Ordinance enforcement is a cornerstone for economic development, and here's why

At 7:30 p.m. this evening, the East Spring Street Neighborhood Association meets at its usual Muir Manor venue (corner of E. Spring and E. 13th streets).

It is expected that proposed revisions of the city's recent ordinance enforcement measure will be discussed at this meeting.

If you're just tuning in, many city residents question whether the current enforcement mechanism is being enabled with success in mind, or merely as a means of mollifying the city's neighborhood groups, who have made enforcement a priority.

Some may ask: Why is this so important?

Along with many others, NA Confidential believes that a clean, attractive city is more than just window dressing.

Rather, such aesthetic attributes, as mandated by fair and sustainable ordinance enforcement, represent a symbolic transformation in civic attitude and are unquestionably the very starting points for any and all efforts to improve both the quality of life in New Albany and the city's prospects for future economic development.

After all, what happens if you decide to sell your home?

Essentially, selling one’s home is a process that incorporates a series of rational decisions, each designed to reach a goal.

First, you make the decision to sell, make plans for where you’ll be living next, and begin to take factors into account so as to determine the possible resale value of the home.

You pursue goal-oriented strategies to present this information to interested buyers, perhaps taking care to direct information towards specific parties based on the home’s location, acreage, physical condition, and many other tangible and intangible considerations.

To get the maximum return for your home, you make sure it’s in good shape, and at the very least, clean and possessing an attractive appearance. You mow the grass, tidy up the lawn, repair the gutters and make minor repairs, all in the reasonable expectation that the cost of your efforts will be returned to you with interest when the home is purchased.

At the same time, whether your home is in the city, in a suburban subdivision or located in the countryside, you know that the final selling price will be determined at least in part to factors outside your immediate control, i.e., the condition of the surroundings.

If located adjacent to the gravel quarry, the finest home in the county will be sold for what amounts to a discount.

Which is to say, we all have a stake in our neighborhoods, and of course this stake extends beyond the simple resale value of the homes we inhabit, to the pride of achievement on the part of the individual, to the quality of life for all the individuals who make up the fabric of the community, and to the recognition that without at least a modicum of teamwork, the neighborhood is prone to erosion, neglect and an ongoing abdication of responsibility.

It follows that in the admittedly imperfect realm of human nature, and in our specific instance the city of New Albany, rules, codes and ordinances have been enacted, deriving legitimacy from the general consent of the governed, and these comprise the fundamental framework without which anarchy would be the order of each day.

For too many years, New Albany’s elected officials have taken a passive position with respect to ordinance enforcement. Coupled with other regressive tendencies, many of them politically motivated, this ultimately inexcusable passivity has engendered a city that suffers visibly from degradation, which in turn has contributed to a culture of selective (at best) accountability in the civic realm.

Although the ever-present “no progress at any price” lobby denies it, the year is now 2005, and New Albany is at an important crossroads. Plainly, continued acceptance of the status quo is little more than misplaced pride in backwardness, while the path forward into the 21st century demands skills that have sadly atrophied during decades of political underachievement and pandering to base instincts in exchange for power.

In the collective sense, these skills must be relearned if New Albany is to succeed in the rapidly evolving economic marketplace … and if you have a job interview, it’s always a good idea to start by looking your best.

Love it or hate it, but the economic reality of America and the world is based on mobility, both of businesses and or workers. If the city of New Albany wishes to progress toward the goal of improving its economy and creating the type of economic opportunity that increases wealth and raises the standard of living for the community, it must proceed from a firm organizational footing, develop the necessary infrastructure (something that is not entirely the domain of the public sector!) and sell itself to the type of workers whose presence will help attract the type of businesses that will help revitalize the city.

With the largest and most vital share of sewer work now completed, the single best and most cost-effective way to begin establishing this structural foundation for future success is to put into place an ordinance enforcement mechanism with genuine teeth, for the simple reason that it is ludicrous to imagine the city of New Albany marketing itself to the world in its current filthy condition.

As you would do with your home, you should do for your city.

Assuming, of course, that you're not an absentee slum lord.

Ordinance enforcement must be written, funded and administered to succeed. It should be considered in the same realm as law enforcement. It should be taken as far away as humanly possible from partisan political interference, as the temptation for ward-heeling politicos to thwart the community good for the sake of their own votes should not be overlooked, as it is both real and highly likely.

Sustainable ordinance enforcement is the most reasonable and fundamentally sound first step that can be made toward the goal of revitalizing New Albany’s self-image and enabling the city to succeed in a competitive economic marketplace.

Like selling your home, it is a process that incorporates a series of rational decisions, each designed to facilitate an ultimate goal.

And the longer we wait to start, the harder (and longer) it’s going to be.