Question: Did David Barksdale's support of the Reisz Mahal cost him re-election?

Now that the election is over, maybe I can finally start writing about what I REALLY think.

Or maybe not.

Either way, to kick things off with post-election analysis, a question for readers: Incumbent at-large councilman David Barksdale (Republican) lost his seat to newcomer Jason Applegate, a recent convert to the Democratic Party.

Last year Barksdale famously broke with his party and joined council's four Democrats to cast the deciding vote on the Reisz Mahal luxury city hall project.

Did this hurt him among fiscally conservative Republicans?

"I was very honored to be on the council for four years," Barksdale told the Tom May Evangel-Bune. "I voted for what I thought was best for the citizens. There is always another day."

Speaking personally, I thought he'd be forgiven, but after garnering 3,365 votes in 2015, Barksdale received 3,371 this year, a gain of only six. Meanwhile his Republican council colleagues Al Knable and David Aebersold added 704 and 386 votes, respectively. In short, the higher turnout in 2019 didn't help Barksdale at all, and his Reisz Mahal legacy might be one reason.

An interesting sidebar to Barksdale's loss: who will replace him as council's appointment to the Redevelopment Commission?

I'm guessing it will be Applegate, who stressed "smart growth" in his unsuccessful bid for county commissioner in 2018.

It's a municipal election year in New Albany, and the GOP is serious.

I stopped by Kolkin Coffee today to observe the scene as the Floyd County Republican Party rolled out its slate of candidates for municipal elections in 2019.

Mayor: Mark Seabrook

City Clerk: none

District 1: Stefanie Griffith
District 2: Scott Stewart
District 3: none
District 4: Cisa Kubley
District 5: Josh Turner
District 6: Scott Evans
At-large: David Aebersold, David Barksdale and Al Knable

Therein lies an 800-lb incongruity, which is a concise way of saying something is "out of place or keeping."

Seabrook said during his short speech Friday afternoon at Kolkin Coffee shop in New Albany there needs to be more transparency in city government and that the Gahan administration has wasted taxpayer money on projects, singling out the current rehabilitation work on the old Reisz Furniture building for the new city hall. He also criticized Gahan for not working with county leaders during his two terms.

Standing four feet away from Seabrook was Very Incongruous Barksdale, who garnered nowhere near the level of applause given the others.

His presence proved a bit strange. If the GOP intends to cite the Reisz Mahal as a prime example of Jeff Gahan's debt-laden waste -- and this is entirely true -- then why did Barksdale, one of the party's three council incumbents, provide THE critical vote to move the boondoggle forward?

Just remember that when it comes to manipulation and money, the mayor can be trusted to exploit the weak and vulnerable by finding and tapping their jugulars. Gahan simultaneously milked Barksdale for a crucial fifth Reisz Mahal vote and neutered a Republican. The historian blithely handed the charlatan power on a silver platter.

Barksdale's abrupt collapse might be sad, except it's all hamartia and hubris to to me: "Hamartia is the (fatal) flaw, hubris is the behavior that does not acknowledge it."

Apart from Barksdale's capitulation to Dear Leader -- can he be redeemed? -- it's a fine and balanced slate, surely the deepest we've seen from the GOP since this blog's inception.

Seabrook officially announces bid for New Albany mayor, by Chris Morris (Tom May for Poet Laureate)

NEW ALBANY — The Floyd County Republican Party candidates for city offices in 2019 want residents to know they will always listen to their concerns. Their ears, and doors, are always open. That, they said, has been missing in the last eight years from Mayor Jeff Gahan and other elected Democrats.

"We will listen," Mark Seabrook said. "We will listen to every citizen. The days of a city administration going it alone will be over. We want the community involved and we want to make New Albany the best it can be. Being the best New Albany can be is what this campaign is all about."

snip

Floyd County Republican Party Chairman Shawn Carruthers said he is "very happy" with the slate of candidates, which can still grow before the filing deadline of Feb. 8.

"We have a diverse group of people who are talented in all aspects of industry," he said. "There is a lot of energy in the room."

Carruthers said Republicans enjoyed great success in the county-wide election last year, and he believes that momentum will carry over to this year.

Last night at city council, the News and Tribune looked the other way as McLaughlin condoned Duggins' TASER hilarity.

My frustrations with local media's coddling, in a nutshell.

New Albany City Council adjusts some parking fines, by Chris Morris (Sweet Home Alabama)

Haven House receives $50,000 appropriation

NEW ALBANY — The New Albany City Council made some amendments to parking violations Monday night. Motorists can expect higher fines and to be towed for parking in an intersection, blocking a fire hydrant or crosswalk, parking on a sidewalk and parking illegally in a handicap space.

It's the usual by-the-numbers council coverage, and that's just lovely -- until someone who was present volunteers to fill in the missing bits.

By the way, Mark Cassidy attended last evening.

"At city council mtg. Pat making excuses for David Duggins. Al and David A. both had strong statements condemning such comments by an official."

Making excuses for Duggins' TASER misbehavior?

Cluelessly normalizing ugliness of this magnitude might be the default reaction of almost any ranking Democrat in town, but in this instance, it's 4th district's Pat "Methodical" McLaughlin, formerly the council president, now as ever joined to Mayor Jeff Gahan's swiveling hip in a surely forlorn hope that (a) Dear Leader might opt for the monastery some sweet day, and (b) McLaughlin then could become the biggest fish in this painfully small pond.

(Interestingly, Gahan didn't fight at all for Bob Caesar's bid to become council president in 2018; Caesar lost, and now his sinecure on the Redevelopment Commission has ended, too. Perhaps this is Gahan's pleasant way of saying "sorry, Bob, but your own mayoral ambitions just ain't happening.") 

I asked Mark to elaborate on the public vetting of Duggins on Monday night.

Al (Knable) brought it up at the beginning of the meeting. He said he'd talked to the Mayor about it, and also talked to Duggins. Knable thought it was totally inappropriate, but the person harmed is the only one who can accept Duggins' apology or not. He didn't think anyone should lose their job over it. David Aebersold wanted to know if Duggins now was on a short leash (paraphrased), suggesting that Duggins can't screw up again and still represent New Albany. Knable said yes. Next Aebersold stated that he's received far more e-mails and calls about this (TASER hilarity) episode than anything else since he's been on the council, and he didn't want to go through any of it again. I believe that if it had been up to Aebersold, he would've fired Duggins. After that is when Pat made his milquetoast defense.

And exactly how spineless was it, Mark?

Pat said "familiarity" probably was the reason Duggins said what he did, and that we all make comments that we shouldn't. 

Mark concludes with a concise thought, one that every DemoDisneyDixiecrat should read, reread and read again.

True, but that doesn't excuse it, especially not coming from an official with control over peoples' lives.

On second thought, it might interest a newspaper's editorial board, too. That is, if the newspaper ever gets around to taking its Fourth Estate obligations seriously.

Cue the inevitable Valentine's Day poll and chocolate pairing.

Here's where a newspaper reporter might start -- because see, there was a discussion at a council meeting about a tawdry lapse by a public official, at which it was divulged that the council's current president has discussed the issue with the mayor, who as yet has had nothing to say about it.

Here's an idea, Chris.

Shouldn't you go talk to the mayor, too?

There are at least two types of water parks in New Albany: TIF-tastic Showplaces and Inadvertent Crosswalk Meltdowns.

At Monday evening's city council meeting, at-large councilman David Aebersold (R) reported that he'd been told about photographs somewhere on-line -- he couldn't recall where -- depicting the numerous Inadvertent Crosswalk Meltdown water parks, splash pads and wading pools downtown, like this:

And this:

Funny -- I thought the gag order against mentioning NA Confidential aloud in public extended only to Democrats.

By the way, did you know that if a Democrat is caught actually reading an NAC post, the penalty is a mandatory term paper on the Wit and Wisdom of Chairman Dickey?

That's cruel and unusual punishment, folks. By the way, we reported the standing water problem several months ago -- twice. The newspaper's tally?

That'd be zero. 

June 26
City Hall unveils new street corner splash pads, with an ingenious example of the "sharing economy."

July 29
All hail New Gahanian crosswalk puddle-a-bility: Brand new asphalt, concrete and ramps, and the same old non-drainage problem.

The Board of Public Works and Safety's Mickey Thompson was on hand Monday night to explain that it's all the fault of ADA requirements for handicapped-accessible ramps, and he isn't sure what can be done to correct it.

And yet as it pertains to troubled drivers, no stone is left unturned to facilitate passage of automobiles.

Hats off to CM Aebersold for broaching the subject. Every other council person should join Aebersold in demanding a better answer than Thompson's -- or, conversely, a jackhammer.

Forget the excuses.

How does Jeff Gahan FIX the problem?

Coffey lands a role in Game of Drones as council passes littering ordinance, though not before an appearance by the ghost of James Stockdale.

Last Monday, less than 24 hours before the scandal-plagued Jeff Gahan's Super Tuesday vote-buying extravaganza allowed Dan "Tulips or Two Lips" Coffey to play-act as the face of historic preservation in New Albany, Coffey was doing the mayor's bidding in council, gleefully riding point in an effort to slow a litter ordinance that Gahan reasoned would make the mayor appear diminished in the face of activism from a Republican (in this instance, Al Knable).

The ordinance passed with only Coffey dissenting, but the debate had the curious effect of opening the James Stockdale Memorial Window of Existential Confusion, through which Knable's accidental colleague David Aebersold swan-dove.

Aebersold became bizarrely fixated on two questions, which he kept repeating aloud as though disoriented, referring constantly to "they," which remained undefined, although in this context it functions similarly to the cartoonist Bil Keane's famous "Not Me" and "Ida Know" phantoms:

1. How can we pass laws not knowing if "they" will enforce them?

2. I'd like to know what "they" think before we vote a third time on an ordinance we approved 9-0 the first two times.

Well, David, seeing as you're a Republican, one thing you might do to enhance enforcement is spend time every day making the point to New Albany voters that your legislative body has handed Team Gahan a clean-up tool, and consequently, it's up to Team Gahan's executive branch to use it -- and if "they" don't, there'll be electoral ramifications.

In the case of littering, you might find quite a few Democrats inclined to agree with you.

As for what "they" think about ordinances and enforcement, David, you had two and a half weeks following the first two readings to hoist your bulk from the chair and go ask them. If their answers don't measure up, then see my comments preceding; rally your own team, and hold Team Gahan's feet to the proverbial fire.

I know. It means you'll have to show some initiative and put forth a modicum of effort. Sorry about that, but ironically, had Jeff Gahan not placed a premium on kneecapping his fellow party member John Gonder (and dragging Shirley Baird down with him) in 2015, it's doubtful you'd have been elected to an at-large council seat in the first place.

Might as well make lemonade from these lemons, David. Independents like me might even help you. You have a bit of power, so use it.

New Albany City Council approves tougher litter law, by Erin Walden (Religion Columnists Multiply Like Rabbits)

Council debates completeness and feasibility of "core" bill before passing

NEW ALBANY — After debate among officials regarding the completeness and feasibility of a proposed litter ordinance, the New Albany City Council officially approved a new law that will impose harsher fines on litterbugs in the city.

The final reading of the ordinance passed 7-1 during Monday night's meeting, with councilman Dan Coffey voting against the ordinance. Councilman Scott Blair was absent during that portion of the meeting.

Something for CM Aebersold to learn about revitalization -- from a conservative, not us.

Purely accidental first-year councilman David Aebersold famously expounded at depressing length about the weight of his ignorance of the modern world in a September 28 letter to the Courier-Journal.

Today, urban planning is dominated by an anti-auto mentality that overrides common sense. In efforts to discourage driving, planners are willing to accept more congestion – which is what will happen on Spring Street – more air pollution and greater numbers of accidents, a result of changing one-way streets to two-way streets. Traffic speeds are independent of whether the streets are one-way or two-way and can probably be controlled on one-way street through the use of coordinated signals that can be set for almost any desired speed.

What the hell -- not everyone can read and research and learn, and the older you get, the less you care to try, although come to think of it, David's not the only confused Aebersold in town. Jamey doesn't grasp it, either, but what can we expect from jazz musicians (wink wink, nudge nudge)?

I'm not sure what can be done about the syncopation of auto-centrism, but in my usual helpful spirit, here's something that might assist the accidental councilman in comprehending little shards of the reality outside his gated preserve -- and not only that, it's completely safe for him to peruse because the publication is called THE AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE.

I've highlighted just one pertinent suggestion. You're welcome.

How to Brew a Midwest Downtown Renaissance, by John Burtka III (The American Conservative)

1. Infrastructure. Local government music t invest in downtown roads, streetscapes, placemaking, parks, and trails. If you have the vestiges of 1970s urban planning, such as roads turned into walking plazas or one-way bypasses speeding potential customers around and away from downtown businesses, you must remove these impediments to growth now. Many of these projects can take advantage of federal and state incentives that already exist.

See, that wasn't so bad ... was it?

Some final thoughts on the topic of two-way streets, and then it's someone else's turn.

Let's get sickeningly topical and make this blog great again.

The sex tape I'd like to see most of all is the one of Irv Stumler, Mark Seabrook and David Aebersold with a Padgett crane on a one-way street.

Use the hashtag #mmmf, please, and oh, by the way, I'll need full body condom to even begin entertaining the thought, as well as a few quarts of Old Grand Dad for the sake of these sad old grand-dads.

Accidental councilman Aebersold is the latest misinformed pillar to rush forward with opinions disguised as facts *, and while I know much of his scattershot drivel is preparatory groundwork for Seabrook's future masturbatory political aspirations, it has become wearying to wake up in the morning and know that if I don't publicly rebut these civic has-beens, no one else will.

Folks, it's been my pleasure these many years, and although I can't rule out an intervention in the next few weeks, New Albany's two-way street saga has become wearying to me.

Que sera sera -- and is it time to leave for Sicilian holiday yet?

I'm looking forward to seeing Mt. Etna close up and personal, drinking wine, and eating the local pasta dish made with anchovies and fresh sardines. Knowing they have mafia there, too, should make it feel just like home.

As for New Albany's street grid, at this point one of two things is sure to happen.

A. City Hall will make good on its many private assurances that HWC's full-tilt two-way street reconversion will occur, given that funding has been secured and project dates announced, even if the Board of Public Works and Safety continues to protest that a decision has not been made, right up until the point the otherwise pre-ordained vote is final.

I enjoy performance art as much as the next person, so let's hope Warren makes it convincing.

B. Superannuated opponents of modernity, slouching over there amid their bilge on the wrong side of history, will somehow manage to insert a spanner into the works, perhaps with a new surprise lawsuit, a trucking boycott, providential state GOP intervention or dramatic self-immolation.

If the latter, I can only hope they let me know, because I'd be delighted to throw out the first match.

I suppose it remains possible that we might see a partial reconversion of the streets, rationalized as the first of two phases, with the second being quietly forgotten. It strikes me as the least likely scenario, but there it is. Considering the petty games local "leaders" are so very fond of playing, it's impossible to handicap.

Of course, if the two-point-something-million-dollar scheme wasn't cleverly devised to leverage federal money for street paving, it wouldn't be considered at all, and one-way would remain the highway forever more.

It is my sincere hope that if you're one of the many two-way proponents eager to express an opinion, yet hesitant to do so openly because you grasp the historic frequency of half-erect pillar reprisals right here in river city, you've already dispatched your feelings to the official public opinion accumulator: jdabkowski@rqaw.com

If not, please do so.

Pretty please?

One week ago, I challenged Irv to join me in sitting this one out.

ON THE AVENUES: On two-way streets, a modest proposal for the consideration of my disoriented one-way counterpart.

Then I disassembled his "survey" theses and tossed them on the ash heap of history.

ON THE AVENUES 3-PK, PART THREE: Survey says … Irv’s street grid agitprop won’t be putting Diogenes out of work any time soon.

There isn't anything left for me to do. It's difficult for me to disengage from something this passionate, and a guy has the right to change his mind, but you know what?

It's someone else's turn. Step up, folks. The microphone's on, and this forum is yours. It's time for me to study those Italian phrases instead.

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* It's in the form of a mind-numbing letter seemingly copied in longhand from Thomas Aquinas' "Summa Theologica", and masochists can search the Courier-Journal for it, but I simply can't sanction links to pornographic content.