Yesterday was the day after.
HRC says: See a swastika sticker? Don't destroy the evidence -- call the police.
An NA Confidential reader commented.
I hope this is just a step one and not all that they plan on doing.
It's helpful to recall that American Vanguard white supremacist recruitment posters were appearing in New Albany all the way back in February of 2017.
In a disgusting sign of the times, white supremacists have landed in New Albany.
There is no known record of Jeff Gahan commenting publicly about this. Then, as the Courier-Journal notes ...
In August 2018, authorities reported multiple cases of swastika-related vandalism on a New Albany-Floyd County school bus and in front of the Azalea Hills retirement community. Police did not investigate the incidents as a hate crime.
More recently the social media discussion of swastika stickers dates to around late October of 2018.
In a late phone call, Mayor Gahan addresses our swastika sticker problem.
Gahan remained silent throughout. Now it's different, and suddenly Our Shining Eminence needs to be seen as a leader.
That's because it's an election year: "Mayor urges Indiana hate-crimes bill after swastikas, stickers appear." Seems that Gahan has spent the past 24 months building up a full head of steam to boldly and heroically ... contradict the testimony of citizens attending the Human Rights Commission meeting two nights ago?
The New Albany Human Rights Commission addressed the issue Tuesday evening after reportedly "hundreds" of hate speech stickers were seen throughout the city over the last couple of months.
Mayor Jeff Gahan said police have seen much fewer than "hundreds."
"To date, two incidences have been reported to police dealing with approximately 8 stickers and those matters were investigated immediately," Gahan said.
Of course, there's the recent non-history of the Human Rights Commission itself. Gahan beams with a play-actor's pride at his creation, leaving out the important part where he kneecapped it into oblivion several years back rather than allow the first sign of autonomy to challenge the tumescence of his own widening personality cult.
In January of 2017, we reported this: "CM Phipps, we're mystified as to why the New Albany Human Rights Commission is moribund."
During the appointments phase of this evening's city council meeting, President Pat McLaughlin (4th District) asked Greg Phipps (3rd District) about the council appointments status of the Human Rights Commission.
According to the ordinance, council and mayor each appoint members to the HRC, and then the four pick the fifth.
Phipps waved him off, briefly indicating that the HRC seems dead, with no meetings for the past 18 months and no apparent interest. McLaughlin was more than happy to move to the next commission, and that's all we know. It isn't much.
In 2018, with the municipal election season looming and Republicans taking the initiative on the HRC's re-enablement, it was time to start pretending again.
In the final analysis, the overarching point has nothing to do with any of the HRC appointees, save for (Warren) Nash's inexcusable presence, because Gahan's and (Adam) Dickey's objectives with their mismanagement of the HRC has not been to represent the community’s diversity.
It has been to assure their continued control of a “human rights” product in pre-packaged, controllable form.
Welcome to Jeff and Adam's Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test -- hypocrisy-flavored, please.
Progressives, pay heed. The HRC's comeback needn't have occurred, because it shouldn't have neglected, and once it became necessary, your own party's leadership has politicized it again; if Dickey and Gahan don't get what they want from the HRC, they'll smother it a second time.
What you permit, you promote. What you allow, you encourage. What you condone, you own.
Don't let Dickey and Gahan speak for you. They may be "Democratic" in the sense of a two-party duopoly, but they're by no means "democratic" in any meaningful way.
In closing, this observation from a Facebook friend.
NAPD (Chief Bailey) is full of it, because many concerned people in New Albany tried reporting these stickers every time, and they told us to stop calling them! They weren't concerned about it until it made them look bad for not having already acted once the story was finally picked up by the local mainstream media.
Alt media has been talking about this issue for 6+ months. No one cared! The human rights commission didn't even get involved until late 2018, when the stickering had been near-CONSTANT for months at that point. At least they finally did something, but they also got a nice pat on the back for solving BUPKIS.
This isn't over. This hasn't changed. Why did that feel like the last we hear of it? This city's officials can do better. The local media can do better.
The people of this town deserve better than this.
Is this enough for you? I mean... honestly.
Is it?
Let's be realistic. Gahan, Dickey, Bailey, Nash -- they're not going to stop pretending. They're incapable of viewing this issue apart from their own "big fish, little pond" political considerations, and we need to stop pretending they'll even try.
It's top-down control for them -- always has been and will continue to be -- and grassroots activists opposed to these tangible manifestations of white supremacy have little choice; they must push back simultaneously against the swastika bearers and the public officials who seek primarily to neutralize testimony differing with their Disney-fried civic facades.
Tell us YOUR experiences. This space always is available to those wishing to speak about whatever our pillars are reluctant to hear.
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