Homeless, be gone! It's the GREEN MOUSE with NAWBANY WEEK IN REVIEW.

The more things change, the more they stay precisely the same. It's not a coincidence, you know.

Delusion, meet narcissism: Jeff Gahan denies the reality of homelessness while proposing to demolish affordable housing options.

We'll get there in a moment. First, be aware that the Green Mouse is fond of the word kakistocracy.

kak·i·sto·cra·cy
/kakəˈstäkrəsē/
noun

Government by the least suitable or competent citizens of a state.

A state or society governed by its least suitable or competent citizens.

It's a recipe, or maybe a mathematical formula: Nawbany + kakistocracy = New Gahania.

It's a ruling clique of cronies, most prominently Jeff Gahan, Warren Nash, Adam Dickey, David Duggins and Shane Gibson. Josh Staten suffers a degree of cognitive dissonance because deep down he knows better, but being redevelopment chief implies a foot on the middle rung of the ladder. Todd Bailey, the chief of police? Yes, so long as he remains pliant and allows those streets to remain safe for automobiles.

Bob Caesar believes he's in the clique, although the good old boys just laugh at Bobby behind his back. Jason Applegate desperately wants to be part of the fun; for reasons that have little to do with his qualifications, the clique is willing to use him. That's why Applegate spearheaded Thursday's assault on the homeless (below).

The New Gahanian kakistocracy is all male, all white and all bound up with pay-to play monetization via the mayor's band of campaign donors -- but we already knew that.

A few weeks ago Allen Howie's Idealogy newsletter inadvertently addressed the fundamental problem with the kakistocratic clique's unpreparedness to deal with our new realities.

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World War Z, the Tenth Man and You

In the 2013 Brad Pitt film, World War Z, a deadly virus washes over the globe unchecked, turning millions into zombies. But one place remains a safe harbor: Jerusalem, which managed to erect high walls around its perimeter before the outbreak reached the city.

Pitt’s character asks one of the city’s top officials how they were able to respond in time. He replies that they overheard communication from a small country about “zombies.” Why would you even pay attention to something so ludicrous, Pitt wonders.

The official then tells him about the tenth man, an idea created in the tragic wake of the Holocaust, the Munich Olympics and the Yom Kippur war — all events his nation’s leaders believed were impossible until they happened.

“If nine of us with the same information arrive at the same conclusion, it’s the duty of the tenth man to disagree,” he said. “No matter how improbable it may seem, the tenth man has to start thinking with the assumption that the other nine are wrong.”

What does all this have to with your company?

When you consider threats or opportunities, it’s often as a group. And what emerges is consensus — you act on the challenges or possibilities everyone can agree on. Outliers get voted off the island.

But a group can be wrong. A lone voice can be right. And in business, the greatest successes go to the contrarians. The early adopters. Those who question the assumptions.

So whether you’re thinking about an updated business model for this new normal, rethinking your marketing and messaging, or revisiting your product and service options, consider designating a tenth man.

Of course, the tenth man may be a woman. They could be (and maybe should be) someone from outside daily operations. Maybe even someone from outside your industry. They need to be someone who can speak freely without repercussions. Someone you’ll listen to. And someone with experience in thinking differently.

You’re as unlikely to have to deal with zombies as you are to hang with Brad Pitt. But every business would be better prepared for a rapidly-changing future if it embraced the idea of the tenth man. Who’s yours?

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Who's Jeff Gahan's tenth man?

That's the whole point, because there isn't one, and there cannot be.

As we've observed for years, membership in the clique is based primarily on one abiding qualification, that Dear Leader's narcissistic genius is not questioned. It's intellectual inbreeding, and outside blood need not apply.

It's why the crisis of the pandemic is tantamount to Toto pulling back the Wizard's curtain; the coronavirus simply cannot be mollified with a $100,000 HWC Engineering study. COVID's ripple effect will expose municipal government's conceptual nudity, and it won't be a pretty sight.

Our kakistocrats don't know how to do their business if it's not business as usual. Grasping for straws, looking for something or someone to blame, they found an easy target.

Same as it ever was: the homeless.

New Albany turns down $50,000 request for homeless shelter, by Daniel Suddeath (Hanson's Christian Digest)

NEW ALBANY — Despite approving the appropriation unanimously on initial readings in February, the New Albany City Council rejected a $50,000 funding request for Catalyst Rescue Mission on Thursday night.

The vote was 6-3, with council members Al Knable, Scott Blair and Josh Turner supporting the request.

Those opposed to the measure cited their beliefs that not enough funding is going directly to programming for homeless residents after they enter the shelter, and that the New Albany Trustee's office is already providing many of the services that Catalyst offers.

Councilman Jason Applegate said that in reviewing the financial information provided by Catalyst Executive Director Jim Moon, only about $2,700 of the $50,000 would have gone to programming and food.

"I couldn't get over where it was such a small percent of this money that goes to the programs that help people," he said.

Can we be honest, just for a moment?

A garden-variety space alien beamed down to observe politics in Nawbany would require no more than ten minutes to grok this situation.

First, our DemoDisneyDixiecrats HAVE ALWAYS been hostile to funding requests pertaining to the homeless.

Second, Republicans were in favor of the Catalyst funding (well, except the perpetually befuddled David Aebersold), thus dooming it, given a pliant, boot-licking DemoDisneyDixiecratic majority.

I suppose we’ll see an editorial in Extol Magazine spinning the vote.

Kremlinology, gremlinology: It's the GREEN MOUSE with NAWBANY WEEK IN REVIEW for 15 May.

With a nod from infectious disease experts, who say it’s more difficult to contract COVID-19 in outdoor spaces (with proper social distancing) than inside, the mayor of Vilnius, Lithuania concluded that his city should become one “big open air café,” and early results are promising.

Even Greg Fischer is paying attention as he flees responsibility for the latest instance of LMPD misbehavior.

Many of us can see the merit in similar notions, molded to the peculiarities of New Gahania, where we don't have an open container law and the Indiana ATC is showing unprecedented signs of tolerance about altering floor plans to include outdoor seating.

A friend observed: "Why not close downtown streets to vehicular traffic every evening Tuesday through Friday and all day Saturday to allow for outdoor dining and farmers market activity, which would also support retail?"

The devil consistently resides in the details, but there would be definite possibilities of this sort ... alas, if not for the stupefyingly predictable automobile-centrism of Jeff Gahan's motorheaded City Hall.

As when Dear Leader nods dully, eyes vacantly staring into space, while the state of Indiana doubles down on the Sherman Minton Bridge repair work, then wobbles off to supervise the painting of gigantic automobile murals on the parking garage.

It simply has to be a variety of sexual fetish, this need to chop down trees and breathe exhaust fumes.

But maybe Mayor Gahan is in need of an intervention. He seemed even more morose in this week's ceremonial ProMedia video. Is he okay?

Depression is a very real consequence of crises like ours, and with Indiana's GOP leadership okaying an aggressive economic reopening program, Gahan is even more isolated than before, unable to get past creatively remixed gurgling sounds in response. He might have applied his own timetable, although this would require having one.

Earlier this week City Hall pulled the plug on its reimbursement-for-restaurant-employee meal plan. It probably helped a little bit, but Holcomb's timetable removed the need for Gahan to cling to his self-congratulatory $30k symbolism.

Expect the nickel-and-dime chicanery to continue as the pandemic's implications for the city's budget grow ever more obvious, not to mention incapable of being explained away via by-the-numbers propaganda videos.

Hilariously, the Democratic majority on New Albany's city council has decided to suppress transparency even further with a proposal to limit council meetings to a single monthly session (thanks Diane for the visuals).

And just look who is introducing this measure to reduce the council's work load at precisely the same rate of pay as before.

Allow me to repeat: for so long as Gahan's jury-rigged budget was copacetic, those were HIS numbers, but when the feces hits the fan, these five DemoDisneyDixiecratic city council members will learn that it's THEIR budget, and they'll be sacrificed faster than Donald Trump can wolf down a Whopper.

One meeting a month?

Yawn. Can you let me know when our bootlicking council Gahanites decide to give back half their pay packets?

Speaking of selfless altruism (or mental masturbation; I have SO much trouble telling them apart), Squire Adam earnestly endorsed the school corporation's safety referendum on behalf of DemoDisneyDixecrats in a stirring, purely politicized letter to the local chain newspaper.

The Floyd County Democratic Party announced last month it was endorsing the New Albany Floyd County Consolidated School Corporation’s (NAFC Schools) Safety Referendum. The endorsement was made official by a unanimous vote of the party’s 120 member Central Committee.

You know, unanimity, like when the 3rd Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee of the Communist Party re-elected Chairman Mao yet again without a single dissenting vote. As a friend put it after reading this letter, "our Adam isn't exactly Abe Lincoln at the word processor, is he?"

Adam's words got to me, right here ... in my big toe, the one where the gout lives.

The word "Kremlinology" (archaic usage) refers to "the study of the policies and practices of the former Soviet government," so called because these actions took place largely within the walls of the Kremlin in Moscow, where transparency was about as common as telling obscene jokes about Stalin's parentage -- to his face.

Experts in Kreminology looked forward to the USSR's annual May Day parades, where the assembled VIPs standing atop Lenin's Mausoleum to watch the missiles roll through Red Square gave clues as to who was in, and who wasn't. Whichever colorless, originality-free Politburo member was standing next to Brezhnev yielded bountiful clues about the succession, as opposed to a greater degree of anti-social distancing, with Siberia being an ultimate destination where a disgraced appointee could put 60 miles between himself and another prisoner. 

Ergo the first salvo in the the mayoral race for 2023 has been glimpsed, and it's ... Jason Applegate, who is the focus of this local chain newspaper article provides clear evidence that he's ahead of those other functionaries wearing furry caps and leaning unsteadily against the moldering walls of Bob Caesar's backyard garage.

And what of a fourth term for His Highness?

Won't happen, suggests the Green Mouse. A cushy job with HWC Engineering awaits, and besides, two pensions are better than one. The minions can clean up the mess, right?

Even better, just blame it on county government -- right, Slick?

ON THE AVENUES: A week that was wooden like Pinocchio and dry as an unused water park or an unfilled glass.

This is what happens when you realize (a) the draft of your weekly column isn't writing itself, and (b) the Green Mouse already has 900 words for the weekly Nawbany news wrap.

Besides, I've mostly stuck to my pledge to refrain from telling the truth about local affairs, a task made easier by the pandemic-borne restrictions and the general weirdness following in their wake. It's time to loosen up a little, a la Holcomb.

Consequently, this week ON THE AVENUES and GREEN MOUSE presents NAWBANY WEEK IN REVIEW have merged.

And what a wild damn week this proved to be.

Friday afternoon Governor Eric Holcomb chose the international May Day celebration to announce a five-stage plan to reopen Indiana almost entirely by July 4 -- probably a coincidence, that national holiday of a date. There are so many moving parts to it that the Green Mouse prefers to return at a later date and explain ... once the drugs have worn off.

---

On Thursday, as ever wishing to appear like he's socking it to those nasty Republicans, Mayor Jeff Gahan released one of his patented, socially distant videos -- because when you're agoraphobic, your whole life has been about keeping others as far away as possible.

Except that in this video, Gahan failed utterly to find his footing.

The upbeat ebullience and jingoism no longer comes naturally. He can still come out with the same words, but he can no longer even bring himself to believe them. For the first time in his life, there are signs of self-doubt. When he looks in the mirror, he now sees his reflection beginning to fragment. His persona that has been carefully constructed over 55 years to protect himself from the pain of being himself is falling apart. Yet still he can’t quite access the humility that might go some way to healing himself.

Okay, so the preceding passage was lifted word for word from The Guardian, speaking not of Gahan, but Prime Minister Boris Johnson. However, the parallels are both instructive and striking.

With nothing whatever to do for six weeks since pandemic curve-flattening measures were imposed -- just about all of the responses have come from GOP-controlled county, state and federal governments -- the congenitally bunker-bound mayor seemed wooden, listless and uninspiring.

The font on his cheat sheet may have been too small. He also seemed distracted and sad, as if in mourning.

What about the odd ball cap -- can you make it out?

Yep, it's a municipal parks and recreation logo, right there on Gahan's pate covering, but why this of all things?

In the current time, shouldn't it be an ambulance driver's emblem, or a first responder's or hospital nurse's?

Ever since 9-11, when every politician started popping up dressed like firemen and cops, symbolism like this is carefully scripted -- and we already know that Gahan can't so much as take out the trash without post-it notes.

The answer, of course, is that the mayor surely is mourning. 

At a time when numerous townspeople are suffering, jobs have been lost, social inequalities exposed and the groundwork laid for pervasive revolution, the primary reason for Gahan's video Thursday was to inform his adoring public (cue the somber violins) that there cannot possibly be a season this summer for the River Run Family Water Park, our glorious aquatic center.

Fabric is torn and teeth ground together. The coronavirus dunnit, ya know.

Goat herders in Kosovo understand that the parks and recreation department is Gahan's baby, with a budget that went in a very few years from zero to somewhere around $3 million. Right now, with these park units mostly closed and the majority of functions suspended by the pandemic, the mayor's baby is under siege.

Not a word in six weeks about the homeless, the hungry or the vulnerable. But there's a video lamenting the enforced absence of a three-month water sports calendar at a catastrophically expensive facility built to cater to the better-off among us.

Bizarrely, seeing as River Run has hemorrhaged tax dollars since inception, even in the best of climate-altered Ohio Valley heat waves, keeping it closed and eliminating operating expenses might actually save the city money in 2020, even if we continue making the bond payments (assuming the city has the spare change lying around to do so).

We shouldn't assume that. At last Gahan faces a crisis, and if he somehow bluffs his way through the pandemic, there's the Sherman Minton idiocy coming next year.

---

I thought occurrred to me, and I did a Google search: When was the last news item in which "HWC Engineering" and "New Albany Indiana" both appeared?

You'll really love this: it was in the Seymour Tribune in December, 2019.

After 12 years as mayor of Seymour, Craig Luedeman will embark on a new career in 2020.

Luedeman, 43, has been hired by HWC Engineering in Indianapolis. He will serve as a community business development manager for the firm beginning Jan. 6.

HWC is a full-service planning and infrastructure design firm with offices in Terre Haute, New Albany, Lafayette and Muncie. Although he will be based out of the Indianapolis office, he’ll be working remotely from his home, too, and will have to travel a lot, he said.

“Basically, I’ll be going to cities and counties and communities and trying to help them with getting grants and any kind of business development HWC does as far as transportation, bridges, wastewater, stormwater, all those areas and design services,” he said.

He will meet with mayors and other leaders across the state to discuss projects they may have and how HWC can assist with getting those projects accomplished.

Wondering what Slick Jeffie would be doing now if David White or Mark Seabrook had beaten him in 2019? Look homeward, Seymour, and remember this graphic from last year's mayoral campaign.

So, are Gahan's well-heeled revolving corporate donors (including but not limited to HWC) now lining up to contribute to local relief efforts in a time of 20% unemployment?

Is Mayor Gahan reminding them about the optics?

You know, "hey, um, guys -- well, thinking back to all that pay-to-play money you gave me, then I gave tons more of it back to you, um, uh, couldn't you maybe, like, send a little of it this way, you know, to taxpayers in their time of need?"

A city shakes with laughter. The mere thought prompts hilarity. Which comes first, being unable to imagine Gahan ever once thinking to ask them, or those well-dressed campaign donors conveniently failing to conceive of the idea on their own?

---

But wait -- there's much more.

For instance, it appears that Extol Magazine now owns a stake in the New Albany Housing Authority. Hard to miss a privatization of such size; has Ben Carson already cashed the check?

I blame it all on COVID.

It's the NAHA monthly newsletter at the Joomag website, boasting a new cult of overpaid administrative personality in the offing, and I'm sure the official explanation will include trite Business First-speak about strategic partnerships in communications, synergy, and charitable backpack blessings.

Still, this would constitute a relationship, and ever since January 1, lifelong Republican Jason Applegate is destined to find these LinkedIn affairs troublesome owing to a nagging topic called "ethics."

Presumably he still owns Extol, and may or may not continue to serve as the magazine's chief ad sales person during the first year of his term as Democratic councilman-at-large.

As such, any connection whatever between the business affairs of a public agency like NAHA, with its yahoo poobah and sycophantic board both appointed by the mayor, and an outside entity owned by an elected official like Applegate is deserving of scrutiny.

Donald Trump may be president, and Gahan persist as mayor-for-life, but conflicts of interest have not magically disappeared from the planet. The newspaper in its pathetic death throes won't help us, pandemic or otherwise. Rather, ordinary citizens must keep their eyes fixed on the clique's gyrations, and demand answers to their pertinent questions.

---

There's yet another news item: our new three-story tall anchor symbol on the south side of the parking garage. It's horrendous, but there is consolation in the absence of Dear Leader's gleaming mug.

Oft times in the past I've joked about the way Team Gahan's fondness for anchors has resulted in ubiquitous imagery alarmingly similar to the vainglorious shambles of Mussolini's Italy, spreading like a virus throughout the city.

For those just tuning in, all these anchors weren't ever submitted for approval to the city council -- and we already have had a city symbol on the books. But David "Bag Man" Duggins, previously referenced above as the newly buttoned-down overlord of NAHA, thought anchors looked cute.

Hamster wheels spun, a "marketing device" was born, and now we're drowning in the inanity of its ceaseless citywide repetition. The governing clique routinely scoffs at me for mentioning Mussolini's name, and yet the plain fact that few of them have bothered reading books implies an unfamiliarity with the way totalitarian systems use symbols. It's precisely the same, as with Gahan's parks department cap.

However, at this late date it has become evident that I may have been wrong slightly mistaken all along. It was pointed out to me recently that anchors can symbolize conditions quite apart from being deployed at water's bottom to prevent forward progress.

Life, stability, a connection: over time, it was only natural that the anchor became a symbol of love. This object is often depicted as a symbol of fidelity: the anchor gets firmly planted into the bottom of the ocean floor and provides the ship with the stability it needs. This is the same stability that two people who are in love with each other rediscover day after day.

Many couples get matching anchor tattoos to symbolise their eternal love. Or they wear jewelry embellished with this meaningful nautical symbol.

Turns out that Duggins is a devotee of the Hallmark Channel.

Anchor soft as an easy chair
Anchor fresh as the morning air
One anchor that is shared by two
I have found with you

Who'd have guessed?

---

Recent columns:

April 23: ON THE AVENUES: Hemingway in a time of mercifully silent thunder.

April 16: ON THE AVENUES: Bunker mentalities, bunker abnormalities; bunker dreams, bunker screams.

April 9: ON THE AVENUES: #VoteEwwNoMatterWho, or when being realistic means being radical.

April 2: ON THE AVENUES: Pandemic, pornographic, pecksniffian. Just three random words until the booze kicks in.

SHANE'S EXCELLENT NEW WORDS: We're utterly gobsmacked at an unexpected Extol absence.

Leafing through the latest edition of Extol Magazine, we're gobsmacked to see that the City of New Albany no longer is listed among the advertisers, and the usual full page advertisement from the Gahan4Life people is missing.

Understanding that New Albany's ruling elites typically don't stoop to converse with NA Confidential, the Green Mouse still feels compelled to ask:

Could it be that someone at the top of our muddled civic heap finally grasps the potential ethical murk of the magazine's co-owner and advertising sales head Jason Applegate simultaneously serving as city councilman? 

Note the word "potential," and recall the reasons why elected officials with potential conflicts of interest should recuse themselves or abstain from voting in certain circumstances ... even in abjectly corrupt Trumpian and Gahanan times.

If this is the case, and the whole thing isn't a coincidence, then good for them. We should strive for ethical excellence, not construct luxury dog parks atop it.

But what of the word "gobsmacked"? 

After all, the purpose of this column about words is to explore the meaning of those that typically elude the comprehension of local ruling elites. The Macmillan Dictionary Blog provides an answer.

---

Word of the Day: gobsmacked

Definition: extremely surprised

Origin and usage: Written evidence for the adjective gobsmacked dates as far back as the 1930s, although it has a much longer history as spoken slang. The term is a compound of the words ‘gob’ and ‘smack’. The Late Middle English word ‘gob’ derives from the Old French word ‘gobe’, meaning ‘mouthful’ or ‘lump’, and the word ‘smack’, comes from the Middle Dutch word ‘smacken’.

Examples: The word gobsmacked is a slang term that is generally defined as experiencing a feeling of intense surprise, such as the kind of shock you would feel if you were suddenly hit in the face. The action of clapping a hand to your mouth as a reaction to a surprising event is a less violent interpretation of the word gobsmacked. Generally, gobsmacked refers to something so shocking that it leaves you utterly speechless.

Although there are only written examples of the word gobsmacked from the last eighty years or so, it is highly likely that the word was used in spoken language before that time. The word comes from the borderlands between northern England and southern Scotland. It was later popularized by television dramas which were set in those areas, such as Boys from the Blackstuff and Coronation Street. These programs grew to attract sizeable mainstream followings, introducing the word gobsmacked into the wider world where it was then picked up by newspapers and other media.

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.

Five post-primary thoughts in stream-of-consciousness format.

There'll be more as I try to catch up with my life.

Lots of fringe area residents wanted to vote, but couldn't because they live in the county, not the city -- but the city defines their terms of daily engagement. In truth, they wanted to vote against Jeff Gahan. I'm sure Squire Adam has duly taken note and will continue to take whatever steps are necessary to exclude them.

Democrats have little consistent grasp of usage. The word "Republican" can be used as an adjective or noun, but even a donkey should now that "Democrat" is a noun and "Democratic" an adjective. But still I hear self-described Democrats insisting they belong to the "Democrat" party. Maybe Susie can help you with that.

Jason Applegate scored more votes than Gahan, placing him in a good position to win a council at-large seat, probably at the expense of David Aebersold. Unfortunately he did so without revealing a single position on anything, apart from enthusiastically representing the ascendant "beautiful people" wing of the DemoDisneyDixecratic (not DemoDisneyDixiecrat) party.

David White may have lost, but he honored the Democratic (not Democrat) party's platform of supporting the little guy against big money. It was White's "People First" versus Gahan's "Luxury Beautiful Connected People First," and the latter won -- because for all his numbing stupidity, Gahan at least understands greed and knows where the real money lies.

For those who recall what newspapers used to be, and how they once participated in the electoral process, perhaps the biggest loser in the 2019 primary is the News and Tribune. It claims to identify with the community (but which one?), then provides scant to non-existent coverage of an election; when turnout scrapes rock bottom, can't it be said that the newspaper actually ignored the community and was complict in low voter turnout?

Branding Gahan's "sweet spot," part one: Power-hungry mayor thinks he IS New Albany, but aren't we better than that?

Part two here.

You'd think that after almost eight full years, the luminaries at the pinnacle of the municipal food chain would be able to settle on a slogan, or at least some semblance of a consistent message for use in telling the world about New Albany.

The latest full-page (might as well be a) campaign advertisement in Extol reveals the bar of creativity at low ebb. It is pictured above.

"The new New Albany sets the bar for quality of life."

Oh dear. Quality like this?

Okay, so words typically fail them, but we have anchors galore (you'll recall they're dropped from ships when the captain desires to cease moooving forward) -- and Jeff Gahan's face, as ubiquitous as unenforced ordinances.

Regular blog readers know that certain questions fascinate us, like this: How many tax dollars are necessary to "find your personal Gsweet spot in the new New Albany?"

Let's hope the mayor plumped for the six-issue discounted rate of $8,850, a savings of almost $2,000 yearly. Verily, the more tax dollars Gahan spends promoting himself, the more he saves in the sense of fewer withdrawals from his own whopping campaign finance haul. 

Of course, we already know Gahan's most cherished of sweet spots: Money, power and control.

Gahan's own obsessions run primarily to slobbering in the presence of powerful special interests who write him campaign finance checks, and he has shown little ability to inspire genuine affection on the part of regular townspeople. Still, some of them devour the Rice Krispies Treats and chug the Kool-Aid ...

... By the standards of a small city with a quarter of its residents existing below the poverty line, Gahan has hoarded a vast stock of power. He wields it autocratically with almost no input from outside the ruling circle, and buttresses his power by means of a ludicrous personality cult reflecting a former veneer salesman's abrupt makeover from regular guy to flawless genius.

Here's the way a patronage machine operates. The guy who owns HWC Engineering cuts Gahan his annual pay-to-play check.

Gahan banks a portion of it, then donates to the campaign efforts of local Democrats.

This leaves $1,500 -- and a quarter-page ad in Extol costs only $600, assuming Gahan paid for it out of his own petty cash and not the city's.

Look, we all know that Jason Applegate is the co-owner of Extol. There's absolutely NOTHING necessarily illegal, immoral or unethical about Jason accepting advertising for his magazine and donations for his 2019 campaign from the very same mayor.

Rather, the preceding facts are intended to show the way that movers and shakers in a small city like New Albany routinely scratch each other's backs, and readers may draw conclusions as they will -- or not.

In my view, it's all about the way Gahan sees the city as his possession, and the strange habit of authoritarian "leaders" looking in their mirrors and seeing the Godhead instead of the bald head.

In part two, a closer look.

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I'm voting for David White.

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 the numbers: In 2018, Applegate performed better than Charbonneau in the 6th council district.

On Tuesday the Green Mouse reported that Sam Charbonneau might be seeking a city council seat in the 6th district. Speaking for myself, he was in attendance at the last council meeting; given the masochism of such daring decisions, few disinterested citizens bother with the peanut gallery unless they're contemplating involvement ... or resistance.

Charbonneau's only previous campaign came last year. Here are the votes for Indiana House in 2018 from the 6th council district.

Precinct  Ed Clere (R)      Sam Charbonneau (D)

27:            198                               261
41:            336                               276
42:            271                               221
43:            163                               189
44:            323                               300
                                                                    
Total:      1,291                             1,247

We see that even while losing the 6th, Charbonneau did quite well, especially for a first-time candidate. Overall, Clere won re-election in 2918 with around 55% of the vote, but in the 6th, the tally was just shy of 51%.

Yesterday Jason Applegate (D) announced his bid for an at-large city council seat in 2019, having lost a commissioner's race last fall to Shawn Carruthers (R) by a razor-thin margin.

Jason Applegate files for NA city council at-large. Does this mean fellow Democrat Sam Charbonneau will challenge Scott Blair in the 6th?

Both Applegate and Charbonneau reside in the 6th district, so it might be instructive to compare the totals in the 6th for the Carruthers-Applegate contest in 2018.

Precinct       Shawn Carruthers    Jason Applegate

27:                          171                           276
41:                          310                           294
42:                          228                           252
43:                          145                           201
44:                          282                           320
                                                                               
Total:                    1,136                         1,343

Applegate won four of five precincts in the 6th and rolled up a 54%-46% advantage over Carruthers. This seems to suggest that Charbonneau opting for at-large and Applegate in the 6th would be more advantageous to Democrats than the other way around -- although we still don't know for sure whether Charbonneau will be running at all.

Yet again, the big voter turnout in 2018 (around half the registered voters in Floyd County, roughly double the norm) makes it difficult to compare apples with apples.

Here are the results from the last 6th district city council race in 2015.

CITY OF NEW ALBANY COUNCIL MEMBER DIST 6
Total votes: 1,345
LARRY BELCHER (REP)       358      26.62%
CLIFF STATEN (DEM)          404      30.04%
SCOTT A. BLAIR (IND)        583      43.35%

For the past two election cycles, Blair's status as an Independent has muddied traditional norms in the 6th district. He's certainly more R than D in terms of appeal, but in 2019, the Republicans have Scott Evans, a candidate with more potential upside than Belcher, and if Charbonneau goes for it, the Democrats will boast a hard worker who lost in the 6th by a very slim margin to the presumably unassailable Clere.

This one's going to be fascinating.

Jason Applegate files for NA city council at-large. Does this mean fellow Democrat Sam Charbonneau will challenge Scott Blair in the 6th?

Long rumored, now official.

The Facebook post does not reveal whether Applegate is seeking an at-large seat or the 6th district nod, but the Green Mouse has been told it's Applegate at-large and Sam Charbonneau soon to announce in the 6th; they're both Democrats, both closely aligned with Jeff "Dear Leader" Gahan, and both having lost elections in 2018 (Applegate for commissioner against Shawn Carruthers and Charbonneau for Indiana House against Ed Clere).

When there comes time I'll crunch a few precinct numbers, because I'm guessing the prevailing assumption is that Applegate beat Carruthers within city limits, and there seems little reason to doubt this. More interesting to me is how Charbonneau did last year in precincts 27, 41, 42, 43 and 44. If the rumors are true and Charbonneau is running in the 6th, it sets up a very competitive three-way contest with the incumbent Scott Blair (completing his second council term as an independent in the mayor's old seat) and Republican Scott Evans.

Adam Dickey's imagined post-Gahan succession is looking clearer than ever. Just choose between Applegate, Charbonneau and former building commissioner, newly elected township trustee (and forever a local sporting legend) David Brewer. At least they're not tremendously old white males, although it's more of the same for the party of touted diversity that isn't, and it should be recalled that Gahan has a challenger this spring in David White.

The Green Mouse says:

David Duggins might be Gahan’s bag man, but ever since TASER-gate he’s become completely unelectable to any public office with the possible exception of dog catcher – and both SPCA and PETA already have filed preliminary complaints objecting to Duggins being in the vicinity of canines, much less humans. Pending Applegate and Charbonneau bolstering their expanding resumes with election wins, Brewer is the Democratic Party’s future star. Nothing prevents voter thoughtfulness quite like sports, and Brewer just finished bucking the GOP electoral trend with his trustee victory. Has Chris Morris yet figured out that the trustee’s budget henceforth will serve as a handy ATM for a mayor with rapidly diminishing TIF options?

Earlier today:

ON THE AVENUES: Democrats should judge city council incumbents in districts 2, 3, 4 and 5 by their regressive deeds, not their progressive words.

New Albany primary filings: Old white male Democratic council functionaries as yet unchallenged by diversity.

Local chain newspaper commences anodyne election coverage with Floyd County Commissioners District 1 contest.

"Anodyne" doesn't merit a "Shane's Excellent New Words" tag, but here's the definition.

an·o·dyne
ˈanəˌdīn
adjective
1. not likely to provoke dissent or offense; inoffensive, often deliberately so.

Shawn and Jason are competing for the seat held by Mark Seabrook, who'll seek the office of mayor in 2019. Articles like this one are about as substantive as the chain newspaper will get between now and election day.

I'd recommend contacting either of the candidates if you want more information. Both are friendly and accessible. I have my preference, although as noted previously, there'll probably be no formal endorsements at the blog this cycle.

I'm hiding in plain sight, you know.

New face to join Floyd County Commissioners, by Chris Morris (Maybune)

Applegate, Carruthers both want smart growth

NEW ALBANY — Jason Applegate believes in smart growth. He said Floyd County has a comprehensive plan, and that plan should be followed moving forward.

Shawn Carruthers would like to see high tech companies come to the county, and thinks the proposed innovation park in Georgetown is the perfect location for those types of businesses to flourish.

This just in: "I urge We Are New Albany supporters to back LaMicra Martin in tomorrow's primary."

Moments ago, We Are New Albany posted two social media statements. Above is the list of candidates in tomorrow's primary who have made a public statement addressing the future of pubic housing in the wake of Mayor Jeff Gahan's hostile takeover of the New Albany Housing Authority.

WANA also released a .pdf link to campaign finance reports for Jason Applegate, Democratic candidate for County Commissioner (January 1 through April 13) and for Gahan (Year 2017), stopping short of issuing a formal endorsement for LaMicra Martin, Applegate's opponent.

These are the campaign financial reports filed by Jeff Gahan and Jason Applegate. They both have several of the same donors, but most notably they both have received donations from John Neace. You may have heard of Mr. Neace. He has worked with the city government in Charlestown to force residents of Pleasant Ridge to sell their homes to Neace through the unlawful use of eminent domain.

Also, Jason Applegate received a sizable campaign donation from NAHA interim executive director, David Duggins, under Public Finance Management, LLC (https://indianadb.com/…/…/public-finance-management-llc.html). Jason has not reached out to We Are New Albany and it's clear that city officials are backing his campaign due to the similarity in donors. I urge We Are New Albany supporters to back LaMicra Martin in tomorrow's primary. Apathy toward public housing residents' concerns is unacceptable and Applegate's acceptance of contributions from questionable donors is unconscionable and disqualifying.

Who knew Duggins had his own campaign finance laundromat?

In fairness to candidate Applegate, we recently chatted by phone, and his position on NAHA was that it's too early to tell one way or another until studies are completed and the board releases its plan for downsizing/rebuilding. This said, WANA is correct, in that the candidate made no public statement of which we're aware.

Election Day draws near. Find out which candidates have issued public statements about Deaf Gahan's public housing acreage takeover.

Another name stands out: Ed Jolliffe of Indianapolis, president of HWC Engineering, who also gave $500 to Applegate -- and $5,000 to Jeff Gahan in the year 2017.

You'll recall that by sheer coincidence, HWC got the contract from the city for the auto-centric two-way street grid design -- and established a branch office for HWC within spitting distance of Gahan's office window. Gahan also was given $5,000 by Neace in 2017.

Two donors, ten grand ... a full YEAR before the campaign machine gears up for term number three. We'll take a closer look at Gahan's Year 2017 donation record later this week.

Jason Applegate will seek the Democratic nomination for county commissioner.

Jason Applegate will seek the Democratic nomination for Floyd County commissioner. It's the seat being vacated by Mark Seabrook (R), who'll run for mayor in 2019. Applegate is a former business owner, and he has worked in advertising sales.

These days many folks know Applegate from his work with wife Angie Fenton at Extol Magazine. The candidate is pictured below with his campaign treasurer, Paul Kiger.

I met with Applegate yesterday, and we had an excellent chat about smart growth in the county. I suspect this will be his main platform plank; stay tuned for more. 

So far, LaMicra Martin has filed for the Democratic nomination (she'll oppose Applegate in the May 8 primary), and Shawn Carruthers remains the presumptive Republican nominee, as I'm not sure he'll have a primary opponent. 

(The Indy Star explains what Indiana county commissioners actually do.)