To so very much of merit, I can add only this explanation for my belief in an activist stance: My reaction to this or any mayor pre-emptively knee-capping my city's future is to pre-emptively knee-cap his (or her) political future, in whatever way works best, or by multiple paths.
By not implementing Speck's proposals now, Jeff Gahan is knee-capping independent small businesses as well as neighborhood quality of life. He is knee-capping economic development.
That said, I respect Randy's point of view and strongly urge you to read this column. To those attending tonight's two-way planning meeting, see you at seven at Sew Fitting.
The Speck Report and New Albany’s Future: A Contrarian View
by NewAlbanyBooks
I understand that some readers can still say of New Albany Mayor Jeff Gahan that "He's my guy." I only ask, "Why?"
Almost from the moment I arrived in this city, I've pushed, prodded, and pleaded for city officials to pay some attention to our broken streets, most often in the downtown area, but elsewhere, as well. At first, my quest was relatively simplistic. I asked why we couldn't change our one-way streets back to the two-way traffic patterns they were designed for. As the years passed and I educated myself and others, "my" quest became "our" quest and our petitions to our elected officials metamorphosed from simplistic to sophisticated, though no less simple to accomplish.This is my 11th year working on this. Coincidentally, this is Mayor Gahan's 12th year as an elected official. These were years where he could have educated himself and perhaps even become a champion for our cause. After 8 years as a city council member, Gahan put himself forward to serve as the city's executive. Many of you voted for him. All of you believed Mr. Gahan when he said he supported two-way streets.Today, we have available to us a comprehensive street design program that is, as they say, shovel-ready. Prepared by Jeff Speck, the most prominent city planning professional in this country, and his team, the program is elegant, simple, and inexpensive to implement. Whether you read the 60-page justification or the 40-page section-by-section program for street change, you are likely to feel your heart leap while imagining the probable outcomes if New Albany embraces the program.Yet, as recently as this past weekend, the mayor said to the News and Tribune that he "want[s] to emphasize this is just a study." (emphasis mine)Rather than embracing this opportunity, this mayor is pre-emptively knee-capping it. He is unwilling to claim it as his own. He is unwilling to step out in public and say "This is what I want to do. I believe it's in the best interests of this community. And here's why" ...
1 comment:
Off topic, but related: There are 3 Bills in committee in the Indiana House concerning cyclists and vehicular traffic. One of which written by Representative Delaney requires a 3 foot buffer zone for vehicles passing cyclists, others include hefty fines for not leaving such a space between vehicles and cyclists.
Should these bills survive committee and be brought forth as law, what affect would they have on this plan for street conversion, and for the current Main Street renovation.
If State law requires 3 feet between cyclists and cars, will a significant reduction of on street parking be required to implement this plan?
We survive at this end of Spring with no on street parking from Silver Creek to Vincennes, but the business and residences have created their own parking spaces in lots or in the alleyways.
What affect would this potentially have from Vincennes to the I-64 exchange?
This is just considering Spring, the widest street in the proposed area, not the other streets which are much narrower.
-Christopher Drake
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