NAC closed the week with two insightful discussions about ways to promote unity among those seeking similar goals for New Albany’s future.
Continuing the discussion: What prevents us from "joining hands," and where to go from here?
UPDATED: A discussion: What is preventing us from joining hands?
Thinking along the same lines, the Tribune guest columnist John Alton puts the ball into play:
Alton: Take out the trash in New Albany ... all of it; Use citizens to help police the problem, by John Alton, guest local columnist.
Laws and ordinances that improve a community’s quality of life are ineffective unless they’re enforced. Enforcement is not only the role of the police department. It is most effective when police work in partnership with the community and us — its citizens, local public agencies and the courts.
John writes about neighborhood watch groups, and as if on cue, the Tribune provides an example of such groups in action:
Neighborhood watch leads to two drug arrests; NAPD officer very proud of West Enders, by Jennifer Rigg (News-Tribune).
Calls and tips from residents of the West End Neighborhood Watch Program prompted investigations into two West End homes that resulted in three drug arrest.
The West End program eschews politics, but the latter remains very much with us:
New Albany budget debate starts; Wrangling likely over $3.3 million, by Ben Zion Hershberg (short shelf life for Courier-Journal links).
Coping with a large deficit in the Street Department, finding ways to trim a sewer-rate increase and funding a state-ordered early retirement program would make it difficult enough to write a 2007 budget for New Albany.
At the same time, the City Council must figure out during its budget discussions, which started this week, how to allocate a $3.3 million windfall among the city's numerous financial needs.
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3 comments:
Congratulations and thank you to Ms. Roy, Officer Bailey and their West End crew for their efforts. The same to other block watchers around town as well.
Taking ownership and changing the "they" to "we" is the only real way to get from "can't" to "can".
BTW, Has anyone heard more about the police plan to increase beat patrols? I thought it was a good idea.
In my mailbox this morning I found a flyer from Representative Cochran's office detailing some of the legislation passed during the last session.
One that caught my attention was an 8% increase in the homestead credit exemption for 2006!
It is billed as "property tax releif" for the taxpayer. The net result however is $100 million dollars less for Indiana state & local governments budgets.
In addition to that, for years now, our governors & legislators have billed Indiana as the place to come to start a business! Our tax abatement programs rival states with many more resources than we have.
So my question is this. If we keep cutting propery taxes, which is our governments main source of income, and keep handing out tax abatements like cotton candy, where specificaly are we going to get the dollars to operate on a day to day basis?
The only answer I can see is to raise the rates of services provided to make up the shortfall and this concept is anathama to any politician I've ever met.
So am I missing something here or is the system by it's very design working diligently and with great fervor to fail??
On a more positive note, I also send kudo's to the west end block watch group! Well done folks!!
This is a prime example of what a few dedicated people can do to affect change in their surroundings with a very little help.
Thanks also to Todd and his fellow oficers for their efforts to keep our city a safe place to live. Keep it up guys and let us know how we can help!
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