A message from David White.

"From the bottom of my heart I would like to thank all the citizens who participated in the greatest democracy on earth to let their voices be heard on May 7.

"I'm confident even in our loss that your voices were heard and I was humbled and honored to be your messenger.

"I want to congratulate Mayor Gahan and all my fellow Democrats who were victorious on May 7th and I wish them well.

"How can one lose something he had such passion and belief in, not for himself, but for others -- and yet wake up the next morning and be so blessed beyond what I deserve.

"I am hopeful at some point between now and November my fellow Democrats and fellow citizens will take a hard detailed look at my message of putting People First, and do just that.

"You are appreciated and I hope this finds you well."

Vote David White for Mayor, and let's #FireGahan2019.

A vote for David White puts people first and prioritizes needs, not wants. It's the most important step we can take to put people first and take back control of New Albany from the self-interested few and their back-scratching, pay-to-play patronage games. Let's put a merciful end to supermarket cart personality cults, TIF-entangled Ponzi schemes and an arrogant top-down clique's narrow view of reality.

I urge you to vote for David White today, and thanks if you've already done so.

Democratic mayoral candidate David White understands that change begins with a whole lotta scrubbing, and NA Confidential advocates just such a deep civic cleansing. 

After eight years on the job, Mayor Jeff Gahan's list of stunning "achievements" is long, indeed: tax increases, budgetary hide 'n' seek, self-deification, daily hypocrisy, public housing takeover, non-transparency, pay-to-play for no-bid contracts, bullying city residents and bullying city employees. Eight years is enough. It's time to drain Gahan's swamp, flush his ruling clique and take this city back from Gahan's Indy-based special interest donors. 

NA Confidential supports David White for Mayor in the Democratic Party primary, with voting now through May 7. 

Straight up and simple, it's David White versus Jeff Gahan in the debate Gahan refused to have.

First, the challenger. David White, people or politics?

Mayor Gahan, do you care to reply?

I think this says it all.

David White for Mayor videos: State of the City #3, Parts 1 and 2 on the general theme of economic development.

Viewers and voters are free to agree or disagree with David White's points about economic development, but what can't be denied is that if Jeff Gahan actually has an economic development plan apart from pay-to-play, we know next to nothing about it after eight years.

Gahan's first quarter CFA-4 has been filed, and it's another massive, quivering edifice of pay-to-play cash.

Like so many other aspects of Gahan's reign, his economic development strategies are to be coded and kept safely hidden, so when something positive actually happens, no criteria exist to determine whether Team Gahan had anything to do with the result -- as with HMS Maritime's upgrade, which is almost entirely the work of One Southern Indiana, not Dear Leader.

HMS Maritime's downtown expansion is a positive development, one largely omitting City Hall.

David and I have spoken often about grassroots economic development strategies of the sort espoused by the American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA) and the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE). There are many ways to achieve cooperation between local government and local entrepreneurs, short of prom planning and Taco Walks.

Although first, City Hall has to want to be cooperative. That's something I'm confident you'll see quite a lot more of during David's time as mayor.

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Democratic mayoral candidate David White understands that change begins with a whole lotta scrubbing, and NA Confidential advocates just such a deep civic cleansing. 

After eight years on the job, Mayor Jeff Gahan's list of stunning "achievements" is long, indeed: tax increases, budgetary hide 'n' seek, self-deification, daily hypocrisy, public housing takeover, non-transparency, pay-to-play for no-bid contracts, bullying city residents and bullying city employees. Eight years is enough. It's time to drain Gahan's swamp, flush his ruling clique and take this city back from Gahan's Indy-based special interest donors. 

NA Confidential supports David White for Mayor in the Democratic Party primary, with voting now through May 7. 

Early voting locations today and next Saturday. Let's #FlushTheClique and #FireGahan2019

EARLY VOTING SATURDAYS - April 27 and May 4, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Floyd County Clerk's Office
311 Hauss Square, Room 235

4-H Fairgrounds
2810 Green Valley Road

Sojourn Church
2023 Ekin Avenue

Floyd County Library
180 W. Spring Street

Silver Street Park
2043 Silver Street

Trinity United Methodist
2796 Charlestown Road

St. Mary’s Catholic Church
415 E. 8th Street

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Democratic mayoral candidate David White understands that change begins with a whole lotta scrubbing, and NA Confidential advocates just such a deep civic cleansing. 

After eight years on the job, Mayor Jeff Gahan's list of stunning "achievements" is long, indeed: tax increases, budgetary hide 'n' seek, self-deification, daily hypocrisy, public housing takeover, non-transparency, pay-to-play for no-bid contracts, bullying city residents and bullying city employees. Eight years is enough. It's time to drain Gahan's swamp, flush his ruling clique and take this city back from Gahan's Indy-based special interest donors. 

NA Confidential supports David White for Mayor in the Democratic Party primary, with voting now through May 7. 

The noun "calumet" and the David White for Mayor Town Hall TONIGHT at the Calumet Club, 6:00 p.m.

I hate having to miss this forum. It's in my neighborhood, and as such, we're in desperate need of an antidote to ward off the pervasive Kool-Aid-drinking proclivities therein.

But alas, I have a previous engagement. Please consider coming out and talking to the candidate, all the while trying to imagine Deaf Gahan looking at you and saying: "Ask me anything."

You just can't imagine that, can you?

Meanwhile here's a smidgen of background on the actual word "calumet" (kal-yuh-met, kal-yuh-met), as posted here three years ago.

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Many readers already know about the Calumet Club in New Albany. There are also Calumet rivers, regions and towns. But what is a calumet as a noun? It's a Native American pipe.

Tobacco, indigenous to North America, followed Indian trade routes throughout the continent long before Columbus arrived, and pipe smoking took on a ritual and religious importance in many tribes. Naturally, the crafting of pipes became equally important.

The most famous Native American pipes are the long calumets or "peace pipes" of the Sioux and other Plains Indian tribes, which were made by attaching a wooden stem to a bowl carved from catlinite or "pipestone." (Pipestone is native to Minnesota, but due to intertribal trade was available throughout Native North America.) Other native pipe-making traditions included the smaller one-piece stone and ceramic pipes of the Iroquois and Cherokee tribes, wood and antler pipes of the Southwest Indians, and the post-Columbian tomahawk pipes with a metal pipe bowl and hatchet on opposite ends of the stem.

Calumet Club Dates in History, courtesy of the Calumet Club, illustrate that it was a thriving social institution on post-WWI New Albany. Finally, from the library's Stuart Barth Wrege Indiana History Room comes this memento of times long gone.

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Democratic mayoral candidate David White understands that change begins with a whole lotta scrubbing, and NA Confidential advocates just such a deep civic cleansing. 

After eight years on the job, Mayor Jeff Gahan's list of stunning "achievements" is long, indeed: tax increases, budgetary hide 'n' seek, self-deification, daily hypocrisy, public housing takeover, non-transparency, pay-to-play for no-bid contracts, bullying city residents and bullying city employees. Eight years is enough. It's time to drain Gahan's swamp, flush his ruling clique and take this city back from Gahan's Indy-based special interest donors. 

NA Confidential supports David White for Mayor in the Democratic Party primary, with voting now through May 7. 

Have you ever wondered why Jeff Gahan refuses to debate David White? There's a word for it.

Another primary election season soon will pass with the incumbent mayor refusing to emerge from seclusion to debate his opponent.

David White yet again extended an invitation, and true to form, Jeff Gahan emitted mere shadows of former gurgling sounds in response. Shouldn't we be expecting more from a man who thinks he should be mayor for life?

New Albany needs grassroots empowerment, not top-down cliques. David White gets it. Maybe that's why Jeff Gahan won't debate him.

I'd love to see David have the chance to debate Goliath Gahan. I actually believe at some level Gahan himself might want to do so, given his outrage at the temerity of anyone daring to challenge his reign.

Regrettably, the odds are that Gahan's handlers won't allow it. They know he can't do improv, and they fear the emergence of the nocturnal Mr. Hyde. But a boy can dream.

It should be remembered that in 2015, Gahan artfully evaded full debate with both his challengers. The debate he did agree to attend came with numerous caveats.

• The League of Women Voters held the debate on Gahan's home court, Silver Street Park (no heels on the artificial turf, ladies)
• The GOP's nominee Kevin Zurschmiede had a family wedding to attend, the League of Women Voters wouldn't change the date, so it was just Dear Leader and me
• The League of Women Voters agreed to Gahan's demand that the questions be given participants in advance, in spite of my request that we go without 

When I played basketball, we called these stipulations and the referees who issued them "homers." When it came time for the Leadership Southern Indiana debate, Gahan was the ignominious no-show.

Following are a few thoughts I had in 2016, when I was a member of the Leadership Southern Indiana Discover class of 2016-2017.

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ON THE AVENUES: Kind-a full-a you know what, but now we're going to find out whether Jeff Gahan has any cattle under his hat.

A little more than a year ago, Leadership Southern Indiana held a New Albany mayoral debate, and one candidate conspicuously declined to attend. More than a year later, on the day after the 2016 election, Mayor Jeff Gahan finally climbed aboard the Leadership Southern Indiana bus.

Literally.

The bus stopped in front of The Grand, and prior to my Discovery 2017 class disembarking, Gahan got on. Blocking the only potential escape route except his own, he stood at the front of the bus and offered a few words about New Gahania in an emerging Time of Trump.

As Gahan’s many handlers long have noted, and tended to plan the mayor's schedule accordingly, his agoraphobia manifests itself in the usual way.

Agoraphobia (ag-uh-ruh-FOE-be-uh) is a type of anxiety disorder in which you fear and often avoid places or situations that might cause you to panic and make you feel trapped, helpless or embarrassed.

It isn’t that Gahan fears human contact. He fears unscripted situations in public settings, and when compelled to interact with people in such places, he generally over-compensates, displaying a forced, cheerleader-level of excitement, which at best is chatty, though usually comes off as just plain strange.

However, give this man a proper script, show him the markings, block it out, and he invariably succeeds in appearing “mayoral,” whatever that really means. Team Gahan knows this, and extemporaneous environments are studiously avoided, because it’s anyone's guess what might come out of the mayor’s mouth amid the escalating inner panic.

On Wednesday, standing there on a bus chartered by an organization he shunned, nothing was written on paper, and the results were predictably weird.

However – amazingly – Gahan got something right when he conceded that downtown New Albany’s revitalization owes primarily to risks taken and investments made by independent business persons and entrepreneurs, not City Hall.

This was a startling admission, given that Gahan’s re-election campaign was predicated on taking personal credit for the city’s improved prospects. In addition, it doesn’t jibe with Team Gahan’s day-to-day municipal governance, which relies on Goebbelsian marketing and rule-of-plaques, both real and metaphorical, as erected by Gahan’s various funding mechanisms and the toadies manning them.

Still, it was a factual utterance, and worthy of note; they come once yearly from Gahan, so stopped clocks and all.

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Then, in closing, Gahan actually said something interesting, though not before somehow confusing a busload of local residents for visitors from Omaha, by expressing the misplaced hope that they would enjoy their “stay” here.

I’ll paraphrase:

The most important thing for you to remember about New Albany, and what we always remind everyone, is that we’re a kind city.

That’s kind, as in affectionate, loving, helpful, benevolent, and displaying the qualities of kindness.

Whether this assertion is true isn’t the point.

Rather, in spite of Gahan’s odd suggestion that his statement functions as some sort of widely embraced local mantra, it’s the very first time I’ve heard him express this sentiment by using the precise word “kind.”

And, since it isn’t in the mayor’s nature to be improvisational, the word – the concept, this mantra – must have been planted by someone, at some point in advance. He’s simply not good enough with words to pull “kind” from the ether.

It’s just my opinion, but I think it’s no coincidence that Gahan introduced this fresh new concept of a “kind” city on the afternoon following a smoldering train wreck of an election on the part of his Floyd County Democratic Party, a topic covered elsewhere:

ON THE AVENUES: Don't be a Dickey, local Democrats. The verdict is in, and it's time for a change.

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Democratic mayoral candidate David White understands that change begins with a whole lotta scrubbing, and NA Confidential advocates just such a deep civic cleansing. 

After eight years on the job, Mayor Jeff Gahan's list of stunning "achievements" is long, indeed: tax increases, budgetary hide 'n' seek, self-deification, daily hypocrisy, public housing takeover, non-transparency, pay-to-play for no-bid contracts, bullying city residents and bullying city employees. Eight years is enough. It's time to drain Gahan's swamp, flush his ruling clique and take this city back from Gahan's Indy-based special interest donors. 

NA Confidential supports David White for Mayor in the Democratic Party primary, with voting now through May 7. 

David White for Mayor: People first, back-alley out-of-town pay-to-play donors last.

For the record: I've never accepted paid advertising at NA Confidential -- and I still haven't.

The following passage supporting David White for Mayor will appear in many blog posts from now through election day. I'm explaining this to you, my loyal readers, so there can be no confusion: My advocacy for White is based on facts and principles, not payola (or as we call payola hereabouts, "Gahan's Chosen Way").

Democratic mayoral candidate David White understands that change begins with a whole lotta scrubbing, and NA Confidential advocates just such a deep civic cleansing. 

After eight years on the job, Mayor Jeff Gahan's list of stunning "achievements" is long, indeed: tax increases, budgetary hide 'n' seek, self-deification, daily hypocrisy, public housing takeover, non-transparency, pay-to-play for no-bid contracts, bullying city residents and bullying city employees. Eight years is enough. It's time to drain Gahan's swamp, flush his ruling clique and take this city back from Gahan's Indy-based special interest donors. 

NA Confidential supports David White for Mayor in the Democratic Party primary, with voting now through May 7. 

By whichever method you intend to vote, please do so, and whatever your party affiliation, be aware that you can do a wonderful service to New Albany and help set the stage for an intelligent, sensible dialogue this fall … by voting for David White today.

Former mayor James Garner endorses David White. Watch the video and read why this matters.

NA Confidential will turn 15 in a few months. When the blog was born in 2004, all I knew for sure was that you were entitled to my opinion. It's been a long and suitably strange journey since then, and the beatings will continue until morale improves.

Back in 1999 the city's voters broke with precedent and elected Regina Overton to be mayor. She was a she, she was Republican, and the city was suffering from overexposure to Doug England, who embarked on the standard ritualistic disappearance into the wilderness so as to plot his inevitable comeback.

Four years later in 2003 came the reaction in the form of a landslide that brought eight of nine council seats to the Democrats as well as placing James Garner in the mayor's office.

You'd think such a decisive majority would have afforded Garner a clear mandate, but council immediately split into factions, with lone Republican Mark Seabrook often in the position of offering wry and sensible commentary as Democrats fought Democrats to a standstill in the peanut gallery.

Four years of trench warfare ensued, and only in retrospect can it be seen that Garner became mayor at a time of social and political transition. It strikes me now as a generational turning point, one that wasn't very kind to his prospects.

The traditional Floyd County Democratic Party, primarily a right-leaning, ward-heeling machine symbolized by longtime county power-broker Ted Heavrin, was fading and its county strongholds eroding amid an influx of residents for whom conservative values were best suited by actual Republicans, not Republicans masquerading as Democrats.

In place of the Heavrinites a new generation of Clintonian liberals (or neo-liberals) was moving up, as perhaps best represented by then-chairman Randy Stumler, and a short time later Adam Dickey. The latter has put Disney into the Democrats while leaving Dixie right where it was, hence the DemoDisneyDixiecrats we see today. 

As Garner became mayor, these and many other social and political factors were queuing at a crossroads, and meanwhile New Albany as a city stood still, as though in shock. Downtown was dead and all the action was in the 'burbs, although given our city's proximity to Louisville, we probably were at rock bottom, property so profoundly undervalued as an asset that the only way to go was up.

Exactly what "up" meant was unclear, and I was critical of Garner in the beginning. Much of this criticism was borne of ignorance about the way governance works, and I've tried to learn from it. My attitude in 2004 was "don't just stand there, do something," and it seemed Garner wasn't. But after a little while it became apparent that Garner really was doing as much as he could with the tools he had at his disposal, all the while swatting away swarms of old party fogies and regressive council Luddites.

Two of Garner's achievements are very important.

First, Garner expended a good portion of his limited political capital against entrenched opposition and ensured the completion of the YMCA project he'd inherited from Overton.

Second, Garner embraced the Indiana alcohol licensing tool known as the Riverfront Development Area and got the measure through council (2006) via a rare unanimous vote.

Inexpensive three-way alcohol permits helped jump-start a restaurant and bar renaissance in New Albany, while the YMCA brought people downtown. Together, these measures were a catalyst for private investments in businesses and buildings, which in turn finally instigated a civic conversation about possibilities.

Garner also was an early proponent of two-way streets and measures we now refer to as "walkability," and as he notes in the endorsement video, he worked behind the scenes with David White for economic development and quality of life efforts later blithely claimed by others. 

Garner lost in the Democratic primary in 2007, England having returned from Outer Utica and rallied the Old Guard for a last hurrah. England Mach III proved to be largely ineffectual, and hizzoner's enduringly bizarre, doomed effort at handpicking a successor (lifelong Republican Irv Stumler) helped bring us to the era error of Jeff Gahan.

James Garner is a former mayor, I'm still a blogger, and it's good to know we have a shared point of view: Don't just stand there, #FightForWhite2019 in the May 7 primary.

And by doing so: #FireGahan2019

The 1117 E. Spring Street Neighborhood Association supports David White. You should, too.

Hugo and Nadia no doubt would approve.

I'm sure the block captains soon will erect a garish Rhode Island-sized billboard in their yard, but it's still nice to steal an occasional march on the ruling elite.

For the coming week in our bid for Jeffxit, be sure to read ON THE AVENUES this Tuesday for a profile in mayoral retribution. Also, don't forget Saturday's forum at the library.

“David White for Mayor” Town Hall Meeting is at the library on Saturday, April 6 at 10:30 a.m.

By this time most readers know I'm supporting David White in the primary, and I urge all voters within city limits to cast their votes for David. Let's end this intemperate reign in the spring, and at long last have a genuine conversation about policy for the fall.

I'm working on a detailed endorsement, so stay tuned for that, too.

Estonia's Lennart Meri cleaned house in the foreign ministry, and that's why brooms will be so important for New Albany on January 1, 2020.

It's been just shy of three years since we visited Estonia, and I think about it all the time.

All the Estonia links are here, in one place.

Since our trip I've been following Estonian World on Facebook, finding something fascinating on an almost weekly basis. This story about Lennart Meri offers lots of chewable thought morsels.

Lennart Meri, the president many loved, and everybody respected, by Sten Hankewitz (Estonian World)

... “When he became foreign minister, the most important thing he did, which was something that other countries didn’t do, was get rid of all the commies,” Toomas Hendrik Ilves, who himself was foreign minister when Lennart Meri was president, explains. “Because the so-called ESSR (the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic – editor), the ministry of foreign affairs was just a KGB outfit. That was a policy later followed by other Estonian ministries. Not all of them, but the ones who were successful, (cleaned) house.”

I found myself thinking about the transition soon to come here in New Albany. One of the first things mayoral candidate David White did when announcing his campaign was to assure rank and file city employees that they needn't fear losing their jobs -- but ranking Gahanite appointees and a department heads might be wise to peruse the want ads at our captive "local" newspaper.

That's as it should be. As Meri did with the Estonian foreign ministry, those currently helping Gahan to administer his system of pay-to-play political patronage need to be swept clean. What's more, we all know a Mayor Seabrook or Mayor Coffey would do exactly the same. I can think of one, maybe two potential exceptions, but starting from scratch remains the optimum result.

There is no more reason to defend the current occupants of the third floor in New Albany than Meri had to condone former Communist seat holders. To cite just one example, the flood control department's workers already know how to do the job. The point of a clean sweep is to de-politicize the $60k-yearly job of managing the department.

There are plenty of talented people in this community, and many of them have spent the past eight years stifled by Gahan's control-first insularity. Give them an opportunity to step forward and participate -- and listen to them, this being something White is particularly adept at doing -- then get out of the way and watch the results.

I recommend a vote for White in the Democratic Party primary. We can take back this thing, and put New Albany's people first, as opposed to an engineering company from Indianapolis.

#FireGahan2019

“David White for Mayor” Town Hall Meeting is at the library on Saturday, April 6 at 10:30 a.m.

And the candidate won't even know your questions in advance, as opposed to the incumbent -- who'll answer NO questions UNLESS he knows them in advance. I'll be there, and I hope to see you there, too.

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David White to Host “David White for Mayor” Town Hall Meeting

WHAT: Town Hall for New Albany citizens to publicly ask questions of David White, 2019 Democratic candidate for mayor of New Albany

WHEN: Saturday, April 6 at 10:30 AM

WHERE: New Albany-Floyd County Public Library’s Strassweg Auditorium

WHO: All citizens are welcome to take part in this public forum

WHY: David White is running for Mayor to put People First. His priorities are to promote financial security and sustainability, prioritize and mobilize resources to increase public safety and well-being, restore honesty and integrity to the mayor’s office, and support entrepreneurs and local business owners to produce higher paying jobs ... for a better New Albany

Since the last mayoral election Mr. White and the committee to elect David White have had the privilege of connecting with people across New Albany. Many have shared their stories of bullying and deceit. They’ve urged us to take up the fight again to bring honesty, trust, and integrity to the mayor’s office. David White will lay out his plan for doing that while inviting citizens to participate in a respectful Q&A. Please join us for open and honest discussion and learn how David White will put the People First.

No equal billing for David White? That's because Tricky Dickey is playing favorites again, ceding the party's HQ window space to the highest and only bidder, Jeff Gahan.

In October of 2018, it looked like this.

But then it changed.

Same power-brokering slumlord still owns the building.

Same underachieving political party still claims the building as its headquarters.

2003 photo?

Same Democratic chairman still wants us to believe he's democratic.

Maybe the Floyd County Democratic Party sold naming rights to a party member's campaign as displayed on the window of the party member's building.

 

Well, at least they can pay the utility bills this way.

Be that as it may, or may not -- the fun begins soon, as we undertake the dissection of the Gahan campaign's expenditures -- we're left with a question: As it pertains to fairness and impartiality in a primary election, does the county party chairman have a responsibility to assure that all party candidates are treated the same? 

Neither the state nor local party rule books seem to address this, but the Democratic National Committee's charter and bylaws do.

 
The Floyd County Democratic Party's platform ends with this passage, implying that the local party must defer to the national party in matters undefined.

David White is a Democrat, and he's running for mayor in the Democratic Party's 2019 primary.

And yet, for White to get a sign at his own party's downtown headquarters, he has been forced to hang it across the street.

How is Adam Dickey administering a fair and impartial primary election on behalf of the Democratic Party if only one candidate for mayor (hint: the $438,000 candidate) is accorded every square inch of the window at the party's headquarters?

Isn't this level of hypocrisy intense even by Dickey's lofty standards?

Maybe the best explanations are here.

If you're one of those gung-ho local Democratic party members waking each morning to coffee, then hurling abuse at Donald Trump for sleaze and corruption before you've even used the toilet, howzabout while you're in there you take a glance at the mirror and observe exactly who is condoning bad party behavior right here in Anchor City?

Not a pretty sight, is it?

(thanks J)

Watch mayoral candidate David White's video series: "State of the City of New Albany."

I'm delighted to have been asked to help moderate this series of videos from mayoral candidate David White (along with Bill Grover). Following are the first three episodes, with more to follow.

Part 1


Part 2


Part 3

With Duggins' NAHA command bunker silent throughout, city council attorney Stein answers the question about public housing residents and political signs.

City council Democrats remain comatose, but we have an answer to a question that arose a month ago.

For background, first this on February 22.

Do New Albany Housing Authority residents enjoy freedom of speech as it pertains to political campaign yard signs?

The Green Mouse has learned that earlier this week a resident at the New Albany Housing Authority planted a David White for Mayor yard sign in his yard.

It wasn't as big as this one, but still.

Then this on February 23.

Political yard signs at NAHA? As DemoDisneyDixieDickeycrats doze, Al Knable seeks an answer.

Once again, Knable takes the first step on an issue pertaining to human rights and freedoms.

It isn't known whether noted human rights campaigner Greg Phipps had anything to say on Thursday about free speech on the New Albany Housing Authority campus, or if he was joined in his concerns by fellow Democrats Bob Caesar, Pat McLaughlin and Matt Nash.

Then again, not one of them has had the first coherent thing to say about NAHA since the inception of Jeff Gahan's hostile takeover of public housing in 2017.

At tonight's council meeting, Knable returned to the topic and queried council attorney Amy Stein, who revealed the results of her research: NAHA has the legal ability to decree that signs in common areas are either allowed, or not allowed. NAHA cannot allow some and prohibit others. However, as it pertains specifically to political signs, the private space of NAHA residents trumps the commons, and NAHA cannot prevent residents from placing political signs in their windows.

The same question was submitted to the Human Rights Commission, and it isn't clear whether it will or won't discuss the issue at the HRC's next meeting.

Thanks to Knable and Stein for their diligence.

New Albany needs grassroots empowerment, not top-down cliques. David White gets it. Maybe that's why Jeff Gahan won't debate him.

Small wonder Team Gahan is silent, given the mayor's fear of situations he cannot control. That's why he typically avoids unscripted settings. It's probably an undiagnosed anxiety disorder broadly similar to agoraphobia, but only his psychiatrist knows for sure.

In 2015 Gahan agreed to debate prior to the fall election only if the session was held on his own palatial home turf (Silver Street Park) with questions submitted in advance -- and accepting that the hosting League of Women Voters organizing committee was controlled by one of his subalterns.

Not exactly fair, and I suggested the debate take place at Vic's, but fine by me and I was absolutely delighted to accept the tilted terms. Unfortunately Kevin Zurschmiede was out of town for a wedding, and the League refused to change the date to accommodate the Republican candidate.

There was a second chance in 2015 in the form of Leadership SI's debate at New Albany High School -- and Gahan concocted a predictably flimsy excuse to miss it. Thus the city was deprived of the chance to have all three candidates in one place, at one time.

You cannot convince me that on Gahan's part, this omission was purely intentional.

I'd love to see David have the chance to debate Goliath Gahan. I actually believe at some level Gahan himself might want to do so, given his outrage at the temerity of anyone daring to challenge his reign.

Regrettably, the odds are that Gahan's handlers won't allow it. They know he can't do improv, and they fear the emergence of the nocturnal Mr. Hyde. But a boy can dream.

David White's platform points lead the February Top Ten list of most-read posts at NA Confidential.

"In the mayor's race, David White is
saying exactly what needs to be said."

Thanks for reading NA Confidential, where we enjoy reconnoitering the neglected periphery for uniquely local perspectives on life in New Albany. Someone has to at least try doing it, or we can grow old and gray waiting for the Jeffersonville News and Tribune to belatedly rediscover the journalistic imperative to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.

Frequent readers will recall an ongoing issue with statistics, dating to October of 2018 and the infamously shoddy Blogger platform's rejigging of something, which caused page view counts previously stable for many years to suddenly change. Numerical ratios oddly stayed the same, as though all views had abruptly decreased by a set percentage. For those monetizing their blogs, this probably is infuriating. Since I'm a loss leader kind of fellow, it's merely an annoyance.

Beginning in January, 2019 I'll be using Facebook statistics. As always, the previous month's most-viewed list begins with ten "honorable mention" posts, before concluding with the Top Ten, escalating to No. 1.

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FEBRUARY HONORABLE MENTION (10)

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We're hoping to revive a New Albany Beer Week to precede the 2019 Keg Liquors Fest of Ale.

A "beer week" is a locally-oriented tribute to, and celebration of, beer. The idea is that breweries, pubs, restaurants, beer bars and package stores hold events: beer tastings, beer dinners, brewery tours, beer and food pairings and tap takeovers (to name just a few common activities).

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ON THE AVENUES: Our mayor hates non-elected boards -- except when they're his own, which is why "hypocrisy" is spelled G-A-H-A-N.

Entering his eighth year as mayor and sitting atop $130,000 in re-election funds (with perhaps 50k or more coming in 2019), Gahan no longer can abide non-elected boards.

This is hypocrisy on a looming, mountainous and nearly Himalayan scale.

Consider that the bulk of Gahan's campaign finance proceeds over the past eight years -- somewhere around $300,000 total -- are the direct result of pay-to-play patronage deals cut with various lawyers, contractors, engineers, consultants and other vested interests.

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537

HRC says: See a swastika sticker? Don't destroy the evidence -- call the police.

The New Albany Human Rights Commission's Jennifer Ortiz shared the following at her Facebook page following the HRC meeting earlier this evening.

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559

I may need your help with research into Jeff Gahan's Money Machine.

Gahan has assembled a formidable propaganda outreach alongside his pay-to-play patronage colossus. But as Achilles learned, there's always a point of vulnerability. The bigger and more arrogant they are, the harder they hit the pavement.

In closing, know that the effort is not without humor. From 2011 through 2015, the law office of former city attorney Stan Robison made roughly a half-dozen donations to Gahan's re-election campaign totaling a bit less than $7,000.

Not once did the mayor's treasurer learn how to spell Stan's name correctly.

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583

A confusing Kentucky proposal to allow cities to support tourism by taxing restaurants.

Here in SoIn we already have a tax to support tourism. It's a hotel room tax, which of course can be better defended as coming from the pockets of visitors, to attract other visitors.

Meanwhile I'm in tune with the basic vibe of Marsha's case in opposition to what sounds like a poorly reasoned bill.

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584

I was plenty stupid when I was young, but Ralph Northam was a special kind of stupid.

Ever since the Ralph Northam scandal broke, I've been trying to recollect whether anyone ever "did" blackface during my time at FCHS. It seems likely in the context of the time, and yet I can't remember any instances of it. I cannot recall feeling the urge to do so myself. Extending the perimeter of shaky memory to four years at IU Southeast, did blackface occur? I don't think so, at least in my immediate vicinity. My group at the time was capable of incredible feats of obnoxiousness, and we desperately wanted to BE the Deltas in Animal House, but minstrelsy (see below) wasn't a part of it.

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592

ON THE AVENUES: I'd stop drinking, but I'm no quitter (the 2019 Gravity Head remix).

Why do I continue to mention Gravity Head even after my final, much belated exit in 2018 from the company I helped found?

It's simple, because once upon a time Gravity Head was my idea. The 2019 edition will be the 21st such gathering, and I'm proud of my creation. Of course Gravity Head no longer is about me, assuming it ever really was. It always took the entire workplace village to pull it off, and I imagine this remains true.

Besides, gravity’s the law. It’s bigger than you and me.

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625

Redevelopment Commission hands $40,000 for infrastructure subsidy to a fast food chain on Grant Line Road. Where do indies queue for some of this action?

My question, as always: Do independent restaurant operators have a snowball's chance in Guam of scoring a similar subsidy?

Break up into groups and discuss ... and don't forget to #FireGahan2019 ... to sweep clean those department heads, clear the appointed boards, and see if we can't make all this local system a tad more democratic (lower case "d").

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628

Giant logs of offal rule! Consequently, the Stuffed Camel Spleen Walk is to be Develop New Albany's latest ambulatory street food fundraiser.

Anyone have the lyrics of the Frito Bandito theme song in Arabic?

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635

ON THE AVENUES: If it's about learning and knowledge, then by definition it's a Gahan Free Zone. You're welcome.

In closing, please understand that the preceding is not intended to be construed as “look at me – I’m smart.” At the end of the day, being “smart” means precisely one thing, and that’s realizing how little you really know. All of us must willingly concede the vastness of knowledge outside our immediate spheres, about which we can gather only little bits and pieces.

FEBRUARY TOP 10

671

"Cheap stick framing has led to a proliferation of blocky, forgettable mid-rises—and more than a few construction fires."

Cheap stick framing has led to a proliferation of blocky, forgettable mid-rises—and more than a few construction fires.

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683

The Jeff Gahan Money Machine, Part 5: In 2019, Gahan will pass the half million dollar mark in campaign fundraising since 2011.

Let pause the accounting to let this sink in. Another average fundraising year for Big Money Gahan, and he'll pass the $500,000 mark in donations since running for mayor.

2011: $56,515
2012: $16,575
2013: $30,350
2014: $58,795
2015: $103,532
2016: $51,799
2017: $56,225
2018: $64,250

Total: $438,041

Yearly average: $54,755 and change

Beginning 2019: $128,000 cash on hand

Roughly 25% of this engorged total has come from just a handful of key donors, perhaps as few as six or seven in number. When this research series concludes, we'll be able to see the exact breakdown.

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734

Jeff Gahan has been branding the city in his own image, and using our money to do it, but we need collective thinking, not the shoddy veneer of a personality cult.

For the past eight years here in New Albany, what passes for a "brain trust" at City Hall (try not to cringe in disgust) surely has undertaken a branding campaign. It may or may not have been explicitly organized as a branding campaign, but the effect has been the same.

In essence, New Albany very much has been branded as New Gahania, which is to say that in terms of promotions, every aspect of the city has been tied to the mayor's cult of personality: New Albany is Jeff Gahan, and vice versa.

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735

ON THE AVENUES SPECIAL: Take your cult of personality and shove it, Dear Leader.

Let's briefly re-examine the state of Gahan's cult of personality with the assistance of actual facts from history. This column originally was published on May 14, 2015.

Always remember and never forget: #FireGahan2019

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816

In finding Chris Morris' Green Deal (sic) "oops-ed" to be disinformative, misinformative, objectionable and dismissive, our guest columnist is being charitable.

I don't believe I've read an opinion from a masthead editor of a mainstream newspaper that used such pejorative and dismissive language. The piece does little to inform while hurling insults at broad swathes of Americans. Had I been in charge, it would never have been published.

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823

Do New Albany Housing Authority residents enjoy freedom of speech as it pertains to political campaign yard signs?

The Green Mouse has learned that earlier this week a resident at the New Albany Housing Authority planted a David White for Mayor yard sign in his yard.

It wasn't as big as this one, but still.

The resident promptly was told by maintenance (wait -- doesn't councilman Matt Nash now work in maintenance at NAHA?) to remove the sign. He asked if he could put the sign on his door or in the window, and learned that they'd have to go ask the esteemed Gauleiter Duggins first.

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869

River City Winery: "We are exploring the relocation of our entire operation to another part of Southern Indiana."

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1,161

My letter to the editor about Jeff Gahan's Money Machine: These are down-low times for local journalism and governance -- but I'm just a self-promotional blogger.

During the past eight years, Mayor Jeff Gahan has presided over a campaign finance operation of unprecedented scale and dimension. Let’s call it the Jeff Gahan Money Machine.

Presumably collecting campaign finance donations from the usual suspects is Gahan’s only real skill as a politician. The game is simple: self-interested parties give Gahan lots of money, and receive benefits so blatantly obvious that a six-year-old could figure it out.

Could someone run off and fetch a six-year-old to narrate the video?

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1,189

Have you been threatened or harassed by Mayor Jeff Gahan or someone in his inner circle? Let's talk about it.

Have you been threatened or harassed by Mayor Gahan or someone in his inner circle?

If so, I need to speak with you. I'd like to hear your story, and moreover I'd like to write your story and tell your story -- understandably, given the likelihood of reprisals, your anonymity is assured.

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1,198

In the mayor's race, David White is saying exactly what needs to be said.

Important Friday reading, borrowed from the David White for Mayor website. There'll be much more to discuss about antidotes to cliquish, fix-is-in Gahanism, but these surely are the most important points for those of us in the Resistance.