Monday, May 13, 2013

Nash suffers through a Coffey-centered council conclave.


We watched last week's council ordeal together. My version came in two parts.

Coffey: Planets and employers must be protected from human rights.

Gone for so long, the Copperhead suddenly returned to the fray. The old Dan Coffey oozed to the surface to begin an impromptu filibuster in objection to the stipulations of the Human Rights Commission, ones that he happily approved thrice before in 2012, evidently without ever reading the document he rubber-stamped.

and

Council still snoozing as Meginity asks for a Bicentennial Commission audit.

Unfortunately, if Meginity believes a council that has tended to regard bicentennial oversight as a disease akin to poison ivy or genital warts now will be swayed by the mere eloquence of a whistle blower to perform long overdue audits, he's likely to receive yet another clear reply.

Now, by fluke of the calendar, we're sentenced to another meeting this coming Thursday, May 16. We know there'll be a bicentennial audit resolution, which Dan Coffey will oppose because he possesses all the necessary information, and for whatever other tactical copperhead maneuver of the moment, he's up for some Caesar fluffing.

KZ on BicenComm: Pass me an abacus.

Not unexpectedly, commission member (and councilman) Bob Caesar could not be reached for comment. What are the odds that he votes on the resolution rather than recuse or abstain? Solid, I'd say.

It's really too bad about the bicentennial experience to date. Apart from audits and oversights, had the big kids just decided (for once) to be genuinely inclusive and let others have just a bit of sandbox time, we might have accomplished something. But from the very start, the foremost imperative was to guard the birthday from those who would use it. Oh, well; it's all so utterly New Albanian.

There's always the Tricentennial.

For this reason, I decided that NABC will sit out this year’s “official” commemoration, better to honor “next,” or the more hopeful, forthcoming party we’re all guaranteed to miss – not because we were not invited, as was the case in 2013, but because each and every one of us will be dead as door nails in 2113.

Take it away, Matt.

NASH: Lessons from a council meeting, by Matt Nash (N and T)

Over nearly four years of writing this column, I have attended many New Albany City Council meetings. I had been taking a little break from going because of the emotional toll that it takes on my soul, but I decided to return this week ...

... When he had finished speaking, Mr. Coffey gave a vote of confidence to Councilman Bob Caesar as co-chair of the committee, and said that the council had been given every piece of information that they asked for. No one else had any comments and the meeting was adjourned.

Mr. Megenity’s comments raise some very important concerns. Has the all the money that has been collected for the bicentennial events been accounted for? Why was the treasurer not in charge of depositing all monies? How many people had the ability to write checks on the committee’s account?

No comments: