Newspaper editorial board: Let's hold hands, drink lemonade and sing happy songs about parks funding.

Let’s see if my reading comprehension is up to snuff.

The newspaper’s long-dormant editorial board truthfully concedes the extent of county government’s abject and cynical failure to equally fund parks within the city limits, but concludes that all should be smilingly forgiven in a joyous circle jerk of suspect future unity; we need only “trust” the same entities who’ve pulled away the football countless times before, relax, and enjoy the anticipation of the next time (and there’ll be a next time) we’ll have to laboriously formulate a whole new convoluted Band-Aid of a fiscal plan to celebrate county government’s fresh new resolve to do what it was supposed to do all along, but did not, because it never was held accountable for the previous time.

If I were a Nigerian in need of outside assistance in transferring my funds, I’d direct my e-mails to the following eager and willing aides: Publisher Bill Hanson, Editor Shea Van Hoy and Assistant Editors Chris Morris and Amy Huffman-Branham.

At the city council meeting tomorrow night (May 7), apparently there will be a rare "4th reading" of G-12-05: An Ordinance Adopting Interlocal Agreement and Ordinance and Adopting Ordinance Creating a Joint New Albany-Floyd County Park and Recreation Department, as prompted by the mayor's veto. The 3rd reading passed 5-4, as did the famously controversial smoking ordinance in 2008; the latter did not return to council for a veto-busting vote requiring a sixth "yay."

This one is coming back, and owing to the emotions shrouding the parks funding discussion -- a big bundle of undifferentiated feelings posing as facts, in the vein of the newspaper's editorial -- it's easy to imagine the amount of pressure being applied toward flipping a dissenting city council person's vote. NAC believes it would be a mistake to over-ride, because this issue only so much as hints at far larger concerns unlikely to be addressed so long as these temporary patches continue to be applied. Well-meaning is nice. Future-oriented is better, don't you think?

May 5, 2012

OUR OPINION: Mayor’s veto sends wrong message

New Albany Mayor Jeff Gahan decided Monday to veto an ordinance passed last month that establishes a new interlocal agreement between the city and county to fund the New Albany-Floyd County Parks Department.

The mayor has the power to veto ordinances passed by the New Albany City Council. But in this case, the veto stamp should have been left in his desk drawer ...

… He’s right when he says the county had not lived up to the old agreement, initially signed in the early 1990s. According to the administration, the city has paid about $2 million more to the parks department over the past five years than the county. The matter of funding the parks came up last year after the county failed to meet its obligation under the old agreement.

So, the county definitely shoulders a lot of the blame for this ongoing soap opera. But why not cooperate instead of continuing this us vs. them mentality? Why dwell on the past when steps have been made to move forward for the betterment of the residents of the city and county? We do not need this division; we need city and county officials working together to save taxpayers money and provide the best possible living conditions for the residents.