn't add much to the conversation.

For the time being you can read my local issues views at NAC via the following link;
http://cityofnewalbany.blogspot.com/

Please continue to check in here from time to time as I never know when the spirit may move me to post on this site.

Thanks for reading!

Will We get Our Cut? or Better Yet, Will We Make it Count?

2008-10-21T15:28:00.004-04:00

This Monday past I along with John Miller & Pat Woosley of NA Community Housing had the pleasure of attending a live teleconferenced seminar sponsored by Federal Reserve System entitled Confronting the Neighborhood Impacts of Foreclosure.

The local venue for this all day event was held at the Louisville Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Others in attendance from Corydon, Louisville, and elsewhere who deal with housing issues in one way or another in their respective locals.

The panel consisted of Mayors & Housing Department officials from cities around the country, Federal Reserve Board Members, representatives from NeighborWorks America, National Housing Institute, National Community Stabilization Trust, JP Morgan Chase, and Enterprise Community Partners to name a few.

The presentation centered around the small portion ($3.92 Billion) of the $700 Billion that has been set aside to be deal with foreclosure issues at the local level and how best to utilize those limited funds. Information that any city government could find useful in these trying times.

While most of the legal and financial jargon was well above my pay grade I found a much of what was presented to be germane to our own local conversation.

There were numerous examples of how municipalities from other states have successfully dealt with such financial crisis’ of the past three decades. Instances brought on by plant closings which led to job losses and a decline in population followed by deterioration of housing stock in what were once thriving neighborhoods.

Such things as increased code enforcement, city/county owned land banks, greenfields, small neighborhood parks, urban agriculture, mixed use properties, and much more were sited as successful ways to deal with vacant and abandoned property.

The folks who had initiated these programs in their own communities suggested a variety of ways to tweak them to fit in cities of all sizes in all states in order for them to get the biggest bang for the bucks available.

Does it mean that an adjustment in thinking will be required ? Yes, but it also means that we do not have to reinvent the wheel. Templates are available to any who choose to look at them.

Click on the link below and you will find access to Power Point © presentations from previous sessions in this series. This particular meeting should be available there within the next few days.
http://www.stlouisfed.org/RRRseries/

Other links of interest include;

NeighborWorks America http://www.nw.org/network/home.asp

Enterprise Community Partners http://www.enterprisecommunity.org/

Housing Partnership Network http://www.housingpartnership.net/

Local Initiatives Support Corporation http://www.lisc.org/

Genesee County Land Bank http://www.thelandbank.org/

Randy, Doug & Dan!

2008-10-17T12:29:00.000-04:00

Last evening’s New Albany Common Council meeting was unique in a number of ways.

For one, Doug England was present from beginning to end. For another, Carl Malysz was nowhere to be found.

Then there was Mr. Randy Smith who rose to the podium to remind the Council of their historic unwillingness to raise taxes & services rates regardless of the need to do so. He also suggested the budget be frozen at 2007 levels and let the chips fall where they may.

To his credit he managed to not be removed from the room although he did get gaveled out of order by President Gahan later in the evening.

And for the second meeting in a row CM Coffey remained calm, cool & collected. Well for the most part anyway. He voice did raise an octave or two when an employee of the New Albany Housing Authority dared to disagree with him about his memory of the origin and distribution of monies within that entity when he was on their board. (circa the1990’s)

The Mayor (that’d be Doug ‘cause Carl weren’t there) came to the podium to inform the Council that the storm cleanup, although expensive, was for all practical purposes done. That was the good news.

The bad news was that your man Mitch (he sure as hell ain’t mine) has yet to declare our fair county/city a disaster area. Further more, there have been no clear indicators of either when or if he will.

Which brings me to a burning question. Where are the Floyd County Executives (i.e. the Commissioners) in this conversation? Oh wait! Floyd County doesn’t have any infrastructure worth selling off to the highest bidder to further pad the State coiffures does it.

But I’m getting off task here. As a result of the untimely storm, the Governors inaction, and the States tardiness in handling our local budget issues we are in fact up the creek without a paddle.

All that being said the Mayor’s position is that he will work within the legal constraints of the budget monies available. If that means cuts in jobs & reduced services to the public, so be it!

He once again reminded all present that we in New Albany have one of the lowest property tax rates in the State. If I heard correctly our rate is $0.80 per $100.00 of assessed value.

Mayor England went on the say that he would balance this budget because he is legally required to and that his administration would work closely with this Council to formulate a 2009 budget that all can agree to. However at the current tax rate and unless someone can wave a magic wand, freezing the 2009 budget at 2007 levels will result in even more reductions in public services. The dollars just aren’t there.

CM Price of course put forward the same ole same ole of parking take home cars, cutting overtime, restricting cell phone us, etc, etc,……….

The remainder of the evening was spent on first readings of various ordinances pertaining to the 2009 budget.

The most telling of which was R-08-43, a Resolution to Reduce 2009 City Budget to offset State Shortfall. This is basically requiring all city departments (except of course Police, Fire, & Safety Services) to trim yet another 10% from the operating costs.

In the case of the aforementioned Safety Services, that cut was a minimum 12 to 15%. A “Good Luck doing that” sigh was felt across the room.

The mayor stated the if necessary we could expect to see Police administration officials on street patrol duty.

Following my 3rd District Councilman’s lead I suggested to the fire chief that he could save thousands if he were to remove the inside dual tire on all of the fire engines and use PVC couplers & radiator hose clamps to repair damaged fire hoses.

Or better yet, let the houses burn completely to the ground thus saving the Building Commission the costs of demolition after the fact. Hauling off a dump truck load of ashes has to be cheaper and quicker than demolishing a half burnt building.

I know, I know, that ain’t funny. But it is about as realistic as a citizenry demanding $3.00 worth of services while only putting .50 cents in the kitty. Cats & rabbits breed fast enough to replenish themselves but I’ve yet to see even pennies, nickles & dimes do so to the scale we are talking about.

At any rate with the exception of A-08-14, which authorized the spending of a federal grant for a new radio system in the Fire Department and R 08-42 which amounted to a 5 year tax abatement for Rite-Way Industries, the other menu items were in one way or another centered around the budget.

There is a Council work session scheduled for Thursday October 23rd @ 6 PM to discuss the budget (again). The Council requested that city department heads attend this workshop to assist in trimming the fat.

As per Kay Garry, the Council has two more meetings in November to get the details hammered out & agreed to. The drop dead date is December 1st.

Happy New Year New Albany!

Just a footnote; I've cross-posted this article over at NA Confidential!

Where Did Our Jobs Go?

2008-09-26T11:26:00.001-04:00

Marcey Wisman asked me to spread the word on an upcoming event concerning job retention in our community & state.

This coming Monday (September 29th) there is going to be a discussion entitled "Outsourcing and Job Loss in Indiana" in the IU Southeast Library from 2-4PM.

This meeting is sponsered by the "Campaign for Change" and will be moderated by Ms. Wisman.

It is open to anyone interested in the topic.

The Experiment Failed!

2008-09-23T13:38:00.000-04:00

Well it turns out that the temporary closure of Scribner Drive created more problems than it resolved.

People being people took the path of least resistance and instead of going all the way to State Street to make their way over to Main, they simply turned right onto West 1st to get there.

That in turn led to more traffic crossing State without the assistance of a traffic light which created a safety issue at that intersection as well as alongside the city/county building.

All this coupled with a public hearing at which no one in attendance spoke in favor of Scribner being permanently closed resulted in Deputy Mayor Malysz announcing at this mornings Board of Works meeting that the barracades would come down and remain that way for the forseeable furture.

He also indicated that Scribner is in need of repaving due in part to the heavy truck traffic that it carries but that is a discussion for another day.

In addition Carl requested that the BOW declare a state of emergency in order that the administration could move forward with securing both the Tabernacle and the city's road salt shed roof against further damage to both. He stated that the insurance adjuster had given them the go ahead to do emergency repairs within reasonable limits.

Kay Garry indicated that of the two, the salt shed should be priorty #1 as the city spends $40 to $50k per season on road salt and that availabity for this winter is already questionable. "We shouldn't risk loosing what we have on hand in the event of rain!"

The remainder of the meeting dealt primarily with various street closures relating to the upcoming Harvest Homecoming and the events surrounding it.

Meeting adjourned with everyone still smiling.

And Now, Another Episode of "As the Council Churns!"

2008-09-19T11:40:00.006-04:00

In our previous episode; A proposed ordinance (A-08-12) for an appropriation of $250K to fund the drug task force restart (10K), the city’s new tow-in lot ($50K) and $190K for purposes not yet named was introduced for 2nd & 3rd readings by D5 Councilwoman Ms. Benedetti.

Following which a lively discussion between (primarily) CM’s Messer & Coffey concerning the advisability of handing the England administration a “blank check” for $190K.

Although testimony from several sources (including previous statements from City Controller Kay Garry) that the dollars could not be spent without further council approval, Dan successfully squelched the $190 and the Mayor’s office walked away with only $60K!

And now, tonight’s episode;

Going in, this the second September meeting of New Albany’s Common Council looked to be short & sweet. The only agenda items were a report for CM John Gonder concerning his Housing Committee, a resolution for the transfer of funds (R-08-40), and the 1st reading of a bill to annex 40 acres of fringe property to expand our industrial park area (X-08-01).

The Gonder report was without incident as after two meetings nothing of consequence has occurred save the realization that code enforcement in any meaningful way is not happening. (Old news)!

During the public comments section, there was only one gentleman who approached the podium to speak about the smoking ban only to find that it wasn’t a topic of discussion for this evening.

No Public Officials had anything to say and the Mayor (i.e.; Deputy Mayor Malysz) presented an update on the city’s post hurricane cleanup activities.

Then the fun began. R-08-40 (a transfer of funds request of once again, $250K) to pay for the cleanup thus far was introduced by CM Coffey.

Coffey came out of the box in ardent support of this appropriation without question. “We have an emergency and the people need help!” he quipped.

Some council members asked why this request differed from A-08-12 (the one from the previous meeting for the same amount).

The Coffey response was the $190K asked for on September 4th, had no specific earmarks attached.

CM Messer countered that this one did not either. It was merely a blank check for “cleanup”. There were no specifics on to whom, for what, and how it was to be distributed.

CM Coffey came back once again that this was an emergency and the need was dire.

CWM Benedetti offered that if the full $250K had been approved at the last meeting, the administration would be 2 weeks closer to having at least $190K in hand to deal with the current issue. In addition, none of it, thewn or now, can be distributed without further Council approval.

About this point both CM’s Coffey & Price pointed out to Ms Benedetti that she needed to listen and learn!

She responded that she was learning everyday and she still didn’t see the difference between this request and the aforementioned one.

This makes the second meeting in a row that she has been reprimanded publicly (by CM President Gahan at the last meeting) for daring to voice an opinion.

If I may interject, you’d think she’d understand the status quo doesn’t appreciate being challenged by freshmen CM's any more than they do the public.

However, on the other hand I say with gusto “YOU GO GIRL!!”

CM Price then said that this should be a “wake up call” for the city. “We need a rainy day fund just for such events” he continued. “This just underlines the need for the city to watch its pennies! (Paraphrased quote)

In the end after nearly an hour of quibbling, the measure passed unanimously.

Then came the introduction of X-08-01 (the Grantline Industrial Park West Annexation) for 1st reading.

Mr. Malysz presented the details including the need for infrastructure & utilities to serve the annexation and it also passed with little ado.

The gavel dropped and Mark & I retired to the city hall annex (i.e.; Studio’s) for the regularly scheduled post-meeting meeting.

We thought our cohort (Bluegill) was going to join us but he apparently got detained for further discussion with various council persons & city officials following our departure.

Perhaps we’ll hear more on that later.

One final note; Mr. Malysz said he’d been assured by Duke Energy that all power for New Albany will be restored by sometime Saturday. And stay away from those power lines still entangled in downed trees!

OH! and did I mention this was one long meeting for just two agenda items??

IF I MAY.........?

2008-09-14T23:11:00.004-04:00

If I may (or even if I may not) I’d like to respond to the latest contribution from our friends over at Freedom of Speech.

Their post this morning entitled “YOU BOYS JUST DON’T GET IT” brings up some interesting points. Many of them, I in principle, agree with. Others however I’d like to expand upon.

First things first. My take is that the Council Committee really is looking for ways to make New Albany safer, cleaner, and healthier for its citizens (children & seniors alike).

As to why the administration’s entities charged with effectively enforcing the ordinances on the books are not doing so is question I also would like answered.

My suspicion is that the answer lies in part to the lack of staff & resources.

I’m convinced after attending several public meetings on the subject that a lack of understanding of the applicable laws is in play as well.

And finally I think it goes without saying at this point that there is a lack of will (political or otherwise) to take the lid off that particular can of worms.

It is true that there are over 22,000 parcels of property listed as being within the cith limits of New Albany
in the data bases of the Assessor, the Auditor, the Recorder, and the Platt Room computer systems.

However, that information very often does not match from one office to the next. There are in fact parcels listed as vacant lots that have (and have had for 2 years or more) houses on them.

There are in fact houses on parcels of property that the transfer of ownership has never been recorded. In other words, persons building structures on property they do not legally own at least in terms of a recorded deed transfer.

There are in fact instances (including those like the ones mentioned in the previous paragraph) where said structures were constructed without permit one being applied for much less approved by Zoning & Planning.

There are in fact cases of owners of multiple properties claiming homestead exemptions on more than one of them. Once again, my understanding of the statute is that provision is one per customer.

All of these examples add up to a loss of income (via property taxes) for New Albany. The net result is a lack of dollars available to the city for its many needs to be met.

I don’t mind paying taxes to pay for city services. As a matter of fact, I’ll gladly do so in order to retain that cozy feeling of safety when I lay my head on my pillow at night.

I do however object profusely when I find that not all are required to carry their portion of the burden because they managed to slip thru the cracks.

Are there a lot of these instances? At this point, I honestly can’t say. However one or a hundred it begs the question of “who’s minding the store?” Is the water cooler talk of favoritism more than just talk?

Answers anyone?

And just what does all this have to do with code enforcement and the call for rental property registration?

Well first of all, it explains in part why there are so few dollars that have to be spread so far. It explains in part why the work load overwhelms the staffs in place.

I will agree that in the case of owner occupied homes, access to the responsible party is relatively easy. He/she lives in the home in question (usually).

However, in more than a few cases locating the individual(s) who have the authority to address a code violation issue for rental properties is much more difficult and time consuming.

As I have said in previous posts on this site and others as well Pam Badger, & Ron Hartman both have cited instance upon instance of not being able to locate said individual which adds weeks, months and even years to a satisfactory solution to the issue.

So as shown by other cities/towns/burgs/puddle stops around the state/country, registration of rental property and the requirement that the owner or his/her agent live either in the city or an adjacent county cuts the time, money, & resources required to solve said issues substantially.

There need not be a fee attached for registering. However failure to do so can result in some serious fines.

Registration need not be a cause of fear for those landlords that are keeping their properties up to snuff. Contrary to popular belief, I choose to think those folk are in the majority.

What it will do is shine the spotlight on those that are not (i.e.; slumlords). While I will acquiesce that “ghosts” may be and probably are hard to locate I’d submit that if efforts could be shifted to doing so instead of being spent digging thru four separate data bases to weed out the offenders from those doing the right thing, the focus of enforcement could shift and become more productive.

As I have mentioned before, after getting the registration data base in place, it will be up to the various entities of the administration to follow thru all the way to a solution case by case.

While it is true that at there may be a requirement for an additional staff person to create, administer, and keep the data in this program current, I can’t envision it being a major budget item.

Anyone with a working knowledge of Excel can put this thing together. Once in place it should not be that difficult to keep current. Assuming of course the person(s) involved want it to remain so.

To paraphrase a quote from FOS, “It ain’t that complicated Boys (Girls)”

Fair?

Yes!

Difficult?

Yes!

Impossible?

Only if the administrators choose it to be!

Only if we the people sit quietly by and allow our elected/appointed government officials to continue doing “business as usual”!!

Who's Job Is It Anyway?

2008-09-12T16:51:00.008-04:00

This past Wednesday evening heralded the second in a series of meetings called by New Albany’s Common Council Committee on Housing issues. This committee was formed to look at ways to gain some semblance of control over our ongoing unsafe/uninhabitable housing units within our city limits.

From our point of view, based on how other cities around the country have dealt with such, the starting point would be to have a data base of contact information on all rental property in our city.

Right out of the box jumped the suggestion that requiring rental property only to be registered would somehow give owner occupied homes a free pass from enforcement. Nothing could be further from the truth.

With few exceptions (and yes Ethel, there are exceptions) the responsible party of owner occupied homes is usually pretty easy to track down.

With rental property, that is often not the case. Names change, people move out of state, transfers are not recorded, banks sell mortgages to other banks, etc., etc,…!

Again, citing how others handle these situations, a database of contact information for a locally based responsible party provides a starting point in solving most (not all) of these issues.

An obvious truth came forth that if a ghost landlord did not want to be found, registration would be pointless. I disagree on two points.

First of all, not all problem properties are owned by “ghosts”.

Second, if those that can be found are registered it takes another segment of properties off the extended search grid which saves time, resources, and money for the already overworked enforcement entities. That in turn saves wasted tax dollars and gets us down the road farther & quicker to reclaiming our city. Some of those saved $$"s could then be used for Ghost Hunting!

Somehow the conversation got off track and turned to trash pickup and grass/weed control. Although I’ll agree the city could and should do a better job of both, I fail to see how a landlord justifies the concept that neither is his/her responsibility if the property has a tenant.

While I understand the tenant has rights & responsibilities, I think it behooves the property owners to monitor their property and deal firsthand with their tenants. I don’t see that the city has the obligation to absorb that responsibility from the landlord.

I know that in any State approved rental agreement there are statements of the rights & obligations of both. I don’t read in the statue anywhere that the owner can pass that responsibility off to the city.

Then came the age old discussion of who picks up what for whom as it relates to garbage, trash, & yard waste.

So once again, here’s the skinny as I understand it. I’m sure I’ll be corrected if I’m wrong although probably anonymously on another blog site.

Southern Indiana Waste Systems will pick up recyclables weekly. It is not the same truck but it is usually on the same day as one’s garbage pickup. Any who don’t know can find out what is or is not recyclable by calling S I W S @ 812-948-5356 and ask for Stanley. Or as an alternative you can call Matt Denison @ 812-948-5333.

The same folks (different truck) will pick up your garbage once a week. Garbage being everyday household trash. Not yard waste, tree limbs, leaves, construction leftovers, etc. In addition, they will (or can by wording of the contract) pick up one (that’s 1 as in singular) other item such as a broken chair, discarded lamp, etc.

Now we come to the street department’s obligation. They will, if you call and politely request, come by and pick up yard waste, tree limbs, bagged leaves and even an occasional couch or mattress upon request. In addition, again if you ask, they have a contact that will come by and remove old appliances such as stoves, refrigerators, etc.

They are not however responsible for nor have the manpower to haul off an entire households furniture & personal belongings.

By ordinance in Chapter 50 Garbage & Refuse; Section 50.08, the city can and I think should, levy a charge of $5 per item for the disposal of large items such as furniture, air conditioners, etc. However I have never known that to be done. Here's the link.

http://www.amlegal.com/nxt/gateway.dll/Indiana/newalb/cityofnewalbanyincodeofordinances?f=templates$fn=default.htm$3.0$vid=amlegal:newalbany_in

Perhaps if they did and did so consistently, this conversation wouldn’t be as necessary.

Another alternative is for the property owner to call southern Indiana Waste Systems or an alternative waste hauler to dispose of such. Or better yet in the case of rental properties, require a more substantial upfront deposit from the tenant to cover the costs of disposal.

The whole point being ownership carries with it responsibility whether one lives on the premise or not. It is not my job to clean up after neighboring property although many of us have done so and in too many cases continue to do so.

Likewise, it is not the city’s job to do so either. That burden falls squarely on the shoulders of the deeded owner.

I understand that there are those among us that have neither the, health, income, nor family backup to perform costly maintenance on a home they have lived in for years. Thankfully, there is any number of programs throughout the community to address these circumstances.

I also understand there are those who make their living by renting homes to others. Some of those renters are in the same shape as those aforementioned. To the landlords who are carrying that burden, my hats off to you.

However, if all of your tenants are in that shape and you are loosing money on every unit you own, you as well as they are doomed to fail.

If that is not the case, perhaps you should reach out to a more responsible renter clientele and raise your fees in order for you to cover the expenses of helping the needy and maintain your property as well.

Or perhaps you could form an association of like minded landlords and form a slush fund to help those in need.

Before you say it "If you're so damned smart, why ain't you in business yerself?" let me say been there done that. How do you think I got this smart?

Anyway you do it, letting the property deteriorate just to keep a roof over the tenants head is not a long term solution. Not for the tenant, the landowner, nor the city.

Now to the big dogs! Earlier on this very blog site (Mayor Englands 1st Semester Report Card) I patted this administration on the back for a job well done during its first half year. I sited their reports on bringing to a close many code violations, unsafe houses, and zoning issues.

Having said that, it is evident that these accomplishments while good are only the first peripheral layer of this decades old onion.

We still have city owned property that is overgrown with weeds & debris.

We still street department employees drive by one pile of limbs to pick up another.

We still have multiple police units sitting idly at single traffic stops.

And we still have to question why there are so many outstanding violations of many stripes that have not been addressed.

Nearly every neighborhood association, Board of Works, Building Commission, or Common Council meeting I attend I hear of yet another situation that has allegedly been reported repeatedly and is still unresolved.

We were promised by this council and this administration that actions to do so would be addressed early on. There was much talk of an increase in staff for the city law department to address such matters.

If there has indeed been forward movement in that direction and if some of these issues have been resolved, please tell us. We would love to give you another ‘Atta boy!

If not, understand that the clock is still ticking, this year is nearly over and 2011 looms just over the horizon.

Tic-tock, tic------

Some Old Habits Die Really, Really Hard!

2008-09-12T10:58:00.001-04:00

My Momma brought me up the old fashioned way. Hug’s & kisses for job well done. A Hickory switch across the back of the legs for antisocial behavior. (I got to hand pick the switch from the tree!)

One of the most egregious behaviors (mine) was interrupting when someone else was speaking. (Wait until you’re recognized! Raise your hand!)

Although those precepts are from a bygone era, I’m having a hard time adjusting. The memory of that Hickory switch still stings. ( By the way, I finally pulled a George Washington and drove several boxes of nails in the damned tree in an attempt to kill it!)

So Wednesday past I came to the Council Committee meeting with a prepared statement and politely waited to be recognized while most of the room took control of the meeting.

Finally, three speakers after John Gonder issued a last call, I broke training, elbowed my way to the podium and presented my speech. Unfortunately by that time many of those who really needed to hear it (Dan Coffey, the press, some of the most outspoken opponents) had already left.

So here it is in its entirety for all to read. I’m sure it will get out this way in spite of the claims of many that they never read the blogs!

Our goal is to construct a way to make it easier for the Code Enforcement entities of the City of New Albany to do their respective jobs in a more timely manner. Those entities as pertains to this discussion being the Code Enforcement Officer(s), the Building Commissioners office, the Planning & Zoning Office, and the City Attorneys Office.

As it stands currently there is way too much time involved in getting from point A to point B.

Lack of staff, lack of funding, & lack of other resources all play a part in this calamity.

However, one of the biggest hurdles occurs early on in the process. That being identifying who the responsible party for a given parcel is as well as how to contact that individual.

Admittedly for an owner occupied home that is usually (though not always) a relatively simple task. (Even for me)

However when it comes to rental housing, the process becomes much more difficult.

People buy groups of housing at sheriffs auctions. Some of these buyers are local folks while others live in other states or even other countries.

Title of said properties are not always transferred & recorded in a timely manner.

People walk away from mortgages and the properties land in foreclosure proceedings.

Business entities change their names from one LLC to another without recording said change with the city/county.

And the list goes on. But the point is someone has to wade thru this paperwork jungle to get to the source which in many instances, does not want to be found.

The result is we find utter rat holes being inhabited (legally or not) and no contact source to deal with them.

Verbal rental agreements with no lease. (It’s happening in New Albany!!)

Multiple families in single family dwellings without variances’ to do so.
(It’s happening in New Albany!!)

Furnaces venting directly into living quarters. (It’s happening in New Albany!!)

Raw sewage in basements or under houses. (It’s happening in New Albany!!)

Bare wiring, leaking roofs, commodes falling thru floorboards, and on and on and on. ( It’s happening in New Albany)

Add to all that tenants who are too afraid of being put on the street to complain and landlords who can’t be found and you have the reasons we are here this evening. That being unsafe, unhealthy housing that someone somewhere is making a profit off of while the property values around it are going down the drain.

So we come to our proposed solutions that we think are fair and that do not have to break the bank. These suggestions are not or our origin but come from other cities around Indiana and other states who have dealt effectively with similar situations.

1) A requirement that all rental and abandoned housing be registered with the city free of charge within 60 days of passage.

2) A contact person living either within the City of New Albany or in an adjacent county (Floyd, Clark, Harrison, or Jefferson, KY) be listed with the registration. This person having either the authority to take action or able to contact the owner in a timely fashion to resolve whatever issues may arise with said property.

3) A stiff fine structure be established that will be levied for non compliance of both the registration and upkeep of said property after a predetermined time has elapsed, (10 days, 30 days, etc) Once again examples from other cities range from $50 per day to several hundred dollars per day.

4) A verbal public commitment from the administration and City Attorney to when necessary take appropriate measures thru the courts to assure compliance with these and other codes already on the books as they pertain to all building issues be they housing, rental, or commercial.

I can see no unfairness here towards anyone who is putting forth the effort maintain their property at minimally acceptable standards.

Those who can’t or won’t should no longer be allowed to do so at our expense both as taxpayers and a city as a whole.

If we can get these concepts in place the City of New Albany can begin the process of once again becoming a safe, healthy, & prosperous place to live.

In the hall after it was all over my very on Councilman Steve Price walked over to say that it was a good speech and to inquire if I had written it myself. Yes Steve and thanks for asking!

Later today I’m going to do another post on the meeting and hopefully shed some more light on some of the side issues raised.

Is it true that some people get paid for research and consulting services?

On The Eve of Another Council Housing Committee Meeting.........

2008-09-09T13:32:00.002-04:00

The 2nd meeting of New Albany Common Council’s “Committee on Housing” is this Wednesday evening at 6 PM in the 3rd floor assembly room in the City/ County building.

This whole process has caused quite a stir within neighborhood groups, local realtor organizations, landlord’s coffee breaks, bar’s, pub’s, blogs, and various city government offices.

Those opposed to any accountability for their business practices ( Ooops I forgot…rental housing is not a business silly boy!) have resorted to calling advocates of such measures to solicit support! Say what??

In their latest contribution to the cause, the folks over at the premier (Hrrrmmm!) community affairs blog (Freedom of Speech) went to great lengths to tell us what we already knew.

We also have read the New Albany Code Book thank you! We've found it wanting in some areas.

They also informed us that Code enforcement Officer Pam Badger was well versed in wading thru the 4+ separate local government entities to determine who owned a particular piece of property as she is also a part time employee of the assessor’s office.

Well excuse me maam, err…sir, but she is the first city official (there have since been many others) to tell me how difficult, time consuming, and many times dead end that process is. This wheel is broken and we are merely suggesting ways of fixing it.

At any rate being as I have nothing better to with my time (cough, choke) I went to the sacred halls of the City/county Building and looked for myself.

After asking many questions of again, many offices I’ve finally learned how to read much of the hieroglyphics involved in ascertaining the genealogy of a given parcel of land in this city.

What I’ve found is very enlightening. There parcels listed on the tax roles as vacant lots that have houses sitting on them.

There are houses in single family zoned areas that have been made into multifamily living quarters that never went thru the process of acquiring the proper variances’ to operate as such.

And my personal favorite, there are instances of homeowner homestead exemptions on multiple properties of the same ownership. I always thought that was a one per customer gig. Perhaps I am mistaken. If so I’m sure FOS will let me know.

Now before someone starts on the Building Commissioner, Zoning & Planning, the Code Enforcement Officer, etc know this. There are within New Albany Township, there are well in excess of 22,000 parcels of land.

To expect any of the above mentioned offices to do other than put out wildfires as they pop up is ludicrous. With the budgets, staff, & resources they have at their disposal just keeping up with new construction is cramming 12 hours into an 8 hour day everyday.

I can attest that when they become aware of a problem they proceed to do what they can as quickly as they can. Having said that, once it leaves their desk to the next step in the process, it invariably drops off into the abyss.

Hence our suggestions of ways to make their jobs just a little easier.

Hence rental property & abandoned housing registration.

Hence requiring that a responsible party live in or around New Albany (i.e. a surrounding county)

Hence the concept of investigating how other cities around the country deal with these issues and possibly adopting them for New Albany.

By the way, it is our belief that if our Council has the intestinal fortitude to pass legislation that gets deep into the pockets of those who choose to ignore the law and our Mayor’s administration (i.e. law department) has the political will to uphold said legislation thru the courts when necessary, we can see a difference within our city without raising taxes and breaking the bank.

In other words, the fines should pay for the costs of collecting them and the additional staff to do so.

It’s only money folks and our Council President Gahan assured me recently that there is plenty of it here in New Albany. Sounds to me like we just aren’t collecting it.

A Nice Riverfront Weekend, But Where Were the Promoters??

2008-09-02T13:27:00.004-04:00

There were two evenings of entertainment on the New Albany waterfront this past holiday weekend and both were, as I understand it, sparsely attended. (I was at the Sunday night festivities)

Saturday evening a musical venue at which local talent performed selections of their favorite styles. Sunday night was an outdoor showing of the movie "Happy Feet" via the Greenpeace organization.

Both were free and open to the public. Both offered the City of New Albany an opportunity to promote itself.

Both were well enjoyed by the few that were present.

Neither were well advertised in advance.

Neither were well represented by either their organizers or city officials.

Neither apparantly, were covered by the local press. But then they're having overtime issues.

So again the question pops up. How are we to advance our agenda for growth & advancement if our leadership will not show up to support their own endeavors?

Or is this yet another venue that private citizen groups must shoulder the responsibility for?

Will we ever learn to make the most of what resources we do have available to us?

Is there an unwritten law somewhere that says the elected are to remain unseen in public save for election season?

What better time for them to take heed of the heartbeat of the general populace than an evening on the riverfront?

Oh that's right. They all have familys & full time jobs! My Bad!!

Don't Ya See? It's a.......! No No No! It's a..........

2008-08-29T22:13:00.005-04:00

Trying to define the thought logic of New Albany's elected (choke, cough) leaders is like trying to stand on your head looking at an abstract art painting in an attempt to find that elusive Bengal Tiger that is hinted at in the title of the work.

Add a few top shelf progressive pints to the exercise and one can easily walk away convinced the world really is flat afterall.

Following this past Tuesday's BOW meeting I approached our Tribune reporter, Daniel Suddeath, to ask if he had been present at the inaugural Council Committee meeting on housing.

His reply was no, but that he was drafting an article on the subject and had spoken with CM Price & others that were in attendance. He went on to ask for my impressions of the event.

His report was in Friday's Edition of the Tribune and can be read in it's entirety here:

http://www.news-tribune.net/local/local_story_242115303.html

What I found to be most interesting was Steve's stated response to the reporters inquiry after having witnesssed his out of the ballpark reaction at the meeting itself.

If I'm reading the paper correctly, it is now OKAY to have another "Barney Fife" runnin' round town with a clip board so long as he is properly hobbled.

Perhaps during Sunday's Service he saw the error of his ways and repented (at least partially!)

Perhaps there was a vocabulary lesson afterward to define "communication" which seems to be the watchword that came forth from Saturday's gathering.

Or perhaps, as my Daddy used to say "He just spittin' on his hands to take a new holt!'

Only time will tell.

At any rate, at least for my part, Daniel has done a good job getting the issue out in print for the public to see. It's just too bad he wasn't present for the live show.

Perhaps next time?

If They Can Do It.........?

2008-08-26T16:28:00.007-04:00

All over America during the last two decades cities have confronted their run down housing debacles and devised many differing ways to turn them back into liviable neighborhoods.

Some have had great success while others have been declared null & void by the courts.

What follows are the links to a few that we've found that are currently in place and making a positive difference in the communities that created them.

From Blacksburg, VA- http://www.blacksburg.va.us/Index.aspx?page=17 A good example of a community that took steps to create affordable housing and led the way to making its population aware of it.

From Kokomo, IN-http://www.cityofkokomo.org/department/index.asp?fDD=25-0 A sister city of ours that has made rental property registration nearly painfree for the its home rental industry.

From West Lafayette, IN http://www.city.west-lafayette.in.us/government/citystatecode.html
Yet another "Common Sense" approach to nusiance code enforcment.

From Evansville, IN-http://www.evansvillegov.org/Index.aspx?page=40 In particular see Section 15.150.012 Illegal Use of Property & Section 15.150.176 Property Maintenance. Yet another great example how blighted properties are being cleaned up.

In searching for what laws were already in place at the state level concerning rental housing, & tenant/landlord rigghts and responsibilities, we found the following to be very helpful-

http://www.rentlaw.com/indianatenant.htm A very good reference tool.

And let us not leave out our very own New Albany Building Code (such as it is)-
http://www.amlegal.com/nxt/gateway.dll/Indiana/newalb/titlexvlandusage/chapter150buildingregulations?f=templates$fn=altmain-nf.htm$3.0#JD_Chapter150

The one thing all of these examples have in common is the willingness of each, both financially and politically to improve their individual communities.

So the question becomes does our Common Council and Administration as a whole have the veracity and courage to not only admit that New Albany has a substandard housing problem?

But to research what others have done, develope a workable solution from such, put it in place and commit the financial & personell resources as well as the political will to make it work??

A mouthful I know but the core of the matter none the less.

For what it is worth I have forwarded these links and others like them to Council President Gahan, Council Members who have working email, Deputy Mayor Malysz, Buildiing Commission President, and many other adminstration officials as well.

The point being, the information is out in the hands of those who have the power to make a difference. The "I've never seen this" dog won't hunt in these woods.

Now we wait & see.

Barney Fife, Roger Miller, & 8 Track Tapes!

2008-08-23T14:41:00.007-04:00

Question; What do all of the entities in the title have in common?

Answers; A. They were all entertaining.

B. They all enjoyed a signifigant popularity in their hey-day.

C. They are all deceased!

So what does this have to do with a 21st century discussion? Funny you should ask as I was wondering the same thing a few short hours ago in a meeting chaired by three of our city councilmen concerning New Albany's housing woes.

It came as a surprise to more than a few that the turnout for this first meeting was so large in number. I did not get a specific head count but there was an estimated 40+ souls present.

Although the intent of the chairman was organizational as opposed to getting deepl;y involved in a public debate this early, it quickly became evident that the public was going to speak!

As with any such endeavor the room was magically seated nearly equally with pro activists ( homeowners, neighborhood organizers) on one side of the room and anti activists ( landlords, real estate agents) on the other. To be fair to all there was some intermingleing but not much.

The Anti side erupted first with cries of unfairness, discrimination, and potential loss of their business's & income. (Note; members of this same group a few short days ago in a meeting of their peers were saying that renting houses for profit was not in fact a business.)

They began by objecting strenously to rental property registration and even more so to the prospect of (gasp) property inspections being required. They felt this disscussion was moving way to fast and needed much more time to be researched before any action was taken.

Pardon me, but isn't thirty years of talking long enough? But I digress.....

To continue, Ron Hartman, the city's Building Commissioner was asked to speak to the size & seriousness of unsafe/uninhabitable housing in New Albany. He acknowledged that there are significant numbers of such dwellings in our city but seemed to think that with increased communication between the public, his office, and other responsible government entities it could be successfully addressed with the laws & ordinances already in place.

The Pro side, when finally able to get a word in, presented the committee with references from other cities as to how they had resolved these problems. There were also first hand testimonials to instances of those self same government officials that Ron had sited, being notified repeatedly to no avail. To wit some still haven't been addressed.

Again, to be fair, there were a couple specifically mentioned that have been at long last resolved but the damage to the neighborhoods surrounding them has already been done. Four years to solve an issue that is evident to a school child is a bit much don't you think? It was further documented that much of that was the result of the public's involvement in absence of the city's!

To their credit, the councilmen for the most part did much listening and very little talking. After all this was an organizational meeting which purpose was to look at which decaying tooth in this hounds' mouth to extract first. It is after all a long standing issue which has no one solution.

I said for the most part. Councilman Price (my representative by the way) took issue with the whole concept of additional government intervention in peoples lives.

"All that is needed is a common sense approach to this problem" he offered. He referenced the 1980's as being commiserate with the Emaculate Conception in terms of New Albany housing.

Yes Steve, that's our point. It has gone downhill like an out of control freight train ever since. And by the way, it is 2008!

He also fears beefed up inspections as an assault on the rights of common citizens. "I don't want Barney Fife runnin' around with a clip board!"

Well Steve, unfortunately due decades of bad business practices of some who rent housing to others for an living and/or, city/county officials who willingly turned a blind eye to such the inspection option is now a necessity.

"What goes on in my home is none of your business!" Right again Steve so long as your activities do not endanger my home & family!

And so it ended. All in all I thought the body of the meeting went well and at the very least the conversation has begun in a more or less affable fashion.

There were other issues brought to the table such as where does the health department, fire department & law enforcement fit in this equation? Or who pays more in taxes on housing in New Albany?

But there were others present that are more versed in these subjects than I so I'll leave it to them to discuss further.

Myself, I'm looking forward to the next gathering.

Trailers for sale or rent...... Roger Miller

The Cost's of Doing Business

2008-08-19T09:57:00.003-04:00

Today over at New Albany Confidential my good friend Roger Baylor questioned a concept that has plagued me for most of my adult life.

That being why do most individuals or entities in this country hesitate to take actions that are obvious to the welfare of their particular endeavor prior to heavy handed government involvement.

As I've eluded before, my experience base has primarily been in the transportation industry. For decades now trucking has been hammered by the public, insurance companies, the govenrment and its customer base about safety concerns.

Some of us saw the writing on the wall years ago and began formulating solutions to solve some of those issues on our own. Most did not and in more than a few cases when government finally stepped in the results were disasterous. Jobs, homes and lifetimes of work as well were and continue to be lost.

So now back to the base question of why. Why do we choose to wait to act until we are forced to?

As one who has twice attempted to go independent (and failed by the way) I understand that on a financial level it is a scary thing to try something contrary to what the competition is doing.

Our goals, to name a few, are to create a product that is marketable, keep the governmment off our backs, keep our employees, our customers, the general public, & our bankers resonably happy, and turn some semblance of a profit.

While that is an extremely tall order on any given day it is the world we strive to survive in. For the majority going out on that limb of change that disrupts the time honored ways of doing things is beyond their willingness to take a risk.

However the few that do move ahead of the curve usually find that the fears were more imagined than real. Sadly, much of the time their attempts while paying dividends, do not totally protect them from costs incrurred by the ultimate government intervention.

So my questions (and there is apparently no one answer to them) is how many business' must fail before the rest see the handwriting on the wall?

Why is there so much resistance to cleaning our own house as it were, when there is so much emperical evidence to prove that failure to do so is folly?

What is that defective gene within our societal DNA that resists change prior to the aforementioned governmental edict?

These quires apply not only to the restaurant/bar industry, but to trucking, rental properties, and most all else that one could name as well.

And for me at least,they remain unanswered.

Let's See...the Chicken or the Egg?

2008-08-13T20:07:00.005-04:00

Albeit there is a plethora of examples within the city limits of New Albany that could be and indeed have been sighted for the arrogant behavior of elected officials, I couldn’t help but notice the apparent spread of the disease.

An article in today’s Tribune affirms that this assumption of omnipotence is not isolated to just our river town. http://www.news-tribune.net/local/local_story_226095551.html

The subject at hand was concerning the widening of a street in the Parkland Heights subdivision in Greenville. Some of the residents were voicing their displeasure of the how the project was handled and were consummately rebuked for doing so.

In expressing his displeasure for homeowners having removed survey stakes from in front of their homes, Council President Richardson is quoted as saying;

“I was willing to look at the situation, but when they took those signs up, it did you no good,”
“I’m in favor of going ahead with this (project) because I will not be intimidated.”

But Richardson was not yet done!

Cherry asked how many of those who supported the project lived on the street where the widening was taking place. Richardson then told Cherry he was not allowed to speak because he was not on the agenda.

The conversation continued until Board Vice President Johnes expressed his frustration at the Council’s supreme authority being questioned by stating what he and other elected officials seem to view as a given;

“You elect representatives. This is not a democracy; it is a republic,” he said. “If you want to see something done differently, you should run for office yourselves.”

For some odd reason, all of these statements carry a familiar ring but I’m having difficulty putting my finger on it. Hmmmm….OH YEAH!

I seem to have heard these self same proclamations offered up by various members of our very own Council right here in New Albany on occasion!

Do tell!!

In staying in rote with the playbook, on yet another road widening plan involving State Highway 150 Richardson took the exact opposite position.

He said the highway will be shut down for two years and could cause many of the town’s businesses to go bankrupt.

Once again, familiar ring tones.

So let’s see if I understand correctly how this works. Citizens are allowed to speak only so long as their views do not contradict the already decided upon position of the governing body. So much for freedom of speech and the open door laws.

Further, even though the municipalities in question are hard pressed for funds, any assistance from outside that dares to improve the local conditions in any manner, be it State funds, commercial benefactor grants, Federal Government grants, or private investment is to be assumed as detrimental to said recipients without further ado.

SAY WHAT???

HUH???

EXCUSE ME??

To be fair I must confess that my only knowledge of Greenville and its specific situation is what I read in the local papers and hear at the water fountain. However, one could safely insert New Albany, or Floyd County or Indianapolis or even Washington DC in the article and read the same expose.

Apparently there must be some late night prerequisite courses for our elected leaders that I’m unaware of. Perhaps I missed too many days of government class when I was in school.

Can anyone enlighten me on this??

Are these yet another series of published public meetings that never get published?

Closing questions as the November election looms near and as 2011 gets ever closer that befuddle me.

Does this status quo type of government really serve the needs of its constituents?

Are the long term results of such the lasting legacy we choose to leave our prodigy?

Can we really look our grandkids in the eye as we tuck them in and say sweet dreams?

Does either or for that matter any political party really give a rats' a..?

And last but not least, dare we get off our duffs and find our way to the poll booths in sufficient numbers to change that behavior??

Mayor England's 1st Semester Report Card

2008-08-08T00:57:00.006-04:00

I’ll be the first to admit that I along with many others are critical of city government for both its actions and inactions. The events of recent years have made some of us nearly maniacal about it. However most of us strive to be fair and long for those instances when we can pat even some of our officials on the back with a “Well Done!” This is one of those times.

My first real job as a lad was working for a concrete flat work contractor who was meticulous about his work. As such he expected everyone on his crew to follow suit.

I being the youngest and physically smallest of his employees meant I had to put forth extra effort to learn the job skills and keep up with the old hands. Me being me, I was determined to do just that.

That first summer dragged on and by the time school started I felt like I’d carried my own reasonably well. My employer however had said nary a word about my progress either good or bad.

One day at lunch break I broached the subject with him and his reply was “If you’re doing the job correctly, I have no need to tell you so. If you’re not, rest assured you’ll know it!”

Being a somewhat sensitive type dealing with my teenage self esteem demons, that response didn’t set well with me and I vowed then & there to give credit where credit was due.

So now we come to just past the six month anniversary of this administration to say “Happy Half Birthday One & All!” and to review their report card.

During the conversation at this past Monday’s pre-council workshop, Deputy Mayor Malysz presented the Council members with reports concerning code enforcement and building & zoning departments work for the first six months of 2008.

Here are the highlights of those efforts.

From January 2 thru July 30 our Code Enforcement Officer has acted upon 81 complaints. Of those, 74 have been resolved completely. Two have been referred to the Building Commission for further action and 5 are ongoing and being monitored for compliance. These last 5 dates from May 27th to June 18th. Well done Pam, keep up the good work!

The Building Commission has so far this year authorized the demolition of 19 unsafe, abandoned buildings in our fair city. Of those 15 have been completed and the remaining 4 are scheduled to be razed in the near future.

For 16 of them the city has recouped the costs of doing so from the property owners. That results in the the most of the original appropriation dollars for demolition remaining in tact thus negating the need to come before the Council for more. Sounds like good stewardship to me.

In addition our Building Commissioner is in the process of getting the legal clearance for disposing of 6 more dangerous structures. Kudo's Ron, carry on!

From October 2007 thru July 2008 the Zoning & Planning office along with the Building Commissioner has dealt with 21 violations. Eight of those have been resolved and closed. Eight more are being monitored for compliance as per agreements reached with the property owners, one is pending follow-up, and four are pending lawsuits against the owners.

In addition there are three other legal actions pending involving the New Albany City Plan Commission versus code violators that have thus far refused to comply.

So it would appear that efforts are being made with the tools they currently have available.

All in all I’d have to give Mayor England & staff a hats off for their efforts and encourage them all to continue moving forward. It appears to me we’re making progress albeit unhailed.

This brings me to question why that is. Why do we the public have to find out about these forward advances quite by accident? Why do we continually have to dig through the rubble to find that acorn?

Why don’t our leaders take the lead & solicit our support by letting us in on the secret? Why isn’t the ever present press reporting these actions?

Lots of questions but I’m not hearing any answers. Oh that’s right, it’s after hours isn’t it.

Now back to my normal cantankerous self!

To any Council Members who may stumble upon this essay. Do not read into this that no further action is required. Yes there apparently is code enforcement going on but it is just scratching the surface.

We still need more stringent legislation on the books to deal with the roots of our housing woes. We still need more staff and more will to pursue and prosecute the chronic violators of those codes.

But fear not. Keep the conversation going, step up to the plate & do your job and you too can look forward to a “Well done!”

Kudo's For a Job Well Begun!!

2008-08-05T10:01:00.002-04:00

There was a pre-council meeting workshop held last evening during which council members heard from various city officials the administrations take on code enforcement and housing issues.

Although public comments were not allowed during this time, I must give credit to the administration, the building commission, and the council members for at last acknowledging what citizens have been advocating for the past several years.

Members from all of these entities went on record as recognizing rental property as a business and vowing to seek out ways to regulate it as such.

Aspects of the subject such as citywide registration of rental property, inspection of such prior to occupancy, beefed up code enforcement, and looking to how other cities in Indiana have dealt with the issue were discussed.

In the end a three councilmen committee was formed to take a closer look at the subject and come back to the council with recommendations as to solutions that fit New Albany.

Well Done President Gahan!! Keep it up!

As for the Council Meeting proper, there will be others posting elsewhere on the details but the big news of the night was the passage on first reading of a comprehensive smoking ban for our city.

I’m quite sure there will be much more discussion both within and without before this one hears 2nd & 3rd reading.

Still, I’ll always give the devil his due and this Council for the first time in a very long time actually looked like an advocate for it’s’ city’s best long term interests last evening.

Good job ladies & gentlemen! Keep up the momentum!!

This Bucket's Got a Hole In It & I Can't Swim (Part 3)

2008-07-30T15:28:00.003-04:00

In the ongoing conversation concerning rental housing, code enforcement, neighborhood property values, and health & safety issues I think now is the time to explore requirements are currently in place and the why, when & who of enforcing them (or not).

Under Title IX; General Regulations of the City of New Albany Code of Ordinances ----------------------------------, http://www.amlegal.com/nxt/gateway.dll/Indiana/newalb/cityofnewalbanyincodeofordinances?f=templates$fn=default.htm$3.0$vid=amlegal:newalbany_in

We find what should be the control mechanisms for many of our ongoing rental property offenses such as abandoned vehicles, stray animals, Hazmat,
Fire prevention, noise control, nuisance, etc.

So let’s look a few of these and try to find some answers as to why these problems still exist.

Fire prevention is a good place to start as it is a constant concern of mine. With the close proximity of homes in many of our older neighborhoods recent history has proven that if one home catches fire and is not reported immediately, that fire is going to spread to at least one other home adjacent to it.

§ 94.02 BUREAU OF FIRE PREVENTION; ESTABLISHMENT AND DUTIES.
(A) The Fire Prevention Code shall be enforced by the Bureau of Fire Prevention in the Fire Department of the city, which is established and which shall be operated under the supervision of the Chief of the Fire Department.
(E) The Bureau of Fire Prevention shall investigate the causes of fires within the limits of the city and make such reports as it deems advisable to the Chief of the Fire Department. The Bureau shall also issue a written notice to persons suspected of violating the provisions of this chapter, and give a copy of such notice to the City Attorney for appropriate action in the city court.

Question; Does this bureau exists and is it currently active?

§ 94.41 SMOKE DETECTORS REQUIRED.
Subject to the exceptions and conditions for compliance as stated herein, six months after the effective date of this subchapter, smoke detectors shall be required in all dwellings rented for occupancy. Dwellings meeting the State Uniform Building Code fire detection standards shall not be required to install smoke detectors.
('71 Code, §155.31) (Ord. G-81-888, passed 4-6-81)

§ 94.43 PROVIDING, INSTALLING, AND MAINTAINING SMOKE DETECTORS.
(A) The owner of a dwelling shall be responsible for supplying and installing in an operable condition the required detectors and for providing the manufacturer's maintenance and testing instructions to a tenant when appropriate. The owner of a dwelling shall be responsible for maintenance and testing of detectors, in accordance with manufacturer's instructions, which are located in common areas or detectors in dwelling units or rooming units where the occupancy of any one tenant is for less than one month.
(B) The tenant in any occupancy of one month or more shall be responsible for maintaining and testing the detector, in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions, which are within his exclusive control during the life of the tenancy. The tenant shall be responsible for notifying the owner in writing by registered mail when a detector becomes inoperable, whereafter the owner has ten days in which to repair or replace in operable condition the detector. In the battery operated type of detector, battery replacement shall be the responsibility of the tenant. At every change of tenancy, where the occupancy of any one tenant is of one month or more, it shall be the duty of the owner to test and ascertain that those detectors contained in the unit are in operable condition, and if not, the owner shall be responsible for placing them in operable condition.
('71 Code, §155.33) (Ord. G-81-888, passed 4-6-81)

§ 94.44 RESPONSIBILITY FOR ENFORCEMENT.
The Fire Prevention Bureau of the city shall be primarily responsible for the enforcement of this subchapter. The Building Inspector shall assist the Bureau of Fire Prevention by making referrals to the Bureau as part of its regular inspection and enforcement of all city housing, building, and safety codes.
('71 Code, §155.34) (Ord. G-81-888, passed 4-6-81)

§ 94.45 CONFLICTING PROVISIONS.
In any case where a provision of this subchapter is found to be in conflict with a provision of any fire or safety code of the city, the provision which establishes the higher standard for the promotion and protection of health and safety shall prevail.
('71 Code, §155.35) (Ord. G-81-888, passed 4-6-81)

§ 94.99 PENALTY.
(A) Any person who violates any of the provisions of the code hereby adopted or fails to comply therewith, or who violates or fails to comply with any order made thereunder, or who builds in violation of any detailed statement of specifications or plans submitted and approved thereunder, or any certificate or permit issued thereunder, and from which no appeal has been taken, or who fails to comply with an order as affirmed or modified by the Board of Public Works and Safety or by a court of competent jurisdiction within the time fixed herein, shall severally for each and every violation and noncompliance respectively, be guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of not less than $5 nor more than $100. The imposition of one penalty for any violation does not excuse the violation or permit it to continue. Such persons shall be required to correct or remedy the violations or defects within a reasonable time, and when not otherwise specified, each ten days that prohibited conditions are maintained shall constitute a separate offense.
(B) The application of the above penalty shall not be held to prevent the enforced removal of prohibited conditions.
('71 Code, §155.99) (Ord. G-65-232, passed 11-1-65; Am. Ord. G-81-888, passed 4-6-81)

Question; Are the smoke detector ordinances being currently enforced by this bureau?

Indiana Code Title 32 Article 31 deals with landlord/ tenant issues;

http://www.in.gov/legislative/ic/code/title32/ar31/

Is there any mechanism in place at the city level to enforce or follow up on these issues? If so who? If not, why not?

In the conversations I’ve had with those folks related to both the fire department and the health department, I’ve been left with the impression that if we’re talking about a commercial enterprise or a public place, they can both intervene at will without notice.

However, when it comes to a private residence, they are reluctant to do so for fear of individual rights violations being levied against them.

So here are the follow-up questions;

Are we as a city content with not having preventative measures in place but rather condone waiting for property and innocent lives being endangered or lost before taking action?

Is not renting homes as living spaces just as much of a commercial enterprise as renting lawn mowing equipment, hospital beds, or automobiles?

And if that be true, should it not be regulated as such?

As detailed in my previous postings on the subject, other cities all over this state have done so successfully.

Why is it that New Albany feels it is somehow unique and immune from serving its citizens best interests?

Alas I feel the answer is as has always been. Greed and personal ambition. Follow the money!!

Labels; American legal Publishing Corp & Access Indiana website

This Bucket's Got a Hole In It & I Can't Swim (Part 2)

2008-07-26T00:56:00.006-04:00

After bringing the building code up to date, which once again is the cornerstone of a city’s ability to ensure a safe and healthy building & housing environment for its’ citizens, the next logical step is to guarantee that it stays that way by providing the mechanism, manpower, & resources to enforce that code.

As was discussed in my previous post, effective code enforcement goes far beyond policing the exterior of a structure.

Although it is not always the case, most owner occupied homes are a source of pride to those who reside in them. They to the best of their ability at least attempt to maintain the structure both inside and out as it is more often than not, the biggest investment in their lives.

In New Albany the majority of the problem homes are not owner occupied. They are a part of the 40% + rental property scattered throughout the city. And just as the neglected owner occupied homes are a minority of the total, those that are rental property are the majority of the total of neglected/abandoned homes in our neighborhoods both exterior and interior.

This dilemma is not unique to New Albany however. All one has to do is Google in “Rental Property Code Enforcement in Indiana” and you will be treated to page after page after page of links to cities & towns all around the state that have recognized the problem and have taken steps to deal effectively with it.

Here are but a few; http://www.cityofkokomo.org/egov/docs/1152718541_601898.pdf

http://www.cityoffortwayne.org/index.php/content/view/304/406/

http://www.evansvillegov.org/Index.aspx?page=40
( See Section 15.150.012 Illegal Use of Property & Section 15.150.176 Property Maintenance)

http://www.city.west-lafayette.in.us/government/citystatecode.html

http://www.mishawakacity.com/CodeEnforcement.asp

http://www.elkhartindiana.org/department/division.asp?fDD=7-25

http://www.eastchicago.com/departments/mayors_code_enforcement_tas.html

As you can see we are not the only city in our state that has these issues. The only thing that seems to isolate us is our local government’s unwillingness to risk offending the offenders.

Our history over the past 30 years or so would indicate that this is a reoccurring theme for New Albany/Floyd County. One could almost make a case for the assumption that a sterile bandage lobby was headquartered in our midst as we surely lead the nation in municipalities that are prone to place a Band Aid ® on a bleeding artery regardless of the need to do otherwise.

We need to catch up to the 21st century by admitting to ourselves that rental property is a business just as a gas station, grocery store, or repair shop is and that it needs to be regulated as such.

The city’s Code Enforcement personnel needs to have access to a data base which will identify rental property versus abandoned property versus owner occupied property. That same data base needs to include the name & address of the property owner as well as that of a local contact person in the event the owner lives out of state.

Unfortunately such a data base does not currently exist. There are bits and pieces of said information scattered about like fall leaves blowing in the wind but that makes the officer’s job nearly impossible to do much less do so effectively. And all this in an atmosphere of an Administration’s constant mantra about being understaffed, underfunded & a Common Council’s
majority table banging about tax dollars being wasted.

Many cities around us have figured out that clean, up to date infrastructure coupled with clean, safe housing in inviting neighborhoods draw folks to invest in them thus enlarging the tax base.

The result is more tax dollars in the coiffures to offer more & better services to their citizens thus encouraging even more business investment, more homeownership and more tax dollars.

But alas, we seem to be content to remain what is hurriedly becoming, according to our local law enforcement a leading safe haven for illegal drug marketing, child molesting, and petty theft in large part because we have an abundant supply of affordable run down properties these folks can rent from owners or their agents with no questions asked.

And if those should fall into short supply, there are plenty of abandoned structures for them to move into without fear of reprisal.

All this in a once proud city which will in a few short years celebrate its 200th birthday.

All this because some of our elected officials are more concerned with keeping their jobs than doing their jobs.

Still more to come!

This Bucket's Got a Hole In It & I Can't Swim!! (Part 1)

2008-07-18T12:21:00.010-04:00

Near the end of last night's NA Common Council Meeting council president Jeff Gahan mentioned a plethora of items to be discussed at a workshop to be held just prior to the August 4th session of this group.

Included in the list was something that has been termed as "Concentrated Code Enforcement". As you may or may not recall there was some $30K of CBGD money approved earlier in the year by this Council to hire an inspector to serve under said moniker. Now I'm hearing that at a recent Redevelopement Commission meeting one or more members of this same Council took issue with those monies being used for that purpose.

Personally, I'm getting dizzy watching this merry-go-round. In addition, for this taxpaying voter it's a moot issue anyway. I've more than a few reasons for saying so and I'll try to expound on them here.

The term "Concentrated Code Enforcement" certainly does sound like a vicious beast with large canine teeth. As it has been presented thus far it is merely a declawed pussy cat. There needs be codes to enforce, fines to levy, and the willingness to follow thru with prosecution of offenders prior to any of the rehtoric meaning anything. Unfortunately unless someone waved a magic wand while I slept, New Albany is severly lacking in all three of these areas.

Again let me say before anyone goes off the deep end of the canyon that I'm not being critical of Pam Badger's efforts or her resolve. Since taking this position she has done and is continuing to do an exemplary job within the scope of her authority. Therein lies the crux of the matter..

Her only real authority is to issue citations for basically asthetic issues (excessive yard waste, vehicles sitting up on concrete blocks, garbage bags that didn't make it to the alley, screen doors hanging by one hinge, etc..) surrounding the exterior of a given piece of property and turn them over to the Building Commissioner or City Law Department for further action if the occupants of said property fail to comply with her directives. Some do, most don't and her only choice is to write yet another ticket & turn it in.

She has no authority to enter a home to inspect for rodents, bare wires, raw sewage (in or under), toxic fumes, or any other such health/safety hazards. As it turns out, being as rental property is viewed as a private family dwelling as opposed to a legitmate regulated business, neither does anyone else hereabouts.

The Fire Marshall can't (or won't) for fear of individual rights complaints. He or his local designee may however enter the property after the house burns down and the inhabitants are removed in body bags if arson is suspected.

The Health Department can't (or won't) for much the same reasons and historically the city Building Commissioner's office has followed suit.

The tenants are reluctant to file a complaint for fear of loosing their home or worse. And yes Wilbur, for some of these folks there are worse things than rats, carbon monoxide fumes, and the sweet aroma of human excrement wafting up thru the floorboards.

Sad as it is in some areas of our fair city the law abiding citizen is even reluctant to shine light on these eyesores for fear of their own property and safety.

As one might imagine the result is one hell of a stack of yellow copies somewhere in the Ron Hartman's and the City Attorney's office space gathering dust. I could go on ad infinitum (and probably will before this thing is settled) but in the interest of retaining my readers attention, I'll skip to the core stuff.

The foundation of a municipalities efforts to enforce it's codes contains at least these elements. First of all the framework of code(s) must be in place and for this discussion that cornerstone would be a building code. The current New Albany Building Code was adopted in 1969. There are some sections of it that have been updated since then but based on what I've read of other second class cities of our size around Indiana and other states as well, the body of the work has some catching up to do.

There was an attempt to do so a few short years ago by the Building Commission but when presented to the Common Council seated at the time the folks who brought it forward were told to go play in their own sandbox and let the big boys have the ball field. "It's our job to draft & pass legislation!" was heard ringing loudly off the hallowed walls of the council chamber. (I wonder if we should consider an exorcism for that room on the third floor. Either it is haunted by spirits of the past, or there is a contagion in the air that affects any entering for those very words seem to ring repeatedly from within any time a recommendation comes from without!) At any rate immediately following that proclamation the proposed ordinace was summarily tabled and stuffed into a file folder in the city clerks office and has never seen the offcial light of day since.

That is until now. I recently obtained a copy and submited it along with volumns of other research on the subjects of building codes, rental property controls, building & property inspections, tenants rights, treating rental property as a business, landlord identification and the like. It will be interesting to see what this council does with it.

This discussion is way too involved for one setting so for now I'll stop typing, let it soak and return with more at a later date.

I'll leave you with a link to New Albany's Building code for your bed side reading. Oh, and there will be a pop quiz later!

http://www.amlegal.com/nxt/gateway.dll/Indiana/newalb/titlexvlandusage/chapter150buildingregulations?f=templates$fn=document-frame.htm$3.0

And by the by I submitted copies of this same research to the administration earlier in the year as well.

Exceptions Anyone???

2008-07-09T18:36:00.004-04:00

My question to you is if we start down the slippery slope of “exceptions” where do we stop? The one thing that makes this great country unique among nations is that we, via the Constitution of these United States have agreed and committed to live by a rule of law. We’ve also taken solace in the fact that no man was, is, nor will (unless we the people choose to allow it) be above the law!

“We the People” can make that choice in one of two ways. We can do it by taking action (voting for it to be so) or by inaction (standing idly by and watching our legislators make decisions that may or may not be what is best for us “as a whole” community/nation!)

Now as that concept applies to the discussion we’re having here. The Common Council’s requirement to realign our voting districts following every 10 year Federal Census is a rule of both Indiana State Law and the aforementioned Constitution.

The second fact of the matter that is not being heard is that the odds of realignment occurring without one or more of our sitting council persons being somehow affected are millions to one. The official 2000 Census numbers are what they are. They were confirmed by all six people on the committee as well as the County Clerk (and if anyone should be able to accurately do so, it is she.)

The requirement by law is to take the total population (via those numbers) and divide the area within the city limits into six districts as close in equal population as possible. They must also be contiguous (meaning bordering up against each other). And lastly, there must be an effort made to not split precincts’ in the process.

Note that I said effort.

If precinct lines have to be crossed in order to attain near equal numbers, it is the legally necessary thing to do in order to assure equality of representation.

The number of registered voters in a given district does not enter into the equation at the city level at all.

Neither does the physical size (square feet/blocks/miles/ etc.)

Now to the heart of the matter. The recommendation that was on the agenda Monday night was just that, a recommendation. All of the wailing & gnashing of teeth about the Council’s right to do otherwise is nonsense. The only thing preventing them from doing so is their own unwillingness to do the job the law requires of those holding that office.

So long as they bring to the table an alternative plan that equals or betters this one in numbers of population per district and do so in a timely manner, their Constitutional duty will have been served.

Did I mention that waiting until the 2010 Census is completed or until the ever elusive annexation occurs is not an option?

As to the question of individuals favorite voting venue getting moved here are a couple of points.

First of all, when I lived on Market Street my polling place was moved between the two elections that occurred while I was located there. I now live on Spring Street and my polling place has been in two different locations there as well. All those different venues in less than ten years!

Pardon me but it is an insult to my intelligence to assume I’m not smart enough to get to the proper poll if the information is forthcoming from those whose job it is to do such. Naïve as I am, I trust that others both young and old would be equally appalled at being judged so. After all, one would think it should be the perfect opportunity for a candidate desirous of my vote, to actually knock on my door to pass that information on to me. Hell he/she might even take the time to discuss issues with me (a mere voter)!

Moving on to the idea that redrawing the lines may pit two or more current office holders in the same district. My first question is to the prospective candidates. Is ones desire to serve the public good as is always voiced, or is it to get reelected time & time again for some perceived claim on immortality? Why is it that we hear this constant mantra about “serving our constituents” when I can count on two hands the number of individuals that I’ve talked to all over this city who testify to having been blessed with a visit from their council person. Now that is a true exception!

Could it be that amongst all the rhetoric about close knit neighborhoods, they tremble at the thought of actually having to work to get elected & stay elected?

My heart rejoiced at the point in the meeting when another citizen rose to the podium to proclaim her belief that all nine council persons were her representatives as opposed to just one from her district! This is a view I’ve held for a lifetime as most of those now in office can attest to. When I pickup the phone to call about an issue, the majority of them get to hear my voice.

To wrap this up even with the very best of efforts and intentions the end result is always some win & some lose. The trick is to ensure that the winning side is for the betterment of the whole and the losing side, though inconvenienced is not totally devastated and left lying in a pool of blood on the sidewalk. Graphically overstated but I think you get the point.

So the crux of the matter comes down to this. Who among us decides which is which? AND THE ANSWER IS!***** We the People!

Either by speaking up, putting our name to it and insisting our elected representatives act or by remaining silent, hiding behind anonymity and leaving them to their own devices, WE ultimately decide!

Those that win rejoice in the moment. Those that lose crawl off to lick their wounds and regroup to come back and engage again another day!

As it is and has always been, so hopefully it shall always be. Let us not endanger that prospect by allowing “exceptions” to reign supreme!

Hot Off the Press!

2008-07-01T13:16:00.004-04:00

I attended this mornings New Albany Board of Works meeting and the highlights are as follows.

The administration has placed Brad Kessings (spelling of last name ???) onsite at the water treatment plant to "manage" the contractractual obligations (my take is to be the Mayors watch dog) of EMC as they pertain to our waste water & storm water systems.

As of August 1st Traffic will no longer be able to turn South on Scribner from Elm Street going to Main Street. This is to be a 30 day test period at the end of which there are proposed meetings to obtain comment from city officials and the public as well to acertain if the clousure should remain permanent.

The other big news is that "WE ARE GOING TO PAVE SOME STREETS!" Beginning July 7th, milling & paving is to begin on State Street at Elm and continue on to Union Street. It stops there for now as there is underground utility work scheduled for later in the year from Union on towards I 265.

Following that Mount Tabot is to be repaved from Charlestown Road to Grantline Road in the same fashion.

Then when Mt. Tabor is completed, McDonald Lane is to receive a face lift from Charlestown Road to Grantline.

The monies to do these first three streets are (as per Deputy Mayor Carl Malysz) in hand in the form of LRS Funds which is just shy of $300K.

Can you smell the hot asphalt yet?

Good Ole "Nawlbany Culture"

2008-06-25T22:01:00.002-04:00

There is in our community a prevailing mind set that those who have had to deal with it for the past few decades have dubbed the New Albany Culture.

Like all cultures it has many facets but there are a couple that appear to be dominant in our particular case. So much so in fact that they have created a log jam against forward flow that a train car load of dynamite can’t seem to dislodge.

One scenario goes something like this. A pile of rubbish had accumulated on a vacant lot across the street from where I live. I’d tried to contact the owner but as luck would have it he'd moved Tahiti and couldn’t be reached. I then resorted to calling the appropriate city departments & officials on numerous occasions over a period of months with no results. Finally out of sheer frustration I began rallying my neighbors and we collectively decided to ascend on city hall as a group to voice our displeasure. Lo and behold the rubbish at long last got transported elsewhere.

A few months went by and a similar situation reared its ugly head in a neighborhood adjacent to ours. The aggrieved in that location heard about our success and wanted to follow suite. However in his case instead of having next door neighbors as we had, he was surrounded by empty lots & vacant houses.

Quite by chance he ran into myself and a couple of other folks from our section of turf and asked for our attendance to back him up at city hall. With much nodding in agreement & proclamations of unity we agreed that we’d be there.

Oddly enough, on the day of the event, we failed to follow thru. We later express our regrets to him with such excuses as “I completely forgot the date & time!”, “My daughter had a soccer game and I didn’t dare miss another one!” or “ I was expecting an email to verify but never received it!”, etc, etc….

Afterwards sitting on OUR front porch, drinking OUR beer, inside the borders of OUR neighborhood the conversation went something like this: “Well we Really didn’t know that guy anyway!” or “Hell, that’s five blocks from here and it really isn’t any concern of ours!” or “Old Mrs. Smith across the street from us said that guy’s daddy purposely destroyed her newly planted rose garden back thirty some odd years ago. Therefore with the age old tradition of heaping the sins of the father onto the son, he probably deserved what he got!”

The second example takes place in the hallowed halls of city government. In a city our size there are two constants that seem to have a life of their own.

The one is that when an elected (and in many cases an appointed) public official is ever unseated is a half decade after Alzheimer’s sets in.

The other is the nearly impossible chance of finding anyone who is willing to serve in local public office that is not currently or has been in the recent past, employed by, married to, divorced from, related to, indebted to, or has been in some fashion, directly or indirectly, put upon by one or more of his/her fellow public officials or their forbearers.

Therefore, still waters run deep, elephants never forget, and the Hatfield’s & McCoy’s are alive and well right here on the sunny side of Louisville.

As a result most any issue that comes before either the Common Council or the Administration is dealt with not on its merits as it may or may not benefit the city as a whole, but rather on from whom it originated. Gridlock perfected anyone??

All of this is a long boring way of saying that both the served and those serving need to grow up and act like reasonably intelligent, informed adults as opposed self centered, uneducated spoiled brats.

The alternative is to continue down this well trodden path until even Mansion Row and the Charlestown Road “burbs” look like the alleyways of Elm Street, Oak Street and the West End (to name a few)!

Take the personality differences out behind the bowling alley and settle them and let the light of day shine on bringing our city back to a place we are proud to call home.

For Your Weekend Perusal

2008-06-21T01:52:00.004-04:00

Over the past couple of years there have been a series of Congressionl/US Senate hearings concerning the use of steroids in Major League Baseball. Part of the results of which were one or more players being charged with perjury for "lying under oath!"

About a month ago I caught a clip of a high ranking US Senator proclaiming with the upmost zeal his disgust of rumors of drug use in the National Football League. He went on to say he was going to schedule hearings on the matter within the next fews months and get to the bottom of this issue.

Then I got home from our City Council Meeting last evening to find CNN broadcasting our very own Baron Hill chairing committee hearings on the care & feeding of animals in the horse racing industry.

Is it just me or does this make about as much sense as a heart surgeon leaving the operating room halfway through the procedure to discuss which variety of tulips to plant in his grandmothers flower bed two years hence.

As an unemployed individual paying $4+ for gasoline and a father & uncle of two young men who are serving in both Iraq and Afghanistan I would much prefer my tax dollars and our representativs education, expertise, and experience attending to the more pertinent issues affecting our futures.

The professional athletes are adults after all and even as kids when we found one of our playmates cheating we were told to settle in amoung ourselves.

As for the race horses, where is PETA when you need 'um?

A Few Notes from the 6-19-08 NA Council Meeting

2008-06-20T10:55:00.003-04:00

A 6PM workshop update on New Albany's Greenway project was held prior to the regular council gathering last evening and there was good news to report. The bridge issues over both Silver Creek and the Ohio River seem to be closer to being resolved sensibly.

The current plan is to use the abandoned railroad bridge at the Loop Island trail to connect us to Clarksville and postpone the idea of a vehicular bridge over Silver Creek for now. It appears that common sense finally floated to the surface.

It was also reported that the K & I Bridge connection is getting ever closer to a reality as well. All of that is still a year plus into the future but at least the conversation is more in the "gonna happen " sphere. One can only hope it stays that way.

As for the regular Council Meeting there was a notable lack of Administration representation present. Neither the Mayor no deputy Mayor saw fit to attend. One has to wonder, are they giving up or stepping back to plan another approach??

As was reported elsewhere, the highlight of the evening was Councilman Messer stepping up to question some less than supportable information that was presented from the other side of the table. Yea Jack! Where have you been?

The other two events that caused me to be guardedly optimistic was firstly, the report from the redistricting committee that their work is done, a plan is on the table for the Council's consideration, and said committee has been disbanded.

I personally urge this Council to get this item on the agenda and deal with it post haste. Eight years of duty shirked is far beyond long enough!

The other item that gives me a modicum of hope is Council President Gahan's stated intention to form at least one and possibly more committees at their next meeting to begin research on New Albany's outdated Housing & Building Code, (it was passed in 1969) and to look into rental property control issues (or more to the point, the lack thereof) as well.

Dare we hope that New Albany as a city will migrate forward to the 21st century and recoginize the rental business as (God Forbid) a BUSINESS!!!

To do otherwise is to insure that future entraprenaurs will continue to look at our (choke) fair city with a jaundiced eye. In addition to things like infrastructure, workforce availabilty, schools, & tax structure, good businessmen also look to the availabilty of affordable clean safe housing for themselves and their future employees. What we currently have to offer is not only laughable but disgraceful as well!

Perhaps we have at long last got to the point where some in leadership are at least willing to recoginize it as a problem. The burning question is, will they dare proceed to solve it?

Politics versus Change

2008-06-12T11:39:00.002-04:00

There is a phenomenon in our country that has taken on a life of its own with little or no resistance. That being on any given subject when a proposal comes forth that could lead to safer, more equitable, more productive/profitable, and/or efficient use of resources for the overall public good, the loudest bell heard pealing is the allegation of political gain.

“They’re playing politics!!!” floats to the top of the conversation quicker than a turd in a toilet bowl. To hell with the constitution & the rule of law. To hell with individual rights, quality of life, and hopes for future generations! To hell with trying to learn anything new!

Our fifteen minutes of fame, our seat in public office, our loathing & fear of anything/anyone we don’t understand must be preserved at all costs!!

I hold this to be true at all levels of government from city to state to Capitol Hill. I challenge anyone to watch the Congress/Senate sessions on CSPAN and tell me how they are different from our own City Council meetings.

I love analogies so I’m putting forth one here to illustrate my point. Much of this country west of the Rockies depends on the annual snowfall as their water source for the entire year. Let’s assume, just for giggles, that during one extreme event a select few buildings were destroyed as a result. Let’s further assume that the owners or their agents had the power to banish snowfall from ever occurring again.

The result would be short term gain for those select few as they could rest assured their little corner of the universe would never again be damaged by snowfall. However the long term effect for their prodigy as well as all in that vast expanse of real estate would be a desert unable to sustain any reasonable quality of life.

Oversimplified? Perhaps, but my view nonetheless of just how shallow and selfish it is for those whose responsibility is to look beyond their next election to the future life quality issues of the whole to focus instead on how a decision may or may not affect their personal goals or those of someone who is dangling short term benefit in front of them.

If following the rule of law and the Constitution of The United States means that some or all who now hold office will not be eligible to do so in the future so be it.

If modifying the traffic patterns in New Albany can result in more revenue for the community as a whole while I loose my favorite parking place, so be it.

If adding $7.00 a month to my utility bill will ensure that all the toilets in New Albany will continue to flush, so be it.

If the City Council has to draft and pass new legislation in order to guarantee that the monies generated by that increase are used only for and by that utility, so be it. Quit griping about it and do it!

I implore all elected officials to get over themselves and focus on the long-term good of the whole.

I further implore all citizens to do get involved. Your voice counts, but only if and when you choose to use it! Remaining silent and doing nothing is a choice but it still carries consequences.

Our children will one day either thank us or damn us for our actions/inactions!

How did this go?? Oh Yeah..."Be Careful What you Ask For!!"

2008-02-10T10:39:00.000-05:00

According to an article in today's Courier Journal, it seems that Gov. Daniels really can walk on water and give Indiana's tax payers that which they've been campaigning for in property tax releif.

Shall we gather at the river for celebration or perhaps to jump in and drown ourselves? I suppose it depends on your point of view. However, Im not so sure that the folks over at FOS and others of their ilk had this particular outcome in mind when they lobbied for change.

Albeit I for one am on record as being in favor of city/county government merger at some point down the road, is this proposed solution not putting the cart before the horse?

Again, I refer to the above title. Here is the link to the the CJ; http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080210/NEWS02/80210009

At the risk of plagiarism, we present, you decide.

I Beg Your Indulgence.....

2008-01-22T06:24:00.000-05:00

To those frequent visitors to this blog I must apologize for being lax in my postings of late. Yes I'm still around, yes I still care about the issues hereabouts, and yes I'm still involved.

My difficulty is going back to work has been more of a challenge than I first thought. In many ways my job is old hat as this is how I entered the trucking business over two decades ago. However the old saw of "use it or loose it" is ringing true. I'm having to rehone some skills I've not used for way too long and there is a bit of resistance from those around me to be dealt with.

All that being said, directing traffic from behind a computer screen is much favorable to fighting it on the road so as a good friend of mine is oft overheard, "it's all good!"

As to my involvement in current affairs in New Albany, it is more intense than ever although I've less time to devote to it.

This adds up to a shortage of both creativity and sleep so don't abandon the ship altogether. When the spirit moves, I'll throw something up here and until then there are a variety of good blogs around New Albany for your perusal.

Thanks for reading and check back often.

New Year, New People, New Opportunities.......

2008-01-06T12:59:00.000-05:00

As the holiday season ends and we focus on beginnings once more, the hopes and concerns for another year float to the surface.

On a personal level I have two major life changes to embrace/confront.

The more positive (albeit somewhat unsettling) is my return to the workforce after an 11 month hiatus. Questions like "Can I stay awake for an eight hour day and function as required?" or "How will I really adapt to a desk/management position after being absent from such for 17+ years?" and "How am I going to find the time & energy to stay involved in the civic issues that've become so big a part of my daily routine?"

These and others have played out in my mind in a myriad of scenarios over the past few weeks and like all of us, I've reverted to my fallback position which invariably is "Do the best I can with what I've got where I'm at, but continue moving foreward!"

The second and more disconcerting dilema for me is my Marine Corps son leaving today for an additional two weeks of training prior to deployment to Iraq by the end of the month. I'm torn between supporting him personally for his decision to volunteer for this assignment and my disdain with our political/military machine which breeds and cultivates such events. But that is a different discussion for a different day.

My primary focus this day is on local issues. We have a "New" City Administration and a "New" Common Council ! Or do we?

My hope (and at this juncture my trust) is that this group of elected and appointed leaders will follow through with their camapign pledges for change in the way our city fucntions.

Likewise, based on life's experience, my fear is that we will be subjected to more of the same ole same ole.

At the end of the day, somewhere between these two concepts will emerge reality. Which side the boat lists to will depend more that anything else on our (the public's) involvement.

If we choose to stay home and be silent, as historicaly is the case, the odds are that deadlock, misappropriation of resources, and political favoritism will once again rule the day.

If, on the other hand, we choose to be a consistently informed & involved presence in the many varied aspects of the process, I've no doubt we'll see some change for the good.We need to request, insist, and if all else fails, demand accountability of all and cooperation between all entities involved.

Know that we can not accomplish these results from the comfort and seclusion of our favorite recliner. We must be willing to sit on hard seats, endure long meetings, and do our own homework.

Knowledge is power and we are the employer. They are merely our employees. The question remains, are we going to become knowledgeable employers or are we going to once again allow the tail to wag the dog?

These and many more questions will arise over the coming weeks & months and vacation time , for the moment, is over. So put down your purses, put aside your interpersonal differences, and let's get on with the gettin' on.

See Y'all tomorrow evening at the inaugural 2008 Common Council meeting!

A Toast To a Happy Healthy Productive 2008!

2007-12-31T07:01:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year!

May it be a safe and prosperous one for all!

My Response to the Council's Survey

2007-12-30T23:34:00.000-05:00

What follows is in very broad terms, what actions I would like to see this upcoming Council and Administration take over the next four years to help bring New Albany into the 21st century.

This in response to a posting on Shadow5's blog entitled "A Blueprint? Or Just a List?;

http://nashadowcouncil.blogspot.com/

I reserve the right to tweak these thoughts to a more specific concept as the need in a given area arises over time.

These ideas are arranged in order of importance from most to least as I see them currently;

New Albany Common Council
2008

Goal: To help make New Albany a more productive and progressive city!

1. Leadership;

a. Accountability, teamwork, & communication between all departments & branches of city government and with the public as well.

I. Reorganize/combine city departments to make them more efficient and place new blood in dept head positions

II. Find ways to increase manpower and training where needed to provide better services to the taxpayers.

2. Budget;

a. Explore and actively pursue alternative ways to increase revenue to pay for the city’s needs

I. Federal Grants

II. Increase the tax base

III. Private investments & grants

3. Ordinance & Law Enforcement;

a. Again pursue alternative grant monies to pay for more enforcement officers

b. Revise city ordinances and put some enforcement teeth in them to deter offenders

I. Building code and rental property controls especially

c. Increase the size of the city law department so they have the manpower/resources to actively prosecute offenders

4. Business & Infrastructure;

a. Downtown

I. Make it more business friendly by bringing back two way streets, paving them and repairing sidewalks & lighting.

II. Work with neighborhood groups in areas of image/beautification to help make our neighborhoods more livable and attractive to new business owners and workers to live here. That would increase our tax base better than any other way.

b. Suburban Areas;

I. Actively pursue light industrial and service oriented business for our limited industrial space and for downtown as well.

5. Parks Department;

a. Keep doing what we’ve been doing as I think they’ve done an admirable job with what resources are available.

b. Again, continue to pursue alternative financing for them

c. Possibly look at involving them in conjunction with neighborhoods to manage empty lots that are city owned. Neighborhood gardens come to mind.

6. Environment & Sewers;

As for these two I have no suggestions as we should know by now that we must do whatever we must to keep the Federal Government happy on these two issues. We either pay now or pay later.

Post Script; I'm confident that there will be those who read this both in the private sector as well as elected/appointed officials whose first comments will be "It can't be done!"

My response here and now is "Bullsh..!" Don't tell us Mr. Electee/Appointee why it can't be. Rather take note of item #1 in the above and lead us into the completion of the task at hand. Show us how to help you make it so!

The King is Dead...Long Live the King!!

2007-12-27T18:23:00.000-05:00

Well it's officially over! The gang of four is now one and a half; (ooops, make that two!)

The call to order came at precisely 1600 hours with an admonition by his majesty that the meeting be short, sweet, and to the point as he had houseguests coming in from afar.

Without ado the Right Reverend Donnie Blevins gave the invocation followed by the pledge of alliegence and roll call. Suprisingly enough, all nine members were present even though it was prior to the dinner hour (or was that happy hour?) Which reminds me, CM Coffey arrived at his post without his ceromonial stainless steel mug!

CM Blevins then took the floor to apologize to the council and public for his unprofessional behavior at the previous council meeting. He acknowledged that it was an emotionally motivated outburst and that he regretted losing control. His apology was noted and council President Kochert thanked him for his efforts.

This was followed by public comments at which time Mr. Randy Smith came to the podium in support of the commendable work that Haven House has done for New Albany's less fortunate and encouraged the Council to support those efforts with (God forbid) an outlay of cash!

At this point resolution R-07-45 was introduced by CM Zurschmeide to provide funding in the amount of $50 K to the afore mentioned. Discussion followed in which CM Coffey was in agreement with doing so and CM Zurschmeide was reluctant on the grounds that the monies may be confiscated by the IRS for delinquient payroll taxes instead of going to the needy in question.

City Controller Garry confirmed that if (and only if) she received a form from the IRS instructing her that any contributions submitted by the city were to to be forwarded to that federal agency, she would have no legal recourse but to do so.

This was countered by Ms. Anderson of Haven House stating that as of now, the IRS was working with them to resolve their situation and that issue was not currently a reality.

CM Price then began an interrigation of MS. Anderson concerning the organizations finacial management since 1999 from figures that he got from who knows where. Most of his objections were based on staff pay increases over the past several years that Ms. Anderson denied.

At one point she got frustrated enough to ask Mr. Price if he had ever turned down a pay raise as a Councilman. His reply was " No, I deserved every penny I got in this job."

Ms. Anderson finally conceded that New Albany was free do as it wished and if after twelve years of caring for this cities homeless with no help from us, she was (relunctantly) more than willing to send them back here for us to deal with when Haven House was forced to shut its doors for good!

Council at long last elected to appropiate $5K to the project with the promise to revisit it in January. Some of the residents of that facility then came forward to thank the Council for keeping them from loosing their children for at least another 30 days!

Next on the agenda was an increase in salary for the Mayor & the City Clerk for next year. After being assured by the City Controler that there was no legal reason not do as long as it was done prior to December 31, 2007 this also passed with a 6 to 3 vote.

G-07-20, an ordinance to amend the Sewer Board was tabled until 2008 by CM Gahan.

All that was left was G-07-19 (the redistricting Ordinance) and after a discusssion period in which CM Blevins questioned Councils attorney concerning its legality, it also passed with a 6 to 3 vote on 2nd and 3rd readings.

And so it is, December 27, 2007. The end of an era in New Albany's history. Dare we hope for the next four years to be more progressive?

Happy New Year 2008!!!

WWJD???

2007-12-26T20:39:00.000-05:00

Occasionally, as hard as I try to be congenial, I simply can not resist the temptation to stir the bacteria and see what floats to the top of the stew pot.

One thing that triggers that reaction is abject hipocrisy, especially from the evangelical sect. This particular burr in my saddle made it's first appearance in my psyche as a teen.

One of the more religiously zealous young lasses in our church youth group showed up wearing the latest in fashion of short skirts and form fitting blouses on an evening at which the topic of discussion was sexual temptation.

She was very animate and proud of the fact that she had composed Christian lyrics to the tune and tempo to the then popular song "The House of the Rising Sun". Supposedly said version was intended to be a deterrent to the temptation that the original song suggested.

I was confused, took issue with the concept and was henceforth told that in the big scheme of things, it really didn't matter.

Fast forward to this evening; I was surfing the blogisphere and came across one that I hadn't read for a while and clicked on it. This particular site has seemed to lean toward evangelical propaganda so http://missannieangel.blogspot.com/ I elected to check out its authors.

Lo and behold I found a very interesting profile of one of it's contributors called "AnnieAngel" http://www.blogger.com/profile/11770633454013100721. what caught my attention was not only this persons profile comments but the accompaning picture as well.

So I can't for the life of me refrain from asking the question here, Just What Would Jesus Do???

Happy Holidays!

2007-12-25T10:06:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas to One and All!!

Hey You...Yeah You...the Chubby Guy in Red With the White Beard

2007-12-18T19:04:00.000-05:00

After many long evenings of intense negotiations, my good friend and fellow rabble rouser (IAMHOOSIER), has reluctanly agreed to assist me from time to time with a contribution to this site. I'm grateful for his assistance in maintaining continunity during those times when I suffer from writers block. The following is his initial ofering and I trust you will enjoy his humor as I do.

Dear Santa,
I appreciate what you have been able to do for New Albany and me.
Provided just enough LEADERS with the foresight to bring us Scribner Place at practically no cost to the taxpayers. And the LEADERS that took the action necessary to get a letter from the EPA stating that, during the last SURPRISE inspection, our sewer system was in compliance.

If I could be so bold as to ask for a few more things for Christmas.

1. Bloggers with the courage to rid themselves of the veil of anonymity.
2. Bloggers who are truthful about who and what they are.
3. More police, with cars, on the streets on New Albany.(I know you slow your sleigh down when you see one, on or OFF duty.)
4. Continued leadership to get more good letters from the EPA.
5. Courage and common sense to the new Common Council.
6. Speaking of common sense, send some to the Bloggers mentioned in 1 & 2. And a full case of logic. Make that a truckload.
7. Wisdom and enlightenment to incoming Mayor England. He says he has it, this is just to make sure that there is plenty.
8. Some peace to Mayor Garner. After a slow start, I think he really tried to do the right things.

Sincerely,
Mark Cassidy
“Iamhoosier”

Ok-ok, I'll admit his approach (as in the title) needs a little polish, but hey, we all had to start somewhere!

Mind Bogglers....

2007-12-15T10:57:00.000-05:00

In the letters section of today's Tribune was a piece entitled "Ode to stolen trash can"

http://www.news-tribune.net/opinion/local_story_348181236.html?keyword=secondarystory

It got me to pondern' about the odd things over the years that have either been stolen from me or someone I know.

Trash cans for example. Why steal 'em when many folks around won't even make the effort to use them? Drive down any alley in any city and you'll see mounds of trash bags piled up around perfectly good empty trash cans. But then it does require the efffort to open the lid to deposit said bag inside doesn't it.

Or mops & mop buckets. It seems that every shop I've ever worked in had a chronic shortage of both these items. Finally after months of beggging, we would get a new supply of buckets, wringers, mop heads, and handles and they would last about two weeks. The mystery was why steal them because most folks would rather wade through a greasy bay than pick up a mop and clean it.

But wait! Perhaps therein is the answer. No mops & buckets, no way to do it!

Shop rags I understood for they can be used for a variety of purposes. For instance, flags for overlength loads of lumber, emergency bandages, or in a pinch even baby diapers. But the wooden spools from toilet paper dispensers?? That one still baffles me.

Or one of my all time favorites. A friend of mine used to use those cheap green paper tarps to cover his seedbeds in the spring. He'd cut holes in them to allow the seedlings to grow through but it held moisture in until they took off. He would invariably have half of them stolen every year.

Tarps with holes in them! HUH???

I know that desperate times call for desperate measures but some things make one wonder. Are we really in the 21st century?

I suppose the only sane question is Why ask Why?

Go West Young Man!

2007-12-13T16:14:00.000-05:00

Well, come Sunday evenin' that's what I'm gonna do by golly! This will be my bi decade vacation and I'm going to San Deigo to spend a few days with my Marine Corps son before he gets deployed over yonder.

The only other time I've been there, save in a tractor/trailer was in the early 60's. I was in the 3rd grade and my parents pulled me out of school for two weeks to travel across country to see my sister.

We had a 1948 Pontiac the trunk of which was packed to the gills with luggage for the three of us and clothes for the four grandbabies (two of whom we'd never seen).

The back seat contained a pump organ of German desent that my Dad had found in a pile on the back steps of a house he was remodeling. He dragged it home, restored it to mint condition, and declared he was taking to his youngest daughter.

From Memphis we turned south and took the southern route thru Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. In 1961 the Interstate system was still just a sparkle in Ike's eye.

There were no rest areas as we know them today but rather the shiny aluminum trailers which served as eateries (similar to what The Little Chef was originally) and lots of Tepee shaped motels with a gas pump located nearby.

In El Paso the universal joints gave out in the Pony due mostly to the weight she was carrying. By the time we got to Phoenix, blowing sand had pitted the windshield so badly that you could not see out it. My father was not very understanding of the fact that in neither case were parts for a '48 Pontiac readily available. Personally I thought it was neat to sleep in a Tepee wannabe.

The most memorable part of Arizona for me was how far one could see. Dad's program was to hit the road around 3 AM, stop for breakfast about 8, and then start looking for a motel around 3 PM. Going across the desert, that made a lot of sense back then. It was often a long way between those shiny cafes'.

On one particular morn we started out in the dark and saw a faint fire burning in the distance. There was a mountain range to the west of it so it shown pretty good way out there. We drove that day and never passed it. The next morning, sure enough, there was that fire albeit a bit brighter than the day before. Around noon we finally came upon it's source which turned out to be a gas well burning off the residue. Now bear in mind the top speed on the ole Pontiac was nothing compared to the modern version, but that was still a fer piece for this 8 year old to comprehend. When they say flat, they mean it!

We arrived in Yuma to find snow and confusion. Upon inquiry we were informed that this was the first snow many of the locals had ever seen in their lifetime. My father assured them if it was he was to blame for bringing it to them from back East, they'd never see another flake!

Upon arriving in San Diego, we encounterd yet another fluke as it was overcast, rainy & bone chilling cold the entire three days we were there. The sun popped out long enough one day for us to go to the beach and pick up shells some of which I'm still carryin' around forty plus years later.

Helen was impressed with the organ but decided she had seen enough of California so three days later the trunk got stuffed even more and the overflow along with her and the four babies occupied the back seat. The Pontiac got no releif whatsoever and for me the return trip was even more crowded and miserable. Now there were screamin' brats fighting over the cherished sleeping spot in the tepee's!

Anywho that was my first time there and subsequent trips have been very little better. They just don't take kindly to taking 70 foot rigs through drive thrus!

Hopefully this time will be different. Martin has trained there on two other occasions and knows his way around not only the tourist traps but more importantly many of the brewpubs in the area. That's what Marines do after lugging around 90 lb backpacks all day. They go drink beer and lots of it!

The only thing I've got planned for sure other than his graduation ceremony is a tour of the Stone Brewery complex in Escondido. That'll take the better part of one day or two or thr......!!

Another One Bites the Dust!

2007-12-06T21:58:00.000-05:00

Wednesday last I roamed over to Clark Memorial Hospital to get an Ultra Sound scan to check for the presence of blood clots that I supposedly developed a result of the dog & pony show the medical profession termed life saving surgery in February of this year. I did survive but the hows & whys are a whole different tale for another time.

My incentive for this particular test was to determine if I really needed to keep taking blood thinners. I'm happy to report that the results came back negative. Like the big "C" cells, if there are any clots left, the little suckers are well hidden.

So Coumadin be gone!! That's one less shelf I have to carry around while I wander through life disguised as walking, talking portable pharmacy.

This Friday the 7th I go in for a followup "scope" so the surgeon can get an inside look at his handywork these many months later and then Monday next I'm getting a PET scan (what are they lookin' for? Stray dogs & cats?).

Depending on the outcome of those two procedures, they've assured me that I can attempt to go back to work in January.

I was concerned for a time that I'd not have the stamina to stay awake for a full 8 hour day. That situation has resolved itself these past few weeks only to present another launguishing dilemma.

I'm too damned busy to go back to work!

Wanted!!

Rich Uncle on deathbed with no living relatives that wants to adopt a nephew!

References available upon request!

Yeah, I know it's crass, but you can't blame a bloke for tryin'!

And Behind Door Number Three We Have...

2007-12-03T23:41:00.000-05:00

Okay boys & girls, we've almost done it. This episode is in the books and we have one more to go! Dethrone the King day is December 20th!

There was a stellar standing room only crowd present and suprisingly a majority of the same people where in agreement on three seperate issues. Those being against the latest incarnation of The Gary's kingdom expansion, against CM Coffey's attempted assassination of the New Albany Housing Authority (he tried but failed to paint it as the international hub of the world's cocaine trade and exploitation of our senior citizens), and remarkably to me, supportive of the 3% plus 1 increase in pay for the police department.

Personally, I began to get real nervous when I realized that the room was chock full of lawyers who still had their jackets on & buttoned and their neckties intact.

During comments from the public, several souls, including some of those lawyers, stood to address the NAHA issue armed with both testimony and data to counter Dan's attack.

There were two citizens groups representatives who spoke eloquently about McCartin's half conceived plan for his latest project on Charlestown Road. His first attempt got shot down 9-0 by the Planning Commission. The second one passed that entities muster with a 6-3 vote but the neighborhood still ain't buyin' it.

Then came a lone speaker to defend the police department and received a rousing round of applause from the audience upon completion. Oddly enough, Larry didn't pound a hole in the table with his gavel although I fully expected it.

Then followed comments from city officials in which Mayor Garner warned the Council to think long and hard about reinventing the Sewer Board wheel and Bob Lane rose to defend his staff, his organization, and himself. He came with a convincing array of stats and refutes to Coffey's accusations. He also got applauded when finished.

Mr. Haub rose to give a history lesson on the events from 2005 forward leading up to the stalemate in contract talks between the city and the police union, most of which I had never heard before.

CM Coffey tried his best to ruffle both the Mayor and Mr. Lane on these issues but to no avail. He just wasn't having a good night at this point. Bob's responses to him were reminiscent of Attorney Fifer's comebacks to Dan during the Sewer Rate increase debates. (and dummy me forgot my camera this evening.)

The salary increase ordinances for both police and city officials passed 8-0 on first reading. (CM Schmidt Wasn't present)

The NA Housing Authority amendment failed with 5 nays & 3 yays with Coffey, Price, & Blevins voting in favor on 1st reading. Suprise, suprise!!

McCartin's offering failed 1st reading with 7 nays & 1 yes (Coffey again). That one did surprise me a bit, but I soon got over it. The Council suggested some changes to the plan to be brought back to them for their reconsideration prior to the 2nd & 3rd reading.

Dan asked for the second reading only of the Sewer Board ordinance so further study could be done by other Council members before the Dec. 20 meeting. As usual, Coffey, Kochert, Gahan, Messer, & Zurschmiede banterd back & forth about ancient history for a period of time but eventually the vote was called for and it passed 5-3 with Jack, Kevin, and Larry saying NO!

Although it was long and good beer was not to be had this night, it was entertaining to watch CM Coffey's face glow like Rudolph's nose in a snowstorm!

As I've said, I won't be here for the last torture session of 2007 so I fully expect some one or more of you to pick up the slack.

Oh by the way. Before anyone says it, I'm well aware that using first names can be construed as showing disrespect for the position and I still don't care. If the foo #@its and all that rot.

Musings For a Monday .....

2007-12-03T12:06:00.000-05:00

Have you ever noticed some NA Common Council members consistently have their tag lines quoted in the newspaper about current issues without having spoken directly to the persons or organizations they are referring to?

Or how same individuals consistently arrive at a Council meeting without having ever opened the packets they've had for days prior, make statements to the effect that they've never heard of whatever the particular subject on the floor is, and yet claim be more knowledgeable about it than the persons doing the presentation that have in fact done the research?

Does anyone else wonder how the city can justify fining citizens for allowing leaves to clog the storm water system when said leaves are the by product of trees that stand on city right of ways? Or why there are two large vacuum trucks that were designed specifically for leaf pickup sitting idle in the city's Street Department yard?

Here is a good one. In the great scheme of things where we have oversight departments, planning meetings and such, why do we pave the streets before the utility company puts in the much needed infrastructure improvements instead of coordinating with them and doing so after the fact? Unless of course this is an around the mulberry bush way of accomplishing traffic control. Perhaps that is an answere after all!

Frustrated?? Not me! I just love seeing our taxdollars at work and my elected representatives doing their duty for our best interests as a community.

Have a good week!

Oh by the way, tonight is Common Council night. Come watch the fun!

Just For the Fun of it.....

2007-11-30T08:40:00.000-05:00

I had every intention of going to The Keg's final beer tasting of the year last evening so late in the afternoon I called Rog to see if he was going to be there.

As luck would have it, he said he was getting ready to phone to inform me about Frank Thackery's retirement bash at the BBC Taproom and inquire if I was interested in going. While I've never attended IUS as a student, I've been drinking beer with Prof.'s Thackery, Sloss, Newman, and others for nearly as long as Richo's has been open so I said Hell Yeah!

I'd also never been to the Taproom so I picked Roger up at the Pub and proceeded across the river to imbibe & visit. We arrived early, grabbed a couple of pints, & commenced munching on the pizzas we'd carried over with us. Jon and Ed showed up a short time later, ordered another round and we had a nice quite visit. (I know Ed, quiet is relative)

Eventually Jake, Bob & Mindy, and the others wandered in, we mingled for a while and then elected to roam back to the Public House for another pint before going home.

Somewhere between pints two & three Bluegill and his friend Roy popped in and I knew it was going to be a long night.

Jon & Ed checked out but the rest of us remained and had one of the most enjoyable evenings I've had this entire year. It was the first time in probably two years that I've been there with Roger that late as both of us rarely hang out there at night anymore.

For me it was refreshing and reminicent of days gone by consuming great beer and conversing with friends both old and new.

Thanks guys & gals! We need to do it more often.

Celebrate, Celebrate-Dance to the Mu....!!

2007-11-27T15:56:00.000-05:00

In spite of the many roadblocks New Albany Community Housing held its final Board Meeting of 2007 this past Monday evening and opened a bottle of bubbly to celebrate a successful year!

Celebrate you say? When all I see is a bunch of empty houses sitting on stilts surrounded by mounds of mud? What’s to celebrate?

Ahh!! You apparently haven’t been by of late! All but one of the houses in the Meadow is now in place on their foundations, the street is paved, the lots surrounding them have been leveled and grass seed has been sown!

In addition, two of the Linden Meadows homes as well as the New Home we built on the corner of 8th & Oak Streets have buyers whose credit has been approved and are scheduled to close before the end of the year!

On the human interest side, one of the prospective buyers is a single parent of four who was for all intents and purposes homeless. The five of them have been living in a two bedroom mobile home. She attempted to buy last once before but the company she worked for closed its doors and she had to start over to meet the credit/work history requirements. The same company reopened under new management, rehired her at her previous position plus gave her an increase in salary. Since then he has met all of the criteria for qualifying to this program and is looking forward to being not only a homeowner but a part of a community. We all wish her well.

Finally, the staff recently moved their office into one of the houses in the Meadow which puts them onsite to more closely monitor the ongoing refurbishment of the project, show the homes to prospective buyers, gives them room to expand staff and a place to hold first time home owner education classes for said buyers. Plus having occupants should go a long way to cut down on vandalism and we don’t have to pay rent on the facility!

The obvious downside here is this house may be the next one to sell. But what the hey? We have 20+ more to move into and out of when necessary!

Oh! I almost forgot that we have a new addition to our staff. Pat Woosley is now our Housing Services Manager. She will be in charge of the education classes and much of the paperwork involved in the sales side of things which will free John up to concentrate more on acquisitions and construction issues.

After closings all of this adds up to matching funds to buy more homes for renovation or more lots to build new homes both of which equate to an increase in the numbers on home owning taxpayers which leads directly into improved neighborhoods in our fair city.

What’s not to celebrate?? A toast to all of those who have worked so hard to make this a reality and looking forward to much more of the same in 2008.

Ho Hum...Are We There Yet?....Elector Please!!

2007-11-15T23:17:00.000-05:00

This evenings Common Council meeting was blas'e at best and boring at worst. There was no Lakota Souix Holy Man to give the invocation so the routine was followed without preamble.

Following the Pledge, the minutes were quickly dispensed with as were CF1 forms approval, Communications from City Officials, the Mayor, and Committee Reports (there were none).

Communications from the public consisted of Ted Fulmore Speaking encourage them to approve the paperwork for R-07-40 (Authorizing a Matching Grant from Preserve America), and Lloyd Wimp asking for support and passage of G-07-15 (the Animal Control Ordinance). Both of which later passed without objection. (sometimes we just get lucky.)

Also approved was R-047-38 which addressed a tax abatement for Luckmeier Industrial Mold & Machine Co., Inc. Following questions about the number of potential jobs that would result from this expansion and brief discussion of the tax implications involved, this Resolution was amended to allow five years of relief as opposed to ten as originally proposed. Miraculously, this followed the precedent that was set at the last preceding Council Meeting. ( Again, occasionaly luck prevails.)

A-07-30 (an appropriation ordinance allowing Animal Control to use a Grant they have received) and A-07-31(approval to use LRS funds for paving our streets) were passed with little to no fanfare.

G-07-16 (an ordinance concerning Garbage & Refuse) was pulled from the agenda with no explanation expressed or implied. I learned after the fact that it had been rejected by the Board of Works. (now the lucky streak is starting to scare me.)

G-07-17 was the hotspot of the evening. It was an ordinance to replace the present Sewer Board with one that meets the Indiana Code requirements. It's introduction led to as near a heated debate as we were subjected to this night. CM Coffee was flashing around in his hot little hands a 27 page copy of the specific statute and singing its praises. (he swears that he went online and secured the aforementioned) CM Kochert and Zurchmeide on the other hand were expressing caution and concern about the administration having a free hand in the appointments to said board. Following a short bit of bantering back & forth, this one also passed on the first reading.

Then came G-07-15 (the Animal Control Ordinance) which passed 2nd and 3rd readings with no debate. (by now, I've broken out into a cold sweat)

Lastly there was the Vacating of a Public Way which was dispensed with quickly.

There being no further business, thankfully the gavel dropped and my cohort in crime and I retreated to the Speakeasy for a pint or two or three of Elector! (WHEW!! that was too close for comfort!)

Sleep well New Albany, for tomorrow is another day!

And We @ the View Endorse....

2007-11-05T15:24:00.000-05:00

Here are our picks for tomorrows municiple election;

Mayor: Doug England

City Clerk: Marcy Wisman

1st District: The Cat (See NA Confidential for further information)

2nd District: Bob Caesar

3rd District: Brenda Scharlow

4th District: Pat McLaughlin

5th District: Dick Bliss

6th District: Jeff Gahan (everyone is allowed an error in judgement on occasion)

At Large: Jack Messer, Kevin Zurschmeide, & John Gonder

A perfect slate of candidates? Probably not, but the best we have to choose from undoubtedly. With them we get a mixture of new faces complimenting the better of the existing ones.

So here is your long awaited chance blogisphere. Now get off your duffs, put your money where your mouths have been, and get to the polls and vote!

Pardon Me your Honor, But Do You Have a Clue???

2007-11-01T23:40:00.001-04:00

Once again the old axiom comes home to roost...The more things change, the more they stay the same! Thursday's New Albany Common Council meeting played to the script verbatium.

The first item on the agenda was Resolution R-07-39 which was introduced by CM Messer. It basically stated that if passed it wouild make null and void Resolution R-07-35 which the Plaintiffs have made clear that they will not sign.

After a brief discussion in which CM Krump asked for reassurance from Council Attorney Ulrich that this resolution and its attached consent decree (which the Plaintiffs, their attorney, and three Councilmen have signed) would in effect cancel out the pending lawsuit, a vote was called for. As predicted, it failed to pass muster with a vote count of 6 Nays and 3 Ayes (those being CM's Krump, Messer & Zurchmeide).

G-07-15, a proposed Animal Control Ordinance (patterned after the one that the Floyd County Commissioners recently passed) was next on the agenda. This issue served to prove another axiom (Never say never!) as Dan Coffey and myself came dangerously close to agreeing on something. For whatever reason, CM Coffey called for amending the rules of Council and asked for all three readings of this bill to be completed at this meeting so as the Animal Control officers could get on with the gettin' on.

David Hall of the Animal Shelter approached the podium to comment and CM Gahan asked if it was vital that it be passed this evening as he (Gahan) had not taken the time to study it thoroughly. Mr Hall's response was that the sooner the better but if the Council would be more comfortable postponing the 2nd and 3rd readings until the next meeting, so be it.

The vote was called for and it passed 1st readiing 9 to zip.

Following that were two ordinances. One pertaining to vacating a right of way that had been abandoned by the city eons ago, and the other amending salaries for 2007 Non Bargaining Unit Employees.

Then came the nailbiter. G-07-14 otherwise known as the Schmidt Redistriting Plan. Again with litttle to no discussion it passed both 2nd and 3rd readings with a 7 to 2 vote with Messer and Zurchmeide voting no. CM krump voted yes with the proviso of "Don't call me after December 31st"!!

This was quietly follow by an ordinance concerning Amendeing the Code for a building project that I honestly didn't catch. It passsed 9 to 0 and there being no other business and no non agenda public commentors, the meeting adjourned.

Myself and two of my cohorts in crime made our way to the Speakeasy for NABC Elector, wings, and intelligent conversation as we disected that which we had just witnessed. The beer, food and conversation was excellent but alas our conclusions were non conclusive.

For me now the burning question is what kind of suit to buy for court. Do we all dress alike to confuse or do we we each don our individual fashion statement?

Ahh the perils of life! A courtin' we will go, a courtin we will go, high ho a merry 'o a cour......

Holy Time Warp Batman! Where did the Year Go???

2007-10-19T23:46:00.000-04:00

Oh that's right! I took a Sabbatical these past 9 and a half months and partook of surgery x4 (three of which were apparantly to fix the screwups of the first one), followed by a series of chemo and radiation treatments.

I now have first hand (or ass) experience of just how a microwave oven works. The concept of being cooked from the inside out was at first hard to grasp but during the last week of radiation, I had a revelation come upon me that provided clear understanding. (and I thought sunburns were uncomfortable)

At that point I went directly to plan B. I told the medical team when this ordeal first came up that when the cure got to be worse than the disease, I would resort to Single Malt Scotch and a comfortable chair in front of either my computer or TV.

So being true to myself, I said thanks but no thanks to further barbequeing, popped the cork on a bottle of 12 year old Glenlivet that I've been saving for at least 6 years, and proceeded to get back into life.

Seemed like a jolly good idea at the outset but it's become quite evident in the past two weeks that there's a lot of stuff I haven't touched since January.

Ahh but have no fear. If the scotch holds out, I'm quite sure I can get most of it caught up before I go back to work in January!

If not, I'll move on to plan C which is ( I'll take care of it the very next opportunity I get!)

By the way the post sunburn bloodwork shows no indication of any of the "big C" markers let in the old bod. Nice try boys, but you've once again failed to keep me down.

This is a reoccurring theme in my life that I'll attempt to explain some day but for now suffice to say I'm back in the saddle.

Funny thing, when one of the current Coucil members was told this last evening his response was "God help us!" Timid buch aren't they?

Calling Local Media !! New Albany Does Exist.... or Does It ??

2007-10-12T10:14:00.000-04:00

Throughout this current campaign season I've noted several indepth Q and A articles in the Tribune with candidates such as the one in yesterdays edition with the Jefferrsonvilles' nominees for Mayor.
http://www.news-tribune.net/election2007/local_story_284110742.html

These articles have included candidates from several of our surrounding communities.

However, unless I missed them, I have yet to see such involving New Albany's candidates. There have been the occasional clips from time to time concerning the hot button issue of a particular day, but nothing that even closely resembles the article I referenced above.

So now I ask the questions. Do the local papers editors or its reporters not feel New Albanys' as newsworthy or important as the rest of our area?

Can they not find the time to track down our nominees and interview them?

Could it be that our Candidates do not feel that it is important for us to go to the polls as informed voters?

Or worse yet, do our Candidates just not have a platform concerning this citys' future to put before us?

Sadly my take is that all of the above are complicit in creating this situation.

So the question here is the same as it is for many of our woes. How do we break this deadlock?

Or better yet, do we really want to?

"You Ain't the Boss of Me!"

2007-10-09T22:18:00.000-04:00

Excuse me sir but there's a train coming.

I'll stand here if I want to!

I understand, but there's a train coming.

I have my rights you know!

But sir, there's a train coming!

You ain't gonna dictate to me where I can or cain't stand!!

But sir, please, there's a trai....................

Screeeeeeeeech.....crunch....crash!!!!!!!!!

Ooops!

The Campaign Continues......

2007-10-05T09:55:00.000-04:00

Silver Grove Neighborhood Association hosted a "Meet the Candidates" forum last evening at which Republican mayoral hopeful Randy Hubbard, 4th District runner David Abersold, and 5th district nominee Dick Bliss spoke and answered questions from those present.

Turnout was light but that did lend itself to an open discussion atmosphere among those present probably moreso than would have been the case with a crowded room.

The biggest disappointment was the absence of the press. They'd been invited but failed to make an appearance. Once again, our "local newspaper" appears to care less.

All three speakers were enthusiastic and hopeful about New Albany's future under their tenure if elected but spoke in general terms on how to accomplish the tasks ahead.

Randy Hubbard sited his experience in law enforcement in both the city and county venues. He pledged to maintain an open door policy, find the best person for the particular job for his administrative positions, and fire them on the spot if they failed to perform.

When asked if he had picked anyone to serve on his administration as of yet he said no. He continued that his first task was to get elected. He would then concentrate on finding the best qualified and experienced person to fill a given position.

I asked him about enhancing code enforcement and reinstating a city court. His response was that the cost/return ratio for a city court was ineffectual but indicated he wanted to have a well staffed law department to prosecute offenders through superior courts already in place. He confirmed that there are plans underway to have at least one if not two more superior courts in place by 2009.

When asked about further privatization fo city services he incicated that when such is farmed out, much control is lost by the city.

Mr. Abersold assurred those present that his primary focus would be on those in his district and to do that which was best for New Albany.

Mr. Bliss sited his former experience as a council member and his desire to serve the entire city. He also voiced concerns about storm water and trash issues in not only the 5th district but all of New Albany as well.

I expressed my frustration at the present governments' failure to communicate and to withold pertinent information from each other and the public on the issues before them. I then asked them all if they would put forth a concious effort to change that dynamic.

They all responded in the affirmative and promised to remain available to answer questions the public may have.

They were further asked if they individually would be open to attending perhaps quarterly meetings with various neighborhood groups to discuss issues and concerns specific to that particular area.

All three expressed not only a willingness but a desire to work with neighborhoods, blockwatch groups etc.

All in all it was a productive informative evening albeit limited in its scope. None of them expressed a specific step by step plan for how to accomplish a specific objective. All however pledged to do their best with whatever they find to work with if elected and to remain open to suggestion.

SGNA will host the Democrat Candidates for a similar forum at their November 1st, 2007 Meeting.

Note, there is a debate between the 3rd district Council Candidates (CM Price & Ms. Sharlow) scheduled for Oct. 10th, at the Muir Center on Market Street.

Now, where's my breakfast beer?

History....When Do We Learn From It?

2007-09-27T14:47:00.000-04:00

As a round about belated birthday/anniversary present my wife and I spent yesterday at the Indianapolis Museum of Art.

As an ardent student of the arts one of her favorite subjects is the Greek and Roman period. As it happens there is curently an exhibit of Roman Art from the Lourve in Indy. This made my gift shopping an easy one this year.

As we browsed through the displays of marble statues and read the history of their origin it ocurred to me that much of the good in our form of government and the freedoms we share as citizens is patterned after the Roman Empire.

Continuing on through a few more viewings and readings however, it became equally obvious that much of the graft and corruption we see in our government from the local all the way up through the federal levels has its roots in the same era.

The framework for a slave to become a freedman, obtain citizenship and have a voice, however small in his local government, along side the emperor's and Senates propensity to sell out to the highest bidder should it suit the purpose of either at a particular juncture.

So hence the question. When do we or have we learned from history? The inbreeding, arrogance, and greed of the Roman Empire ultimately led to its demise.

Are we as a democracy (oops! a representative republic) destined to suffer the same fate? Or will we choose to learn from the mistakes of the past and strike a new path? Will we use our freedoms to preserve our way of life by getting involved in the process or stand silently by as we watch it slip from our grasp?

Pertinent questions I think for citizens, candidates and current office holeders alike.

Happy campaign season!

Progressives at Work....

2007-09-25T09:51:00.000-04:00

I woke up this morning to find, to my hearts delight, two very positive and hopeful posts in the blogisphere.

The first concerns the salvation & resurrection of another historic landmark in New Albany as reported over at NAC ; In spite of the neglect by it's owner, The Daisy Supply Medical building may survive. http://www.cityofnewalbany.blogspot.com/

The other in reference to a neighborhood coming together to save itself from more multifamily infestation in a single family atmosphere; Score One for the Good Guys reported by
http://kerberoskorner.blogspot.com/

These stories along with others of late concerning citizens involvement in the preserving what we have and entrepreneurs willingness to take a chance downtown assure me that our dreams & ideas of progress are alive and well here in New Albany. This inspite of the ongoing efforts of many in our midst to sqeulch such.

My congratulations to all involved for jobs well done!

Democracy Works (when you try !!)

2007-09-21T07:38:00.000-04:00

After a long evening of much wailing and gnashing of teeth concerning city employees, job displacements, salaries, benefits, TIF monies, EDIT monies, and the ghosts of Christmas past as they pertained to parking garages & Scribner place, the crescendo increased during the afterglow.

When the floor was opened for public comments concerning items not on the agenda for the evening, I approached the podium to offer this Council yet another alternative to avoid a costly court battle as it concerns redistricting of New Albany.

In essence what was proposed was that a committee be formed by the Council made up of the three at large Councilmen to meet with a delegation of Plaintiffs involved in the aforementioned lawsuit and hammer out an agreement of principle to redistrict in such a manner as to end up with equal population numbers in each of the six districts as nearly as possible.

The plaintiffs still hold that the bodycount can and should by law be much closer than a 600 person difference as was proposed by the Councils previous offering.

Following my proposal, Roger followed with a history lesson as to the actions and inactions that have thus far transpired in this matter.

Randy brought up the rear with a very concise and understandable explanation as to how TIF monies better serve a community for certain projects than do EDIT monies.

Then just as President Kochert was about to call for adjournment and drop the gavel, Councilmen Gahan presented a motion and received a second to form the aforementioned exploratory committee and a vote was called far.

At this point the volume level rose a few decibels and despite the exuberant efforts of both President Kochert and CM Coffee to squash the idea, their Attorney stated he saw no legal reason not to if the majority was in favor of the idea, and the final vote was 5 to 3 in favor of the motion with CM Schmidt abstaining.

Unfortunately for the public, the Tribune reporter had already left the room so the blogisphere and the street is where this event will be reported for now.

Regardless of what speculation may follow, I want to reinterate that the Plaintiffs only goal in this case is for the Common Council of New Albany to do that which it is required by statute to do in order to assure that ALL citizens of ou city have equal representation across the board.

I'm sure there will be much more discussion of this matter throughout the next days and weeks but at least for now I say "Chalk one up for the Gipper!"

It's a Bird, it's a Plane!- oh it's only him...

2007-09-19T14:28:00.000-04:00

After a long absence for various boring reasons that I shant go into I revisited this site today and found that I have had many visitors during my absence.

When last I checked the Site Meter, the body count was in the 4600 range. To my personal delight and surprise ( no thanks to my lax effort), it now registers in excess of 11,000.

To further encourage my return to the blogisphere, I've had visitors from as far away as Atlanta Georgia, Fort Collins, Colorado, and even the Netherlands. Ain't the internet great!

I wish to thank you all for checking in, whomever you may be!

I guess I'm going to have rack my underworked brain cells and come up with something to write about. Although at the moment there seems to be no shortage of material to comment on locally.

Happy Reading!

DUH...Goofed Again!!

2007-05-08T11:20:00.000-04:00

Yesterday's entry is a prime example of my short term memory malfunction. I keep blaming it on medication but the fact is I do have difficulty with remembering names from time to time. However, readers of the blog world are right there to proofread for me. I apologize for the mistakes & ommissions.

One group I missed was those from the Main Street Preservation Assoc. who participated in the cleanup effort on Ekin. Also the Southern Regional Director of Historic Landmarks of Indiana is GREG Sekula, not Dave. For some reason I keep getting Greg confused with Dave Barksdale when I write. I suppose that's because when I see one of them, I usually see the other also.

Again, sorry for the confusion and keep checking my facts!

Cooperative Endeavors Net Positive Results

2007-05-07T11:35:00.000-04:00

On Friday last a heretofore rare occurrence took place. Due to the combined and willing efforts of the Historic Landmarks Foundation, the neighborhood associations of Uptown, East Spring Street, Sue Ellen Jones, Silver Grove, the New albany Board of Works, and a host of volunteers (including some from Jeffersonville, Sellersburg & Clarksville), the home at 1746 Ekin Avenue in New Albany got a new lease on life.

This property was on the city's demolition list with but a few weeks remaining when Dave Sekula of the HLFI tracked down the owner, proposed to him that Landmarks purchase the home from him, assist him in clearing his personal property out of it and put in on the market as a salvageable property as opposed to another vacant lot of weeds in our city.

The owner agreed to the deal, the city agreed to give HLFI a grace period to make it happen, and Dave started asking for volunteers.

On Friday May 4th at 9:30 AM in spite of the rain and it being a workday for many of us, a small army from all around our area assembled and went to work. By the end of the long day the house was empty, the owners personal belongings were in storage, a dumpster was full to the brim, and a group of tired folks took a step back to proudly view their collective efforts.

Many of these people had no direct connection to this issue... or did they? Have we possibly reached a point wherein we realize that our "Neighborhood" extends beyond our privacy fence or the house two doors down. We can only hope that this experience can and will be repeated all over New Albany, Floyd County, and ultimately Southern Indiana & beyond.

The small flame has been lit and I encourage us all to fan the fire until it grows to blazing proportions.

To all of those volunteers who gathered this past weekend to strike that match, I say well done and THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!

Honest..It's True!

2007-05-03T22:27:00.000-04:00

I hesitate to write this post for without any of our team present save myself I fear being suspected of drunkedness of drug abuse. Even the Video taping was absent on this occasion. Based on recent history I too would be skeptical had I not witnessed it.

This nights Common Council meeting was so calm as to be scary for one who has a history of attendence. There was very little obstructionest debate and no wailing & gnashing of teeth at all!

All agenda items that were brought to the floor for a vote passed 9 to 0 without as much as a whimper. That includes the hiring of a Sewer Utility Manager.

I admit I left prior to the afterglow of public discussion of nonagenda items so fireworks may have insued later, but I felt it behooved me to get out while the getting was good.

Perhaps every meeting should be held under the umbrella of "Election Eve".

Remember; Vote till it hurts!

Batter Up---Play Ball!!

2007-05-01T13:18:00.000-04:00

As with many things in our day to day lives, timing is everything and many times it sucks.

Case in point.

One of the homes on the city's demolition list (one which, by the way, the city invested something to the tune of $6K to put a roof on last year) has been acquired by Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana for the purpose of not only saving it but selling it as a single family residence (as opposed to it becoming another slumlord cash cow).

This particular property is located at 1746 Ekin Avenue and has been determined to be in structerly sound condition. It basically just needs a serious face lift and some TLC.

The Landmarks folks took this action because they saw not only the potential for this property to be restored into a beautiful home but also to reinforce the concept that single family homeowners on the tax roles are much more productive to our neighborhoods than are transient renters.

Here is where we, the neighborhood groups come in. This coming Friday May 4th, we are asking for as many volunteers as possible to help clean out the contents of this house & outbuildings. Some of it is going into storage and a lot is going into a dumpster. Arrangements for both have been made and now live bodies are needed to make it happen.

As I said previously, the timing sucks, but the planners felt that Derby Day would be even worse and as I understand it, there is a limited time frame involved in acheiving the desired results.

So now is the time for as many of us that can to put our time & energy into what we've been talking about for a long time. Grab your gloves, broom, & cleaning supplies, and join in the fun at 9:30 AM! After all, these are our neighborhoods.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Voter Education 1.5

2007-04-19T10:49:00.000-04:00

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!

Finally- A Word From the Coffey House

2007-04-16T12:10:00.000-04:00

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!

More Well Hidden Info

2007-04-12T10:15:00.000-04:00

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!

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

2007-04-09T10:47:00.001-04:00

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!

Meet Your Candidates!

2007-02-19T13:01:00.000-05:00

On thursday March 1, 2007 the Uptown Neighborhood Association is hosting a "Meet Your Candidates" event.

We are inviting all of those folks who have registered to run the the May 2007 Municipal Primary Election for New Albany. So far all we have contacted, save one, has indicated they will attend.

We will have tables set up around the perimenter of the room with placards in front of each candidate with their name and the office they are seeking.

We are inviting the public , other neighborhood groups, as well as our own members to come by and discuss with the candidates individually whatever is on their minds concerning New Albany's future.

The Uptown Neighborhood Association is neither endorsing nor sponsering any particular candidate for any particular office. We are doing this solely to give the public a chance to meet those seeking office personally and for the seekers to hear what is on the voters minds up close.

The meeting begins at 7:00PM and light refreshments will be served. So come join us and bring your best questions to pose to the candidates.

My bad! The meeting will be held in the basement of the Silver Street United Methodist Church.
It is located right behind the Swifty Gas Station at the corner of Spring & Silver Streets.

Boy that would have been a disaster were it not for my competent sidekicks proof reading for me.

Thanks Randy!!!

2007-02-03T19:37:00.000-05:00

My hat's off to Randy Smith for his article (the first in a series) in yesterday's Tribune letters offering. http://www.news-tribune.net/opinion/local_story_031135019.html

I found it to be well thought out, well said, and right on target.

It says volumns to me about our political field of registered and yet to be registered candidates when none of them save Steve Price, has yet to take a public stance on any of the numerous issues New Albany faces as this election cycle approaches. Albeit I disagree with CM Price's premise, he is nontheless stating his position. If any others have, I regret to say I missed it.

Yet Mr. Smith comes forward with a platform of ideas that are a part of everyday conversation of any who are paying attention to our current conditions in this city.

For this he will surely be chagrined by many for daring to do so. In fact on one blogsite http://www.just2beheard.blogspot.com/ he already has.

However I applaude him for his offering to the conversation and look forward to the remainder of the series.

Bravo Randy! Keep 'em coming!!

The Answer to the Question

2007-01-27T17:43:00.000-05:00

Way back in January 2006 I posed the question Who the Hell Are You and What do You Want?
http://highwayview.blogspot.com/2007/01/who-hell-are-you-and-what-do-you-want.html

For the best answer I've seen anywhere to that query, I invite any and all to go to the following link and read Still My Hero!
http://www.newalbanyeyesores.blogspot.com/

If after doing so you still don't understand, then my friend you are just too damned dense to waste anymore time & energy on!

Even so, we're still going to be here when you get up in the morning dogging your every move, sound bite, and inaction all the while we are proceeding with progress.

Welcome to the NEW New Albany!

So Ya Think Ya Wanna Be a Truck Driver huh? (Part 3))

2007-01-25T20:58:00.000-05:00

Following our lunch stop debacle (well ok..my debacle) Tommy and I motored on across southern Alabama & the top Florida to Orlando. We arrived around midmorning and got unloaded.

Once empty, I called dispatch and was told to head over towards Tampa and get a room for the night. Now this sounded like a deal 'cause we could park the truck, rent a car, go to Tampa Bay , and eat fresh seafood on the waterfront. Tommy had never seen an ocean and by the time we found a motel with truck parking, he was in a dither & I was tasting that Salt Water Trout from behind the steering wheel.

But such was not to be. We got a room and while he was taking a shower, I was burning up the phone lines to find a cheap rental car. Now this was late spring. Football season was over, baseball hadn't started yet, and spring break had come & gone. But honest to goodness there was not a rental car to be found in the Tampa area, cheap or otherwise. We considered a cab until we priced that and found that to be way too cost prohibitive.

Heartbroken and halfstarved, we settled for dining in the motel restaurant/lounge and spent a miserable evening watching and listening to a bunch of Florida crackers drink swill beer, throw darts, and lie to each other. After about an hour and half of that, we gave up, went to our room and watched Gunsmoke reruns till we dozed off.

The next morning I bounded out of bed and called dispatch. He told me we had a load of lumber coming back to Louisville to pick up in south Georgia either late that afternoon or first thing next morning depending on our travel time. I threw a glass of cold water on Tommy and told him to get dressed, we had to go!

Go where he asked?

To Tampa Bay! I still want that seafood!

In a semi? he quired?

Well I damned sure ain't gonna walk ! says I.

So soaking wet, half awake & the other half livid, he finally got himself together and stumbled out to the truck.

As we neared the Bay, Tommy got a increasingly worried look on his face. What's the matter T? See something that scares you?

It's just those signs about the bridge.

What signs? I don't see any signs!

The ones like that on right there that says "No Semis Allowed on Bridge"

Oh that! Those are just if you're going thru! You can cross the bridge to make a local delivery.

But we're empty already! Tommy offered with his face looking chalky.

I don't care, I responded. I drove all the way down here to see the Bay and eat fresh fish and I'm gonna do just that!

By this time, we were indeed on the bridge and one look at that green water was all it took to calm him down.

Once on the other side, our luck held true to form. None of the good restaurants opened before 11 AM and we dared not stay that long for fear of really aggravating the local authoritys so we ended up finding a wide spot on the shoulder next to, of all things, a Waffle House! Oh well, at least we are on the shoreline.

Which reminds me why I started this story in the first place. about halfway across the Bay Bridge, Tommy caught sight of a nice looking motoryacht and snapped a picture of it. So if you look real close out over the steering wheel and past my profile, you'll see that yacht!

Now that (three posts) was a long way around the mulberry bush to make a point even for me!

Anyway, we got fed (no fish, but the eggs were good) and I let Tommy drive back across the bridge while I looked a boats.

We proceeded on to Georgia, got our lumber on and rolled back into the yard at Sellersburg the next evening.

Tommy got to go on his own after that and althought he didn't set any land speed record with delivery times, he did ok!

After about four months of being away from home, he decided that although Grandpa must indeed been a hell of a man, Tommy, wanted to be with wife & kids every night. So they agreed to the transfer with the lunch meat plant, and he hung up his spurs. By the way, he never so much as scratched another piece of sheetmetal after the chrome pipe incident.

We kept in touch for several months, but that finally slipped away into memories where it probably belongs. Funny thing though. Everytime I eat a lunchmeat sandwich, I get a vision in my head of Tommy standing at a payphone in Birmingham explaining the why & how of that bent chrome exhaust stack!

"And the Price Is.......!!

2007-01-24T05:50:00.000-05:00

What follows is a short series of Email exchanges that Steve and I have had over the past few days concerning his recent blog posts. Read, learn, enjoy!!

Steve,

FOR THE RECORD ONE MORE TIME! The Neighborhood Forum’s DID NOT ask for a full time city attorney!

We merely agreed to investigate the possibility of one. Our research into the subject proved conclusively that a city our size could not afford to pay an experienced attorney what he would require to do the job, and more importantly a one man legal department (even with ONE paralegal assistant) could not possibly address the issues that brought up the discussion in the first place!

CM Coffey, for political reasons of his own, jumped the gun to propose such without having either done his own research or looking at ours!

Most of the enforcement problems we have now are due to the lack of a fully staffed law department, not for the lack of officers citing the offenders. Pam Badger and the police Department are doing their jobs, but the prosecutions are not happening due to an overloaded law department!

These are the facts and I can show them to you in black & white and point you to those who can confirm them!

Lloyd,

I am glad that you found your way to my email address.

For your record, I DID NOT say that Ms. Padger was not doing her job. What I said was the enforcement of violations are not being done.

I attended the meeting at the White House, and heard Greg Roberts say the number one priority was a full time city attorney to get the ordinances enforced.

Upon the first draft of the Code Enforcement Officer (CEO) was reporting to the Director of Building Services. Shane preferred to have the CEO to report to him. We gave him what he asked for.

Further more the ordinance also states that the Building Commission has the responsibility for enforcement as well.

With regards to Shane’s workload; he somehow finds the time for bond issuance as well as other avenues for making money. But, wasn’t it his choice to accept the position of City Attorney? I am almost positive he knew what he was getting himself in to.

One last FACT with regards to not having enough money to pay a full time attorney. Ask Shane the amount of money he makes through Contractual Services.

Next ….

Steve,

Thanks for responding.

For your record, I DID NOT imply that you said Ms. Badger was lax in her duties. I merely pointed out that her actions were just one step in a process that is not being completed. It is my understanding that neither the Building Commissioner nor his employees have any prosecutorial power. They simply write the citations. Following that, it is up to the city attorney’s office to process it through the court system! Albeit stated otherwise in the ordinance passed by the council, I doubt seriously that it would stand up in a court test.

Secondly, you are correct that Mr. Roberts said the full time city attorney was 1st on our priority list. He then created a committee to research how to start that process. Said committee, of which I was a member, found that a one man legal would be neither cost effective nor able to meet our city’s needs as to prosecuting code violations.

Finally, with regards to what Shane makes however & wherever else in his practice, what does that have to do with what we the city pay him for handling the city’s legal affairs?

By the way, may I quote you on your responses?

Next…!

Lloyd,

I am glad that we got the clarifications out of the way.

With regards to the monies received by Shane from the city … rather he is receiving monetary pay from his salary, board affiliates or from contractual services, he is still receiving money from the city to handle “legal affairs”.

Thank you for extending me the courtesy of asking for my permission before posting my response. Permission granted.

Well, there we have folks. One on one with the Counciman himself. There is another old country saw that goes something like this;

It's a total waste of time trying to keep a pig out of a mud wallow. All that's accomplished is that you frustrate yourself and piss off the pig!

'Nuff said!

So Ya Think Ya Wanna Be a Truck Driver huh? (part 2)

2007-01-23T19:34:00.000-05:00

*Sorry to disappoint a few of my n'er do well readers, but this portion of our programming is family oriented. The juicy stuff we save for politics!

So Tommy had made it through his first ever DOT scale check just south of E'town and after satisfying myself one more time that he was going to steer straight & true all the way to Birmiingham, I crawled back in the bunk and took a nap.

Over time in a truck, your body developes a sort of sixth sense about time & distance. When we left the scales I made a mental note to myself that we were about 7 hours out from our destination and sure enough, seven hours later I stared to come out of the fog. Unfortunately it was about 5 minutes too late.

It seems that Tommy had got bored sitting up there all by himself so he did what all drivers do and keyed up the michrophone on the CB radio. Well as luck would have it, he got to talking to an Alabama local about where we were headed, this clown told him about a shortcut through the woods, and my man Tommy thought he would suprise me by getting us there early.

Unfortunately, or as I've always suspected on purpose, the local yokel forgot to mention a 12 foot underpass just immediately off the exit ramp. I shook the cobwebs out of my head just in time to see the nose of the tractor go under this bridge. To his credit, when he heard metal screeching, Tommy stopped. But then he blew all the brownie points he had just collected by throwing 'er in reverse and started backing up.

WHOA! I yelled at the top of my lungs. We'd better take a look see before we destroy any more sheetmetal! Turns out the the truck & trailer cleared by no more than two inches, but the boss lady's tall, shiny, chrome exhaust stack was now about a foot and a half shorter by virtue of the crease in it.

Tommy's looking like he's about ready to cry and I was in no mood to comfort him.

OK Funugie, says I, lesson #1; Look before you go under anything that's shorter than you are! Lesson #2:If you pull on thru we can save the stack by just making it shorter. However, if you back up, your gonna rip the whole exhaust system off the truck! And last but not least, Lesson #3: YOU get to call the boss lady in the morning and explain to her why her tall, shiny chrome pipe is now a not quite so shiny, short chrome pipe!

With that said, I took over the driving duties and banished my super trucker buddy to the bunk until we got to the customers dock at daylight. That was our first drop and we preceeded on to deliver in Montgomery, Greenville, & Andalusia with no further ado.

Except of course when he called in to report his mishap and was told not to worry. It would simply be deducted from his first check & his second check & his thir....!

Our next drop was in Orlando and we were making good time so I elected to let Tommy get some two lane experience under his belt by going on across the bottom of Alabama on US84. Enroute I explained to him about how that pretty red dirt on the shoulder of the road turns into super glue when it rains and it behooves one not to drop a wheel off of the hard surface.

He questioned what to do when he met another truck coming from the other direction, for the road looked awfully narrow. I told him that if he stays just inside the dividing line & the other guy does the same, the air that both trucks are pushing ahead of them will force them apart enough to clear each other. Believe it or not, it's true. It just takes a healthy bundle of nerves at first to put the theory to the test.

Somewhere between Andalusia and Dothan we came upon a Mom & Pop diner/truckstop so we pulled in to have a bite. I noticed they had one of my favorites (fried mushrooms) on the menu. I asked the waitress if horseradish sauce was available to dip them in and with a strange, wary, look, she said it was.

Tommy & I settled into a conversation with one of the locals and in due time our food arived.

The waitress set it in front of us and backed away to the counter with a slight grin on her face & poured coffee for the fellows there. As I picked up the first big juicy mushroom, dipped it in the horseradish, and popped it into my mouth I noticed that everyone at the counter was stareing our way. A millisecond later, I knew why. The dipping bowl was filled with pure freshly grated horseradish and I had a mouthful of it. Needless to say, water didn't help but the boys at the counter , the waitress and Tommy got a good bellylaugh at my expense.

It all worked out for she felt sorry for this poor dumb yankee boy and gave me a slice of fresh baked apple pie and a cup of coffee on the house. She said she hadn't been entertained so in months. I surmised they didn't get out much in that neck of the woods.

Tommy finally stopped laughing long enough to get back in the truck and we continued on towards Orlando.

(To be continued one more time)

So Ya Think Ya Wanna Be a Truck Driver huh? (part 1)

2007-01-21T20:18:00.000-05:00

For any of you who have ever wondered about the picture on my blog page, there is a story behind it that needs telling. More because I'm racking my brain about something to write than because my readers are dying to know. So at any rate, here goes!

Back in the day when I still thought it would be neat to train wannabe's how to motor down the road in a big rig, along came Tommy.

Tommy was a likable sort who had gotten caught up in the mass industrial shutdowns & layoffs of the late 1980s. He was in his early forties and had spent his entire adult working career in a lunch meat plant in northern Indiana. The plant shut down due to competition and Tommy found himself without a job. He was given the option to transfer but the wife & kids rebelled so he had to make a change.

Turns out that his Grandpa, who had recently passed on, had been a truck driver and as Tommy was mulling over what to go for, he began to reminice about Grandpa's highway stories and decided he wanted to try. What the hell? He had to do something for a living!

I gave him his driving test and for someone who had never steered anything bigger than the family stationwagon, he did remarkably well. He was eager to learn and followed instruction better than most so we ran him thru a drug screen & DOT physical and put him to work.

Our first trip out was a multidrop load with the first stop in Birmingham. Now B'ham, Alabama is 8 hours truck travel time due south of Louisville. You just jump on I65 South, cross the Kennedy Bridge, and hammer down. Simple enough or so I thought.

Silly me, there I went thinkin' again. As I said previously, Tommy did rather well on his driving test so I was confident that once he got pointed in the right direction all would be ok. So we did our pretrip, fired 'er up, and headed for the interstate. Once we got onto 65 South, I asked him if he was good to go and he nodded in the affirmative. Allright said I, just head south and wake me up in about 8 hours.

I crawled back into the sleeper bearth, not so much because I was sleepy but because my experience had been that newby's had better luck concentrating on what they were doing if they didn't have the distraction of me sitting in the passenger seat stareing at them. From my pearch behind him, I could gaze out to take a look see if needed and we both could relax a bit.

Once I laid down, I must have been more tired than I thought and almost immediately half/dozed off. He crossed the bridge and I felt the the rig slow down and lean into a right hand turn but didn't think much of it because of the upcoming hospital curve. Not ten minutes later, I felt the same reaction and could sense that we were on another bridge. Time ta take peak.
Upon doing so I found us to be westbound on I64 headed for St. Louis.

YO Tommy says I! Why are we going west? Birmingham is south! Well, says he, I was in the right lane and the sign said I must turn! OK, says I, jump off here on I265 and go around again, only this time get in the middle lane and head SOUTH!!

Believe it or not, this same scenario played itself out twice more prior to me returning to the buddy seat to navigate. Now we've lost an hour going around in circles and I've been rudely rousted from a good catnap! Oh well, at least he now knows how to get to St. Louis. Or does he?

Nevertheless, I hung in with him until we got past E'town and went back to the bunk and slept lightly. (To be continued)

Hodge Podge ? (or perhaps frustration!!)

2007-01-20T10:52:00.000-05:00

Ever notice how on certain blogsites (FOS & Steve Price-My Vision, to name but two) that questions are asked, or statements of alleged fact are issued but we are not allowed the opportunity to answer the questions or discuss the sources of the information presented?

Several cases in point follow.

On CM Price's blog on Friday the 19th he states the following; "Several neighborhood associations wanted a full time city attorney-when it was presented, they changed their mind." No Steve, we did not change our minds, we did further research into the subject to insure the feasability of the idea. We found that a full time city attorney was not the best course of action and thus opposed it when it came before the council.

On Freedom of Speech for Monday the 15th under the question "What do we do when we have a problem?" it is implied that we throw good money after bad and get absolutely no results.

For instance; "Delinquint sewer bills are not collected or liens filed." Wrong ! As per an article in the CJ on September 10, 2006 the mayor stated that some $80K of delinquint sewer bills have indeed been collected. Liens have indeed been filed on some properties but the legal processes of such action are painstakingly slow.

Another FOS statement from the same date: " Unsafe buildings are not demolished." Wrong again! Steve Laduke, president of the NA Building Commission, reported at this weeks Common Council meeting, that several unsafe structures have indeed been demolished recently and listed several more that are on their worst of the worst list to be addressed soon. He also asked the council for the funds to put the Demolition fund back in the black as well as additional funds to pay for more demolitions. Of course he was met with the standard protocal of suspision and enuendo by some council members.

Yet another from the same FOS post; "Junk cars are not towed away." Wrong yet again! At the November meeting of the Uptown Neighborhood Association, Cheif Harl reported that the police department had finally found a facility to store said vechicles and many had recently been towed. Again, there is a legal protocol that must be adhered to prior to hooking on to a car and towing it away. To not follow those procedures sets the city up for even more legal costs in form of lawsuits. That is indeed a waste of $$$!

Finally, one more from FOS that I'm going to tie into CM Price's latest post; "We hire engineers and pay for a study." as though once again money was spent irresponsibly. I'm not sure whether they are referring to a past study or one that may be forthcoming.

However I do know that at a recent Sewer Board Meeting, Todd Solomon recommended that the city have an independent study done of the 15th street lines in particular to determine, amoung other things, the costs involved in correcting that potentialy disasterous situation.

Now here is where I link this to CM Price's post on Saturday January 20, 2007 in which Steve poses the question " While the issue of the railroad is being addressed, what about New Albany's role?"

I follow with questions of my own. First, not if but when this proposal does come before the council, are the members going to view it as a part of the solution in conjunction with CSX's contribution, or are they going to dismiss it out of hand as being just another handout to the spoiled child?

Secondly, if the study is indeed authorized, funded, and conducted, is the council going to follow the recomendations that come forth from said study and appropriate the monies needed to do the actual needed repairs? Or are they once more going to do the politically expedeint thing and reject this information again, out of hand, as being yet another handout to the spoiled child?

Finally, shall we all stand, bow our heads, and hold our breath as we wait for these answers?

Damn! I didn't realize a coin had so many sides!

Conumdrums all Around...

2007-01-15T13:46:00.000-05:00

Conundrum-Any puzzling question or problem. (**New World Dictionary of the American language)

There appears to be a whole slew of these "puzzling questions" in these here parts all of a sudden.

For instance, on the January 13, 2206 post on CM Price's blogsite entitled 15th Street http://stevepricemyvision.blogspot.com/ he discusses the ongoing travails of the infrastructure surronding the rail crossing at 15th & Elm and then poses the question "Did we, when the water main broke at this location back in August, take a proactive or reactive approach to this problem?

My answer to his query is a question. why did you not Steve, along with your fellow councilmen, take a proactive stance on this and other infrastruture maladies by voting for the proposed 19% sewer rate increase which would have, long term, given the city the rainy day fund money to address these ongoing disasters in the making?

Or another case in point, In his current post entitled Points to Ponder, he points out that with a smoking ban looming on the horizon, New Albany stands to make $3,221,846 from Cigarette Tax Distribution in 2007.

Now here comes my question. Steve are going to vote for the smoking ban thus causing the city to loose that 3 million plus dollars per year that could further add to our rainy day fund for such emergencies as train wrecks or vote against it and appropriate those monies toward updating our infrastructure?

Note that I was going to pose these question to him via email on his blogsite but alas, I can't get to his email address. I guess E Blogger is having problems again!

Ah well, such is life in Nawlbany!

Perhaps a Two Front Battle?

2007-01-12T13:11:00.000-05:00

I originally posted this on the Tribune forum but elected to put it up here also to get more coverage.

OK the truth is I don't have two topics a day in my repertoire. So fire me already!

Many of us have for over a year struggled with the code enfoercement issue, or the lack thereof with very minor sucess.

Should we give up or should we perhaps get equally aggressive with another important aspect of the battle while we continue the first? Should we wage a two front offense?

Consider the following;

There are over 7,000 residences in the inner New Albany area. One very smart fellow told me there were as many as 3,000 substandard units. We know there is about 60% rental properties.

So while code enforcement might be able to address the most egregious of violations, how long do you think it will take a superman Building Commissioner, who never sleeps, to address even a fraction of these effectively? (New Albany Building Commissioner's office is another understaffed and underfunded entity by the way.) If he successfully corrected two or three every month (no easy task), that would be about 1% of the estimated problem in a year.

Code enforcement is needed for sure, but it is not the only answer and perhaps not the best answer.

Nor is city government that is unwilling to stick its neck out gonna be an answer any time soon.

Cops don't stop speeding, traffic design does.

Code enforcement won't stop slumlords, but higher property values will. We need plans that bring investment and demand to downtown New Albany.

That's where the neighborhoods and opinion leaders should be putting some of their energy.

The slumlords are laughing that everyone is struggling to pursue a solution that will only take care of 1% of the problem.

Strike any bells?

Is It Just Me or Is It Getting Hot 'round Here?

2007-01-10T11:29:00.000-05:00

Well boys 'n girls, it appears that election season is upon us once again. Candidates, potential and otherwise are strategizin' and jostling for position.

Self proclaimed "Progressive-Not bound by traditional ways or beliefs" Steve Price has his own blogsite :

http://stevepricemyvision.blogspot.com/ ,

And many other names are being bandied about for both Common Council & Mayoral positions. The one constant is that none, other than CM Price and he only vaguely, are being publically forthcoming as to what their intentions or platform consists of. It would appear they all went to the same school as the party leaders of our community, "Speak not at all and smile a lot"

So how are we to make informed decisions about whom to vote for? Oh, that's right, we aren't. We are to just blindly follow tradition and vote for the incumbent. Barring that, they'd just as soon we didn't bother to show up at the polls.

Not that this has been either publically or officially stated, mind you. That would require a statement of position and again we haven't heard any.

So again readers, I implore you to read the lines, read between the lines, and if you are not registered to vote, by all means do so. Then after you have verified that you are indeed registered in the precinct in which you currently live (as opposed to the one you lived in prior to moving) , continue to read, ask candidates hard questions, demand honest answers, analyze it all, and ultimetly GO TO THE POLLS & VOTE! Vote 'till it hurts.

To clarify my comment about follow up of your registration, when you change your physical address, even if you were previously registered, your status will not be automatically updated. You must verify your current status and make sure you aren't registered in more than one location. If you are, your vote will be VOID! They will gleefully toss it out the window onto that evergrowing pile of trash in the alley.

Above all, remember this. For most recent elections, only 25% or less of the legally registered eligible voters have bothered to do so. In real life terms, that equates to 1 out of 4 are making decisions that 100% of us have to live with until the next election cycle rolls around. The political machine is more than happy with these figures because they can easily influence enough of that 25% to vote their way without breaking a sweat. I on the other hand, am not happy with 1/4 of the population dictating the lifestyles of the other 3/4 of us.

A disclaimer here. I, at this point, am not expousing one party nor one candidate over the other. Vote your conscience, vote they way Grandpa did, vote straight, vote split, or best of all be an informed voter, but vote nonetheless.

Responsible citizenship! I know, I know! It's a bitch, but it is the ONLY sure way you have a voice in the who and how your government works! It's like going to the dentist or that boring ass job you have to face when you climb out of bed every morning, just put down your purse and DO IT! You will thank yourself afterwards.

Welcome to the furnace!

Who the Hell Are you and What Do You Want??

2007-01-06T10:18:00.000-05:00

My name is Lloyd Wimp and I am a mortgage paying, tax paying , voting citizen of New Albany. My background varies from construction trades worker, to auto/diesel mechanic, to vocational school instructor, to truck driver, to semi-professional beer drinker. I believe the general catagory is "Jack of all Trades & Master of None!"

I have no political ambitions for myself, I'm not seeking any political office, and I am curently not supporting any particular political party or platform, although I might look strongly at at a platform if anyone would lower themselves to coming forward with one. So far that has not happened and I've yet to see ANY indication of such.

What I and AN EVER INCREASING NUMBER OF NEW ALBANY CITIZENS want is a local government (administrative and legislative/fiscal alike) that is willing to;

A) look past what has been to what can be (think outside the box)!

B) work together which means open lines of communication, cooperation and sharing information with each other and the public. Both branches need to quit forcing each other and us, to beg, borrow or steal whatever documentation or verification is needed to make an intelligent,informed decision on a given issue!

C) work with the public in spite of how angry or crazy we may seem at times. Stonewalling and excuse making has created this monster that you folks find so distasteful. You have forgotten somewhere along the way, that YOU work for US at OUR pleasure, not the other way around.

Cain't like ain't is not in the dictionary. There is "I don't know how but I can learn." Or there is "I'm not going to!" which denotes a negative attitude and as my dear old Dad was so prompt to remind me, atitudes can be adjusted.

Too strong? I don't think so. Fighting words? Possibly, but only if they are ignored. Too uppity for mere citizens? Don't know, do you feel lucky?

So this in a nutshell without the flamboyance of multisyllable words is who we are and what we want & expect from our elected officials and their lackeys. Got any ideas on how to accomplish this feat. If so we are having a Greet & Meet at Richo's this coming Monday evening at 7PM.

For those of you who look to be running for election in 2007, this would be a great opportunity to hear our hopes and fears as well as for us to put a face to your name up close & personal. Don't worry, beer is optional (they have non alcoholic beverages)! We also promise to give you a 10 minute head start for the parking lot before the lynchings begin.

If you can't make this one, we loosely plan on a series of these events over the next several weeks. The bottom line is, we need an exchange of information concerning what potential candidates and voters have mind for New Albany's future and that future is NOW!

A Leash is a String, a Rope, a Steel Cable, a.......???

2007-01-04T22:29:00.000-05:00

I just spent an interesting evening at the first of ??? public hearings on the proposed Floyd County Animal Control Ordinance. If nothing else I came away with a newfound appreciation for what the writers of our Constitution went thru to reach the point of a final draft. And they walked in the room hating each others guts! Neither did they have email to exchange between themselves. If they were still around, I'd remortgage my home to buy them all the progressive pints they could drink.

We walked into the room with a 57 page document. Mr. Lohmeyer offered that in the interest of time, we should skip the first 11 pages because they contained only definitions of terms used throughout the text. Silly boy! Only Rabbits eat tricks!

We devoured the first hour on pages 12 thru 15, much of which was spent going back to pages 1 thru 11 to define terms. Well, it sounded like a good idea going in!

The next hour considered pages 16 thru twenty something (again that definition of terms thing).

During the last 45 minutes, the general consensus was to treat "livestock" (farm animals) as a seperate issue at a later time.

I'm really not making fun of anyone here. It was just an interesting exercise in watching a room full of people trying to agree on what is really is!

At any rate we made a lot of progress and some very good points that had not been previously brought to the table were shared. The next session is next Wednesday @ 6PM at the same location. Bring a seat cushion as the metal folding chairs are rough on a million mile backside!

I offered to Mark Seabrook that if he thought the NA Sewer issue was tough, he ain't seen nothin' yet!

I missed nearly all of the NA Common Council meeting but a little mouse told me that Larry Kochert is the new council president. I also heard that CM Price & company had a successsful evening in that no monies were awarded to the petitioners present. Whatch those pennies Stevey boy!

2007 is off & running. By the way Roger, did you say something about some lubricant for that squeaky wheel??

Lassie---Come Home!!

2007-01-03T20:49:00.000-05:00

The farmer arrives on the scene in time to see that one of his sheep is down and a blood stained collie is running away from it! Meanwhile, back at the farm, Lassie arrives covered in blood and cowering as if she's in trouble. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

We're back-The farmer has rounded up the sheriff and they descend on the farm to find Mom & Timmy trying to clean the offending stain off Lassie's coat. The farmer immediately points an accusing finger and demands that the sheriff dispatch her at once! Dad emerges from the barn to see what the commotion is all about and is told the damning tale! He suggests and the sheriff agrees to pen the dog up until the mystery is solved. the farmer doesn't like it, but has to abide by the sheriff's decision for now. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

We're back again-The farmer goes to check on his other sheep, while Dad & the sheriff go back to the scene of the crime to look for clues as to what may have happened. Meanwhile Timmy is agonizing over the delima while Lassie is getting more agitated by the moment. Unable to cope with her discomfort, Timmy opens the gate and Lassie bowls him over and heads lickety/split for the farmers place. Timmy yells for Mom and they take of in hot pursuit of her! (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

We're back yet again-The farmer looks out from his barn and sees Lassie bounding across his property heading straight for the sheep pasture. He grabs his rifle and takes off after her certain that she has come back for more killing. Meanwhile, Dad & the sheriff have discoverd another set of dog tracks that are not Lassie's and begin to follow them. By now the farmer has caught up with Lassie and has her in his sights at close range. She barks, growls and leaps around him just in time to intercept another dog which is sneaking up from behind to attack the farmer! Just then Timmy, Mom, Dad, & the sheriff arrive on the scene, the sheriff dispatches the stray dog, Timmy collects Lassie and the farmer comes to the realization that his bacon has just been saved by the very animal he was so bent on destroying. Handshakes, hugs,& kisses all around as Timmy & Lassie take a tumble in the grass. (WE FADE TO CREDITS)

First of all, my apologies if I've infringed on any copyrights in the above. It was unintentional and I did so only to illustrate a point.

I am not a graduate of any psychology, philosophy, or sociology schools or universities. As a matter of fact, I've never taken a class on any of the aforementioned fields. I am however a product of my environment. My formative years as a lad were filled with Lassie & Timmy. All their dilemas were solved, start to finish in about 23 minutes of air time. (I guessed at the length of the commercial breaks)

From my teenage years to adulthood I was been bombarded, as we all were, with the expectation of just in time; I want My way it right now! The older we got, the faster we wanted action and solution. Somewhere along life's long, slow road, we came to accept Lassie as reality. To be fair Mickey D's, Burger Chef, Walmart, and Micrsoft have done their fair share to support this notion.

Fast forward to the 21st century, and we find ourselves being impatient with those people who really are there that really do want to help, serve and protect us. We expect them to be there to put out the fire before it starts, catch the bad guy before he appears, have the ambulance on scene prior to our heart attack beginning, and enforce codes that they are unaware of being broken, with no budget, limited staff, & outdated equipment. All the while, we envy and berate them for their take home vehicles, their salarys, and their overtime. Furthermore we refuse to gather & report the information they beg us for because it is not our job, it's theirs. Finally, we decide to just give up and bitch!

If I offend anyone here I'm kinda, sorta sorry about that. If I appear frustrated by the whole issue you would be correct. Am I gonna go away and quit banging on this drum? Probably not, save to re-energize my battery with a progressive pint or two or three from time to time.

We're gonna continue to gather information and politely relay it to those who can and in most cases will try to resolve the issue. We're gonna continue to aggravate those who have the responsiblity and position of authority to resolve the issues but refuse to act, for whatever reason. And finally, We're gonna continue to hound those who still think Lassie is for real and everything can be solved & absolved in 30 minutes minus commercials without them having to hit the preprogrammed fast dial button of their cellphone.

And just who do I think I am you ask? Just an ole farm boy who grew up choosing to believe the American dream. That it doesn't get any better than this and that all things are possible with focused, consistent, persistence used as the driving force. I still choose to believe that there are others likeminded in our midst.

So something tells me I'm gonna be drinking a lot of those progressive pints! And who knows, maybe one day we will learn the art of pushing a logchain uphill. Won't that be a kick in the pants?

Woof ! Woof !...Down Rover !

2006-12-29T19:20:00.000-05:00

On Thursday January 4, 2006 @ 7:30 PM in the County Commissioners Room on the 2nd floor of the City/ County Bldg. there will be a public forum meeting to discuss a proposed Animal Control ordinance for Floyd County.

This piece of legislation is the result of more than a years work of research by the animal control department as well as many members of the general public. Its birth resulted from, among others, the irresponsible actions of, at the county level, persons raising wolf/hybred pups some of which escaped their enclosures and are now at large in the Georgetown area, and at the city level, multiple persons raising what appeared to be fighting dogs for profit or otherwise, some of which also escaped their enclosures and terrorized our neighborhoods on various occasions.

To add insult to injury, during the last session of our illustrious state legislature, a law that pertained to somethig else entirely got repealed. Problem is, tacked onto that particular piece of legislation, was Indiana's leash law. The point being, as I understand it, we no longer have a state law against animals, domestic or otherwise running loose at will. The existing local ordinances serve only to incarcerate the offending animal at the animal shelter which is underfunded, understaffed, and has limited space to house them anyway.

This new proposal is neither breed specific nor species specific, but rather puts the burden on the owner, breeder, or responsible handler of the animal to insure that it is contained, and provided a safe, healthy environment to live in. One can own, house, and care for anything from a church mouse to a Siberian Tiger as long as one provides it a clean, well cared for habitat and it is protected from the public and the public is protected from said animal.

The purpose here is to care for the animal as well as protect the public. And yes, there will be a nominal fee for ALL pet owners based on the size and species of said pet. Nothing is free in this life, but majority rules and none of us desire to see anyone, animal or human abused or otherwise hurt. This is the lesser of the evils.

I urge all interested parties to attend this meeting and put your support behind it. We all love our pets, but they like many other things in our lives are a priviledge, not a right. Priviledges are best protected by our responsible use of them.

P.S. I was hoping a draft of the pending ordinance would be up on a webpage by now but apparently it isn't. for anyone who may be interested, if you will send me your email address via my email , (hlwimp@insightbb.com) I'll be more than happy to send you a copy!

Happy Hopeful New Year!!

2006-12-26T06:02:00.000-05:00

Well the Christmas rush is over and 2007 is looking us in the face. What will it bring? Fresh faces, fresh ideas, a healthy look forward to the future or just more of the same regressive attitudes we are all so used to.

For me its looking upward and onward. Chodo has gotten over the roadblock of the ever pending lawsuit and has secured bank financing to move forward. DNA has new faces on its board of directors and high hopes of a fresh start. And I think most importantly, we have more conversation than ever at the grass roots level engaged in addressing New Albany's stalled condition and exploring ways to break the stalemate. I say again, the more involved more people become, the better and sooner will be the results.

Although the public has no vote in the matter at the Common Council meeting itself, I would encourage all of you to encourage Mr. Gahan to put his name in the ring for another year as council president. Call your councilmen and suggest they support him in this effort. My personal opinion is he has done a fine job keeping order and focus given the tough and devisive issues the council has had before it this past year and I would like to see him continue what he has started.

So Happy Near Year New Albany! Lets go to work!

Mr, Can You Tell Me How To......?

2006-12-22T21:47:00.000-05:00

Following a couple of months of not attending while encouraging any one who would stand still for thirty seconds to do so, guilt finally got the best of me and I went to this past Thursday's Common Council meeting.

Alas my suspicions were verified. Nothing has changed which is to say nothing has been accomplished, resolved, put to bed, put out to pasture, put to sleep, or in any other fashion brought to a conclusion, good or otherwise.

The Chief of the Fire Department still can't get a resolution to his hiring procedures even though all in attendance recognized that we need more fire fighters/ambulance operators to safely provide said services to our citizens. There was also some gnashing of teeth concerning a possible discrimination suit being filed over the imbalance of minority employees in that department.

This issue has been kicked around repeatedly since 2005! The best effort that could be mustered this time was to send it back to committee for further review so hopefully it can be readdressed in January 2007!

Our much maligned sewer system operator (EMC) in concert with CM Kochert presented to the council the need for around $57K to repair a section of existing sewer line wherein some brain dead contractor/engineer/previous administration/previous common council had allowed two ends of a 15" sewer line to be connected with an 8" line.

The reasoning given for replacing this line at this time was that the EPA mandated repairs are nearing completion at which time the two year clock starts running. Provided there are no overflow incidents in that time frame, the EPA has indicated we will receive a clean bill of health and can get on with the business of growing our tax base via additional sewer hookups!

Brian Dixon of EMC explained that sections of line like the one described above are a potential threat to that that happening. If an overflow happens for any reason other than possibly Mother Nature dumping 8" a day for multiple days, the cause must be repaired and that pesky two year clock starts from scratch again. He and the Sewer Board seem to think the wiser/cheaper/ more visionary plan of action would be to identify and repair potential hazards to prevent such incidents from occurring.

Following the presentation, we were blessed with the all too expected obstructive contributions from two members of the Gang of Four (CM Schmidt was absent & CM Kochert had brought the issue to the table in the first place).

Mr. Price had to remind us one more time that a sewer rate increase had been levied recently and as expected, this particular department was once again asking for yet more money. (We gotta watch those pennies!)

This was followed by Mr. Coffey wanting to know just how it was they found this particular piece of pipe. Mr Dixon explained they were in the process of sending a video camera thru eventually all of the citys lines in order to evaluate the system and identify such potential problem areas. This pipe was discovered as a result of said investigation.

Mr. Coffey then reminded us that this video taping process had been ongoing for the past 20 years and asked why this situation had not been addressed previously. Mr. Dixon stated that he was unable to answer because he has only been here for a few years. He couldn't explain what had gone before that.

At this point I'm going to interject a personal theory albeit one of which I have currently no first hand knowledge. First of all, I doubt seriously that a 5, 10, or 20 year old video tape would be worth taking as gospel on the current condition of our admittedly overtaxed sewer line system. Time has a nasty habit of changing things and all things deteriorate a little more with its passing.

Secondly, my personal S.W.A.G (thats military slang for Scientific Wild Ass Guess) is that this situation or others like it have indeed been brought to the table on past occassions by former operators/engineers/administrations/common councils. And I'd be willing to bet my 1st born's in heritance that the same foot dragging/unwillingness to spend/ callous disregard for the future of New Albany was the result. Just a guess mind you!

Then Mr. Blevins asked the Mayor about the status of the new garbage packer ,the funds for which were allocated by this same council back in October. The response was there had been a glich in the paperwork for the bidding process, but he's working on resolving it.

Yet another personal observation only this time a somewhat knowledgeable one. I will aquiese that the paperwork for a municipality is more complex than an private sector purchase. Having said that I must say, it is only paperwork!

Once again I'm willing to wager that which I don't have, but I daresay that if one were to sit down at a phone and call six industrial truck dealers, give them the specifications & options one wanted on said vechicle, and the bottom line dollars in hand to pay cash for it, within four to six business days there would be at least three or more bid quotes on ones desk anxiously awaiting a response.

After making a choice, I'd further wager that it would take a week for the dealer to get a truck chassis and a packer body in house. Another week to marry the two into one unit, and a third week for delivery to buyer. Just for the hell of it, I'll throw in a fourth week for such unforseen disasters such as the parts guy transposing a digit or two in the part number resulting in having to reorder or the delivery guy getting lost and going to Chicago instead of Cincinnati or better yet the sales manager rushing out the door for the weekend without having signed the final bill of sale. Long story short in worst case secenario within 30 to 45 days from time of inception, one should be sitting in the seat of his new garbage packer setting the radio buttons to his favorite NPR stations! That's 30 to 45 days to get this complex paperwork properly written. Am I being too critical here?

So here is the long and short of this rant. We the citizens of New Albany have no problem with paying our taxes, paying our sewer bills, putting out our garbage at the appointed time, parking in legal areas, and refraining from jay walking.

In return we ask that our garbage be collected, our toilets flush, our streets be safe, and our ordinances be enforced! In other words, we want our city back. We are tired of slumlords, illegal dumpers, potholes, drug houses, illegal parkers, and most of all excuses why these thing can't be addressed. We want leadership from the city's administration, from its department heads, from the commom council and a willingness from all of the aforementioned to work not only with the public but each other as well to bring New Albany back to a respectable, safe, clean, properous place to live.

In the spirit of fairness let me say that not all adminstration officials, council members, or city employees are obstructionists. In fact most all of them have some very admirable qualities and they do put forth an honest effort to do their jobs.

But as group the lack of leadership, vision, forward thinking and an unwillingness to work together combined with old sores from old scores that were inflicted long ago, wether they be real or imagined, serve only to nueter the process and enable the long existing standoff.

New Albany in times past was known for inovations that were born here before they existed anywhere in this great land. One that sticks in my mind is the very first storefront plate glass manufacturer in America! Our 200th birthday is in 2014. That's a scant 7 years from know. The question on the table is this. Do we really want the embarrasment of being the slumlord rundown rental property capitol of the country during that milestone in our history.

The answer is a resounding NO! We want ordinances with teeth in them, a police department willing to enforce them, a law department capable and willing to prosecute them, a city court to punish the violators of them, an administration willing to enable them, and a common council willing to pass and appropriate the funds to run them!

Asking for a lot? I suppose that depends on your point of view.

Willing to accept any less? Absolutely not!

So how do I propose we accomplish thes lofty goals? Quit our whining, put down our purses, pull up our boot straps and go to work. Attend city and county public meetings and find out not only what is going on presently but what's coming down the pike. Talk to people and try to flush out new faces & new blood to run for office. Register to vote, encourage others to register, and most importantly VOTE when the opportunity arises.

Currently less than 25% of the legally eligible voters in this city bother to go to the poles. That means that one person is deciding the quality of life of three others who had no input for the duration of that election cycle. Police & fire protection, tax rates, sewer rates, street conditions, parking configurations, refuse collection, and on and on and........!

As a voter, I don't want that responsibility! I want you other three to chime in with your ideas, wants and needs. Odds are a couple of you with a different life experience base than mine probably have a solution to some of these issues that I've never thought of. The sad truth is in order for them to ever see the light of day, you must participate in the process! If you don't, status quo will once again reign supreme. Nothing ever changes unless something changes.

Happy Holidaze New Albany!

Stop the Madness!

2006-12-18T20:53:00.000-05:00

I guess I'm getting old & cranky, but this is insanity! The wife called about 5Pm and wanted to eat Chinese this evening instead cooking at home. Having just got out of a hot shower and snuggled down into my recliner, I was reluctant to go back out but agreed to do so.

We ventured forth to the insane asylum they call Veterens Parkway in Clarksville and partook of the buffet. It was an ok experience although not as good as their weekend menu.

By the time we left it was for real dark and I suppose this is the first time I've seen the area at night. The lights, the traffic, and the general overall confusion reminded me of the first time I crossed the George Washington Bridge going into New York City in a semi. It was mind boggling! At this point some would say that one has to have a mind to boggle it, but thats another tale for another day.

Nevertheless, I expressed my displeasure to which the wife asked "Are you ready to move to the country yet?" My reply to her was "What the hell for? They'll just follow us out there and do this all over again!"

No thank you very kindly for I am quite content to stay in my humble abode here on Spring Street in good ole New Albany and listen to the dogs howl as the fire engines go screeching by. Hopefully, I'll not live to see a Wal Mart replace White Castle!

Furthermore, at the risk of being politically incorrect, Merry Christmas New Albany!!

I'm Going Be a Father!...(inlaw)

2006-12-11T19:22:00.000-05:00

My firstborn went to Russia for the first time about five years ago now and as luck would have it, came home awestruck by a pretty young lass from Moscow.

Since then he has returned for visits on several occasions and about a year ago decided to take the plunge and gave her an engagement ring.

Upon learning of this and having seen the trials & tribulations of a couple of close freinds who have traveled this path, I felt it my duty as a father to question whether he had thought this through.

He, being blessed (cursed) with what a Marine Corps Colonel once described to me as "that Wimp pigheadedness" , just smiled and said "It'll be fine!"

So here we are, many months, several plane tickets, and more phone bills & overnight faxes than I really want to know about. She is going to land on good ole USA terra firma on the 19th of this month.

#1 son is going to meet her in New York, spend a couple of days in the Big Apple, and then take her to her home in Fort Meyers, FL. He seems confident that growing up in Moscow she is really going to dig sandy beaches, alligators in the back yard, and palmetto bugs the size of small rats. I have my doubts, especially about the bugs, but I wish them the best of luck!

If all goes as planned, they'll be in Indiana for a few days during Christmas week and I'm looking forward to meeting her.

Grandkids! BAH HUMBUG!

Suprise! Suprise! Suprise!---I'm Back!!

2006-12-10T22:03:00.000-05:00

Having taken a hiatus to get my blood pressure down so I could retain my CDL and remain gainfully employed, I'm attempting to get back on the horse that thru me and ride on.

My congratulations go out to Kevin Zurschmiede for his appointment to fill out the term of Mark Seabrook's seat on the New Albany Common Council. I think he is a good choice and I'm confident that he will do a good job for the citizens of New Albany.

For those of you who don't yet know, I've been asked to assume the role of president of the Uptown Neighborhood Association. Bob Callahan originally served in this position but the time constraints of his job were in conflict so he requested the group find someone else. We are the new kids on the block and we cover the chunk of real estate that lies between Vincennes & Silver from Spring Street to Charlestown Road.

Anyone who lives in that area is cordially invited to attend our next meeting and join the fun. We currently meet on the first Thursday of the month in the basement of the Silver Street Methodist Church @ 7:00 PM.

On the short list of things we hope to accomplish is to spruce up our neighborhood, start a block watch program , and whatever else we can do to make our area a fun, clean, & safe place to raise our kids, walk our pets, park our cars, and enjoy living in.

Watch this site for the date of our next meeting, come join us and meet your neighbors. They're some good people!

As for the "View From the Highway" , I'll try to be more diligent with my postings. A disclaimer though...Be careful what you ask for!

Happy Holidays New albany!

The Lights Are On..But Apparantly, Nobody's Home!

2006-09-02T08:52:00.000-04:00

It seems that the full time city attorney proposal is back on the council's agenda and it makes no more sense now than it did when last we spoke of it. To repeat (again), a one person city law department is going to solve none of the city's lack of code enforcement issues.

Further, since the administration did not request an increase for more staff for that department in the 2007 budget, there is likely less money in the till for that purpose than there was previously given the higher costs of everything since last year.

Ah, but this is only one of many reocurring and unresolved issues New Albany citizens face.

Groundhog Day (the movie) comes to mind as does the insanity of doing the same thing, the same way repeatedly and expecting different results.

Many of the council members complain that needed information is withheld from them but seem unwilling to do the legwork to find answers to questions. Perhaps rephrasing the question would help? But NO! "If it ain't in my packet, which I won't bother to open until I get to the meeting in question, I ain't gonna go ask nobody to explain it to me! I'm just gonna plant my feet, cross my arms, and blame whomever happens to come to mind first!"

Many in the administration say that the council can have whatever information it asks for provided they ask the right questions. Perhaps clarifying specifically what the council is seeking and then providing it in a timely manner would help? But NO! " If they want more specific data, they can track down the individual who can give it to them on their own time. If that person happens not to be available for comment at that time, too bad! Furthermore, we ain't volunteering anything!"

Then we come to the public at large. Many complain about barking dogs, trash, utility rates, taxes, slumlords, crime, potholes, and our governments inaction towards all of these issues & more. We say amongst ourselves that "We gotta do something!" Perhaps taking the time to go downtown and talk one on one with our city's leaders or attending the various public meetings and expressing ourselves like adults would help? But NO! "It is their job to provide me with what I want out of them regardless of the fact I've never told them specificaly what that is! I shoudn't have to be aware of what is on the agenda for a particular meeting! Furthermore, I shouldn't have to pick up the phone and tell anybody that there is trash in my alley or that my house is on fire, or that the street just caved in and I reserve the right to complain to all who will listen about their failure to act upon it!"

You will note (I hope) that I said many, not all, in these three secenarios. Are any of them true? Unfortunately yes. All of them are to one degree or another.

So now I pose two questions for your consideration and I request that you post your answers in the comments section. Please be specific.

Question #1; What do you want out of your city government?

Question #2; What are you willing to do to cause it to happen?

I eagerly await your answers and discusssion.

A Voice in the Darkness

2006-08-27T09:07:00.000-04:00

The op-ed in yesterday's News and Tribune " Tucker: A lesson in cliche's for New Albany" is a must read for all. I could not have stated our case better although many of us have been trying months to do so.

Perhaps another cliche "perfect practice makes perfect" will come into play if we persist long enough.

In the interim, go here http://www.news-tribune.net/opinion/local_story_238144824.html?keyword=topstory and read this. Well done Mr. Tucker!!

I Have the Right To........

2006-08-20T14:37:00.000-04:00

The bane of my existence throughout this lifetime has been the frustrating, never ending search for balance and reason in society be it individually, locally, nationally, or globally.

If we lived in a third world country where tribal interrelations still bordered on cannibalism, or in the middle east or India where religious zealotry abounds, or to bring it closer to home, in the post Civil War era of this country when opportunists took advantage of the resulting chaos to create even more strife between black & white, rich & poor, advantaged & disadvantaged in order to feed their greed, I might be able to understand this constant arrogant, self serving pettiness that absorbs so much of our lives.

However, in 21st century post World War II America, I find these behaviors to be unfathomable. Perhaps at the federal or even state level of government, there is some irrational old money sense that playing head games with other peoples monies, lives, & welfare are fair game and that the aristocricy and power brokers are justified in doing so. If that be true, and if there is a God, pray that he save us from ourselves.

At the local level though, it is ego based hypocrisy at its finest! Perhaps in the upper echelons of the political parties in Floyd County, a select few may be summoned to Washington DC for a period of time. Short of that, I've yet to see any Congressional, Senatorial, or Presidential leadership qualities in local government period! For any of them to thump their chests and proclaim any long term sovereignty over anything, save which shoe they put on first is pure arrogance and has no bearing at all on the good of the people they serve. This "he said/she said", it ain't my fault", childish horse shit was beaten out of me by my daddy by the time I was three and I thank him for it! To be fair, however, we "little people" who voted them into office are no less to blame. We did elect them after all and many of them more than once!

In events of disaster, we can actually come together for a short period of time and work together usually only out of the guilt & fear that "it could have been me!" Three days later, however, if two of us met on the street and one of us had a gallon of fresh water and the other had only two quarts of the same, likely as not we would fight to the death for one to take it all as opposed to dividing it up equally. Sadder though is in that scenario there would be a third bystander who had no water at all and the thought of sharing with him would never enter the process. After all, the disaster has passed! Abeit there are numerous exceptions to that story, the ugly truth of American society at the street level is that it is a true one and it spills over into committee meetings, water cooler meetings, and official hearing rooms all too often.

As a citizen of this country, I have the right of free speach and opinion on unlimited topics. I can however, abuse that right and while it remains legal to take a stand & make a statement, it may result in doing more harm than good to whatever cause I am promoting. And this is the crux of my personal dilemma of intelligent reason versus arrogance.

So I pose the question once again. How do we get past the individual egocentric attitudes and work together as common people with the common goal being to make our individual and communal lives better? How do we become a community? What will we leave behind that we and our heirs can be proud of? How will history judge us and the living environment we created?

Will it be something reminicent of our forefathers who created the first storefront plate glass manufacturing facility in this nation? Or will it be the slumlord kingdom that one passes by on his way to Louisville or through on his way to Ceasers?

I along with many other concerned citizens await answers to these questions.

Back To Work You Slackers!

2006-08-06T22:22:00.000-04:00

Okay boys & girls, vacation is over! We have a common city council meeting tomorrow evening (Monday the 7th) @ 7;30PM. Come one-come all and join in the festivities!

Tis' your opportunity to see your government at work! Don't miss it 'cause there'll be a test.

To Flush, Please Deposit------!

2006-08-02T19:51:00.000-04:00

As sad and incomprehensible as it is, it appears that the bulk of our illustrious Common Council is once again going sit on their collective hands and do nothing of consequense to alliviate our ongoing sewer debacle.

I attended yesterdays Sewer Board meeting as well as the joint conference of the Common Council & Sewer Board that followed.

At the first, I was delighted to find not one but two sane & responsible voices in the form of board members Todd Soloman & Bill Utz. Bill I take it has been around long enough to have a real life historical perspective and Mr. Soloman is the sharpest pencil I've seen in this city's advisory boards yet. He has done his homework and comes to the table with legitimate real world solutions as far as the infrastructure problems are concerned. He is aware of the financial woes, but understands that the do nothing mode we have been in for all these decades is about to catch up big time.

My elation was shortlived however, for most of his proposals fell either on deaf ears or into the "We need to wait until after September 1st" chasm. It very quickly became painfully obvious that neither of the councilmen on the Sewer Board were into the proceedings save to defend their respective positions concerning past sins. Forward thinking was not on their agenda unless CM Seabrooks concept of reorganizing the sewer board counts as such.

The final act of their meeting was a presentation by Marc McCormick as to the current financial health of the Sewer Utitility during which he uequivocally stated the same information I heard at the last Commom Council meeting. That being the sewer departments income is too low to meet bond requirements & operating costs. The Mayor then asked him to stay close 'cause he would have to repeat it again to the entire counsel (minus CM Blevins) in just a few moments.

The second session was for all practical purposes a near word for word repeat of the previous council meeting save that Mr. McCormick was the object of their misguided objections as opposed to the Umbaugh representatives.

All in all the general consensus was "we should have had this info a year ago" and "we need more information to make an intelligent decision" and " We can use other funds from other places to fill this quicksand pit" and "The taxpayers of New Albany can not continue to be burdened with these defieciencies" and, well you get the idea.

The bell finally tolled 7PM and since there was another meeting scheduled for that time slot, this one was mercifully adjourned. Umbaugh representatives had come from Indianapoils and sat thru the proceedings without comment save to confirm a couple of figures for Mr. Fifer while he was at the podium. At the end Attorney Fifer asked the council if they had any questions for these folks.

Council President Gahan glanced once again at his watch and calmly said "No, we're fine" , dropped the gavel, and that was that.

After all is said & done, my read of the tea leaves is that, with the possible exception of two CM's, there are none on the council that have the foresight nor understanding, let alone the will, to bite the political bullet and pass a sewer rate increase period. However, that quicksand pit is growing by the moment!

So rally 'round the flag folks, 'cause we got serious work to do!!

NA Budget Hearings for 2007

2006-07-29T07:54:00.000-04:00

I'm Disappointed! I figured the blogs would be alive with numbers & speculations by this time but alas, I was wrong. Maybe that's because they were so sparsely attended by the public.

Well the Highwayman was present for both events so here is how it looked from the back row.

On Wednesday evening most city department heads were heard from and all were quizzed by CM Coffey as to where cuts in their respective budgets would be the least damaging. They all responded in kind that their proposals were bare bones as it was. When pressed, they were willing to forego the 3% pay incereases across the board and some indicated that cuts in travel and subscription budgets would be in order.

They were then queiried by CM Price about various small expenditures such as training seminars, flowers, credit card purchases, etc. Most all of them were explained away on the spot as legitimate city expenditures either by the department head in question or by Ms Garry.

Economic Development's Paul Wheatley took it on the chin by proposing that the city work in conjunction with local lending institutions to create a revolving loan pool to provide "gap funding" in the event of an ongoing project stalling in midstream due to a shortage of funds. He suggested this to be an incentive to draw developers to the area. As expected, many on the council could only see this as more coroprate welfare, and veiwed it as an unnecessary burden on the city. "If they can't afford to stand alone, they needn't start" was the attitude prevailing from some.

Finally, the stars that all had come to see ( H.J. Umbaugh Accountants) took center stage and the real show began. As a craftsman, there is little that trips my trigger more than to see another craftsperson ply his or her trade. The presentation given was organized, concise, and professionally done.The technicolor graphs and charts were easy to read & understand, the verbal explanations clear and questions posed were patiently & thouroughly answered.

It was stated up front that the city is in default of the bond covenant for failing to have in cash reserve 125% of the annual bond payment on hand.

The proposal to correct this situation basically had three parts outlined as follows;

1) A 19% sewer rate increase spread out over the next three years which amounts to just over $2.00 per month per year totaling about $7.00 per month the 3rd year. The idea here being to increase income to the point of being able to complete ongoing EPA mandates as well as create the 125% reserve for the bond requirement.

That calulates in my head to about 2 Happy Meals a month the 1st year and a total of a Big Mac Combo and a 12 pack of Bud Light cans per month the 3rd year.

Again, as expected, the rallying cry was this creates a hardship on the low income strata of our city that is beyond the pail.

My observations have been that even at the lowest income levels, more $ than this are spent weekly if not daily on cigarettes & cheap booze. As for me and mine, if my toilet continues to flush for $7.00 a month, sign me up! But I ramble, so next we had....

2) To re-amoratize the existing bond which if agreed to before August 7, 2006, would reduce this years September payment by just over $1 million as well as level the semi annual payments for the life of the bond to a savings of around $478,000 per year.

3) To acquire another $1.28 million in new SRF bonds which would go to reimburse the Sewer Department for EPA mandated projects that have been completed & paid for out of Sewer Department cash. The repayment of this additional money is to be included in the re-amoratization of the original bond payment.

The goal of these three steps are to A) satisfy the EPA and get them off our collective backs, and B) to get the sewer utility back on track with enough income to satisfy the bond covenant.

Predictably, there was not much support for this proposal in the room. CM Coffey restated his "deja vu" speech and CM Price felt the council was being backed in a corner to act too hastily. Mr. Price feels there is more than on way to skin this cat, and that EDIT funds, TIF funds, Riverboat funds, and the jail bond windfall could be put into play to offset the rate increase.

At this point, the question that came to me was if we commit these various monies to the sewers, where are we to get $ for any other need that may arise within the city?

The response from the Mayor, Mr. Fifer, and the accountants was that if nothing was done, the bond payment for September is available. However, that only leaves $130K to $160K in the Sewer Dept. account to operate on . Not nearly enough to begin to be compliant with the bond covenant! At the current rate, the sewer income is at least $1.9 millon per annum what is needed to cover that requirement, not including ongoing projects.

Fast forward to Thursday evening. The remainder of the departments presented their budgets for 2007 and likewise were asked where cuts could be made.

Fire Chief Toran indicated that eliminating one ambulance may help, but other needs such as air pacs & other safety equipmnet was a must for his department to properly do its job.

Council members agreed to cut their travel budget from $4K to around $1K to pay for them to go to training seminars. I found it curious that although willing to eliminate pay increases for city employees, nothing was mentioned about their willingness to forego their salarys for the good of the cities financial health.

Not so long ago some in this group were falling all over themselves to serve in various capacities for free. I guess free is one of those terms that has a myriad of meanings.

At any rate, the second session was the more congenial of the two and ended with the Mayor once again reminding the council that failure to act on the sewer rate issue would result in remaining non compliant with the bond agreement and as such put the city at risk of being sued by the bond holder. At that point a state judge would decide the sewer rate level for us.

He also said that the possiblity of the EPA taking similar action at the federal level was also a possiblilty. He was asked by CM Price about the possibility of imploring the EPA to give us some leeway. He responded that he had attempted to convince them of the hardship this action would cause the citizens of New Albany should it proceed. The EPA's position was that they were unconcerned about the citizens of New Albany, only that said city was violating the Clean Water Act and it would stop one way or two!

Mayor Garner did say that it was time for elected officials to do what was right for the city as opposed to what might get them relected.

The final act of the evening was a decision for the council and the sewer board to meet this next Tuesday following the regular Sewer Board meeting to explore alternatives to the Umbaugh proposal.

The one person I was most interested in hearing from during these proceedings never showed up. That being the city attorney. His proposed budget consisted of Ms. Garry adding a 3% increase over the law departments current budget. Looks like slim to no chance of getting an increase in staff there for next year.

So there you have it sports fans. The game is on and the winners wil be.........?

What's The Buzz? Tell Me What's a Happenin'

2006-07-24T20:05:00.000-04:00

This is a call to all sociologists, poly sci majors, history majors, and any others with any factual ideas on how we got to this point in our society (nationaly & locally, but focused on locally) , followed by any plausible concepts on how we alter this course.

We have statutes in place from the city level all the way thru to the national level concerning common nuisanses, rodent infestation, refuse, dangerous animals, overtly loud noise, unsafe dwellings, abandoned vechicles, and the list goes on ad infinitum. So here I pose a twofold question;

Why is there no will at any level to enforce these laws beyond a letter of reprimand and a slap on the wrist?

And why, if there was no will to do so at the time of inception, did we go thru the process in the first place?

As I type these two, a couple more come to mind;

Are we as a people, really so naive, callous & apathetic that we will accept from our elected representatives any token response to our concerns over any serious issue?

Or, as was proported by a TV critic several years ago when "Roxanne" was the #1 show on the air, have we as a society become so dummied down that we view this inaction as acceptable norm?

PLEASE! Someone convince me it isn't so! Tell me what we can do, nay, must do as citizens individually and collectively to reverse this trend. Show me light at the end of this tunnel!

Discuss, discuss, discuss!

(shhh..don't tell anybody) On second thought SHOUT IT FROM THE ROOFTOPS!!

2006-07-15T23:27:00.000-04:00

I have discovered of late that there are many things in New Albany that seemingly few people know about. Why is a mystery, for many of them are gems to be admired.

One of the best kept secrets in our fair city is the Ed Endres Boys & Girls Club. This program provides a safe, fun, and educational enviornment for kids age 5 through 18 five days a week year round as well as after school tutoring classes during the school year.

The cost per child is very affordable for anyone, they provide a good lunch for all present during the summer, and many of the children involved like it well enough to come back year after year.

Of the hundreds of kids served per annum, many come from low income families and some would otherwise probably be street kids. Instead, they voluntarily choose to learn social skills, art, and computer training to name a few of the activities.

At the beginning of each school year, the club gives each participant a packet of needed supplies to start the year with. The items given are based on a list compiled by the New Albany/ Floyd County School system for each age group. The time is fast approaching, and they are asking for our help.

What follows is an email I received from them along with a the list of needed supplies. This is a very worthwhile endeavor and I encourage all that can to support it however you can!

Each year the Ed Endres Boys & Girls Club collects school supplies to pass out to our members. At the end of our summer, we have a cook out, invite parents to attend, and distribute what supplies we have. It's a lot of fun, and our kids get a lot of what they need to start school off on the right foot.

Would your neighborhood association be willing to collect school supplies for the Club? We will pass out supplies to roughly 150-200 unduplicated kids during the first two weeks of school.

Attached to this e-mail is a list of typical supplies requested by teachers. If your organization is willing to participate, or if you know of a business that would be a great collection site, please let me know. You can contact me at (812) 944-4343 or via e-mail. Thanks for your help!

--Betty

Back to School Supply List

Spiral notebooks
Pencils
Rulers
Pocket folders
Loose leaf paper
Protractors
Colored pencils
Markers
Glue (bottle or sticks)
Scissors
School box (for pencils)
Tissues
Ziploc sandwich and storage bags
Ink pens (blue or black)
Three ring binders (1 in.)
Crayons
Erasers
Construction paper
Post It note pads
Mechanical pencils
Index cards (lined or plain)
3.5 in. disk
Scientific calculator (high school students only)

Betty's email is Betty Hughes [bettyshughes@yahoo.com] and their website is

http://www.bgckyana.org/

Again please consider giving them a hand either as a group or as individual donations.

THANKS!!

Piles & Piles & Piles--------

2006-07-09T18:55:00.000-04:00

What follows is a letter I sent to the Tribune in response to the article they ran in Sunday's edition concerning trash in our neighborhoods;

Your front page story in this past Sunday’s issue was a good start on shedding light on an out of control problem in New Albany.

As luck would have it, prior to seeing this article, I was out cruising alleys with another concerned citizen Sunday morning to see if it was as bad as I’ve been hearing for months.

I can now confirm that it is worse than one can imagine. Send your camera and reporter down the alley that runs parallel to and between Ekin Avenue & Culbertson Avenue from Silver Street to Vincennes Street. While they are at it , have 'em also check the alleys between Culbertson & Oak and Oak & Elm as well!

Then please run your article again and tell me that I did not see weeds growing out of abandoned cars, weeds grown to camouflage burned out buildings, limbs stacked almost to the roof line between adjacent wooden garages, and enough furniture to fill a warehouse!

In my humble opinion, when the landfill is kept cleaner and more in order than the alley ways of our city, there exists a problem that there is no excuse for. The common council blames the administration for squandering funds! The administration blames the council for not approving funds for needed equipment and personnel! All the while, the trash pile is getting deeper and the slumlords are getting richer.

As a taxpayer, I say it is time for both branches of our city government to put down their purses, put a way their egos, and get on with the business of governing New Albany! In other words, lead, follow, or get the hell out of the way!!

I am appalled by what I've seen in the past 24 hours in just three alleys of one neighborhood of our quaint little city. At the moment, I'm filled with a moral indignation such as I've not felt since I found that my now ex brother -in- law was abusing my neices and nephews. I'm struggling with myself to keep the emotion of it at bay, but I implore any who read this to get involved in your respective neighborhoods!

Get out from under whatever rock you are hiding, see what's going on around you, and take it to your councilperson, your mayor, and any one else of an elected or otherwise official position you can think of. Write letters, make phone calls, send emails, and then do it all over again, and again, and again!

We live here, we work here, we pay taxes here, and we want our government to perform the duties they were elected and are being paid to do on all fronts!! End of story!!

Happy (belated) Birthday USA

2006-07-05T15:30:00.001-04:00

I put this off until today because I couldn't come up with anything original that had not already been said.

Then last evening about 7PM it seemed to cool off some so the wife and I ventured down to the floodwall to check out the festivities. The music was not the greatest I've heard but it was far from the worst, so she got an ice cream, I purchased a snow cone and we found a pearch to watch people from and wait for the fireworks.

From there on it was a pleasant evening. There was a cool breeze, the sun was mostly clouded over, and the bugs were minimal.

When the appointed hour arrived, we were treated to a nice display of pyrotechnics accompanied by music from Sousa (thanks to our own Rick Charmickle) !

As corn fed as it sounds, the result was what every country boy remembers a 4th of July celebration being. Bands playing a variety of fare, hot dogs, ice cream, lots of moms, and although I didn't see any, I'll wager that throughout the course of the day there was even some baseball & apple pie!

That followed by the thump, crackle & boom of fireworks exploding along with a stirring rendition of "Anchors Away" and one left with the feeling deep down that all was well with the universe, if only for a few moments.

On the way home I realized for the first time in a long while just how nice it is on that floodwall to sit a be entertained. Another little used resource at our disposal you suppose? Sounds like food for thought for the creative amoung us hmmm!

Happy Birthday America, and long may ye prosper!

Chalk One (Make that Two) For the Good Guys

2006-07-04T13:44:00.000-04:00

As a taxpaying citizen of New Albany I want to thank the council majority for a job well done last evening. Many of us see the great potential that exists in our city and we understand that calculated risks must be taken in order for it to have a chance at becoming our reality. We are willing to take those risks and are glad to see that this council agrees.

So thank you for standing firm behind your original position on the Scribner Place project.

Thank you also for seeing the economics of not employing one full time person for a job that by its nature requires multiple persons in the law department.

While I am on this subject, my understanding of Indiana Code is that it Does Not say that a second class city Must have a Full Time city attorney!

Under IC 36-4-9-4 Section 4(a) it says “The city legislative body shall, by ordinance passed upon the recommendation of the city executive, establish the executive departments that it considers NECESSARY to efficiently perform the administrative functions required to fulfill the needs of the city’s citizens.” The key word here being necessary ! To me that indicates some leeway to consider both the creation and staffing of a given department.

To continue, under Section 4 (c) it states that “The following departments MAY be established” The city law department is item (2) of the list following. Again the key word here is may!

Further, under IC 36-4-9-6 entitled Second class cities; appointment of officers, employees, boards and commissions, we find under Section 6(a) the statement “This section applies ONLY to second class cities.” Then in paragraph (b) “The executive shall appoint; item (3) “a corporation counsel.”

Now here is where the wicket gets sticky as it were. Although the terms Corporate Counsel and City Attorney are used interchangeably they do not necessarily have the same job description.

As I understand it, the corporate counsel’s duties are basically to insure that the city does not enter into contracts with other entities that may be illegal or otherwise put the city in a position of civil or legal liability.

On the other hand, the city attorney is by statute, the mandated head of the law department (if we have one) and serves more as a prosecutor and enforcer of the city’s laws and ordinances.

Can one person, by statute, serve as both for a city? As I read the code, YES! Provided he/she has sufficient staff and budget to do so.

Does either, by statute, have to be full time employees of the city? Again, as I read the code, NO! It is up to the executive to determine what he/she needs to do the task at hand and the council to pass the legislation and appropriate the funds necessary to do it.

Now here is the sixty four thousand dollar question; do I have a law degree, or training otherwise to state these interpretations as legal fact? Absolutely none! All I have is the ability to comprehend what I read and make a decision based on that comprehension.

I’m simply offering them up for consideration prior to the next council vote on this issue, for if we are in as dire straights financially as some would have us believe, we need to get the biggest bang for the buck that we can come up with.

By the way, here is the link to where I found this information if you want to check it out!

http://www.in.gov/legislative/ic/code/title36/ar4/ch9.html

Again, I want to thank the council majority for doing the right thing last evening and I hope you will continue to do so in the future.

Discussion anyone?

What Is There For Kids To Do In New Albany??

2006-06-21T20:56:00.000-04:00

This question was asked by a parent at a meeting I attended earlier this week and it occurred to me that I did not know. Apparantly no one else in the room did either for as far as I know, the lady never got an answer. Her queary was a valid one however following a presentation about street gangs and how they prey on our young people. She's looking for ways to protect her kids by finding safe ways and places to expel their pent up energy but like many of us, she doesn't know who to ask or what to ask for. I'm sure she is not alone in this quest.

This got to bugging me as I was waiting against a dock to get unloaded this morning, so I started by going thru the phone book.

I found that we have a Boys & Girls Club on Ekin Avenue that serves children ages 5 thru 18 from 9AM to 5PM Monday thru Friday. I was unable to get any more info on what this program consists of, but I left a message and was promised a return call. Their phone number is 944-4343 if anyone is interested in follow up. If you have additional info, please share!

Then when I got home, I went online to the parks department webpage http://nafcparks.org/Landingpage.htm and found this link: http://nafcparks.org/2006summerfunguide.pdf !

It seems that there are a myriad of summer activities for young people if one takes a little time to research.

If anyone else knows of other free or affordable activities, post 'em in the comments section and we'll spread the word!

This has been a public service announcement from your freindly Highwayman!

Woe be unto us all....!!

2006-06-18T09:52:00.000-04:00

Chicken little was correct. The sky is falling, Armageddon approacheth, and nuclear holocaust is surely enroute! Of these facts there is irrefutable proof in todays edition of the CJ;

Scribner project considered a catalyst New Albany rebirth sought
By Ben Zion Hershbergbhershberg@courier-journal.com

Concerning the impact that Scribner Place will have on downtown New Albany, Counciman Dan Coffey is quoted as saying "I think it will be limited" but then follows with "I could be wrong"

WHAT?? Dan the man admitting in print that he may be mistaken?? This is sure to rock the universe as we know it and will probably cause the earth to shift a few degrees on its axis!

But what am I to do?? I was long ago asked by the elders to resign my position in my home church, I don't have a fallout shelter buried in my backyard, and as sturdily built as it is, I doubt that my 80 year old home will withstand the heavens falling on it. I'm totally unprotected on all fronts!!

On the plus side I'll no longer have to worry about global warming! When life hands you lemons, MAKE LEMONADE!

I'll just spend my remaining few moments in this incarnation drinking said lemonade content in the knowledge that I was here long enough to see at least one of the Gang of Four admit a chink in their armor!

See you all on the other side!

A Retraction..(of sorts)

2006-06-17T10:56:00.000-04:00

When I started this blogsite it was for the purpose of having some fun and ascertaining whether or not people really read these things. As time went on, it became a way for me to express my views about a myriad of subjects that had been bottleted up inside in some cases for years.

It has now evolved into a vehicle in which I can not only do the above, but also help sort thru the volumes of information, misinformation, and speculations concerning our hometown issues right here in New Albany/Floyd County. The goal here being to get others involved in the conversation and hopefully the process of improving the lives of all New Albanians present and future.

This is a lofty undertaking and one that requires me to sort thru fiction to get to fact. To do that I attempt to talk directly to those involved in a given issue before posting about it. One of my failings in this process is that at the time I'm speaking with an individual, he/ she may answer the question I ask but it may or may not be the right question. Unfortunately this often does not surface until after the fact and when it does, I try, try again until I get it right!

On my previous posting (Chodo Fights On!), there were some questions raised in the comments following that I didn't answer completely/correctly at the time. These errors have since been pointed out to me and herein I'll try again.

One was, and I paraphrase, "who is geting the fat from this project?" The answer is that no one in the Chodo organization is making a personal profit from this endeavor. It is a non-profit and it is audited six ways to Sunday on a regular basis. The staff gets a salary, and the contractors get paid for their services and wares. That's it! The board members are all volunteer and receive not a penny for it. By the way, I now sit on this board and I have not seen any financial information to lead me to believe otherwise.

As to the ownership of the property, the direct heirs of the decendent signed away all rights to the Indiana Highway Commision in 1962. As I understand it at this point, NONE of the people who are involved in the lawsuit are heirs to the former owner in question. This is just their last ditch effort to prevent this project from going forward for reasons of their own. To their concern that this lady's benevolence be disregarded, I still suggest that another greenspace within the city be named in her honor. That way her memory lives on and all benefit from it.

Now concerning the State's involvement in the project. I miss spoke, plain and simple, for I had not done all of my homework. The Executive Director of Indiana Housing (a republican, by the way) has been supportive of Linden Meadows since it began. In fact, as part of National Homeownership Month, she is going to be here to spotlight Linden Meadows on June 28, 2006!

Again, the city as a whole, has nothing to loose and everything to gain from this project's completion.

So what's the beef??

Chodo Fights On!

2006-06-08T21:57:00.000-04:00

The court ruled in favor of the Community Housing Development Organization concerning the Linden Meadows project. The plaintiffs however are not satisfied and have filed an appeal.

The original suit has delayed project about a year and cost Chodo around $140,000 in court costs. The appeals process will likely increase that figure to near $250,000 in not only additional legal fees but also increases in the costs of materials to finish the project.

Pending court action makes it more difficult and expensive for the organization to borrow funds to replace that which has already gone to pay legal proceedings.

All the while, these homes could have been finished, sold, and occupied by people who live, work, spend money, and pay taxes here in New Albany! Not to mention the matching funds from the federal government that would result from these sales to build or replenish other homes to sell to still more taxpaying citizens!

Seems like a lot of wasted time and money just for the sake of a park when you look at the dollars that could go into the city coffiures once this project is finished.

Why don't we look into dedicating another of New Albany's green spaces in the name of the deceased person who left the city this land in the first place? I doubt seriously that they would mind if they were aware of the good that could result from Linden Meadows completion.

Thoughts?

I Wanna Go Back To..........!

2006-06-06T21:49:00.000-04:00

If I heard that particular statement once last evening, I heard it at least a half dozen times. The refrain has become commonplace at New Albany's Common Council Meetings. So much so that I am toying around with the idea of suggesting that we introduce an ordinance to amend either the Lord's Prayer or the Pledge of Allegiance to include the phrase. Such is it's importance to these proceedings.

I wanna go back and recall the mutant gene that came from my loins that caused my firstborn to enter this world with a heart defect! I wanna go back and stop my older brother from falling out of the barn loft into a concrete feed trough that resulted in his demise!

On second thought, no I don't! My son is now 27 years old and healthier than I ever was. My brother had been dead for over a decade when I was born! It no longer matters whose cow kicked over the lantern and burned Chicago to the ground. The Windy City is doing just fine thank you!

For the common council to spend hours, weeks, nay MONTHS in debate over whose administration or better yet, which individual in whose administration is responsible for a reoccurring sewage overflow in a ballpark in the west end is stupidity personified at best and outright theivery of taxpayer dollars at worst! After all, we are in the end, paying the light bill for the city county building.

A better use of time would be to corral the the city engineer, the head of the sewer department and a shovel and go down there to find out where the breech is . Then, and here is the part that no one wants to do, allocate the funds needed for the repair and stand there to see that it is done!

But we ain't got no money! Yes we do! There is something in the neighborhood of a million dollars in boat fund monies that is just laying around soaking up sunshine. But we may have an emergency and need it! We may have an ice age! We may get hit with a hurricane as it comes up from the Gulf! My kid could have died on the operating table! But he didn't. But they may abscound the money and use it elswhere! Oh, I'm sorry! I failed to explain that's why you stand there to see that the job gets done. But that ain't my job! I beg to differ. If you are an elected official of New Albany in any capacity, it is your job to serve it's citizens. That means YOU ALL, administrative and legislative alike, have oversight over IT ALL! You asked for it, you got it, now do it! But I gotta work for a livin'! Welcome to life! It's a bitch ain't it!

People, we can't go back. Neither can we stand still. We must move forward for nature abhors a vacuum. What convoluted series of events created this debacle is irrelevant. What we do to correct it is vital. Proposing solutions is a great first step but it requires follow through to accomplish the task.

This city is full of honest, hardworking people from all income and education levels that are not getting their moneys worth from their government. 2007 is an election year. Are we gonna step up to the plate, or are we gonna sit on our hands and watch the world go by?

You all have the floor.

The Sky Is Falling.......NOT !

2006-05-24T06:14:00.000-04:00

Saturday was a beautiful spring day in downtown New Albany! The sun was out and the temperature was perfect for a walking tour seeing and hearing about the history of many of our vintage buildings. As such, I learned many things that I had not preveiously been aware of.

For instance, I didn't know that the very first store front plate glass window manufactured in America was done in New Albany! It was made here by John B. Ford and installed in the Heib Building in the 1870's! It remained in that location until 1934 when it was retreived by Mr. Ford's descendants and taken to their residence in Michigan where it is in one piece today. I'm told that the etching of the name Heib can still be seen!

I learned that during Woolworth's tenure in our fair city, the concept of a cafe inside a dry goods store was conceived of by one of our local citizens and became the model for Woolworth's stores around the nation.

Better yet I discovered that those delapidated old buildings downtown, most all of which were standing in water during the 1937 flood, are far from being ready for the bulldozer! They are just sitting patiently waiting for an infussion of cash and a little tender loving care. Truth be known, they will probably outlast most of us in spite of our propensity to destroy them for more modern asthetics.

My point is this. New albany has always been a progressive city regardless of efforts by some to prevent it. That is just its nature and of all the things in life that man can alter and change, nature just ain't one of 'em.

Scribner Place is going to happen! The Greenway Project is going to happen! Linden Meadows is currently happening before our very eyes! The only mysterys are (1) Are these projects going to look anything like the way they were originally envisioned? and (2) Are we as a community going to be patient enough & wise enough to allow them to grow and flourish in order that the city can reap the potential benefits from them? I sincerely hope that the general consensus is yes to these two questions.

Like it or not we are in fact a part of the metro area. Resistance to that fact is futile at best and a total waste of our limited time and resources at worst. Likewise, like it or not, we are as a nation part of a global community. We no longer have the luxury as a country nor as a city to think we can stand alone. It therefore behooves us to put aside petty, childish behaviour and work together to make our city attractive to those who have an excess of those resources we are in short supply and desparate need of.

From my involvement in local affairs over the past few months I have concluded that we all want about the same things. Safe streets, clean neighborhoods, affordable housing, better jobs, more profitable business opportunities, better police & fire protection, better health care, an efficient working sewer system, and the list goes on. Yet when anyone comes to the table with a workable, cost efficient plan for acheiving these goals, we square off and go to our respective corners waiting to see who is going to throw the first punch! Get over it ya'll 'cause none of us gets everything we want! However we can all walk away with more than we had to start with if we so choose. I think that's called a COMMUNITY or better yet, that other nasty, vile, word a NEIGHBORHOOD!!

Many of us are working diligently to merge those two words into one viable, constructive entity. Many more of us, for reasons that baffle me, feel threatened in some way by that prospect and are working even more diligently to prevent it from happening. That adds up to a lose/lose situation in which nothing gets done but the bills keep coming due. Fact is, we are going to pay either way. What we get for our investment is up to us as a city.

So here is how I personaly choose to deal with this dilemma;

A) If I have a question for a city department or elected office holder, I'm going to go to that individual and ask! Answers such as "I don't know" will be followed with "Why not ?" or "When will you?" I'll not apologize for requiring my elected officials and/ or their hired personell to do their respective jobs!

B) When I get the answers, the facts to back them up, and a resonable time frame commitment for action to be taken, I'll step back & see what transpires. If they follow thru, I'll commend them both privately and publically. If they don't, I'll be right back in their midst asking why!

C) I'm going to continue to work with those whose goal is to remake New Albany into a clean, fun, and profitable place to call home.

Does this mean that I have an (here comes another nasty word) AGENDA?? Damn'd straight!
That being to see this lovely old river town live up to, as much as possible , its potential. If there is one thing in life that infuriates me more than wasted time & resources, it is unrealized potential! It is in my mind, the very greatest of sins.

Does this mean that I have any political ambitions?? Far from it! My veiw on that subject is that once a person is in any elected position, he/she ceases to be anything but a representative of all of the people as opposed to just those who got him/her elected. As such, I have no more business in that arena than does a full blown alcoholic in a Jim Beam warehouse!

As for the nonesense that is going on in the local blogisphere, I'll share a bit of wisdom from my childhood. The countryfolk I grew up around used to say that it was far better to remain silent and let people think you were ignorant that it was to open your mouth/keyboard and remove all doubt.

Still another antecdote was that opinions are like posterior body orfices; everybody's got 'em but no one else wants to see or hear 'em! I'm not advocating censoreship but rather pleading with all to get your facts straight and be honest enough to stand behind them with valid documentation.

Or for those of you who are too self centered, dumb, drunk, or stoned to understand otherwise, sit down and shut up! You're rockin' the boat and scarin' away the fish!

Now, where is that beer??

Neighborhood By Example!

2006-05-04T22:01:00.000-04:00

I've just returned from the Silver Grove Neighborhood Association 2nd Annual Open House and I must say I was impressed.

It was well organized and most if not every city department had representatives present to answer questions or listen to concerns as the case may be. They did so very graciously I might add!

There was also a very nice display of the history of Silver Grove for those of us who were unfamiliar with the area. Jim Munford got an autograph on one of the photos in the collection from a 90 year old lass who just happened to walk up and see herself as she was in her youth.

The mayor was present as were city council members Ms. Crump, Mr. Seabrook, and Mr. Messer.( I hope I didn't leave anyone out!)

The atmosphere was pleasant, the refreshments were delicious, and it appeared that everyone had checked their guns, knives, and politics at the door!

Well done Silver Grove! May we all follow your lead!