UPDATED: Just out of curiosity, at the final city council meeting of 2019 ...

It seems odd. What exactly happened with Dan Coffey? At the final council meeting of 2019, new 1st district representative Jennie Collier was already seated, while election losers David Barksdale and Matt Nash were present, not winners Jason Applegate and Joshua Turner. Is it a special exception of sorts when a council person has, in effect, retired?

I genuinely don't know the answer, so when it comes, it will be appended here.

10:45 a.m. update, courtesy of former 5th district councilman Matt Nash: Dan Coffey, who was not running for re-election to council, moved from the 1st district some time last summer and resigned in early December. Jennie Collier (1st district council woman-elect) was caucused in by the Democratc Party, which won the seat in 2015 when Coffey still considered himself a Democrat.

Dan Coffey's last council meeting is Thursday night, and then there'll be no more Wizard of Westside.

Departing 1st district council representative Dan Coffey has missed the past three meetings of the body, on November 4th and 21st, and December 2nd.

I don't know why, but I do know that Coffey deserves recognition for two decades of service as a councilman. Fair is fair, even if we've disagreed far more often than not.

Coffey is the last continuously serving elected official linking the present era to the period in 2004/2005 when I first began attending city council meetings and writing about them here at the blog. The longest of tenured blog readers will remember the many times he and I clashed. It could be savage, vicious and occasionally hilarious. One need only search these pages for literally hours of informative reading attesting to the tenor of those times.

And yet, through it all Coffey and I still retained the ability and willingness to speak with each other. That counts for something. In the final analysis, we two have one fundamental thing in common, because we're both incurable and implacable independents -- good, bad or indifferent.

I believe Coffey could have run as an independent in the 1st district and won. He never seemed comfortable as a Democrat. He's on the right and I'm on the left, and yet I instinctively know how this discomfort feels.

Frankly, there's no defense of Coffey's behavior on those occasions, regrettably often, when he chose to bully, threaten and (in effect) single-handedly filibuster the council. I won't attempt any exoneration.

At the same time I'm prepared to embrace what probably is a minority position, and credit Coffey for caring about his district and, overall, giving a damn.

Coffey is a classic example of someone who always did the best with what he had at his disposal. His methods may or may not have produced the best results for his constituents, but he worked it hard for 20 years. This can't be taken away from him.

Obviously I don't know what Coffey is planning on doing, post-politics. Will he run for another office? Maybe we could join together for a podcast on local affairs. THAT would be supreme entertainment, wouldn't it?

As a longtime adversary of the self-described Copperhead, allow me to extend sincere thanks to Dan Coffey for his long years of service to the community, and to wish him the best of luck in the future.

The most inevitable headline in all recorded history: "Coffey disputes New Albany mayoral vote totals."

We may never see another council representative as dependably entertaining as Dan Coffey.

Whether folks view this as good or bad largely depends on their tolerance to pain.

Coffey disputes New Albany mayoral vote totals, by Chris Morris (Tom May Sermon Coagulator)

NEW ALBANY — New Albany Mayor Jeff Gahan won a third term last week by 1,224 votes over his nearest opponent. But one candidate for the same office, independent Dan Coffey, said he believes some of the votes Gahan received were intended for him or Republican challenger Mark Seabrook.

Coffey said many voters had issues with the touch screen machines ...

snip

"With the large turnout I'm not sure that I would have won. I do know we should have carried between 1,500 and 2,000 votes," he said. "With the machine taking votes from me and giving these same votes to one candidate, it would have altered the election results."

All hail the victorious drinkers of Gahan's Kool-Aid BUT let the record show that the pirate bested the copperhead.

There can be no doubt.

Hundreds of thousands of special interest dollars later, turnout nudged up in the city and New Albany's DemoDisneyDixiecratic Party turned back the challenge from the GOP.

The new council alignment will be 5 DemoDisneyDixiecrats, 3 Republicans and an Independent. Dear Leader has complete control, and that's just the way it is. Maybe if we're lucky and Santa's willing, he'll be indicted for tax evasion or something.

There'll be more to say about the election results, which were uniformly bad for those favoring honesty, transparency and fiscal responsibility in government, but until then there's a vital point to be made.

2019
Jeff Gahan 4,631 or 55%
Mark Seabrook 3,407 or 40%
Dan Coffey 409 or 5%

2015
Gahan 3,527 or 53%
Kevin Zurschmiede 2,695 or 40%
Roger Baylor 462 or 7%

That's right. My independent race in 2015 netted more votes and a higher percentage than Coffey's. I've got THAT going for me.

Congratulations to the participants, whether they won or lost. I'm not sure where the resistance goes from here, but life goes on.

Did I remember to point out that my independent race in 2015 netted more votes and a higher percentage than Coffey's?

Any port in a storm, my friends.

Any at all.

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

So off went the Emperor in procession under his splendid canopy. Everyone in the streets and the windows said, "Oh, how fine are the Emperor's new clothes! Don't they fit him to perfection? And see his long train!" Nobody would confess that he couldn't see anything, for that would prove him either unfit for his position, or a fool. No costume the Emperor had worn before was ever such a complete success.

"But he hasn't got anything on," a little child said.

 -- Hans Christian Andersen, “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” recently quoted at Jeff Gahan’s campaign kick-back-off

---

NA Confidential’s 15th birthday arrives on October 20, 2019, to be followed two weeks later by Election Day.

That’s when we will learn if Jeff Gahan’s time-tested platform of power-grabbing, influence-peddling and campaign finance loot accumulation has been crass enough to buy him a third straight term as Anchor City’s Wizard of Bling -- something that hasn’t occurred since 1955, when C. Pralle Erni did it on a platform of support for public housing, as opposed to Gahan’s palpable and ongoing war against the community’s least fortunate.

But enough of that.

You already know how I feel about Gahan’s vapid Reign of Error, and so today we examine a viable alternative. In retrospect, NA Confidential’s entire 5,475-day-long journey through New Albany’s Open Air Museum of Ignorance, Superstition, Backwardness and Treachery now seems to have been pointing to this juncture, all along.

I suppose it has taken 15 years because I’ve always been a methodical learner, suspicious of sudden epiphanies and more disposed to trust the accumulation of evidence that seeps through, day by day, over long periods of time. The learning curve is a harsh mistress, and it can be a maddening maze, so I allow plenty of chances for front porch cigar pondering before jumping to my conclusions.

Taking all of it together, there is a strong likelihood that I’ll begin drinking at the blog’s forthcoming 15th birthday party, and continue the process until after the ballots have been counted.

Don’t worry, readers. I’m a trained professional. Beverage alcohol contains the minimum daily requirements for all mandated food groups, just so long as you continue eating tacos and pizza throughout the binge.

As such, let’s avoid the late October politics rush. If you’re looking for quality endorsements, you’ve come to the “right” place for a lifelong leftist like me.

In 2019, this European-style Social Democrat will be voting for Mark Seabrook for mayor of New Albany.

Before telling you why, just a wee bit of personal background. I’ve come to understand that my political frame of reference is utterly negated by America’s two-party system and the “traditional” call-and-response psychoses stemming from it.

I’ve lived in Floyd County, Indiana my entire life, the most recent half within New Albany city limits, and yet in political terms I might as well be in exile. As such, a born contrarian’s iconoclasm outranks even booze as an escape mechanism.

The votes I cast must be examined on a case by case basis amid forever shifting circumstances, which come down to this: What course of local action is most sensible, and which candidate is best suited to pursue it, irrespective of political party affiliation?

It took a long time to see that simple lockstep ideology cannot suffice for me, as neither major political party in America takes an interest in expressing my beliefs. I’m left to cope as best I can, honing my intellectual survival skills, and searching the dumpsters for discarded fish bones and carrot shavings to make a thin soup of sustenance.

Pragmatism, here I come, and it feels good.

---

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy
-- Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, quoted at a recent Redevelopment Commission meeting

Let’s begin by stating for the public record that Mark Seabrook’s lengthy experience as an office holder in both city and county government, and more importantly to me, his career as an independent small businessman, recommend him highly for the office of mayor according to any prevailing criteria of which I’m aware.

Eight years of Democratic Party propaganda would have you believe that Gahan’s ascendancy to power came via divine right, as though the goddesses themselves sent him to us as the only human being truly capable of ruling the New Albanian rabble -- hence Gahan’s surreal, unintentionally hilarious cult of personality and his fatuous claims to have made not one single error his entire time as an elected official.

That’s sheer bullshit, of course.

Even the majority of local DemoDisneyDixiecrats know that Gahan’s pipe dreams of glory and grandiosity are disturbing and delusional. They bow, scrape and toe the line only because so many of them are in it for the beak-wetting, and that’s why we must continue to follow Dear Leader’s financial trail: In Pecunia Veritas.

Seabrook is perfectly capable of being mayor, of performing mayoral tasks and delegating responsibilities to mayoral appointees.

Seabrook has wider experience in elected office than Gahan, and having been elected to multiple terms in office and not only one, he has benefited from far more hours of real hands-on time governance than presumed kingmakers like Gahan’s venal and cadaverous toady Warren Nash, who was a veritable Olympian of mayoral ineptitude until his clothes-free protégé came along to make veneer great again.

Seabrook has given no indication that he seeks the office of mayor in order to be a paid media superstar with his face attached to shopping carts, crosswalks, full-page lifestyle magazine advertisements, and any other unfortunate inanimate objects lacking the good sense to get the hell out of the way.

Seabrook will be surrounded and advised by the most capable cast of adjutants and actual thinkers that we’ve seen for a while in this city, including (although not confined to) sitting councilman Al Knable, (hopefully soon to be) councilman Scott Stewart, State Representative Ed Clere, party chairman Shawn Carruthers and quite a few others, and with a younger generation of energetic, principled leaders on the horizon.

Seabrook can be expected to appoint similarly solid representatives to serve on non-elected boards, and to see that these boards remain transparent and answerable to elected officials -- and hence, to the ratepayers themselves.

Seabrook will be questioned by some who doubt he possesses the stamina to serve as mayor, but he has been admirably pro-active and transparent in addressing his physical health concerns. As I can personally attest, those interacting with him lately encounter a nimble and fully engaged mind. I won’t begrudge Seabrook a nap now and then; imagine the vast amount of time he’ll save by NOT wasting the many hours Gahan needs each day to preen, posture and pretend to be an omniscient messiah.

Seabrook’s fitness for office cannot be denied, although Democrats lacking other suitable cudgels will lie about it. When they do, ask these increasingly wild-eyed ward heelers if they’ve ever experienced shame. Some actually might have.

Seabrook proposes that our city return to the task of efficient daily management, while ceasing to function as convenient set props and stage furniture for the tinhorn theatrical aspirations of a failed wood products salesman.

Seabrook aims at transparent operations and accountability, not exaggerated claims and play-acting. To summarize, he seeks to return governance to functional adults who possess long attention spans and small egos, and this is exactly what we need in New Albany at this point in time.

Seabrook will need all these attributes as well as a skilled team to begin cleansing our tainted City Hall.

---

Q: What do Gahan supporters say when the Kool-Aid and Loaded Rice Krispies Treats run out?

A: Dude, this mayor really sucks.

Now for a few random thoughts about Mayor Seabrook’s probable challenges.

Future costs must be identified and contained.

Among Gahan’s ritualistic bait ‘n’ switch tactics has been an infrastructure Ponzi scheme, borrowing massive sums of money against future “growth” and shifting the burden of repayment to the children and grandchildren of voters dazzled by bright shiny objects.

The problem: As we add infrastructure embellishments of questionable need, and considering the cost of borrowing to finance them, we’re also steadily adding maintenance and upkeep expenses that aren’t “included” in the glossy touts.

It is likely that one of Seabrook’s first tasks as mayor will be to conduct a complete and thorough audit of the city’s finances. Given the inevitable filing cabinet bonfires we’ll see on December 31, this might prove to be a daunting task, but a necessary one to restore sanity to the municipality’s tortured financials.

Gahan’s pestiferous swamp must be drained.

Seabrook will conduct a purge of the Democratic Party’s fat and sassy governing clique, and it’s about time. Nowhere within the code of ordinances can be found commandments proclaiming the feather-bedded entitlement on the part of gilded functionaries like Nash, party chairman Adam Dickey and Irving Joshua to lifetime sinecures on appointed boards.

A cleansing flush is necessary, and waiting off to the side, whether Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, Independents, Druids or Monarchists, there are bright individuals, fresh ideas and new blood patiently awaiting their long overdue turns at the wheel.

I’m convinced Seabrook and his team will act to enable them.

The Democratic Party’s doctrine of non-cooperation must be curbed.

One hallmark of the Democratic Party’s perennial stranglehold on municipal government is an absolute refusal to cooperate with Republicans at any level. Granted, there are social policy occasions when this makes sense (see Pence, Mike), but the little-discussed flip side in a state like ours possessing a solidly Republican governmental apparatus is Gahan’s legacy of missed opportunities for cooperation with people like Clere and Ron Grooms, so as to leverage scarce resources toward genuinely useful goals. Gahan prefers putting it on the TIF One credit card, and this politically-motivated non-cooperation means we pay more than we should.

It won’t happen with Seabrook as mayor.

City-county relations must be improved.

It’s true that even in a county as small as ours, there’ll always be differences between urban, suburban and rural residents as they pertain to definitions about “quality of life.” The more I’ve learned about urbanization, suburbanization and guy-in-the-backwoods-hut-ization, within the contexts of transportation, land use, environmental impacts and a score of other considerations, the greater the complexity.

We may not know the answer to every question, but a house divided still can’t stand. Governmental units working together rather than separately might actually be useful -- for a change. It needn’t be “unigov” to cooperate where applicable for the collective good. It’s just sanity.

Ever since Democrats misplaced their mojo outside city limits, the party has pursued a policy of open hostility to county government. Indeed, at times this has been fact-based. Far more often the motivation has been one of pure and spiteful disruption. I think daily life is challenging enough without waging an ongoing Uncivil Cold War, and I believe the Floyd County Republican Party doesn’t bear the primary burden of bad behavior in this matter.

With Seabrook as mayor, perhaps we can begin thinking about rowing together when applicable.

---

Is Mark Seabrook flawless?

Of course he isn’t.

Not a single human being occupying elected office is free of error, in spite of Deaf Gahan’s incessant, mirror-gazing and narcissistic insistence to the contrary. Seabrook’s record in city and county government can be thoughtfully dissected like any other, as with the coal dust disposal scandal occurring during his tenure as commissioner, or those disagreeing with his advocacy of the hospital sale.

No one’s perfect, leaders are elected to make decisions, and the chips fall. Some imperfections merit a higher level of scrutiny than others. However, of most importance to me as a lifelong left-winger is this consideration:

I wouldn’t endorse Seabrook or any other Republican if I thought for a moment they harbored secret plans to impose a vicious right-wing dictatorship on New Albany.

Yes; the higher the elected office, the more this prospect does concern me, but it’s entirely irrelevant insofar as City Hall in New Albany is concerned. After all, Gahan the purported progressive darling has made no effort whatever to impose a vicious left-wing dictatorship on the city.

Mind you, he has imposed a vicious, elitist, cliquish dictatorship dedicated to duping progressives in order to satisfy cash-hungry sycophants. However, this isn’t to be confused with left, right or any other ideological standpoint. Rather, it’s all about a small-timer, C-minus homeboy student’s obsession with pay-to-play patronage and cold, hard cash.

Furthermore, I wouldn’t endorse Seabrook if the best I could say about him is, “Well, at least he isn’t Gahan.”

If the equation devolves to “anyone except Gahan” then I’d be obliged to consider Dan Coffey’s independent mayoral candidacy, and although I know precisely what it means in political terms to be in Coffey’s position outside the two mainstream party camps, surely we all grasp that this election is about Seabrook and Gahan, one on one.

In conclusion, both tactically and cynically, I might support Seabrook to supplant Gahan, who simply has to go.

Personally, I’d rather vote FOR Mark Seabrook out of conviction that he’d be a good mayor.

And he would.

So I will.

---

Endorsement Compendium:

• Vote Stefanie Griffith for New Albany City Council District 1.
• Vote Scott Stewart for New Albany City Council District 2.
• Vote for Thunder the Wonder Ferret as a write-in for New Albany City Council District 3.
• Vote Cisa Kubley for New Albany City Council District 4.
• Vote Josh "JT" Turner for New Albany City Council District 5.
• Vote Scott Blair for New Albany City Council District 6.
• Vote Al Knable and Christina Estill for New Albany City Council At-Large.
• Vote your conscience for New Albany City Clerk, as both candidates are excellent.
• ON THE AVENUES: Socialists for Seabrook, because we desperately need a new beginning in New Albany.

---

Recent columns:

September 12: ON THE AVENUES: There's no business like no business, and it's none of your business (2016).

September 5: ON THE AVENUES: Welcome to traditional Danish lunch in Copenhagen, September 1989.

August 29: ON THE AVENUES: Welcome to "Pagan Life," a weekly column devoted to heathens, infidels, idolaters, atheists, non-theists, irreligious people, agnostics, skeptics, heretics and apostates.

August 22: ON THE AVENUES: The 32 most influential books in my life.

Alternative Politics: "What if David White had run as an Independent instead of in the Democratic Primary?"

Nick Vaughn indulges in a harmless bit of alternative history. Meanwhile, here at Resistance Central, we can't help speculating about what might have been in a different place and time.

If Mark Seabrook had mounted a mayoral campaign in 2011, wouldn't Jeff Gahan be a forgotten former councilman by now?

And as a bonus, the city would be solvent. The mind reels.

Before we return you to inspiring views of the Market Street Beautification that the Descendent of Benito Mussolini Built, read Nick's thoughtful analysis.

Alternative Politics: New Albany’s Mayoral Race

Instead of tackling a big question with many moving parts, I am going to tackle a smaller question and look at the 2019 New Albany Mayoral Race. The question: What if David White had run as an Independent instead of in the Democratic Primary? The answer: well, it depends. One thing that makes alternative politics a little bit easier to analyze is because we have numbers and data to look at.

While there are most certainly intangibles behind each and every vote, for argument’s sake I will be ignoring that and just looking strictly at the numbers. I’ll also throw in some of my own analysis and opinion to make the answer to the question a bit more interesting.

9.3 million tons of dangerous coal ash right here in Anchor City? Good thing it's not a campaign issue.

The president said something stupid about wind power, which prompted Deaf Gahan to tweet.

Google divulges little about this situation. There's this from the Indy Star last July: 'Disastrous consequences': EPA changes to toxic coal ash rules could hurt Hoosiers.

What's the plan for our ultimate neighborhood brownfield? What does it mean for us? All I'm hearing are pins dropping and crickets chirping.

Previously on July 4, 2018:

Dan Coffey wasn't making it up: 500,000 truck trips would be necessary to remove Duke's toxic coal ash from the Gallagher plant's ponds.

Coffey warned against Duke shirking the clean-up of highly toxic coal ash, and also mentioned that removing the coal ash might require 500,000 truck trips over a period of years.

There were guffaws and the rolling of eyes, but Coffey was right. Here's the source from May, 2017. Did you read it? I didn't.

And May 15, 2017:

Tonight is the public meeting about Duke Energy's coal ash disposal. Gahan to send summer intern with information about the Bicentennial Park Concert Series.

C'mon, you know exactly what Team Gahan is thinking: just get on with the power plant decommissioning, and those outlawed public housing residents can be placed there, safely out of view.

Courtesy of Dan Coffey, the Grant Line Road annexation map that Jeff Gahan doesn't want you to see.

Current councilman and forthcoming mayoral candidate Dan Coffey (Independent) has made public the map showing the Grant Line Road area north of IU Southeast being projected for annexation by Jeff Gahan's monetization cadres.

This is the area the city is looking to annex. While we are told not to openly discuss this with the public, I believe we should have an open and transparent government that allows public input to help make a better and informed decision.

Absolutely right. I agree with Coffey and thank him for the map. Here's a closer look at the pertinent data.

Coffey is correct in observing that much of the annexation discussion so far has been strictly back-channel.

However the topic began leaking out when the NA-FC school corporation's administrators recently informed the school board, seeing as the corporation must voluntarily accept Grant Line Elementary's inclusion.

This was the first time most folks became aware of the proposal, although an overview of the annexation plan was discussed at last week's city council meeting, with all involved stressing that nothing can occur in 2019 because annexations aren't permitted by the state during pre-census years.

Even yurt-dwellers in Mongolia can see that Team Gahan lusts after the $1.85 million yearly tax haul, but at last week's meeting Scott "Coulda Been a Contender" Wood explained if the annexation becomes official, there's a period of three years during which residents in the annexed area are obliged by the state to form some undefined manner of participatory committee and to designate uses for the tax revenue in question; it does not go automatically into city coffers until the fourth year.

Presumably such committees choose for infrastructure improvements designed to bring the suburb into line with the city's urban "norms." The word "sprawl" was not mentioned, and personally I'm waiting for this future committee to be immediately infiltrated and neutralized by Dear Leader's operatives, with these three years of infrastructure cash inevitably going to pay for the projects already planned by Gahan's campaign finance donors for the vicinity.

Then again, I'm a cynic.

GREEN MOUSE SAYS: Deaf Gahan wants to annex Grant Line Elementary School. Why didn't the Redevelopment Commission discuss this at its last meeting?

At the end of the day it's just another example of Gahan's pathological need for secrecy, and his preference for conducting as much pre-planning as possible outside the public's eye so the ensuing process is subject to full personal control with no meaningful effort to glean public input. 

Folks living along Mt. Tabor Road, and others attending last week's Colonial Manor top-down debacle already know this. Fortunately, there's an antidote to the toxic effects of cash-stuffed envelopes, Rice Krispies Treats and Kool-Aid: #FireGahan2019

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By the way, if you're not following Deaf Gahan on Twitter, you're missing out: https://twitter.com/DeafGahan

Brutal satire for a city allergic to it, but still.

The independent Dan Coffey for Mayor campaign launches this Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at the library.

Dan Coffey will be making it official on Tuesday afternoon. He's running for mayor as an Independent candidate. As such, he's aiming for November, because the May primary is a parties-only gala.

Coffey for Mayor at Facebook

Speaking only for myself, I welcome CM Coffey to the race and believe he will play a constructive role in the dialogue to come. It is true that in the past we have clashed often, and there are points upon which we'll always differ, yet we share an appreciation for the merits of independence at a time when the two major political parties are ruefully toxic.

Say what you like about Coffey -- trust me, I probably already have -- but he deserves his shot at the high office. He has something to say, and doubtless will not hesitate to voice his thoughts. As for his prospects, they're up to the collective conscience of the city's voters.

Coffey for Mayor Campaign Announcement

My nearly 20 years of experience as a New Albany City Councilman have given me a unique perspective on City Government. I believe New Albany needs a Mayor dedicated to serving the people and not the "Party". I am your Independent candidate for Mayor. Please join me as I announce my Candidacy for Mayor of New Albany in the auditorium on the lower level. Doors open at 5:30 pm.

Inhumane working conditions then and now -- or, can you explain to us again why David Barksdale deserves another council term?

Without Barksdale's help, how could Gahan
have achieved luxury in our time?

Remember last summer when at-large councilman David Barksdale somehow managed to keep a straight face while insisting for the public record that municipal employees at the City-County Building were laboring under "inhumane working conditions"?

It was all part of ensuring that Jeff Gahan and the Democrats got their Reisz Mahal luxury city hall in advance of the 2019 municipal election cycle.

Problem is, Barksdale claims to be a Republican.

Has he said anything aloud lately about whether it's inhumane to punish Federal employees during the current shutdown? I didn't think so. After all, such a statement would suggest a logical consistency of thought.

Why is it again that Barksdale deserves another term?

But as it stands, there'll be only one contested primary election race on May 7 between the two major political parties, this being David White's run against Big Daddy G.

By the way, as of Thursday's council meeting, Barksdale's appointment to serve as council liaison with Develop New Albany has ended. Incoming council president Scott Blair unceremoniously replaced Barksdale with Dan Coffey. The city's remaining trees wish he'd have done the same v.v. the Clearcutting Board.

Apparently Blair (an independent) gets it.

Do the Republicans?

Where Republicans are Democrats,
and trees are scared.

ON THE AVENUES REWOUND: Jeff Gahan and Adam Dickey are Trumping the Donald when it comes to breathtaking moral turpitude. Have they no shame?

ON THE AVENUES REWOUND: Jeff Gahan and Adam Dickey are Trumping the Donald when it comes to breathtaking moral turpitude. Have they no shame?

A weekly column by Roger A. Baylor.

Last night I wrote the equivalent of two columns (you're rubbing your eyes already), but neither seems appropriate just yet. Instead, let's take an instructive journey by means of the rewind button, back to January 25, 2017.

You'll notice that nothing's changed. Matt Lorch subsequently was removed as council attorney, and the Democrats suffered another catastrophic election defeat in 2018. Adam Dickey kept his job, and now it's 2019.

#FireGahan2019 #FreeDistrictThree #FlushTheClique 

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You can’t blame Dan Coffey for understanding simple math.

Coffey might well be one of the nastiest politicians to mar this or any other underachieving settlement, at least since records were first scrawled on the wall at the Caves of Altamira, but say this for the man: He doesn’t need an abacus to smell raw fear – and take advantage of it.

When Coffey bolted from the Democratic Party in January of 2016 in preparation for becoming the most obvious Donald Trump supporter in New Albany, you can be sure he’d already run the power poll numbers.

After city elections in 2015, there were two more Republicans on the city council than before, totaling three. Scott Blair already had declared himself an Independent, and Coffey correctly surmised that Blair would eventually tire of desperate efforts to please Mayor Jeff Gahan when Gahan had no intention of responding to Blair’s overtures.

Coffey saw Blair joining the GOP bloc more often than not, leaving four Democrats – and one pivotal seat for the Dan Coffey Party.

That pesky math again: Three Republicans plus one independent equals four Democrats in need of a fifth vote, placing Coffey in the catbird’s seat.

All Coffey needed to do was wait until his swing vote passed from possibility to reality, and this magic moment arrived in spades on November 9, 2016, as the full extent of the Democratic Party’s latest precipitous collapse in Floyd County elections became evident, and Team Gahan began mainlining Bud Light Lime.

With party chairman Adam Dickey fundamentally lacking the cojones to resign, which is what should occur immediately after catastrophes, and with Dickey’s “leadership” quotient at rock bottom, what remained of the ramshackle political entity was inherited by Papa Gahan, by default the highest ranked Democratic official left wobbling, and bunker-bound inheritor of Dickey’s vast nothingness.

In a delightful reprise from the 1960s sitcom Green Acres, this turn of events freed Coffey to play the wheeler-dealer Mr. Haney to Gahan’s hapless Oliver Douglas.

In January, it came time to select city council “leaders,” and Gahan went into his customarily paranoid, reactive Alamo mode. The four remaining council Democrats were handed defective slingshots and instructed to fight to the death, but first, it was necessary to obtain a ringing affirmation of Pat McLaughlin (president) and Greg Phipps (vice-president) as pliable, unquestioning council rubber stamps.

Blair and Coffey were one step ahead of Gahan’s small-pond theatrics, and both duly visited the mayor to collect their available winnings in return for supporting McLaughlin and Phipps against Republican trial balloon candidacies. Order was restored, and the council’s ruling twosome remained tenuously toothsome, as yet in place to field 3:00 a.m. phone calls from the city’s reigning agoraphobic.

Blair’s favors aren’t known, but Coffey’s became manifest at January’s second meeting, when it was made perfectly clear that the price of Coffey’s loving cooperation would be council attorney Matt Lorch’s head.

Council Republicans quickly objected to the impromptu lynch mob, and Bob “I So Desperately Want to Be Mayor” Caesar was conveniently absent, so L’affaire Lorch was tabled. It isn’t clear what will happen next.

However, quite enough already has happened to provide final, damning proof that the Floyd County Democratic Party is utterly without a moral compass.

The Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench is the deepest known point in Earth's oceans. In 2010 the United States Center for Coastal & Ocean Mapping measured the depth of the Challenger Deep at 10,994 meters (36,070 feet) below sea level with an estimated vertical accuracy of ± 40 meters.

That’s right; the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench.

It’s where Gahan’s and Dickey’s creation, the Good Ship Democratic Lollipop, currently rests, and taken together, these two narcissistic beached whales in a child’s overmatched wading pool are managing against all imaginable odds to make the buffoonish serial liar Donald Trump look precisely like George Washington.

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A means can be justified only by its end. But the end in its turn needs to be justified.
-- Leon Trotsky

Younger readers may not be familiar with the workings of the organization known as the Comintern.

The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International (1919–1943), was an international communist organization that advocated world communism.

At the risk of oversimplifying, once the Soviet Union came into existence following World War I, the international Communist movement finally possessed real-world dirt acreage to serve as refuge and fulcrum.

Moscow was to Communism what the Vatican was (and is) to Catholicism. The Kremlin coordinated and directed the planet’s Communist parties, and generally did not take “no” for an answer when work orders were disseminated.

For almost 30 years after Vladimir Ilyich Lenin died in 1924, Joseph Stalin served as the anointed Communist equivalent of the Pope. Stalin’s decrees required utter loyalty; after all, he was the infallible mastermind, and the goal was the revolution’s ultimate triumph everywhere, not just Russia,

If Stalin zigged, so did a diehard Communist in Argentina. As he zagged, another dyed-in-the-wool Communist in Scotland followed suit. There was almost no room for discussion or dissent, but at least for a while, Communists outside the USSR were able to blithely ignore the brutality of Stalin’s paranoid totalitarianism.

That’s because the doctrinal faith and the propagandistic Kool-Aid were strong, and the utopian Commie chic alluring, seemingly promising a peaceful, prosperous future. After all, it wasn’t about the USSR’s needs, it was about the proletariat as a whole – except it really was about Stalin, and not a lathe operator in Italy, and there came a time when theory and practice were poles apart.

And yet the Comintern still demanded obedience, even after Stalin’s death, and many Communists outside the USSR chose to deny facts rather than face cognitive dissonance. Few seemed able to do what the famous writer George Orwell did: Abandon the Soviet Union, but retain his socialist beliefs.

For Stalin, Marxism was of the Groucho variety: Who are you going to believe, me or your own two eyes? The overarching point for those obedient Stalinists in the West is that once Stalinism was discredited and tossed into the “dustbin of history” (Trotsky’s words again), so were they, those who hadn’t believed their own two eyes. The damage to their credibility was irreparable.

Stalin certainly didn’t invent the rigorous suppression of individual conscience. He wasn’t the first to deny the necessity of justifying the end, or to proclaim the imperative of absolute obedience on the part of expendable foot soldiers, whose only job – whether from a sense of duty or inchoate terror – is to move to their assigned places on the chessboard when directed, come what may.

Just the same, Stalin may have perfected these conditions. They’re not the sort of behaviors we should emulate, are they?

I repeat: Are they?

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If you’ve spent any amount of time in New Gahania, it’s plainly evident that Matt Lorch is everything Dan Coffey isn’t.

Lorch is jovial, reliable and ethical.

Lorch is trustworthy and doesn’t play games of the sort that can hurt people.

Lorch’s position as the latest in a long, successful family line of lawyers has not come without personal challenges, as with his hearing impairment, which if anything impels him to work harder and more efficiently.

What’s more, unlike Coffey, Lorch has been an absolutely dependable member of the Democratic Party, resolutely toiling for the greater good of the organization.

I can’t help thinking back to Coffey’s ill-fated race for county commissioner, which he lost in a landslide. Lorch attended Coffey’s biggest fundraiser, and offered Coffey his full support as a fellow Democrat. He probably donated, too.

Ultimately, this points to the unkindest and most disgusting cut of all – and it has nothing whatever to do with Coffey, a man incapable of trustworthiness. While Matt Lorch is everything Dan Coffey isn’t, and cannot ever be, for Coffey to spit in Lorch’s face comes as no surprise, precisely because as a loathsome, grandstanding, bullying, homophobic sociopath, it’s what Coffey does.

It’s like your dog licking his balls, just because he can.

Yes, but it’s Gahan and Dickey who leeringly are throwing Matt Lorch under the bus, and it’s the steadily shrinking handful of elected Democrats, like Pat McLaughlin and Greg Phipps, who are being asked by Gahan and Dickey to lend their stamp of approval to the shameful sacrifice of Lorch for no other reason than the way it encourages Coffey’s variable tumescence, and rather than objecting as a dignified human being to the sheer insanity of this, they’re the ones who are shrugging and asking timidly, “Yes, dear leaders -- which axle?”

Perhaps the Floyd County Democratic Party recent electoral disintegration has rendered its adherents confused and stunned, like Abe Lincoln’s duck hit on the head, and I’ll try mightily to phrase these questions in simple language, so even the Democratic central committee might understand them.

How are Gahan and Dickey to extinguish the smoldering dumpster fire of a Floyd County Democratic Party if they’re so eager to toss solid, loyal Democrats to the self-centered whims of an anti-democratic Copperhead?

How can Gahan and Dickey even pretend to “lead” the political opposition to the GOP’s escalating hegemony – here, there and everywhere – when they’ve failed to reveal a single coherent resistance tactic since November 9, but found ample time to plunge a rusty dagger in Matt Lorch’s back?

How can these people be trusted, ever again?

If you’re a Democratic Party voter, it matters far less whether Gahan and Dickey can sleep at night; after all, they’re proving themselves to be just as dangerously sociopathic as Coffey himself.

Rather, how can YOU as a Democrat sleep at night if you allow them to get away with it?

Jeff Gahan and Adam Dickey are asking Democrats precisely the same question as Stalin did Communists: Who are you going to believe, us or your own two eyes?

The fact is that your own two eyes are revealing sordid and uncomfortable truths, and I believe you should honor your conscience and refuse to countenance their madness. Gahan’s and Dickey’s ends do not justify their means, and this isn’t the time to mimic the lemming’s logic and follow them into the abyss.

They’re conniving and ethically destitute. They’re utterly lacking a moral compass. If you support Gahan and Dickey in this metaphorical beheading to curry favor with Coffey, then your own moral compass has gone missing, too.

It isn’t too late to rediscover it, and to do the right thing.

Isn't it time to take back your party?

Isn't it time for a change?

---

Recent columns:

January 8: ON THE AVENUES: In the 3rd district, that "stepping aside" time finally has arrived.

January 1: ON THE AVENUES: As a new year dawns, I’m existentially yours.

December 29: ON THE AVENUES: Another year older and deeper in debt, so let's doo-doo it all over again.

December 20: ON THE AVENUES: Truth, lies, music, and a trick of the Christmas tale (2018 Remix).

Dan Coffey wasn't making it up: 500,000 truck trips would be necessary to remove Duke's toxic coal ash from the Gallagher plant's ponds.

At June's second city council meeting, 1st district councilman Dan Coffey raised an important point about Duke Energy's Gallagher power station, which has been burning coal ever since its four units were built during the period 1958-1961.

During speaking time for council members, Coffey suggested vigilance by city officials about Duke Energy’s coal ash pond cleanup, to begin as Gallagher winds down.

Coffey warned against Duke shirking the clean-up of highly toxic coal ash, and also mentioned that removing the coal ash might require 500,000 truck trips over a period of years.

There were guffaws and the rolling of eyes, but Coffey was right. Here's the source from May, 2017. Did you read it? I didn't. Tim Maloney is the Hoosier Environmental Council Senior Policy Director, and Duke Energy's spokeswoman is Angeline Protogere.

Duke Energy plans coal pond closures at Gallagher Station in New Albany
Environmentalists concerned with closure method, by Elizabeth Beilman (Unexpurgated Tom May Content)

 ... "For all these old coal-fired power plants, the real question is what happens to the waste, and is that handled in a responsible way?" Maloney said. "Leaving it sitting there next to rivers and atop shallow groundwater systems, in our view, is just the least desirable option."

But Protegere said removing much of the 9.3 million tons of coal ash at Gallagher Station from ponds would require 500,000 truck trips over the next few decades. Closing ponds in place takes "months or years," she said.

"Obviously that has a major community impact and a significant amount of truck emissions," Protegere said. " ... There are a number of factors that go into this decision."

Earlier tonight: "Concerns over Reisz building expressed during meeting."

For the first time in ages, I walked out of the house tonight without my phone, and rather than turning back, decided to let it ride.

My head count at CM Coffey's library gathering was 40 at the peak, and this strikes me as a solid attendance.

Honestly, if you've been reading NA Confidential, chances are you've already heard what was discussed this evening. Following are a couple extracts from Chris Morris's newspaper coverage. 

Concerns over Reisz building expressed during meeting

The New Albany City Council will take a final vote on the ordinance to purchase the building at its 7 p.m. meeting Monday in the Assembly Room on the third floor of the City County Building.

In its first two readings, Dave Barksdale, Greg Phipps, Matt Nash, Bob Caesar and Pat McLaughlin voted in favor of the proposal while Coffey, Scott Blair, David Aebersold and Al Knable voted against it.

My 3rd district councilman Greg Phipps came to tonight's meeting and sat through most of it. That's worthy of commendation.

 ... The rallying cry from three of the four city councilmen against the project who were in attendance was for residents to call their district or at-large councilmen and express their concern, and to attend Monday's meeting. Knable was unable to attend Wednesday's meeting, but his wife Jessica did read a statement from him against the plan.

"We ask for people to fill that room," Aebersold said.

Mark Cassidy, a regular attendee at council meetings, also said if "a bunch of people show up, they will pay attention."

Will they?

Thursday is weekly column day. I've been writing it for a while, but since the Reisz Elephant has coincided with the frenetic period of pre-opening activities at Pints & Union, times has become an issue.

It may be Friday, but there'll be a column.

TONIGHT'S MEETING REMINDER: "Town hall to discuss possible Reisz purchase."

Don't forget tonight's meeting about the Reisz Elephant.

Stop the Reisz Elephant: There'll be a public meeting on Wednesday, June 27, downstairs at the library, at 6:00 p.m.

The newspaper recaps the story and previews the meeting.

Town hall to discuss possible Reisz purchase, by Chris Morris (Tom May Press)

NEW ALBANY — Dan Coffey said a lot of people are upset about the proposed purchase of the old Reisz furniture building for the new city hall, and he hopes many of them come to his town hall meeting tonight to share their feelings.

The meeting, at 6 p.m. at the New Albany-Floyd County Public Library, is intended to "get the facts out," about the cost of the building, according to Coffey. He said there are questions that have not been answered by the city's administration.

"The bottom line is they have not been forthcoming with the answers," Coffey, first district city councilman, said. "The process has been flawed and the real information has not been given to the public."

Readers, I've been doing my best to cover this issue, and the simplest way to look at it is that historic preservation is the very last consideration. It's actually a red herring. The Reisz Elephant is about Jeff Gahan's power and his political aims, as lubricated by lots and lots of money.

Look past the stated aims, and see the corrupt underbelly of the current occupant.

---

Previously:

Reisz Elephant: Lawyer Gibson hails redevelopment's back-room RFP fix as an excellent way to do business with just one company.

Jeff Gahan handed Denton Floyd $750,000 to kick-start the Reisz project. Where are the documents detailing this transaction?

2-for-1? Scott Blair describes a better way to save the Reisz building AND get a new city hall.

Donald Trump would greatly appreciate the disruptiveness of Jeff Gahan's signature Reisz Elephant.

Jeff Gahan's attacks on county government stand an excellent chance of hurting the business climate in New Albany.

ON THE AVENUES: Government Lives Matter, so it's $10,000,000 for Gahan's luxury city hall clique enhancement. Happy dumpster diving, peasants!

GREEN MOUSE SAYS: Latest Reisz City Hall cost estimate reaches $9,250,000 -- and the tote board keeps spinning.

Truth is stranger than fact: Back in 2012, the Reisz building was to become a senior living complex. Bob Caesar kneecapped it -- and Deaf Gahan DISAGREED with Cee-Saw.

ON THE AVENUES: Histrionic preservation? $8.5 million to gift Jeff Gahan with a new city hall "want" is inexcusable and simply obscene in a time of societal need.

Stop the Reisz Elephant: There'll be a public meeting on Wednesday, June 27, downstairs at the library, at 6:00 p.m.

Last Thursday evening, the city's corporate attorney answered questions about the proposed move of city hall to the Reisz Furniture Store. His answers raised even more questions, and that's why there'll be a public meeting on Wednesday evening at the library (downstairs) at 6:00 p.m.

To view recent NA Confidential articles about this expanding controversy, click here.

I'm told the meeting's host will be councilmen Dan Coffey (1st district), with 6th district councilman Scott Blair also in attendance. It's unclear if other officials will be present. Put simply, this isn't a meeting for regurgitating the city's self-interested version of this process. Rather, it's about exploring all sides of the story.

There's also a petition going around. The text is below. I'l have more on this as time allows. I'm in possession of paper copies and will see if there's a way to put this on-line. The final council vote is coming on Monday, July 2.

We can put the brakes to this $10,000,000 boondoggle, but to do so, YOU MUST STAND UP AND BE COUNTED. Thanks, and I'll see you on Wednesday.

We, the undersigned concerned citizens, urge our City Council to act now to stop the process of entering into a 15-year contract to purchase the Reisz building to be converted to a new City Hall. We also feel that the process was flawed, and real information was not given to the public in such a way as to make a truly informed decision. We also feel that the $8.35 million dollars spent on this project would be better spent in out neighborhoods addressing the problems we have been facing for years: bad or no drainage, poor roads, sidewalks and other issues. We encourage the City Council to take another look, and realize that citizens' needs should come before bigger offices. There is no doubt there are other options available to satisfy your wants and public needs. 

Thank you,

Your Concerned Public 

Throwing Reisz: The Jeff M. Gahan Luxury Government Center keeps the emphasis on buildings, as opposed to people.

Previously:

Council Monday: If we're spending $$$ "saving the neglected Reisz Furniture Building to use as a new city hall," then can we be clear as to how it became "neglected" in the first place?

Chris Morris of the Tom May Picayune has by-the-numbers coverage of last evening's council soiree, at which our new anchor-certified city hall took its first inevitable steps toward completion.

Pay close attention to Scott Blair's and Dan Coffey's comments. The council's two independent members distinguished themselves with pointed questions. They followed the money, and should be thanked for doing so.

Council Democrats? They couldn't be bothered.

The usual community pillars want a luxury city hall, and they want it badly, but the curious truth is that the razor-thin 5-4 vote carried only because yet again, quasi-Republican David Barksdale carried Mayor Jeff Gahan's damask jockstrap safely across the finish line.

Next meeting's third reading is a foregone conclusion unless Barksdale is kidnapped and spirited away to Bolivia in the interim.

Yesterday, the Green Mouse was told that during an earlier conversation about the Reisz conversion, Barksdale was asked if there was a point beyond which saving the building would no longer be financially feasible.

How much is too much?

"Whatever it takes," was Barksdale's reply.

For a building. Not human beings and their needs ... but a government building. This no longer qualifies as historic preservation. 

It's a fetish, plain and simple.

There's a famous old gag by Jack Benny, whose comic persona was that of miserly skinflint. An armed robber approaches Benny: "Your money or your life."

Stone-faced, Benny turns slowly away from the increasingly impatient robber to look at the audience.

"I'm thinking it over!"

CM Barksdale, here's $570,000 for 15 years. Shall we spend it on people or historic preservation?

He wouldn't have to think it over. 

Not at all.

When the vote was concluded, the room abruptly emptied. Seems that community pillars can follow only one topic at a time; let's hope none of them are complaining about potholes, given that paving was the subject of a lengthy discussion after their hurried departure.

In the momentary scrum, Dan Coffey looked at me and said (paraphrased): This is the mayor's project, and he should be here to advocate it. Put that on your web page.

Preaching to the choir, sir, and I already have, but let's repeat it.

Mark my words: In 16 years, or whenever the city is finished renting-to-own the Reisz building -- and assuming the Democratic Party still exists, and is in control -- there'll be a pillar-impelled movement to name it the Jeff Gahan Government Center.

Gahan, a DemoDisneyDixiecrat, who'll campaign against Republican Mark Seabrook in next year's mayoral election, will point early and often to this Reisz rehab historic preservation luxury governance project as a signature achievement of his glorious reign.

AND GAHAN COULD NOT BE BOTHERED TO ATTEND THE CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MAY 7, 2018. 

HE SENT MIKE HALL INSTEAD. 

Barksdale did the rest. A couple months back, when asked about his view on the mayor's hostile takeover of public housing, Barksdale -- an at-large council member representing all the city's citizens -- waved away the question.

Affordable housing?

It's not his area, and there's nothing he can do. He didn't even have to think about it.

Sickening, isn't it?

Reisz Building plan moves forward after New Albany City Council vote

NEW ALBANY — The dilapidated Reisz Building, at 148 E. Main St., moved one step closer to having a tenant Monday night after the New Albany City Council approved the first two readings of an ordinance that will turn the structure into a new city hall.

The ordinance calls for the city to enter into a lease agreement with Denton Floyd Real Estate Group. Under the agreement, the city will pay $570,000 a year rent to Denton Floyd for 15 years. In year 16, the city will outright own the building.

Denton Floyd's proposal would include $5.6 million to renovate the 23,000 square-foot building with construction beginning in July. The plan is to turn the building over to the city in July 2019 ...

 ... The city currently pays the Building Authority around $200,000 a year for rent of the City-County Building. So the deal will cost the city an additional $375,000 a year for 15 years, something that did not go unnoticed by some council members ...

Ethically challenged local Democrats can't find a single friend as public opinion weighs in on the party's toxic Knable censure resolution.

Cricket's chirping? That's their swamp music.

For those just tuning in for today's sad installment of Local DemoDisneyDixiecrats of the Formerly Black But Now Very Greenback Lagoon, two pivotal local election cycles are approaching, the soulless pretend-left political machine is on the ropes, and that bleakest of functionaries, Pat "How High, Sir?" McLaughlin has channeled his inner Adam Dickey into a resolution to censure city council colleague Al Knable for an entirely imagined offense -- or to be brutally frank, for performing the task of council president far better than Paddy Mac ever did.

These are the depraved depths to which Team Gahan has plunged, whether the News and Tribune's deficient management team can bring itself to admit the obvious, or not.

McLaughlin's resolution serves as convenient and compelling proof that our local Democrats have left the rails. The only viable alternative to more of the same is to vote against them at every opportunity.

But first, let's take a brief glance at some of the reactions to our coverage of the ongoing travesty.

---

Did you miss the headline? The crux of it - DemoDisneyDixiecratic chairman Dickey is up to his eyeballs in fake facts, not to mention male moo cow feces.

Jeff Gillenwater (junior editor): "This (Democratic Party Fb post) is a lie to advance a political agenda. Members of both parties have been discussing the possibility of a call center merger for nearly a decade. Bailey and the rest of you affiliated with this ridiculous smear attempt ought to be ashamed but, as so many have learned and are learning the hard way, you all don’t really recognize shame amongst the cheap shots, half-truths, and innuendo. The number of people swearing off the local party and its candidates because of abominable behavior like this is growing. They do not see the party as a vehicle for progressive ideas and humanitarian concerns precisely because it’s not. Those still clinging to “local leadership” are likewise losing the respect of many. Keep it up.

D: "The conflicts we Democrats face at the national level require we take the high road at the local level. This (Democratic Party) article and what lies behind it do the opposite, and threaten everything the Dems should be standing for."

B: "Wow. That’s incredibly dishonest, even by local standards ... This has been thoroughly discredited in other threads and forums. The censure is complete partisan nonsense of the worst kind."

K: People know better than to believe that crap, don’t they? I believe Al at his word - a mistake ... This is going to backfire on them.

Billy Stewart (county commissioner): "We can have disagreements about policy and what we believe in how things should be but there is never a reason to try to destroy someone over partisan politics. I don't always agree with other elected officials but I respect their views. I'm truly saddened by the actions of a few City officials trying to smear the reputation of a good person. The only way we can change things is through the ballet box. Remember who did what and vote accordingly."

A: "So, does Pat's Resolution invite us all to write our own Resolutions? Whereas, we can encourage truthful dialogue from he, Jeffrey, and other city officials? That sounds like a fun game! Pat's Resolution could be used as the template and we just change the words and subject to expose real liars. It could be a competition. All participating have their first reading on Monday under Pat's agenda item, and all who participate win because standing up to bullies makes you a winner! ... I hope Pat doesn't become chicken at the last minute and pull his resolution from the agenda. That would spoil all the fun."

BC: If this is the best the Dems can do, then they are in major trouble in Floyd County. They are dying on the vine already and this is simply an extreme stretch to TRY to be noteworthy. Knowing Al as I do, he is an upstanding member of the community and is a straightforward guy who wants the best for New Albany.

---

Gahanism is gangsterism, and Pat McLaughlin's nonsensical resolution censuring Al Knable is the best example yet of the local Democratic Party's utter depravity.

R: "Mclaughlin is my council rep. I haven’t seen him in my neighborhood since Baron Hill was running for re-election more than a decade ago. I’m vacillating between whether anger or appalled embarrassment better describes my reaction to this idiocy. Al Knable may have some views with which I differ, but he’s not averse to listening and actually hearing what citizens say."

D: "What a waste of time and money... to attempt to discredit someone you are working with for the greater good of your city. It’s an embarrassment. I’m sorry Al Knable ... keep doing what you’re doing. Posing questions and getting the answers for your constituents. Representing their best interests with integrity. It’s in your job description. What I’m SURE is not there is when something you don’t like comes to light, you strike out at the credible people. Stay the course and do the right thing, always."

---

More profiles in cravenness: "McLaughlin did not want to make a public comment until Monday's meeting."

S: "Not sure what to make of this world when Dan Coffey is the voice of reason."

M: "Think I have figured it out. It’s just his way of announcing that the price will be high for him to flip. And he will, if the price is right. Have seen him make 180 turns before."

P: "I’ve known Al for around 40 years, both personally and professionally. I will continue to trust and support him. This is what happens when a good person tries to get into to politics to make a difference, and it greatly saddens me."

W: "This is a total waste of the city council's time. I want to know how the $5 million is going to be spent on the city. I want to know what’s going to happen to the NAHA residences. I want to know about cleanup in the city parks department. I want my city to have a combined efficient 9-1-1 center."

---

ON THE AVENUES: Al Knable doesn’t lie, but the local Democratic Party is a flood-plain Pinocchio. Let’s censure it at the ballot box.

Reverend Mike Becht: "I am certain that if Mr. Baylor and I sat down to discuss issues and politics, we would find ourselves holding opposite points of view on many areas of public concern. However, it is telling that we appear to be 100% in sync with respect to one pressing matter - the current tempest enveloping Dr. Al Knable.

Having known Al for more than 35 years, I can personally vouch for his honesty and integrity. That is not to say we always agree on every topic. I'm sure we do not; but I have NEVER once found him to be less than candid, respectful and fair, even when we find ourselves landing at opposite positions on a matter. To suggest that he would lie for political gain is patently absurd, and reveals more about the character of the ones who are making that claim than about the good doctor, himself.

"I am never surprised by the ugliness and mudslinging that goes on in politics. But I am surprised that some in power have calculated that their best course of action is to engineer a public attempt at character assassination.

"Some question the provenance of the quote attributed to Edmund Burke, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." Regardless of who originated the thought, there is no escaping the truism it propounds. I, for one, am not willing to stand by and watch a good man pilloried. And if you have any sense of decency, neither should you."

---

Following are comments posted here and there in support of the censure resolution.

More profiles in cravenness: "McLaughlin did not want to make a public comment until Monday's meeting."

A teensy-weensy microdot of back story and context would be nice, but you'll never get it from the News and Tribune, which seeks only to transport you to the end of the article in two minutes or less, and get back to cooking school.

But now for the good news: That's why you have NA Confidential to take you down into the bunker with the flies on the wall, to where the 'Bamatized chain newspaper can't -- nay, won't -- go.

If you're just tuning in, the Floyd County Democratic Party has fired up a mess of monkey brains, chased their souffle with ice-cold Bud Light Lime-A-Ritas, and contracted prion disease (eternal thanks to Charles P. Pierce).

Kuru belongs to a class of diseases called transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), also called prion diseases. It primarily affects the cerebellum — the part of your brain responsible for coordination and balance.

NAC started covering this story on Tuesday.

ON THE AVENUES: Al Knable doesn’t lie, but the local Democratic Party is a flood-plain Pinocchio. Let’s censure it at the ballot box.

Gahanism is gangsterism, and Pat McLaughlin's nonsensical resolution censuring Al Knable is the best example yet of the local Democratic Party's utter depravity.

Did you miss the headline? The crux of it - DemoDisneyDixiecratic chairman Dickey is up to his eyeballs in fake facts, not to mention male moo cow feces.

The politics of diversion: "Chief Bailey is playing a losing hand, but then, they're not really his cards."

Today the newspaper picks up the story, and quite badly.

Folks, let's get real: the lame censure resolution directed against Al Knable could not have sprung fully formed from the brain of Pat McLaughlin. The party's ranking Democrats are behind the chicanery. The puppet's strings are connected to city corporate counsel, party chairman and mayor. This is the way it always works, and will continue to work until voters fire them in 2019.

Chances are that Dan Coffey's not the only observer who understands this, even if Chris Morris doesn't.

New Albany City Council to consider Knable censure over 911 dispatch statements

 ... Councilman Dan Coffey did not withhold comment about the censure, or how he will likely vote on the resolution.

"It's 100 percent political," Coffey said. "Al is one of the most honest people I've ever met. I know his votes on the council are not political. I am really disappointed in that one [resolution]."

Coffey said the vote will likely go along party lines. That means the two independents, Coffey and Scott Blair, will likely decide the matter on whether Knable will be officially censured. The council also includes four Democrats and three Republicans.

McLaughlin did not want to make a public comment until Monday's meeting.