More about the ball cap to come.First, Babe Ruth has nuthin' on me. It's just too easy calling shots when you have such a wealth of perennial degradation from which to pick and choose. As a case in point:
New Albany City Council could soon get monthly breakdown on sewer finances, by Daniel Suddeath.That's right. As predicted yesterday, 3rd district councilman Steve Price voted last night against precisely the sort of safeguards he formerly serially demanded, because ...
The New Albany City Council mixed requirements from an old ordinance with new stipulations for financial oversight of the sewer utility before passing the measure 8-1 on two readings Monday.
... as (Price) explained he has no confidence that any council-ordered guidance of wastewater funds will be adhered to by the administration.It would appear that Price and rationality have permanently parted company. Meanwhile, Dan "Copperhead" Coffey grimaced while pulling his yes lever, but provided the contents of yet another council bingo card slot:
“Our sewer board wasn’t given the information [about sewer revenue], the council wasn’t given the information,” he said.How could we forget the critical information, which has been denied Coffey (and now the sewer board) continually since his very first day in office? But, the Wizard of Westside's oft-repeated utterance joins other enduring chestnuts like his own "I don't have a problem with that" (followed by an explanation of why he has a problem with that), and Price's "we shouldn't put all the eggs in one basket" as prime bingo card fodder. How's that project coming, anyway?
So, in the end, Mark "I Am Hoosier" ignored the begging of his cousin Daniel and gifted me with the finerprint smeared evidence that he drank Budweiser last week in St. Looey. When asked the one word to describe my feelings at owning such a prestigious item, all I could think of was:"Halloween."
After the council meeting was over I asked the Deputy Mayor if he would be willing to set up a monthly meeting. Carl said a quarterly meeting would work better. I could not get a confirmed guarantee out of him but he said he would look into it.
ReplyDeleteThe Mayor was less receptive.
I really don't know if they will be willing to cooperate but I think this would be a very good thing for the Mayor. As of right now there is no way to publicly communicate with the administration.
My very first thought about Mr. Price's vote was, "Unbelievable". Upon reflection, his vote makes sense. This ordinance takes away something for him to complain about and now places a demand on him to stay informed about sewer finances by actually reading & studying the monthly reports.
ReplyDeleteI had to get you a cap. After all, you are my "bud".
ReplyDeleteRC: Perhaps, but my hunch is that monthly informal gatherings to encourage cooperation and communication across a broader segment of the do-something minority should be part of this.
ReplyDeleteAt some juncture, we need to seek consensus on matters that we can do ouselves, then pull the powers into it if they're needed. Make these "official", and it excludes part of the target audience. Just my personal opinion.
Bingo Project coming along. I need about 50-60 terms (I need 25- 30 more). Or else we would all get cover all at the same time.
ReplyDeleteI would not want to see that fiasco.
RemCha, I was going to respond on the other related thread but will do so here. I was going to suggest talking to Carl, but I think what's being asked for needs to be defined. If there's an interest in a quarterly info exchange gathering, then that might be worth pursuing, but the purpose needs to be defined. And remember, it can't be exclusionary.
ReplyDeleteYou could ask Carl to discuss with the Mayor if he has an interest in a citizens advisory panel that could be a sounding board, but this administration might have no interest in this or time to form such a board. If there are other similar sized cities that have done so, and anyone has time to research it, that information could be provided for consideration in terms of something similar for New Albany.
Personally, I haven't had problems getting info from the administration, but I haven't had to ask for a lot of info, either. I've always found Mayor England approachable even when we've disagreed. And most topics that impact the public do have meetings where input can be given, even though the final outcome might not be what some of the participants want.
Additionally, I tend to concur with Roger's 9:09 comments.
ReplyDeleteRC: I think starting with some overarching concepts or principles might be an idea. One of the difficulties in achieving any sort of cohesion has been the reluctance of many to talk about what this community looks and feels like when it's successful, i.e., what success is.
ReplyDeleteWithout some sort of consensus around that, strategy has been non-existent, scattershot, and/or focused on relatively narrow interests without much consideration given to how those interests interrelate, so that it becomes a competition for limited resources rather than a movement toward common concerns, with each person or group convinced that what they're doing is "the thing" to be protected rather than shared as part of a whole.
I agree, too, that capacity building at the grassroots, non-government level is an ongoing concern. One of the reasons politics is so contentious here is that government, rather than acting as a partner, is so often the only vehicle for getting anything done, so much so that those who continually bash the government (fairly and unfairly) still make it the center of their attention.
We've had a tendency to start group after group with few of them ever actually building the resources necessary to accomplish much on their own. The aforementioned competition - usually in the form of influence and credit - then grows fiercer until it becomes "the thing" in the absence of anything more meaningful.
Breaking that cycle will take both a tremendous amount of education (and by that I mean a sustained interest in active learning and application) and a willingness to cede autonomy on a level which we've yet to see.
For my part, I'm willing to participate in discussions around how to get there and, more importantly, where there is. Admittedly, my interest in the usual, quick devolutions and trying to ward them off is waning. If everybody's going to do their own thing, that's cool with me. Wasting a bunch of time pretending like it's anything other than that, though, isn't.
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ReplyDeleteGifts like that got hoosier kicked out of our monthly family horseshoe outing. That and the fact he throws like a busch light drinker.
ReplyDeleteThis was the message with Maytum but I deleted it. People using my computer and not getting out of their gmail accounts.
If I read everyone correctly we need to define or seek a consensus on what we are wanting. I agree
ReplyDeleteHow do we do this?
My first thought would be to listen to what everybody else wants and identify areas that overlap and share common goals.
Is there a group that is already in existence that would be a good starting point?
ReplyDeleteAt least you have a hat to wear on April Fools Day.
ReplyDelete