Reader differs with Team Gahan: "They're disrespectful of other peoples' time, dismissive, arrogant and secretive."

Posted at Facebook by my friend Diane. Short, sweet ... deadly accurate. Consider looking behind the bright, shiny facades to what's really happening.

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"Here's a fun fact: For a couple of years I worked with the Gahan administration as a freelancer handling the social media for the City. I got to see how they made the sausage, and my opinions of Gahan's administration are based upon those years of watching how they do things and how they treat people - even people who are trying to work with them to make them look good. Due solely to how difficult they made it to work with them, I fired them as a client. 

"I have nothing against Jeff or his family, personally. I graduated with Susie - and she's a sweetheart. I also did positive stories on their kids when I handled the social media for NAFCS. I just don't like how Gahan and his team deal with people. They're disrespectful of other peoples' time, dismissive, arrogant and secretive.

"I also don't like how they deal with taxpayer money, now that I live in town and have become a stakeholder. I have a background in construction so I know all about TIF funds. We're being railroaded there, but of course, our "budget is balanced". Uh-huh. 

"I've also worked with other city administrations as a freelancer and it's easy to compare how others do it with TRANSPARENCY, versus how the Gahan team goes about things. We don't have the benefit of TRANSPARENCY, FAIRNESS, or RESPECT in our current administration, and I think we deserve better. 

"So - I'm saying so in any forum that will have me, up to and including speaking with neighbors, friends, and this FB group. My only agenda is to have a Mayor we can trust with our money, who doesn't rely on no-bid contracts with out-of-town contractors who work with the city, who doesn't hire unqualified relatives for city positions, who doesn't fire city employees who have his opponents signs in their yards, who doesn't spend taxpayer money plastering his mug on grocery cart signs, and who can hold his own when confronted with tough questions from citizens, rather than instruct them to send them to him ‘in an email’. I'm ready for a change." 

-- D. Williamson

Slick Jeffie says we have two options for mayor. Here's my choice, photographically.

But hearty thanks to Terris Barnes & Walters of San Francisco, California for generating such a nice collection of landfill cloggers.

CFA-4 Follies: OMG, just look at Gahan's huge pile of special interest donor cash flowing to out-of-towners.

I'm voting for Mark Seabrook, and encourage you to do the same.

ON THE AVENUES: Socialists for Seabrook, because we desperately need a new beginning in New Albany.

Mark Seabrook's challenge to Slick Jeffie regarded favorably by Indiana political analyst Brian Howey.

The veteran Indiana politics reporter Brian Howey inserts his New Albany mayoral reference up front, but offers no further details.

City halls most likely to see a party change include New Albany, where Republican Mark Seabrook is challenging Mayor Jeff Gahan

However, of the three races Howey rates as most likely for a party change, New Albany's is the only one without an open seat. Howey even mentioning this race is very interesting, indeed. Gahan has huge amounts of money, but the electoral math speaks a different language.

Horse Race: Mayoral races enter homestretch, by Brian Howey (Howey Politics Indiana)

INDIANAPOLIS - We’re a month out from mayoral elections and at this point, we do not detect a significant change wave as we’ve seen in past cycles that ousted more than a dozen mayors. There is little polling data available, so our assessments are based on past history, who’s advertising and how the various candidates and campaigns are acting.

City halls most likely to see a party change include New Albany, where Republican Mark Seabrook is challenging Mayor Jeff Gahan; the open seat in Kokomo, with Republican Howard County Commissioner Tyler Moore facing Democrat Abbie Smith; and another open seat in Elkhart where former Republican mayor Dave Miller is facing Democrat Rod Roberson after Republican Mayor Tim Neese decided not to seek a second term.

Gahan announces bold initiative to align all political patronage construction project deadlines with the start of early voting.

Lancaster Lofts is the perfect Gahan pay-to-play construction project.

First, a grandiose photo op and self-congratulatory press release (not pictured because it's too insulting to the intelligence of our house cats).

Then, fenced-in consciousness with a stinky dumpster in the middle.

Are we winning yet, Adam?

It's the morning after the Sherman Minton Bridge meeting, and Alka-Seltzer isn't helping Dear Leader's mood.

Sherman Minton Bridge leadership litmus test as Mark Seabrook stays for the entire meeting, while Jeff Gahan lasts seven whole minutes.

Redevelopment commission member appointed by the mayor plans epic Tour de Groveling Homage for the Gahan River Greenway.

Satire alert: This isn't.

Does anyone know the minimum donation to the Gahan re-enthronement campaign required to secure the no-bid contract for the Kool-Aid and Loaded Rice Krispies Treats concession to supply the sags during this bicycle ride?

Of course the 5K Run to benefit the animal shelter is a fine idea and worthy of our support. But we can do without the obsequious fealty, can't we?

Sazerac's billions are headed this way, so Deaf Gahan and Dugout are foaming at the mouth and shredding the upholstery.

From the makers of Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey: "The old Pillsbury Plant becomes the new home for Sazerac Company."

High tea, low crumpets, street corner shysters, and an economic development announcement at the former Pillsbury.

From the makers of Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey: "The old Pillsbury Plant becomes the new home for Sazerac Company."

The devil remained firmly within the nooks and crannies of the details, and until we know how much Sazerac's arrival will cost us, prudence is the rule. This noted, Sazerac's investment at the former Pillsbury has the potential to be a good thing.

Let's take a brief look at Sazerac. First, the company.

Sazerac Company, Inc is a privately held American alcoholic beverage company headquartered in Metairie in the metropolitan area of New Orleans, Louisiana, but with its principal office in Louisville, Kentucky.[3] The company is owned by the family of billionaire William Goldring. As of 2017 it operated nine distilleries, had 2,000 employees and operated in 112 countries. It's one of the two largest spirits companies in the U.S. with annual revenue of about $1 billion, made from selling about 300 mostly discount brands.

Then, the chairman of Sazerac, with some insight into the business model.

US cheap-liquor billionaire looks abroad as sales slow

You may not have heard of America's richest spirits billionaire, but odds are you've sipped one of his offerings. Or, more likely, chugged it.

William Goldring, 73, built his empire on a simple model: acquire cheap brands, hype them and then stack them on the bottom shelves of liquor stores across America.

His closely held Sazerac Co has become the country's second-largest distiller by hawking discount brands such as Barton, Mr. Boston and Fleischmann's. You can buy 1.75 liters of each of his seven most popular vodka labels for a total of $80, the same price as one bottle of Absolut's premier-level Elyx.

Enough frat brothers are grabbing plastic bottles of these and Goldring's 300 or so other brands to drive his personal fortune to $3.9 billion, placing him among the world's 500 wealthiest people in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the first time he's landed in an international wealth ranking.

Goldring is little known outside his native New Orleans where he moves among the charity-circuit elites and has helped fund Tulane University buildings and athletic fields.

He's becoming better known now amid a year-long acquisition binge that's vaulted Sazerac into international competition.

"Bottom-shelf liquors can be tremendously profitable on the bottom line," says Jordan Simon, a New York wine and spirits writer and consultant. "They're cheap to make, cheap to sell and you get a lot of turnover."

Sazerac doesn't disclose its revenue. The figure probably reached $1 billion this year, according to data compiled by Anderson Economic Group. Both the company and Goldring declined to comment for this story.



While Sazerac also owns premium bourbon brands Blanton's, Buffalo Trace and cult favorite Pappy Van Winkle, which commands $500 a bottle or more, most of its money comes from giving unloved brands a profitable rebirth.

Sounds like a perfect fit with Gahanism: Bud Light Lime and the occasional shot of Fireball.

High tea, low crumpets, street corner shysters, and an economic development announcement at the former Pillsbury.

High tea, low crumpets, street corner shysters, and an economic development announcement at the former Pillsbury.

Perhaps a sewer tap-in waiver for the new occupant's executive washroom might do the trick, although someone needs to remind Dear Leader that those New York investment firms have the big bucks because they know when to ignore small-pond shake-downs.

Can't just call them into your office, can you?

'Economic development announcement' planned for Pillsbury plant, by Danielle Grady (CNHI, by way of Tom May's Content Plethora)

NEW ALBANY — An “economic development announcement” is scheduled tomorrow at the old Pillsbury plant in New Albany.

The event will be attended by state and local officials, including the Indiana Economic Development Corp.’s president, Elaine Bedel, according to a media advisory. The IEDC often provides incentives for businesses coming to and expanding in Indiana.

The General Mills plant has been empty since 2016 when it closed, putting about 400 people out of work. Later that year, the facility was bought by two New York investment companies: New Mill Capital Holdings and Tiger Capital Group. The new owners have been marketing the property for a buyer ever since.

What, is Gahan annexing the Arts Council, too? Schweitzer out as Executive Director.

So help me, if Dugout Duggins becomes head of the Arts Council, it's time to start mixing those Molotov cocktails.

The Arts Council of Southern Indiana would like to update you on some recent developments here at the Council. Our organization is making some changes and entering into an exciting period of growth. We will be sharing more details in the coming months, but we are excited about expanding our reach to surrounding counties, updating our facilities and fostering new partnerships.

Along with any organizational growth comes change. To ensure our mission and vision continue to evolve, we are making some leadership changes at ACSI.

Effective immediately, Julie Schweitzer will be leaving the organization. We appreciate her contributions to the Council as Executive Director over the past several years and her support of our mission in Southern Indiana. We wish Julie well in her future endeavors.

Over the course of the next several weeks, the ACSI Board of Directors will begin our search for a new individual to lead the Council into our next chapter of exciting growth and opportunity. In the interim, we will continue to operate uninterrupted and have identified an interim staff to support the organization.

Thanks again for all your support and look forward to the exciting future.

"Lots of entertainment" as Deaf Gahan shovels mud, demolishes public housing and fellates multinational hotel conglomerates.

You really have to wonder who (or what) writes these headlines at WDRB.

New Albany to fix traffic on State Street, invest $30 million into Daisy Lane extension, by Jessica Bard (WDRB)

New Albany mayor announces plans to turn hillside into sites for restaurants, hotels, office building.

The Daisy Lane and State Street intersection is some of the most high-profile land in New Albany because of how close it is to I-64 and I-265.

The News and Tribune's reporter helpfully clarifies.

Grady's story is here. I'm still waiting for that "professional courtesy" comp, Bill.

In my perfect dreamworld, a former public housing resident eventually becomes mayor, overseeing the demolition of Summit Springs owing to perpetual toxic erosion.  She charges the estate of the Kelleys for the hazardous waste clean-up, and invites an elderly Jeff Gahan to the ceremony.

Mike Hall shows up instead, and encourages all in attendance to attend Gahan's concert series with the Jimmy Buffet cover band.

On TIF, Gahan and lessons from the Irish property bubble.

Whether you like it or not, and I don't, Mayor Jeff Gahan is reshaping New Albany according to his own sanitized suburban consciousness filter. It's urbanism via the "logic" of the cul-de-sac.

In large measure, Gahan is paying for Disneyland (Bucharest) on the Ohio with TIF (tax increment financing). As New Albany's TIF odometer spins wildly, ever upward, the mechanism itself is coming under ever greater scrutiny.

Taken together, the following two links from February and December make two central points: First, that TIF's panacea generally is overstated, and second, that there is considerable potential for abuse in the mechanism, given the tendency of cash to flow from prime beneficiaries to the politicians enabling them.

From February 15 ...

BOHANON & STYRING: Communities lose more than they gain from TIFs, by Cecil Bohanon and Bill Styring (Indianapolis Business Journal)

 ... One thing is certain: Any benefit a TIF confers could be directed to other parties in other locations.

Members of TIF bodies are typically neither bankers nor elected officials, and they are not playing with their own money. Members may be well-intentioned, but they have little background in assessing risk, and voters have difficulty holding them accountable.

Developers, various financial consultants and other interested parties stand to make a great deal of money from the deals, so the whole process has the potential for incompetence, cronyism—or worse.

 ... and December 26 ...

Hicks: Economic development is important, by Michael Hicks (Logansport Pharos-Tribune)

 ... Earlier this year, my center published a technical economic study on the effects of tax increment financing in Indiana. The results were clear. TIF boosts investment within TIF districts, but reduces it outside the district. TIF use increases taxes and reduces countywide employment, albeit modestly.

That generated a wild response.

This final passage by Hicks is an eye-catcher for me, coming just after I'd watched a documentary film about the Irish property bubble's bust, and the intimate connection between the bubble's creation and the corruption of Irish politicians on the take.

 ... earlier this month yet a third study on TIF was published in the Indiana Policy Review. It is too long and detailed to review here, but suffice it to say that county prosecutors and the state attorney general’s office will surely be reading it closely over the holidays. It details extensive shenanigans with TIF in at least one county.

In the years to come, keep an eye on NA's TIF meter. It may not seem like it now, but the metaphorical heel of Achilles can come to us from almost any unexpected direction.

Gahan nowhere to be found as fiscal health study shows New Albany to be "modestly falling behind."

And don't forget: He's not finished yet! Moldova, here we come.

Fiscal health study of Indiana cities shows growth in Jeffersonville, by Elizabeth DePompei (N and T)

A recently-released study that examines the impact of property tax caps on the fiscal health of 18 of Indiana's cities shows that Jeffersonville's finances are in good shape ...

... New Albany's gross assessed property valuation increased by less than five percent and property tax levies increased by more than 20 percent for the same time periods. Based on revenue collected from property and income taxes in 2015 compared to 2008 numbers, New Albany was identified as "modestly falling behind." New Albany Mayor Jeff Gahan could not be reached for comment by press time.

BREAKING: New Albany’s Mayor Jeff Gahan announces refugee acceptance program, effective immediately.

Indiana Governor Mike Pence’s recent refusal to admit refugees into the state was the last straw for Jeff Gahan, New Albany’s mayor and a future gubernatorial hopeful at Adam Disney World.

“I saw people were suffering, and it’s too cold to use the water slide,” said Gahan on Wednesday as he announced imminent accommodations for up to 300 refugees from the target demographic. “We had to do something humane, whether the county pays its share or not.”

The mayor pointed behind him.

“I know my BFF and constant advisor Greg Fischer is so proud of us here in New Albany,” said Gahan. “We’re breaking wind – I mean water – no wait, ground at Council Flats today for the absolute best luxury millennial resettlement facility that TIF funds can buy.”

“I call it the business of prime refugees, and the open sign is lit, baby.”

Throngs of enthusiastic city employees and party functionaries cheered from the sidewalk adjacent to one-way Spring Street, taking care not to get to close to speeding traffic.

According to David Duggins, who has been named the city’s Bocce and Fiber Optic Coordinator for Refugees, the luxury millennial internment facility has been on the drawing board for a while.

“With all those Syrians going to Louisville, there’ll be nowhere left for millennials to survive in their natural habitat,” yelled Duggins over the din of passing semi rigs. “Mayor Gahan built and manages all these trendy restaurants downtown for a reason, you know, although we could use another espresso bar.”

"It all flows from him," concluded Duggins, "just like the fountains in Bicentennial Park."

Gahan, who said he wasn't finished yet, concluded the brief ceremony by reading a poem he’d written especially for the occasion.

"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

“It’s amazing,” sobbed an obviously moved Duggins. “Not only do we have the best mayor ever, who’s the leading element in our society and the straw that stirs my drink, but he writes poetry, too! I mean, I FLUNKED that class in high school – and just look at me now. It’s so beautiful and thought provoking.”

Duggins paused, noticing the red light was off.

“Okay, enough of that shit. Everyone, let’s get over the Roadhouse for some longnecks. Just because those refugees drink craft beer, it doesn’t mean WE have to.”

BREAKING: Rogar Bayler leaks plan for new city hall at 922 Culbertson.

Duh -- I mean, he left Ceausescu out.

Keep me posted on that public access request, will you?