Rest easy, suburbanites. It is highly unlikely that the conservative local Democratic Party will sanction defunding the police department.

Original title: BELATED NAWBANY WEEK IN REVIEW: "Councilman calls for closer scrutiny of New Albany police spending."

Following is a revealing article in the local chain newspaper. It seems that council member Al Knable, a Republican (not a Democrat or member of some other smaller political party), mentioned keeping an eye on police expenditures during the forthcoming budgetary process.

(As a relevant aside, the municipal budgetary process for next year stands to be very interesting, indeed, given the pandemic's effects on business, both local and statewide. It's hard to imagine any increases, and far easier to envision necessary cuts. Consequently, for the first time in a while, the budget might well become highly politicized.)

Concurrently, Jeffersonville's Mayor Mike Moore, a Republican, recently announced an effort to equip its police force with a new generation of high tech body cameras.

If my memory can be trusted, New Albany has rejected cameras in toto in the past on grounds of cost; as we can see in this excerpt, perhaps the consensus among elected Democrats (as opposed to Republicans, who have not enjoyed a majority on city council since before this blog was founded in 2004) is that such cameras are simply redundant in a city that doesn't have the sort of problems other cities do.

As an aside, isn't Pyongyang also an example of a city that doesn't have the sort of problems other cities do? The North Koreans keep saying so, at the very least.

Another point worth considering is the quote from the mayor to the effect that if our council is interested in social programs, members have had ample time to bring them to the table, and in fact should already have done so.

Te reiterate: Democratic Party council members have had an unassailable majority for most of the past 16 years. Based on this plain fact, there is a strong suggestion that any social program forthcoming from council would necessarily emanate from Democrats, as opposed to Republicans, or else have no chance whatever of passage. 

For most of the past 16 years.

I cannot recall substantive social programs being proposed by Democrats during this time, but if there were and I've missed them, please let me know and we can update and discuss.

In closing, allow me to note that since his return from Kentucky, Daniel Suddeath has contributed quite a lot of genuine substance to coverage of New Albany. He's lapping his immediate predecessor, the former assistant editor.

As yet it remains problematic for me to support the management of the newspaper, as it seems unable to acknowledge reality on the ground in this community. I wish this might change. If publisher Bill Hanson were to make a serious effort to change the newspaper's approach in terms of coverage, and analyzing events from a cross-section of the community rather than just one demographic, I'd purchase some variety of on-line subscription.

However Hanson can begin by acknowledging the thousands of hits NA Confidential has directed toward the newspaper's on-line advertising since 2004.

Bill, just say "thank you, Roger" -- and shake up that guest columnist roster -- and I'll give you some money

Deal?

Councilman calls for closer scrutiny of New Albany police spending, by Daniel Suddeath

 ... Mayor (redacted) said Tuesday that the council, administration and public should scrutinize the budget every year. Funding public safety and programs that improve the community isn’t an either/or proposition, he continued.

“If any of the council members are serious about funding social programs, I would hope they would have brought those concerns up in the past instead of waiting for a lot of unrest,” (redacted) said. “I don’t think it’s fair to pit the police department against social spending.”

New Albany Police Chief Todd Bailey participated in a recent rally and protest walk in the city’s downtown. He said during the June 13 event that the NAPD values its partnership with the community, and that the department is demilitarized and has banned some of the questionable tactics and procedures of other police agencies that have drawn criticism.

(Redacted) also offered his support for the NAPD, adding that he’s aware of the concerns people have about policing, but stressing that departments and police officers have to be viewed on individual merits and not generalized.

“I think the New Albany Police Department has an outstanding record when it comes to treating people fairly,” Gahan said. “I think it’s a mistake to imply that we have the same type of issues other communities may be experiencing and to use what’s going on in other communities as an excuse to defund the police department.”

The June 13 rally in New Albany was historic, and it served as a call to action to community leaders, (Al) Knable said. The protest should lead to meaningful changes that include how the local government views the budgetary process, he continued ...

To defund police is not to abolish police. It is to reduce and reallocate police budgets.

Photo credit: Mother Jones.

From The Economist: (Order above the law) ... How to fix American policing. The country’s forces kill too many of those they serve. Here is how to change that.

Systemic racism does not mean that all officers are racists or bad people; it means that the system operates in a racially biased manner regardless of individual motivations.

Militarization and violence. Aren't they synonymous?

A paper by Jonathan Mummolo, a political scientist at Princeton, found that police militarisation fails to enhance public safety while also eroding public trust in the police.

That makes sense: military forces are designed to win wars, not trust. The army’s goals and those of the police differ. The army kills its enemies. Police are supposed to serve and protect Americans without violating their civil rights—and to face consequences for violating those rights.

Yet when it comes to killing, few officers face consequences.

Curative measures are a navigational challenge. Police unions are one such outcropping and courts, another.

With courts a narrow avenue for reform, some have started to advocate hitting law-enforcement agencies where it hurts: right in the budget. Advocates in at least 15 cities are waging campaigns to defund the police and use the money on other social services.

Alex Vitale, a Brooklyn College professor and defunding advocate, says that people assume “the problem is that individual officers aren’t doing their jobs properly, when the problem really is that they have been asked to do too big a job.” Police have been asked to provide security in schools, respond to people’s mental-health crises and drug overdoses. “Policing is about use of force,” Mr Vitale explains. “It should be a last resort...We don’t want another community meeting with police. We want them out of our lives.”

Barry Friedman, who runs New York University’s Policing Project, has a simpler suggestion: clear legislation.

Rolling Stone provides a fine overview of what it actually means to "defund the police." To defund police is not to abolish police. It is to reduce and reallocate police budgets.

Consider the fact that four Minneapolis police officers responded to a 911 call that described a minor, nonviolent crime. “George Floyd is the perfect case to look at,” Garcia says. “What he was accused of — what the police were called for — was a nonviolent offense: trying to use a fake $20 bill. If we reduce the number of crimes that exist or repeal ordinances which are really bloated with nonviolent offenses that were created during Broken Windows, it will allow police to focus on violent crime — on the crimes where they are actually needed — instead of criminalizing the poor.”

Vaguely reminiscent of the intent of NA-FC schools and the recently rejected safety referendum, eh?

But many of the typical voter's objections apart from the impact on the pocketbooks of ratepayers centered on prevention as namby-pamby; we need more security, not counseling . How many people did I hear or read saying if the money covered armed police, high walls and padlocked gates, they'd be okay with it?

This brings us back to The Economist and another pressing issue.

Unlike most police forces elsewhere, American police patrol a heavily armed country. That can make their job dangerous—between 2000 and 2014, 2,445 died on duty, compared with just 25 in Britain. But police also return fire, killing around 1,000 people each year.

And the rub:

African-Americans are nearly three times likelier than whites to be killed by police. In fact, being killed by police is now the sixth-leading cause of death for young black men. African-Americans are likelier to be convicted, and serve longer sentences than whites convicted of the same crime; they comprise 13% of the adult population, but 33% of the imprisoned population.

Can the city afford NOT to demonize the homeless? It's the GREEN MOUSE with NAWBANY WEEK IN REVIEW.

On Monday our city council met remotely by means of Zoom, and once the body's president Tiberius Severus Octavian Elagabalus Septimius Augustus Claudius Hadrian Gluteus Maximus Caesar -- Protector of Fitting and Proper Scribnerian Values, Deliverer of all Downtown Datedness, Master of the Ex-Mercantile, and Guardian of the Gates -- also known as Bobby Bicentennial -- was convinced to surrender the tin cans and string, things went fairly smoothly.

Hanson's newspaper seems to be in transition as it approaches a date with room temperature, and our coverage comes courtesy of Noah, Diane and others who commented on Facebook.

As is its ancient, hallowed custom of indifference to the most vulnerable in our community, the Democratic Party-controlled council is opting to interminably delay any consideration of the annual outsourcing of homeless assistance funding to agencies in Clark County.

Recall that the city of New Albany's contribution to homeless assistance generally takes the form of demonizing them and bulldozing their tents. Why? Because the homeless induce gastrointestinal distress in Mayor Gahan and fellow (purely partisan) social architects like Squire Adam and David Duggins.

How can we be an All-Gahanian City when poor people keep embarrassing the purported left-wing "leadership"?

On Monday there was a vote to consider a vote to provide money to Catalyst Rescue Mission Homeless Shelter (the topic first was broached in February).

On Gahan's perennial instructions (he was socially distant long before it was cool), pretend-Democrats Collier, Caesar, Phipps, McLaughlin and Applegate poo-pooed the idea. Republican David Aebersold gave his internal consistency wheel a spin and joined the Democrats, leaving Republicans Knable and Turner, and the Independent Blair, to vote in favor.

I asked Mr. Phipps to explain his vote, coming at a time when unemployment and homelessness are up, and societal health and well being down, and he returned this dry, bureaucratic verdict.

We need to have a public hearing and find out more about how the large grant money they received will be used.

But at some point, isn't pinching more than a few pennies going to be necessary? Homeless funding might be put to better use polishing the rotors at River Run, at least when the Gahan's most wasteful achievement is allowed to reopen.

That's because the most fascinating aspect of Gahan's deeper-than-ever bunker residency during our COVID lockdown has been the ostensible continuance of "business of financial profligacy as usual" at the same time as virtually every other municipal entity in America is preparing for extreme pain.

From Houston to New York, America’s Muni Finances Are in Tatters, by Amanda Albright, Danielle Moran and Fola Akinnibi (Bloomberg)

In Dayton, Ohio, Mayor Nan Whaley has furloughed a quarter of the city’s workforce and is warning that more cuts may follow. In Baltimore, which has one of the highest murder rates in the nation, Mayor Bernard Young is negotiating layoffs with the police union. And in Houston, Mayor Sylvester Turner is deferring all five police cadet classes.

New York’s governor, Andrew Cuomo, may have only been referring to his state when he declared on national television in March that “we are broke,” but he was, in a broader sense, speaking for the vast bulk of city and county and state governments in America.

Never before have U.S. municipalities been hit so hard or so quickly or in so many different ways as they are right now by the coronavirus pandemic.

Maybe HWC Engineering will bail us out for a change.

How's the city budget faring? It's the GREEN MOUSE with NAWBANY WEEK IN REVIEW for 10 April.

Is the city of New Albany maintaining full feather-bedded municipal employment during the pandemic shutdown?

As noted often in the past, the city's budget has ballooned during the Gahan tenure, with the result being a sort of ongoing Ponzi scheme to keep budgetary snapshots in alignment for the purpose of keeping the state's regulatory eyes safely averted.

But now ...

Effects of pandemic will slam state, local tax receipts, by Lindsey Erdody and Samm Quinn (Indianapolis Business Journal)

Indiana state and local governments are set to lose tens of millions of dollars in tax revenue—maybe hundreds of millions—as the COVID-19 pandemic closes restaurants, stores and casinos and companies begin laying off workers.

The drop in sales, income and gambling tax revenue could wreak havoc on government budgets, first at the state level and later for cities and counties, just as the demand for government assistance like Medicaid is expected to ramp up.

And it’s too soon to know just how bad the fiscal hit will be.

“Obviously, we’re in uncharted territory here,” said Chris Watts, president of the Indiana Fiscal Policy Institute, which tracks state tax and budget issues ...

Very little about Mayor Jeff Gahan's style of governance is genuinely transparent, making this the perfect time for him to hunker with the inner circle to run the city without interference from elected officials.

Noting that a full-time communications director still is receiving paychecks (why?), Gahan has chosen to issue his latest "state of the city" message via the city clerk's council cancellation notice, in an e-mail with limited range but an obvious power hoarder's intent.

Due to the continuing public health emergency, Governor Holcomb's Executive Orders 20-04 and 20-09, as well as guidance from Indiana's Public Access Counselor, the New Albany Common Council meeting regularly scheduled for April 16th, 2020 is cancelled.

Council President Bob Caesar reports that he has been in contact with city officials regarding any needs they may have. The New Albany Police and Fire Departments state that they are in good shape and have no immediate needs requiring council attention at this time. The Controller likewise conveyed that the city's finances are in good condition.

The Council is able to meet if the need arises, but will continue to limit meetings during this public health emergency as public access is diminished.

"Rosie, you're all right."

Yes, the usual suspects vouch for themselves, without the slightest measure of verification from citizens, journalists or those crickets chirping from the bowels of the Reisz Mahal.

Caesar remains as unspeakably dull as a bowel of chilled steel-cut oats, but he -- and his fellow sycophantic DemoDisneyDixiecrats -- might take a few minutes from quarantine time to ponder the way Gahan quickly will shift the blame for the budgetary pain from himself to them once the time for reckoning arrives.

Thus far during these pandemic weeks, principled dissent has been hard to find in Nawbanian political circles with a notable and laudable exception, this being newly elected 5th district councilman Joshua Turner.

Once again, Gahan's well-lubricated elites are being lapped by Jeffersonville. The same local left-leaners who pine to become Kentuckians and hop aboard the Andy Beshear Express might not be able to appreciate the irony of being better off if their mayor was Mike Moore, a Republican.

The following appeared on CM Turner's Facebook "council account."

City Council President Bob Caesar has decided to cancel our City Council meeting for Thursday 16 April 2020. It is disingenuous to twist the Governor's Order to stop meetings. In reality, it is the opposite, his Order has enabled to carry on meetings electronically.

This is the third city council meeting that has been cancelled. Jeffersonville, Clarksville, Floyd County, Greenville, and even New Albany Redevelopment Commission have all had virtual meetings set up. I even had a Zoom meeting with constituents and members of Floyd County EMA last Saturday.

Today, I feel the need to talk about Transparency.

Today, transparency is easier and more accessible than ever before, for most of us we can even enjoy it from the comfort of our own homes. I believe transparency in times of crisis is one of our most vital missions. Keeping the people informed and safe should be at the top of all our agendas.

Transparency equals trust.

We need to be able to trust that our city officials will be accessible to the public now more than ever. We can continue with our regularly scheduled meetings not only as a way to keep the flow of information going but as a show of strength and solidarity that we can work together.

Non-transparent behavior can instill a sense of confusion in our community.

• By leaving us in darkness.
• By ignoring our voices.
• By choosing who wins and who loses behind closed doors without public input.

Now is time to understand exactly how important transparency is and how it can affect us on the local level if we are left unprepared.

As you all know there were several items that I requested and items that are coming before the council that need to be discussed all of which are below. All which President Caesar feels are unworthy of having a meeting to discuss.

1. I would like to have both the police and fire chiefs present to:

• a. Give a report to the council about their department’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including any impact on their budget.
• b. Detail plans for ensuring the ongoing readiness of both departments and for protecting the health and safety of officers and firefighters. Indianapolis PD is being hit hard but the pandemic.
• c. Answer questions from the council.

2. I would like to have the controller present to provide a report on the budget implications of the pandemic, including additional costs and anticipated revenue issues. In addition, I would like for the controller to answer questions from the council.

3. Third reading for appropriation of riverboat funds to Catalyst Rescue Mission

4. The annual TIF report which was approved by Redevelopment over their Zoom meeting Tuesday.

These four items are essential. The legislative and fiscal body of New Albany meeting regularly is essential. (Not meeting) is unacceptable.

Memo to Slick Jeffie and Tricky Dickey: "If the financial record is so great, why not just post the actual numbers?"

Mark Cassidy asked a very good question.

The Floyd Democrats say that the Floyd Republicans are lying about Gahan increasing New Albany’s long term debt load.

Instead of just saying “It ain’t so”, why don’t the Dems just publish the long term debt obligations when Gahan took office 8 years ago and the debt obligations now?

Huh?

Jeff Gillenwater wrote a very good answer:

If the financial record is so great, why not just post the actual numbers?

How much has the City’s annual budget increased since Gahan and a majority Democratic City Council took office?

How many tens of millions of dollars of additional long term debt has the City incurred during that tenure?

When will it be paid off and where is the money to do so coming from?

Where, on a scale that actually goes up to AAA, does the A+ financial rating actually fit?

It seems odd to accuse others of lying when you won’t provide any actual figures or evidence yourself. As local political leaders, you agree that all those numbers should be transparent to the public, right?

And, in fairness, any current office holder, candidate, or party supporter is welcome to provide those numbers to the public as well. I assume you all know them, because otherwise you wouldn’t be supporting the city’s current direction, right? I’d hate to think so many people were encouraging secrecy before an election.

Pinocchio Gahan never stops doubling down on his deceptive "balanced budget" boasts and financial rating fudges.

Well, an emperor's pants can't be on fire from lying when he's not wearing clothes to begin with. Bluegill helpfully explains.

"New Albany Mayor Jeff Gahan keeps sending extremely misleading messages to the public, crediting himself for a balanced budget and an A+ financial rating.

"What he doesn’t explain, of course, is that state law demands a balanced budget from every mayor and that, when one views the financial rating system on the whole, an A+ actually ranks as fair to middling. Each time a citizen intervenes to explain the above so the public actually understands what they’re looking at, their 100% factually accurate comments are deleted.

"Gahan not only lies but works hard at keeping others from telling the truth. Those of you who vote for him are voting for that. Here’s to hoping you get to experience a lot of similar behavior in your professional and personal lives. After all, that’s what you want, isn’t it?"

He also reminds us that partial truths reveal Gahan's lack of ethical bearing, just as much as outright honking whoppers.

"For anyone interested in understanding/refuting Gahan campaign lies, here’s a handy reference chart showing the actual bond/credit rating system. It runs not from A to F as most people are familiar but from AAA to AA to A to BBB. An A+ is a much lower grade than people are being led to believe."

In fact, we're only a step above "speculative grade." Ouch.

Long-Term Investment Grade Credit Ratings (Standard and Poor's)

Borrowers are rated by S&P on a scale from ‘AAA’ to ‘D’. Investment grade ratings are securities with higher ratings of ‘AAA’ (highest) to ‘BBB-‘. These represent bonds with the highest creditworthiness.

Speculative grade bonds, also known as non-investment grade, represent securities with lower ratings from the S&P (‘BB+’ to ‘D’).

Below is an outline of each grade and what it means in terms of financial commitments and credit viability.

AAA

AA

A
Debtors with an ‘A’ municipal bond rating have a strong ability to meet their financial obligations. However, they are more vulnerable to economic and circumstantial changes that could affect their overall repayment strength.

‘A+’ debtors are upper-medium grade with a low credit risk. Their susceptibility to economic changes keeps their ratings from the ‘AA’ and ‘AAA’ ratings. ‘A’ debtors also represent a strong ability to repay short-term debt but lack the same strength in long-term obligations.

I asked Bluegill if there was a ready definition for "economic changes."

"I’ve never seen anything that specifically defines them, though it would depend on how the debt and repayment are structured. Since our debt is mostly TIF based, anything that could negatively impact property tax assessments or projected increases in assessments would be a factor, especially since we live in a state with property tax rate caps."

Something like another recession? it would be interesting to see how we shape up today interms of overall debt and exposure versus 2008.

It would be nice if the newspaper paid close enough attention to get details correct, like how long we've been waiting for River Run financials.

"Council members also asked Gibson to provide a breakdown of 2018 revenue and costs associated with the River Run Family Water Park."

If memory serves, the first such request for River Run financials came in 2016, one year after the water park opened just in the nick of time to serve as campaign prop for the mayor in 2015.

Team Gahan refused to divulge these numbers then, and has continued to do so ever since.

Surely the reporter Morris knows this by now; just as surely his superiors at the News and Evangelbune are aware that Jeff Gahan's penchant for secrecy means that his minions routinely ignore information requests or purposefully distort answers on the rare occasions that they take such requests seriously.

But Morris is obsessed by sports, and Susan Duncan my Facebook memes, and Bill Hanson with turning over the editorial page to Tom May.

And, consequently, none of them give a damn.

New Albany City Council begins budget process (Morris; Tome May's Bluespaper)

City employees expected to get 2 percent raise

NEW ALBANY — The New Albany City Council held a 2020 budget workshop Monday to get preliminary revenue numbers and budgets from various city departments. Another workshop, which will deal with police, fire and parks department budgets, will be held at 5 p.m. Aug. 15 before the next council meeting.

The 2020 general fund revenue is expected to be around $28 million, according to city attorney Shane Gibson. He told council members he will have riverboat and Economic Development Income Tax (EDIT) revenue projections at the Aug. 15 work session.

Gibson went through several city department budgets with the council members which included: mayor, city controller, city clerk, city attorney, flood control, building, motor vehicle/local roads and streets and weights and measures during the workshop ...

How much does the mayoral fixer Gibson earn yearly, anyway? They won't ever tell us that, either.

An idea so good that it's doomed: Metro Louisville "should turn its golf courses into walkable neighborhoods."

We have all been here before.

Experts say golf is dying, and if so, expect the redevelopment vultures to circle New Albany Springs.

I think it's a great idea to repurpose golf courses into something remotely useful. Retain some of the green space, build living spaces, and make it walkable.

Golf scramble? Nah, but scrambled eggs and chorizo sound good to me right about now.

Streets for People: Metro should turn its golf courses into walkable neighborhoods, by Chris Glasser (Insider Louisville)

As Insider Louisville’s Joe Sonka reported last week, Mayor Greg Fischer’s 2020 budget calls for the closing of up to four of the city’s 10 public golf courses. Reports indicate that only three of the courses are operating at a profit, with the courses showing an overall operating loss of $700,000.

With the golf courses on the chopping block, the question has become what to do with them?

The most straightforward approach, potentially, would be to find a private company to run them. Councilman Brandon Coan has floated another idea for the course in his district: donating Cherokee Golf Course to the Olmsted Parks Conservancy.

Scott Martin, the former director of The Parklands at Floyds Fork and current director of River Heritage Conservancy, mused on Facebook that the Cherokee Golf Course would have been a great site for the Botanical Gardens project.

I would like to propose a quite different option: the city should repurpose some of these courses as mixed-use, mixed-income, walkable neighborhoods.

As has been observed in Metro Council hearings on the matter, golf as a sport is losing popularity, and courses across the country are closing because of it.

“Long term . . . I think we’re going to keep seeing a greater and greater amount of general funds being drawn into golf,” Metro’s budget director David Frockt said.

Put another way, this isn’t so much a Louisville budget problem or even, as some would like to make it, a government mismanagement problem; it’s a golf problem.

This reality makes closing some of the Metro Parks courses a fundamentally different kind of decision than that of closing the Metro Parks swimming pools ...

Pinocchio Gahan doubles down on his deceptive "balanced budget" boasts and financial rating fudges.

Bluegill helpfully explains.

"New Albany Mayor Jeff Gahan keeps sending extremely misleading messages to the public, crediting himself for a balanced budget and an A+ financial rating.

"What he doesn’t explain, of course, is that state law demands a balanced budget from every mayor and that, when one views the financial rating system on the whole, an A+ actually ranks as fair to middling. Each time a citizen intervenes to explain the above so the public actually understands what they’re looking at, their 100% factually accurate comments are deleted.

"Gahan not only lies but works hard at keeping others from telling the truth. Those of you who vote for him are voting for that. Here’s to hoping you get to experience a lot of similar behavior in your professional and personal lives. After all, that’s what you want, isn’t it?"

He also reminds us that partial truths reveal Gahan's lack of ethical bearing, just as much as outright honking whoppers.

"For anyone interested in understanding/refuting Gahan campaign lies, here’s a handy reference chart showing the actual bond/credit rating system. It runs not from A to F as most people are familiar but from AAA to AA to A to BBB. An A+ is a much lower grade than people are being led to believe."

In fact, we're only a step above "speculative grade." Ouch.

Long-Term Investment Grade Credit Ratings (Standard and Poor's)

Borrowers are rated by S&P on a scale from ‘AAA’ to ‘D’. Investment grade ratings are securities with higher ratings of ‘AAA’ (highest) to ‘BBB-‘. These represent bonds with the highest creditworthiness.

Speculative grade bonds, also known as non-investment grade, represent securities with lower ratings from the S&P (‘BB+’ to ‘D’).

Below is an outline of each grade and what it means in terms of financial commitments and credit viability.

AAA

AA

A
Debtors with an ‘A’ municipal bond rating have a strong ability to meet their financial obligations. However, they are more vulnerable to economic and circumstantial changes that could affect their overall repayment strength.

‘A+’ debtors are upper-medium grade with a low credit risk. Their susceptibility to economic changes keeps their ratings from the ‘AA’ and ‘AAA’ ratings. ‘A’ debtors also represent a strong ability to repay short-term debt but lack the same strength in long-term obligations.

I asked Bluegill if there was a ready definition for "economic changes."

"I’ve never seen anything that specifically defines them, though it would depend on how the debt and repayment are structured. Since our debt is mostly TIF based, anything that could negatively impact property tax assessments or projected increases in assessments would be a factor, especially since we live in a state with property tax rate caps."

Something like another recession? it would be interesting to see how we shape up today interms of overall debt and exposure versus 2008.

Ma, the mayor's lyin' 'bout his budget again: "Quality of life begins with honest communication, something that just doesn't figure in Gahan's accounting."

David White is running for mayor in the May 7 Democratic primary. I'm voting for him, and you should, too. Visit the David White for Mayor page at Facebook.

As a preface, we have all been here before. In the four months since NAC last commented about this, we've learned that New Albany Housing Authority funds originally earmarked for 1:1 housing replacements are being used to stockpile commercial properties. Indiana's Board of Accounts is taking seriously the documentation of citizen activists living near Mt. Tabor Road (where'd that money go?), and the breathtaking extent of Jeff Gahan's pay-to-play campaign finance donations has become at least partially apparent

But today a fresh and steaming new round of budgetary boasting was splattered on social media by the Genius of the Flood Plain's outreachers, complete with Made by Tricky Dickey hash tags. It's a minor miracle these lies didn't originate with the City's official feed, which typically (and wrongly) functions as an ill-disguised propaganda dispenser for the mayor's whoppers.

In 2015, Jeff Gillenwater penned two incisive commentaries dismembering Gahan's frequent (and spurious) claims to being the "balanced budget mayor." They're worth repeating as a rejoinder to Gahan's dull repetition of false facts.

It should be added that since Bluegill's thoughts were written in 2015, Gahan has instituted his own signature annual sewer rate increase, hijacked a whole community (public housing putsch), committed even more future budgetary resources to riverside amenities, and pushed through the city hall relocation at a total expense in excess of $10,000,000.

I'm leaving out a few things, but we'll get to them eventually. I've updated a few items, and left the rest of it alone. It's as true today as it was four years ago.

Take it away, Jeff.

---

Jeff Gahan likes to say that he has balanced the budget because it makes it sound as though he's somehow managed to run the city more efficiently. He's not as keen to put real numbers to that claim, though, for good reason.

As provided by the Department of Local Government Finance, the state agency that oversees local budgets, here are those actual numbers-- New Albany's annual budgets from 2011 - 2018. Gahan took office in 2012.

2011 - $14,665,386
2012 - $18,738,682
2013 - $20,084,675
2014 - $22,600,514
2015 - $24,300,565
2016 - $24,832,363
2017 - $25,154,022
2018 - $26,270,834
2019 - circa $27,000

Understandably given the large annual spending increases, the district tax rate has increased under Gahan each year as well.

Even with city government spending approximately $13,000,000 more per year now than it did before Gahan took over, those tax increases did not cover his tens of millions of dollars of additional spending on special and often seasonal projects like the aquatics center. Several of those parks projects alone, over $30 million, were financed with Tax Increment backed bonds, borrowed at interest against projected future tax revenues for the next 20 years. Many New Albanians 45 or older will likely be retired or perhaps even deceased before taxpayers manage to pay off just a single Gahan term as mayor.

And, as Gahan himself says, he's not done yet.

There's little reason to believe a third term would be differently focused, more efficient and practical, or more open and inclusive. As Roger Baylor says, transparency should not be a last resort. We shouldn't be reading about million dollar golf course deals months after the fact but we are. If, like many New Albanians, you're not comfortable with a mayor who tells you he's "balanced" the budget when he's substantially increased it or that he's paid off debt from previous administrations when he's taken on much more for comparatively frivolous projects and corporate subsidies, please vote accordingly.

Quality of life begins with honest communication, something that just doesn't figure in Jeff Gahan's accounting.

---

Jeff Gahan says he's balanced the budget but the truth is he's significantly increased the budget, nearly doubling it. He says he's gotten us out of debt because former Mayor England's sewer rate increases - rate increases Gahan argued against - have paid off some sewer bonds but he doesn't mention his own borrowing, which has left us with increased not decreased debt levels.

Worth noting is that much of that debt is going toward paying off multimillion dollar projects that were awarded sans public bidding processes and, at least in some cases, have led to campaign kickbacks.

Now that we've taken on 20 years of debt to pay for them, Gahan says parks are a priority for quality of life but did not mention them at all when running for office. We're also now finding out about his administration taking options on Uptown area real estate and pursuing eminent domain actions on riverfront property but he's again not mentioning any of it in his campaign-- just like he didn't mention spending a million dollars on the golf course to the redevelopment commission or city council before he did it.

If anyone points these facts out too often, they're banished from campaign and party social media spaces. If people value transparency and honesty at all, they can't support this. If they do support it, they've really no right to complain in future about any political deceit. They will have chosen to tie their own blindfolds.

The really telling part is that, as Gahan and Floyd County Democrats block social media access to more and more people, they never actually deny what those people have said.

They can't.

They just don't want people to know about it. The truth makes them look bad so secrecy and lies begets more secrecy and lies. If incumbent and new Democratic council candidates won't speak up against such misleading tactics now, there's no reason to think they will if elected.

It's damning for the whole party.

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As an addendum, NA Confidential has been unable to confirm whether New Albany Mayor Jeff M. Gahan or anyone working in the city's administration is under federal investigation or indictment for corruption, bribery or racketeering. It is standard policy of the U.S. Justice Department to refuse to confirm or deny the existence or non-existence of investigations or subjects of investigations. A similar policy exists at the F.B.I.

A Tax Increment Financing (TIF) primer, noting TIF's chumminess with insider corruption, and certain grassroots alternatives to big ticket glitz.

Tax Increment Financing (TIF) came up a lot when I ran for mayor in 2015, so much so that the Bookseller created a paper for consultation by our team.

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A Baylor Paper on Tax Increment Financing

HISTORY: Tax Increment Financing, commonly known as T.I.F., is a method created by the legislature that allows a city to invest borrowed money in the hopes that the investment will increase property values in a specific geographic area. To the extent that property values do increase, the city may use those new tax dollars to retire its debt on that investment.

TIF areas have expiration dates. Other taxing entities are barred from collecting taxes on the increased value, if any, until the expiration of the TIF area.

PREMISE: Cities are severely limited in how rapidly they can grow their revenues, which are based largely on the assessed value of properties within the city limits. Cities have no control over assessments and their revenues are capped by annual growth limits. Thus, tax increment financing is one way to make ambitious, if speculative, investments in the future without waiting for growth.

But TIF-ability is an asset that must be carefully used and its benefits must be calculable. The Gahan administration has been irresponsible in that respect and has used the T.I.F. function more like a piggy bank or a blue-sky wish list. Current officials won’t be around when the bills have to be paid.

PROPOSAL: I’ll conduct an immediate audit of our T.I.F. programs and will publicly report to the citizens of New Albany the whos, whats, whens, whys, and wheres regarding them.

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I haven't asked Democratic mayoral candidate David White yet, but I strongly suspect his view of TIF programs and the abusive tendencies of their local application corresponds with the preceding. However, I can state with certainty that White fully understands the challenge to future municipal solvency posed by serial TIF misuse. He'd rather face up to it than kick the can further down the high-maintenance-cost road.

As an aside, I cannot recall a time when 3rd district councilman Greg Phipps girded up to disagree with current Anchor Office occupant Jeff Gahan's addiction to TIF areas as de facto credit cards intended to be pumped dry so as to enable bright shiny "piggy bank" and "blue sky" wish lists, while leaving the burden of debt management to be left for our grandchildren.

Yesterday I spoke of the no-gimmicks Strong Towns platform as a "third way" for New Albany.

+ Stop valuing efficiency and start valuing resilience;
+ Stop betting our futures on huge, irreversible projects, and taking small, incremental steps and iterating based on what we learn;
+ Stop fearing change and start embracing a process of continuous adaptation;
+ Stop building our world based on abstract theories, and start building it based on how our places actually work and what our neighbors actually need today;
+ Stop obsessing about future growth and start obsessing about our current finances.

For more about TIF's positives and negatives, read this article from the Strong Towns Knowledge Base. It's also worth contemplating this: How much of Gahan's pay-to-play campaign finance enhancement would be possible without the gravy generated by TIF projects? He may be corrupt, but he's no fool when it comes to undercover math.

Your Questions Answered: Is TIF Always Bad? by Jacob Moses

 ... This week’s question: Is TIF always bad?

Tax increment financing (TIF) is a financing method used by local governments, often to redevelop blighted or disinvested areas where market-rate development is seen as unprofitable without assistance. Under a TIF agreement, a local government incentivizes a developer to work in a designated geographic area (called a TIF district) by subsidizing a portion of the development costs. The subsidy may help pay the up-front cost of either private development or associated public infrastructure. The city raises the money by selling bonds to investors, and the bonds are gradually paid back out of increased property taxes over the next 20 or 30 years.

As redevelopment causes the value of the property to increase, more property taxes can be collected from within the TIF district. Rather than adding these to the city’s general budget, any additional tax revenues above the amount paid at the time the TIF was established are set aside in a special fund. That fund is reserved for gradually paying back the initial TIF bonds. Once the TIF is paid off, local governments can use the future property taxes for anything—road maintenance, schools, etc.

Questions to ask, and alternatives to be considered.

The intention behind TIF is not always bad—but here is a list of questions you can ask yourself or your elected officials to discover if TIF is best for your city’s or town’s financial health.

Have you considered incremental development?
Incremental development means making small bets on many small projects over a broad area over a long period of time. Because local governments don’t have the ability to guarantee the future success of a project, they should consider growing incrementally.

Instead of constructing a rail line, you start with a shuttle bus; instead of building an apartment complex, you start with a duplex.

This same philosophy applies to TIF districts, which are often used to jump-start large scale redevelopment projects, and justified on the basis that no such mega-project would have been viable without TIF. But should the city first consider a smaller investment to develop the area? Could they invest in helping the existing local grocery meet its needs? Could they practice economic gardening and seek to help hardworking, entrepreneurial residents of the area start and grow companies? Could they make sidewalk and traffic-calming improvements that improve street safety and make a business district more walkable and lively?

What would it take to gradually bring up the value of existing properties instead of doing full-scale redevelopment?

We know these alternative solutions aren’t as shiny and new as the proposed, TIF-funded megaproject. However, because they are small bets, local governments can preserve their resilience if they don’t succeed.

Is the public losing anything?
Before local government can approve a project for TIF, they must ensure the project passes the “but for” test: but for the TIF subsidy, the development wouldn’t happen.

If that’s true, then the TIF is jumpstarting development but the public isn’t losing anything, because the money to pay off the initial TIF subsidy is coming from property taxes that otherwise wouldn’t have been collected at all.

The problem, however, is that it’s challenging to actually assess that “but for” test in practice, meaning lots of projects that get TIF money probably don’t pass it. That means TIF can end up starving the local government’s general fund—which pays for most city services—because the property taxes are going to the TIF district instead.

Before approving projects for TIF, it’s essential that local governments—to the best of their ability—ensure that the TIF money is going to truly necessary, value-creating projects that can’t happen any other way, and not to subsidize development that could have been achieved by another means.

Balanced budget claims? "Many New Albanians 45 or older will likely be retired or perhaps even deceased before taxpayers manage to pay off just a single Gahan term as mayor."

Yesterday a new round of boasting was launched by City's Hall's social media outreach, which in practice functions as an Elect Jeff Gahan Mayor for Life propaganda dispenser.

In 2015, Jeff Gillenwater penned two incisive commentaries dismembering Gahan's frequent (and spurious) claims to being the "balanced budget mayor." They're worth repeating as a rejoinder to Gahan's dull repetition of false facts.

It should be added that since Bluegill's thoughts were written in 2015, Gahan has instituted his own signature annual sewer rate increase, hijacked a whole community (public housing putsch), committed even more future budgetary resources to riverside amenities, and pushed through the city hall relocation at a total expense in excess of $10,000,000.

I'm leaving out a few things, but we'll get to them. I've updated a few items, and left the rest of it alone. It's as true today as it was four years ago.

Take it away, Jeff.

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Jeff Gahan likes to say that he has balanced the budget because it makes it sound as though he's somehow managed to run the city more efficiently. He's not as keen to put real numbers to that claim, though, for good reason.

As provided by the Department of Local Government Finance, the state agency that oversees local budgets, here are those actual numbers-- New Albany's annual budgets from 2011 - 2018. Gahan took office in 2012.

2011 - $14,665,386
2012 - $18,738,682
2013 - $20,084,675
2014 - $22,600,514
2015 - $24,300,565
2016 - $24,832,363
2017 - $25,154,022
2018 - $26,270,834
2019 - circa $27,000

Understandably given the large annual spending increases, the district tax rate has increased under Gahan each year as well.

Even with city government spending approximately $13,000,000 more per year now than it did before Gahan took over, those tax increases did not cover his tens of millions of dollars of additional spending on special and often seasonal projects like the aquatics center. Several of those projects, over $30 million, were financed with Tax Increment backed bonds, borrowed at interest against projected future tax revenues for the next 20 years. Many New Albanians 45 or older will likely be retired or perhaps even deceased before taxpayers manage to pay off just a single Gahan term as mayor.

And, as Gahan himself says, he's not done yet.

There's little reason to believe a third term would be differently focused, more efficient and practical, or more open and inclusive. As Roger Baylor says, transparency should not be a last resort. We shouldn't be reading about million dollar golf course deals months after the fact but we are. If, like many New Albanians, you're not comfortable with a mayor who tells you he's "balanced" the budget when he's substantially increased it or that he's paid off debt from previous administrations when he's taken on much more for comparatively frivolous projects and corporate subsidies, please vote accordingly.

Quality of life begins with honest communication, something that just doesn't figure in Jeff Gahan's accounting.

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Jeff Gahan says he's balanced the budget but the truth is he's significantly increased the budget, nearly doubling it. He says he's gotten us out of debt because former Mayor England's sewer rate increases - rate increases Gahan argued against - have paid off some sewer bonds but he doesn't mention his own borrowing, which has left us with increased not decreased debt levels.

Worth noting is that much of that debt is going toward paying off multimillion dollar projects that were awarded sans public bidding processes and, at least in some cases, have led to campaign kickbacks.

Now that we've taken on 20 years of debt to pay for them, Gahan says parks are a priority for quality of life but did not mention them at all when running for office. We're also now finding out about his administration taking options on Uptown area real estate and pursuing eminent domain actions on riverfront property but he's again not mentioning any of it in his campaign-- just like he didn't mention spending a million dollars on the golf course to the redevelopment commission or city council before he did it.

If anyone points these facts out too often, they're banished from campaign and party social media spaces. If people value transparency and honesty at all, they can't support this. If they do support it, they've really no right to complain in future about any political deceit. They will have chosen to tie their own blindfolds.

The really telling part is that, as Gahan and Floyd County Democrats block social media access to more and more people, they never actually deny what those people have said.

They can't.

They just don't want people to know about it. The truth makes them look bad so secrecy and lies begets more secrecy and lies. If incumbent and new Democratic council candidates won't speak up against such misleading tactics now, there's no reason to think they will if elected.

It's damning for the whole party.

Got soul in the game? "Debt is way too seductive for those without skin in the game."

"Skin in the game."

"Walk the walk."

You keep saying these words, but I'm doubtful you know what they mean.

Kindly tolerate another of my periodic reminders to take a glance at Strong Towns. Local community pillars ranging from Bob Caesar to Greg Phipps won't, and that's why you should.

The key sentence is this installment: "Cities should be limited to 5% of their locally produced revenue for annual debt service."

Think we're at the threshold in New Albany?

DEBT IS NOT A FUNDING SOURCE, by Charles Marohn (Strong Towns)

In the past week I was subjected to three instances where public officials – one elected and two professional staff – indicated that debt was a major funding source for a project they were advocating for.

And they said it in such a matter-of-fact way it suggested they considered debt an equal – perhaps superior – form of funding, at least on par with the raising of taxes or the imposition of fees.

Debt. Bonding. The borrowing of money to spend today but repay in the future...

snip

Public officials and bureaucrats can blow up a city with debt. They can cancel the future of a community in a way that is nearly indiscernible to the public until it’s too late. In fact, it’s often done for the very purpose of making today’s stresses – cash flow stresses – indiscernible to the public. Debt is way too seductive for those without skin in the game.

I have a simple solution: Cities should not be allowed to finance anything for periods longer than 25 years (or, put another way: the generation assuming the debt should pay it back). Cities should be limited to 5% of their locally produced revenue for annual debt service. I would allow that to increase to 10% — where I’d set a hard cap — if a majority of voters, through public referendum, approved it.

Such a provision would make life more stressful for today’s local officials, but tomorrow’s officials would find themselves in cities that were far stronger. Making that tradeoff is what it means to have soul in the game. Soul in the game is fundamental to building a Strong Town.

Bravo: Commissioners, county council earmark future hospital sale proceeds for a destination not labeled Community Foundation.

Note the author's use of "clawed back," and join me in a resounding SMH.

Bill Hanson will be self-immolating soon, but will his own newspaper have reporters available to cover the bonfire?

Also see that these votes cut across party lines, and that Mark Seabrook for once found himself outvoted. It's the sort of thing to celebrate, if for no other reason than freshening the leadership gene pool.

Incoming commissioner Billy Stewart had this to say when I thanked him on Facebook: "I will always put our citizens first and hold ALL elected officials accountable for their actions. Political party doesn't matter, what's right does."

If you've been wondering why I've been drinking more coffee with Republicans than Democrats ... what Mr. Stewart said.

Ordinance affecting future Floyd Memorial Hospital proceeds repealed, by Chris Morris (Don't Come Around City Council No More)

Yearly payments will go into hospital fund

NEW ALBANY — The Floyd County Commissioners and Council passed Floyd County Ordinance 2017-3 Tuesday night in a joint meeting. The ordinance repeals three of the five sections in an ordinance passed last November, dealing with future proceeds from the sale of Floyd Memorial Hospital.

The $61 million to be paid over the next 10 years will now go into a line item termed "hospital fund" in the county budget, not to the Community Foundation of Southern Indiana as directed in the old ordinance. Where it winds up in the future is still to be decided.

However, the $70 million received from the sale of the hospital to Baptist Health at closing will be remain in the hands of the CFSI. If state legislation passes this year, which officials are hopeful it will, Floyd County will receive up to a 5 percent spend rate from the $70 million investment, but will not be able to spend the principal.

While the new ordinance does not specifically address the $70 million investment, a resolution will be written by Council attorney Steven Langdon to ensure the money will remain with the CFSI and will not be clawed back by the county.

The coroner surveys employment opportunities: "I investigate death, that is my job. I am surrounded by freaking incompetence."

As an observer on Twitter pithily wrote, "(It) might be relevant to note Ms. Knable is a candidate for County Council."

I'll add: As a Democrat.

Damn -- that Adam fellow already scrubbed her clean. Meanwhile, the reporter can't go wrong with such strong material.

Floyd County Coroner: 'I am surrounded by freaking incompetence'; council denies funding request, by Chris Morris (CNHI Utica)

NEW ALBANY — They came and asked the Floyd County Council for $35,000 to get them through the remainder of the year. They would have settled for $6,645 to get them current with their bills.

But all Floyd County Coroner Leslie Knable and Deputy Coroner Stefanie House left with was an appointment to meet with two council members, and Auditor Scott Clark, to try and clear up outstanding bills and other issues associated with their budget ...

... Knable and House also questioned why the council always seems to give the coroner's a "hard time" when additional appropriations are requested.

YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!

"You are asking us who is dropping the ball. That is your job," she said. "I investigate death, that is my job. I am surrounded by freaking incompetence."

Matt Oakley proposes giving the hospital to the Baptists for free, because otherwise, county government would have money.

Q. What happens when the newspaper combines cooking school !!! with pet o' the month nominations?

A. Bowser Burgoo.

(My compliments to the late, great John Ed Pearce for the dish)

Meanwhile, Matt Oakley takes his case for enforced starvation to an on-line click-bait bracket, which Ted Heavrin would win handily if he still served on the County Council.

Infrastructure and economic development? Just a thought.

online-petition/article_c9f293ee-f52f-11e5-af8e-57b048789e96.html">Floyd Councilman Matt Oakley proposing tax cut via online petition, by Chris Morris (Clark County Cornucopia)

NEW ALBANY — Matt Oakley does not plan to serve the final year of his term on the Floyd County Council doing nothing.

Oakley recently posted his plan to cut taxes online at the website floydforward.com, a free petition site where he is encouraging people to read the plan and sign it if they approve. He said with the money the county will receive from the sale of Floyd Memorial Hospital and Health Services — $75 million of $150 million will be paid up front if approved — county taxpayers should be able to keep more of their money. The other half from the sale will be paid over a 10-year period.

Atomized: My WNAS video in easily digested policy platform chunks.

Randy has taken the full 18-minute WNAS "Meet the Candidate" video (see below) and broken it down into smaller pieces. 

Why Indie: Roger Baylor explains why he's running as an independent for Mayor of New Albany

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Transparency: Roger Baylor, the independent candidate for Mayor of New Albany, explains what he means by transparency.

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Budgetary Sanity: Roger Baylor talks about fiscal responsibility and opportunities lost.

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Economic development: Roger Baylor explains to the incumbent what real economic development consists of.

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Infrastructure: Roger Baylor tells what he will do as mayor to keep our city safe and vital. Better at the fundamentals, to make New Albany fundamentally better.

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Ordinance enforcement: Roger, the independent candidate for Mayor of New Albany, explains that ignoring our housing stock is nothing less than lunacy.

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The full 18-minute WNAS "Meet the Candidate" video.

Just remember ... we can if you vote.

Commentary worth repeating: Gahan's "balanced budget" claims are bogus.

(By Jeff Gillenwater)

Jeff Gahan says he's balanced the budget but the truth is he's significantly increased the budget, nearly doubling it. He says he's gotten us out of debt because former Mayor England's sewer rate increases - rate increases Gahan argued against - have paid off some sewer bonds but he doesn't mention his own borrowing, which has left us with increased not decreased debt levels.

Worth noting is that much of that debt is going toward paying off multimillion dollar projects that were awarded sans public bidding processes and, at least in some cases, have led to campaign kickbacks.

Now that we've taken on 20 years of debt to pay for them, Gahan says parks are a priority for quality of life but did not mention them at all when running for office. We're also now finding out about his administration taking options on Uptown area real estate and pursuing eminent domain actions on riverfront property but he's again not mentioning any of it in his campaign-- just like he didn't mention spending a million dollars on the golf course to the redevelopment commission or city council before he did it.

If anyone points these facts out too often, they're banished from campaign and party social media spaces. If people value transparency and honesty at all, they can't support this. If they do support it, they've really no right to complain in future about any political deceit. They will have chosen to tie their own blindfolds.

The really telling part is that, as Gahan and Floyd County Democrats block social media access to more and more people, they never actually deny what those people have said.

They can't.

They just don't want people to know about it. The truth makes them look bad so secrecy and lies begets more secrecy and lies. If incumbent and new Democratic council candidates won't speak up against such misleading tactics now, there's no reason to think they will if elected.

It's damning for the whole party.

Mailer Wars '15: An unbalanced Gahan leads off with budgetary tall tales.

Jeff Gahan's first mailer is out, and it isn't balanced.

More tellingly, the DemoDixieDisneycratic Party's opening broadside is an attack on the Republican. It's likely to be the ongoing pattern, with Gahan aiming for the warm and fuzzy, while Adam Dickey brandishes the stiletto.

Just remember that Party Politics 101 is the primary reason for considering alternatives.

Previously we recalled Jeff Gahan's many promises from 2011. Curiously, among them was NOT a vow to fund $30 million in "quality of life" projects with TIF-backed bonds.

Shattered 2011 Gahan campaign promises, Part 1: The "good jobs" mayor!

Shattered 2011 Gahan campaign promises, Part 2: The "good education" mayor!

Shattered 2011 Gahan campaign promises, Part 3: The "let's work together" mayor!

NAC's Jeff Gillenwater explains.

Jeff Gahan likes to say that he has balanced the budget because it makes it sound as though he's somehow managed to run the city more efficiently. He's not as keen to put real numbers to that claim, though, for good reason.

As provided by the Department of Local Government Finance, the state agency that oversees local budgets, here are those actual numbers-- New Albany's annual budgets from each of the past few years. Gahan took office in 2012.

2011 - $14,665,386
2012 - $18,738,682
2013 - $20,084,675
2014 - $22,600,514
2015 - $24,300,565
2016 - Gahan is currently asking the City Council for another increase

Understandably given the large annual spending increases, the district tax rate has increased under Gahan each year as well.

Even with city government spending approximately $10,000,000 more per year now than it did before Gahan took over, those tax increases did not cover his tens of millions of dollars of additional spending on special and often seasonal projects like the aquatics center. Several of those projects, over $30 million, were financed with Tax Increment backed bonds, borrowed at interest against projected future tax revenues for the next 20 years. Many New Albanians 45 or older will likely be retired or perhaps even deceased before taxpayers manage to pay off just a single Gahan term as mayor.

And, as Gahan himself says, he's not done yet.

There's little reason to believe a second term would be differently focused, more efficient and practical, or more open and inclusive. As Roger Baylor says, transparency should not be a last resort. We shouldn't be reading about million dollar golf course deals months after the fact but we are. If, like many New Albanians, you're not comfortable with a mayor who tells you he's "balanced" the budget when he's substantially increased it or that he's paid off debt from previous administrations when he's taken on much more for comparatively frivolous projects and corporate subsidies, please vote accordingly.

Quality of life begins with honest communication, something that just doesn't figure in Jeff Gahan's accounting.

McLaughlin: It's far too early to do the math on the water park. Come back in 2034, will ya?

Blair: Parks spending up, but so is revenue from fees

For someone fancying himself an independent, Scott Blair runs a great deal of interference for Jeff Gahan, doesn't he? Perhaps this owes to a shared suburban subdivision view of governance.

Meanwhile, there's a $9 million outlay for the water park, 32,000 visitors without sufficient parking owing to the absence of advance planning, a neighborhood street network snarled, and a parks budget in excess of $2 million.

According to my Texas Instruments Abacus, that's $448,000 in admission fees assuming each of them came at the top rate of $14.00, which means the real total is far less. Throw in some chips and soda sales, and the full-time salary for a part-time facility.

Oops -- now it's flashing different numbers: TILT.

New Albany council members positive about city's budget, by Daniel Suddeath (Pop-Up Cornucopia)

NEW ALBANY — More will be known about operating expenses for River Run Family Waterpark once the aquatic center has been open for a full season, New Albany city officials said Wednesday.

But while there may be some unknowns in terms of expenses, City Councilmen Pat McLaughlin and Scott Blair said they feel confident the New Albany Parks Department, and the city as a whole, are on solid financial ground.