Once again, the Floyd County Council has taken up the issue of doing something about its deteriorating county office annex on Grant Line Road and concurrent overcrowding at the City County Building downtown.
Once again, the Floyd County Council has not agreed on a course of action.
According to the coverage provided by the Tribune’s Kyle Lowry, the individual council members come down something like this: In the form of a committee, Randy Stumler, Jeff Fessel and Dana Fendley have been investigating options for consolidation of offices downtown, with the Fair Store property most often mentioned as the option that is both affordable, previously remodeled for offices, and ready for immediate occupancy.
As a corollary, Stumler and others have suggested that such a move be temporary, at least until a new City County Building can be built as an extension of the Scribner Place project.
Larry McAllister continues to advocate the idea of buying the redundant Northside Christian complex on Grant Line Road, even though the council overwhelmingly and definitively voted against the plan as recently as February.
Drawbacks to Northside are that renovations would be required, the purchase price is much higher than that of the Fair Store property, and some council members have remained uncomfortable with a transaction in which a former council member, Don McCartin, would be acting as real estate agent for the church.
Neither Lana Aebersold nor Carol Shope are quoted in Lowry’s most recent Tribune article. However, NA Confidential recalls Aebersold raising objections to the price of Northside, but not the concept itself, and Shope voting against McAllister’s Northside proposal in February.
This informal roll call leaves Floyd County Council President Ted Heavrin, who on several occasions has publicly dismissed the prospects of the Fair Store proposal owing to his concerns over parking downtown.
Today, Lowry quotes Heavrin:
"We've got to have 40 to 60 parking spaces just for workers … that's what's killing downtown -- no parking."
Heavrin’s response is worth examining, not only because he commits the logical fallacy of the “complex question,” which is described as:
“Two otherwise unrelated points are conjoined and treated as a single proposition. The reader is expected to accept or reject both together, when in reality one is acceptable while the other is not.”
While it is legitimate for Heavrin to be concerned about the prospects for parking as these apply specifically to the proposal that county offices be located in the Fair Store building, it doesn’t follow that an inference can be made with respect to parking in the universal sense, as in “That’s what’s killing downtown – no parking.”
At the present time, parking is not “killing downtown” because the concentration of offices and businesses that require parking has not yet achieved the level of critical mass at which problems might be expected to occur.
In logical terms, the future prospect of parking problems, whether real or imagined, has little to do with the immediate problem of finding enough places for a relocated county office complex at the Fair Store.
Already scolded after taking issue with the grammar and syntax of local elected officials, NA Confidential chooses not to belabor Heavrin’s fallacy, as his difficulties extend beyond the range of common logic.
Looking over the Tribune’s coverage of the county office relocation story, it would appear that Heavrin has held a number of positions on it so far. At one point, he spoke favorably of the Northside proposal, and when it was voted down, offered a plan of his own to buy 10 acres astride Grant Line Road and across from Key Communications.
While admirably flexible to alternatives -- apparently so long as they’re located on Grant Line Road -- Heavrin’s general theme has been “anywhere but downtown,” a motif he somewhat embarrassingly explicated at the March meet-and-greet of the Southeast Indiana Chamber of Commerce at New Albany's White House Center, where the majority of those in attendance are in favor of downtown revitalization.
Heavrin’s iciness that day was ably documented by Volunteer Hoosier in “A Chill in the Air.” Ironic, then, that subsequently it was revealed that the Fair Store actually is part of Heavrin’s council district.
NA Confidential returns to the central question in the life and times of New Albany, circa 2005: Progressive, or regressive?
Where does the Floyd County Council's president come down on this vitally important referendum?
Council still split on where to move, by Kyle Lowry, Tribune County Reporter.
I love how the Sage of Spring Street has mastered the succinct kiss-off, like when choosing to not to belabor Heavrin's thinking..."as his difficulties extend beyond the range of common logic."
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link to Stephen's Index of Logical Fallacies. I will enjoy and be educated by that for months to come.
McAllister has always struck me as someone who believes the mere repetition of an opinion somehow makes it true. In my dealings with him, his ability to ignore the facts of a matter was striking. In one instance, the county commissioners in the late '90's hired a consultant to help the county update it's 25-year old comprehensive plan. Bev Smith, the plan commission director, and a steering committee asked this guy to gather physical data about infrastructure that could be a basis for making policy decisions--like where and what capacity are the lines of the five different water companies serving the county. The guy repeatedly failed to deliver on that, on geology, on maps, on environmentally sensitive areas, etc. I cautioned the council about paying for work not done and McAllister dismissed it all on the basis I had "a personality conflict" with the consultant. He delivered barely $17,000 of work but prevailed on the commissioners and council to pay him $38,000.
It was a sad lesson for me in how ignorance led to overspending and the job not getting done, a frequent hallmark of Floyd County government.
Heavrin, McAllister and McCartin are pretty tight. I also suspect Heavrin doesn't have the intellectual moxie to challenge any developer's assertion about how good greenfield development, opposed to downtown preservation, is for the tax base.
Mr. G - thanks for the detailed commentary.
ReplyDeleteBrandon - excellent points as always. I've somehow managed to maintain friendships with GOP adherents in spite of their party's disastrous assault on cilivilzed values, and as such, would find it possible to maintain strategic alliances with those whose social views aren't to the right of Attila the Hun.
The point has been made here before and not entirely in jest: Why not just level downtown New Albany and start over.
ReplyDelete40 years of arboriculture could produce a healthy crop of hardwood for harvest (maybe 12-15 years for good ol' pine boards).
Mr. Heavrin has now taken numerous gratuitous swipes at downtown. He must be awfully secure in his chances for reelection if he can show such disdain for the beating heart of his own district.
Mrs. Fendley, our Republican friend (oh, the horror), has likewise taken every opportunity to boost the prospects for renewal.
As a Southerner, I'm rather familiar with the concept of waiting until the federal courts overrule elected bodies and taxing authorities to force them to do what they are otherwise unwilling to do.
With the dollar figures so dramatically divergent, what could possibly be motivating those who want to spend ten times the money on Grant Line Road?
Deep Throat, anyone? Bueller? Anyone?
I can not understand this perceived parking problem in downtown! There is plenty of parking! You just can’t park in front of the one store or business you want to enter!
ReplyDeleteThe 200 block of Pearl Street is full for most part of the day, why you may ask? That is because the office workers in one or two buildings are hogging 10 to 14 spots! In stead of parking over the hill at the foot of the floodwall, or other city provided spaces! In fact their employer allows them time every two hours to go move the cars to avoid a parking ticket. Must be nice to be bringing in the big dollars to allow your employees 10 minutes every two hours to relocate their vehicle, instead of getting a $10.00 parking ticket. When in fact, they can rent parking spaces from the city for less than that on a monthly basis! When my wife worked in downtown Louisville, we paid almost $100.00 a month to park in one of the parking garage, and it was still a block away from the office! So, Ten bucks a month is a bargain!
The 300 block of Pearl is empty for the most part, again why? There is only a handful of business in that block, Endris Jewelers, Federal Hill Café, Kaisers Tobacco, Preston Arts and National City bank. National City has a parking lot off of Bank Street for its customers, Endris and Preston’s provide off street parking for their employees, as well as the owners of Federal Hill Cafe. So, who are these people parking all day in the 300 block? They are the lawyers, mover and shakers of Pearl Street, if we have any!
The problem with parking for the office workers if they were to be moved to the Fair Store, is that they may have to park a block or two away and walk! Big Deal! All of us, myself included could use a bit of a walk each day anyway! Yes! It would be a pain in the butt during winter, but the other three seasons would be a nice change of pace to walk a short distance!
In the past few months I have learned a lot about how the city government works, how all government works! When did it stop being for the people by the people? When did it start being only about the party! These people we elected don’t seem to give a hoot-in-a-holler about what you and I, the citizens want, only what serves their best self interest!
Sorry for the rant! But it was Thomas Jefferson I believe that said “We should over through the government every four years!” Well, our fore fathers gave us that ability in form of elections! To damn bad we fail at that endeavor!
Rick - I enjoyed sitting in on the merchant's meeting Tuesday, and thanks for having me.
ReplyDeleteIt appears as though Mr. Heavrin will find another reason for dismissing downtown if by chance he drops the parking excuse.
Mr. G seemingly said it all (above).
They need to do something before someone comes down with toxoplasmosis.
ReplyDeleteIf parking is a problem why did they block community bank from building a parking garage. they had to pull teeth to get that thing in.
Why not buy the Fair Store building, contribute two million to the resolution of downtown parking problems (or at least to the creation of them)and save Floyd County taxpayers two million in the process?
ReplyDeleteI'd love to hear Heavrin explain how he reached the conclusion that 60 parking spots on Grant Line Road are worth 4 million. Perhaps Ms. Lowry should ask him. Or Don McCartin. Or anybody else for that matter.