Fair Use
They may not care for me doing this, but a signed editorial by Tribune Managing Editor Chris Morris deserves a wider audience. Let's call it "volunteer" transcription instead of an appropriation. Publisher John Tucker can take it up with me and demand an online royalty for this same-day republication, if he likes.
What is wrong with the City of New Albany
by Chris Morris
Tribune Managing Editor
James Garner looked to have everything going his way two years ago.
He had just been elected mayor and eight of the nine City Council seats were won to members of his own party. He had all the political power a mayor of a small city in Indiana could ask for.
However, it seems like in less than two years, all of the euphoria surrounding Garner at the time of his election has gone south. Several City Council members want to fight or question him over every decision. What was suppose (sic) to be a somewhat easy term has been anything but easy.
And Thursday night, it may have come to a boil as Garner and City Councilman Dan Coffey got into a heated exchange over whether or not to privatize the city's sanitation department. The mayor says privatizing the department is the only way to save the city money. Last year the department lost $785,000.
Of course, the politically correct thing to do is stand up for the sanitation workers - some of whom could lose their jobs when the department is privatized. Although Industrial Disposal said those workers can apply for jobs with their company.
Some on the council, including Coffey, say there has to be a better way (emphasis added). After all, no one wants to see someone lose their job.
So, Thursday night, the council rescinded the $400,000 pledge to Scribner Place - a downtown development project. The council later voted to give $263,000 to the project which includes a YMCA and indoor pool.
The thinking behind the decision is to save money. However, Scribner Place is being used as a political pawn.
Now I am no accountant, and I don't pretend to have the same management skills as those running our city, but how can the city find $785,000 each year to make up for the loss in the santitation department? They can park city-used vehicles, or force the mayor to eliminate staff, but it still would not equal that amount.
What is the plan?
So far, the City Council members haven't come up with an alternative plan. Some council members can yell and scream and call the mayor incompetent and insensitive, but where do we go from here? If there is an alternative plan, let's see it in print. How can we make the sanitation department profitable, and keep all of the employees happy? Why can't the mayor and the City Council work together, instead of always working against one another.
Police and fire protection take up a large portion of the city's budget and there is no way we can cut either one of those departments. Health insurance and gasoline costs continue to skyrocket which also eats away at the budget.
So, what is the plan?
Council members need to put personal agendas aside, and focus on the problem. Yelling back and forth at a public meeting is not going to solve anything. This is a real financial crisis, and it needs to be solved. These people, who along with the mayor, were elected to solve problems. If the council doesn't like the mayor's solution, they need to come up with a useable (sic) plan so both sides can begin comparing notes and solve the problem.
As citizens of this city, we deserve the best representation we can get. I don't care if certain council members don't like the mayor, or if the mayor doesn't like them. I do care that the city is losing almost $1 million annually in the sanitation department. I do care that money that was committed to Scribner Place is being used as a bargaining chip. It's come to the point that we either need to move forward with Scribner Place, or just kill the idea. I'm sick, and I know the residents of this county are sick, of all the talk. I want to see some dirt turned, and something built at the site of the project. Caesars donated $1 million to Scribner Place for 20 years. If city officials keep playing with the funding formula for the project, it's just a matter of time before that pledge will be taken off the table. Then the project would be dead.
People ask me all the time what is wrong with this city. They tell me it's dirty, houses are falling down, sidewalks are crumbling, and the city seems dead.
Well, I think the City Council and the mayor should answer those questions. This city has problems, and as the governing body and top official of the city, those problems need answers. We don't need public outbursts or verbal jabs, we need answers. After all, that is why they were elected.
Think about it Chris. Isn't it obvious? The obstructionists on the council don't have any plan, unless it is to delay the Scribner Place redevelopment project until it is so costly as to be undoable. The so-called "rescission" of the EDIT pledge was illegal - that pledge is still in effect, no matter how much or how often the Gang of Four congratulate themselves. Once pledged, that commitment cannot be rescinded.
And as for the dirt, the crumbling sidewalks, and the falling houses? That's the way they want New Albany to be, and to stay. They know that without a vigorous press vigilance (and the metropolitan paper is their tool, not a watchdog), the mayor will be blamed. Few pay any attention to the votes or actions of the council. They rely on their belief that in New Albany, "it must be the mayor's fault."
For the record, here are the clueless, lawbreaking council members who STILL haven't offered an alternative to the sanitation department deficit, but insist "there has to be a better way," and who tried to vote to rescind the Scribner Place commitment (and, by the way, who continue to oppose the effective enforcement of city ordinances - see below for one reason why):
Larry Kochert, 4th District
Steve Price, 3rd District
Bill Schmidt, 2nd District
Dan Coffey, 1st District
and Donnie Blevins, at-large council member, who is so conflicted on this issue that he should rightly have abstained completely, but who clearly lacks any sense of propriety.
Four of these men have clear and glaring conflicts of interest in their opposition to the mayor's efforts to "Clean Up New Albany." And the fifth is just looking out for his political buddies, who have controlled things so long they can't believe anyone might want a change.
Don't forget these men when 2007 rolls around. All would be up for re-election, although Schmidt and Kochert have told supporters they are, at long last, retiring from the public arena.
What is wrong with the City of New Albany
by Chris Morris
Tribune Managing Editor
James Garner looked to have everything going his way two years ago.
He had just been elected mayor and eight of the nine City Council seats were won to members of his own party. He had all the political power a mayor of a small city in Indiana could ask for.
However, it seems like in less than two years, all of the euphoria surrounding Garner at the time of his election has gone south. Several City Council members want to fight or question him over every decision. What was suppose (sic) to be a somewhat easy term has been anything but easy.
And Thursday night, it may have come to a boil as Garner and City Councilman Dan Coffey got into a heated exchange over whether or not to privatize the city's sanitation department. The mayor says privatizing the department is the only way to save the city money. Last year the department lost $785,000.
Of course, the politically correct thing to do is stand up for the sanitation workers - some of whom could lose their jobs when the department is privatized. Although Industrial Disposal said those workers can apply for jobs with their company.
Some on the council, including Coffey, say there has to be a better way (emphasis added). After all, no one wants to see someone lose their job.
So, Thursday night, the council rescinded the $400,000 pledge to Scribner Place - a downtown development project. The council later voted to give $263,000 to the project which includes a YMCA and indoor pool.
The thinking behind the decision is to save money. However, Scribner Place is being used as a political pawn.
Now I am no accountant, and I don't pretend to have the same management skills as those running our city, but how can the city find $785,000 each year to make up for the loss in the santitation department? They can park city-used vehicles, or force the mayor to eliminate staff, but it still would not equal that amount.
What is the plan?
So far, the City Council members haven't come up with an alternative plan. Some council members can yell and scream and call the mayor incompetent and insensitive, but where do we go from here? If there is an alternative plan, let's see it in print. How can we make the sanitation department profitable, and keep all of the employees happy? Why can't the mayor and the City Council work together, instead of always working against one another.
Police and fire protection take up a large portion of the city's budget and there is no way we can cut either one of those departments. Health insurance and gasoline costs continue to skyrocket which also eats away at the budget.
So, what is the plan?
Council members need to put personal agendas aside, and focus on the problem. Yelling back and forth at a public meeting is not going to solve anything. This is a real financial crisis, and it needs to be solved. These people, who along with the mayor, were elected to solve problems. If the council doesn't like the mayor's solution, they need to come up with a useable (sic) plan so both sides can begin comparing notes and solve the problem.
As citizens of this city, we deserve the best representation we can get. I don't care if certain council members don't like the mayor, or if the mayor doesn't like them. I do care that the city is losing almost $1 million annually in the sanitation department. I do care that money that was committed to Scribner Place is being used as a bargaining chip. It's come to the point that we either need to move forward with Scribner Place, or just kill the idea. I'm sick, and I know the residents of this county are sick, of all the talk. I want to see some dirt turned, and something built at the site of the project. Caesars donated $1 million to Scribner Place for 20 years. If city officials keep playing with the funding formula for the project, it's just a matter of time before that pledge will be taken off the table. Then the project would be dead.
People ask me all the time what is wrong with this city. They tell me it's dirty, houses are falling down, sidewalks are crumbling, and the city seems dead.
Well, I think the City Council and the mayor should answer those questions. This city has problems, and as the governing body and top official of the city, those problems need answers. We don't need public outbursts or verbal jabs, we need answers. After all, that is why they were elected.
Think about it Chris. Isn't it obvious? The obstructionists on the council don't have any plan, unless it is to delay the Scribner Place redevelopment project until it is so costly as to be undoable. The so-called "rescission" of the EDIT pledge was illegal - that pledge is still in effect, no matter how much or how often the Gang of Four congratulate themselves. Once pledged, that commitment cannot be rescinded.
And as for the dirt, the crumbling sidewalks, and the falling houses? That's the way they want New Albany to be, and to stay. They know that without a vigorous press vigilance (and the metropolitan paper is their tool, not a watchdog), the mayor will be blamed. Few pay any attention to the votes or actions of the council. They rely on their belief that in New Albany, "it must be the mayor's fault."
For the record, here are the clueless, lawbreaking council members who STILL haven't offered an alternative to the sanitation department deficit, but insist "there has to be a better way," and who tried to vote to rescind the Scribner Place commitment (and, by the way, who continue to oppose the effective enforcement of city ordinances - see below for one reason why):
Larry Kochert, 4th District
Steve Price, 3rd District
Bill Schmidt, 2nd District
Dan Coffey, 1st District
and Donnie Blevins, at-large council member, who is so conflicted on this issue that he should rightly have abstained completely, but who clearly lacks any sense of propriety.
Four of these men have clear and glaring conflicts of interest in their opposition to the mayor's efforts to "Clean Up New Albany." And the fifth is just looking out for his political buddies, who have controlled things so long they can't believe anyone might want a change.
Don't forget these men when 2007 rolls around. All would be up for re-election, although Schmidt and Kochert have told supporters they are, at long last, retiring from the public arena.
posted by All4Word at 10:42 AM
7 Comments:
I think 2007 can be a year of change for New Albany, not only are two of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse retiring, there may be three vacancies on the left side of the table. Some very good people that wanted to do the right thing are so fed up with the shenanigans; they are ready to throw in the towel. We, the citizens of NA have to find qualified replacements, it doesn’t have to be someone with a PHD, just someone that is willing to speak for the people and not worry about there own agendas.
The good people of this city really have no idea what goes on at a city council meeting, and for sure, the blame always lies with the Mayor. I guess it is the same with national politics; it's always the Presidents fault, never any of the other 500 yahoos that were duly elected.
We need to educate the citizens of NA, be it fliers, posters, ads in the newspaper, for once the citizens needs to see that it's not just the mayors fault that nothing goes forward in this city, but the city council is to blame as well, their is no one working together in that ivory tower on Hauss Square, many of them have no idea what a telephone is, much less a computer, and when they pass each other in the hall their blinders keeps them from acknowledging each other exist!
It is so sad that a city our size has the problems it has. The sanitation department is a prime example. If the previous administrations that be had been raising fees like they should have been, a little at a time every few years, that department would be self sufficient, but no, they did want to raise fees or taxes on their watch, they didn't want the voters pointing a finger at them. So, now time has come to do something, and now they want to sit on their white horses and say "We saved the day!” by putting Scribner Place in jeopardy, how many times do you think the Ceasers Foundation is going to sit there and take slaps in the face before they take their money back and find a more accommodating recipient.
Over on the (TROGUS BLOGUS) someone got their Dick Tracey Pocket Calculator out and was ciphering the cost of Scribner Place, They didn’t understand why the figures didn’t add up! Why a 20 million dollar project is going to cost over 24 million, I guess they have never borrowed money and had to pay interest to the lender. I wish all I had to pay back on my house was the 80 thousand purchase price!
Ceece, the sad thing is if you paid more taxes your sidewalk would still not get fixed.
The city government does not fix sidewalks, that is the responsibility of the property owner. However, the redevelopment authority does fix sidewalks, or at least they fixed all of Vincennes Street. Now before you yell, aren’t they the city? I have no idea, not one person can give me a definite answer on that subject. Evidently the Vincennes Street was a special project funded by a special source, administered by a special council, etc.
Welcome to Harper Valley with a little Peyton Place thrown in for good measure!
Aside from the inanity of voting to use EDIT funds for basic city services and the total disregard for legal procedure in so doing, why did Bill Schmidt and others vote to give sanitation $137K when Schmidt claims they're only running a $34K deficit?
What are they going to do with the other $103K?
Thank God we're getting video of the meetings so people who cannot attend have an opportunity to view their local Government in action.
The battle to keep getting them aired on WNAS has been difficult, but they are finally coming through for us.
Tell everyone you know who has Cable to watch for the Council meeting airings.
Ceece-
In this town they will do as they please, obviously with no particular attempts to comply with laws and ordinances.
Reno Ave. got new sidewalks too, and they've been promising them for East Market for about 4 years now.
This has been done out of the Redevelopment Commission as stated earlier.
Just remember, all of us do want the same thing...a revitalization of our city. How to go about this is a major point of contention.
People keep saying there are no other viable plans out there for alternative proposals.
Frankly, I beg to differ.
"Concered Citizens for Democracy" will actively assert that there are choices in the decision making process.
Bluegill, I too, don’t understand this creative accounting concept. If the sanitation department is only loosing 34k a year, then for it to be 800k accumulative in the red it has been loosing money for the past 23 years!
On another note, everyone is always throwing up the Mayor’s SUV, yes it very well may look like a gas hog due to its size, but in reality it gets better gas mileage than most of the larger style autos. You don’t hear anyone complaining about the Presidents plane Air Force One, maybe they’ll want it to fly only one engine!
East Ender begs to differ, that there are other alternatives. But as of this date no one, has offered anything. Not one of the city council has come forward with a better way to run the city! Sure Coffey’s, let the YMCA pay for the whole Scribner Place may sound like a better idea, and if the Y had came to the city and said “We want to build a Y downtown” they would have done so. But in reality, the city, or one of its embraceries took the idea to the Y and Ceasers. What I find disturbing is the councilman Schmidt sits on the Ceasers Foundation board of directors, if he was not in favor of such a project, why didn’t he nip-it-in-the-bud then! Why waste all this time and effort over the past two years!
The sanitation issue and Scribner Place are two different issues in regards to the operation of the city. They way it is being handle is liken to a patient going in to have their tonsils removed by a proctologist!
East Ender, I was wondering if any of your post on this blog becomes the intellectual property of the owner, as per your blog.
--“I may live in my own little world, but it’s OK, they all know me there!”
Readers, east ender is welcome to post here, although unlike on her own blog, her untruths will be challenged here.
Anyone who would believe that the sanitation department deficit is a mere $34,000 is divorced from reality.
Consider the source, the motivations, and the political ties of anyone who would try to fool you into thinking that is true.
I found this on Google today, this is so funny!
James Garner @ Celebrity-News.Net
New Albany, Indiana officials are offering vacant homes and aprtments for ...
08/10/05 City Councilman Dan Coffey is questioning the manner in which the ...
celebrity-news.net/james_gar
ner.html
the link goes to James Garner the actor. Wonder if the CM knows what circles he travels!
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