London's pea soup fog now envelops the Midtown NSP.

An NSP victim.

A reader asks:

What's the current status of the SEJ grant money that was supposed to be paid back from renovated home sales, accrue interest and be used to continue the renovation of the "Midtown" neighborhood?

Is New Directions Housing Corp still handling / holding the money?

How many of those renovated (many to the tune of OVER $200,000 EACH in renovation costs) homes have been sold, and where are the promised future benefits from the project? I seem to remember the promise of a never ending stream of revenue.

Do you mean the houses dubbed Painted Ladies? It might lead to an Elton John song.

Coincidentally, the Courier-Journal's Lexy Gross recently asked me a variant of this same question. Apparently she's doing a story about the Midtown NSP, which I'll link when it appears.

I gave her my best answer, then decided to "check" my work by asking the same question of Jeff Gillenwater. As usual, he's far more succinct than me.

However, first go to the Midtown NSP website to see the various "official" claims being made as to the impact of the expenditures, which as recently as 2013 were viewed as sufficiently suspect that none other than Dan Coffey was asking for an audit.

In retrospect, this must have been when the demolition kickbacks began.

Anyway, the NSP's impact purportedly includes 29 rehabbed homes, the Cardinal Ritter House renovation and the 1321 Inspiration Community Garden.

That's a good question. I think that it being a good question is part of the answer. To my knowledge, people are saying very little because so little has been shared about the project.

Beyond the garden (which I didn't know was an NSP thing), there's been little to no community engagement. How can we have spent nearly $7 million in one neighborhood with neighbors so unaware of what's happening and having no idea where it's heading?

David Duggins scoffed at NSP early on, saying that he could transform New Albany with that much money. When I reminded him they'd already spent more than that on other things, he shut up.

Beyond that, it's another story of spending millions of public dollars on individual properties while not addressing the fundamental infrastructure issues that surround them. Then there are issues like the tavern. The top secret site plan is the only time I recall hearing anything about NSP in the past four years.

The over-arching point is that we've just concluded an election cycle in which the incumbent was able to flash photos of a few new houses in Midtown as evidence of unprecedented success. Local media gave it a pass. My campaign tried to reference the project, bu of course our reach was limited.

Where's the beef?

Can a member of the public access unbiased information to so much as start making sense of the claims?

We were saying it more than two years ago: Transparency? That's a fine idea. Found any yet?

More on the New Directions infill fix at 922 and City Hall's plans for Reisz.

As an addendum to yesterday's buttoned-up chronicle of covert building removal ...

ON THE AVENUES: Now on tap at the ghost of Haughey’s Place: The politics of pure spite.

... is offered by a regular reader, who tells us what is known about the replacement houses, i.e., what could not be publicly discussed by City Hall until after the wrecking ball landed.

New Directions Housing Corporation will soon take title to the property as part of Phase 2 of the Neighborhood Stabilization Program. At least one, and maybe two new homes will be built. I am told that they will be "zero lot line" federal style, but that may change. Even though you may not agree with how they went about the demolition of Al Mel's, you've gotta like what NDHC has done with Phase 1 of the NSP. Some of those houses are downright beautiful. I would expect 922 Culbertson to be no different.

A different observer asks a question we've been pondering, too.

Why was Dan Coffey so imtimately involved in the tear-down at 922? Why did he push so hard and on whose behalf?

But Thursday's blog hit count winner evoked shades of Ceausescu.

Same architect as always releases plans for new New Albany City Hall.

It prompted this comment:

Jeff Gahan and Pat McLaughlin are confident that this administration grows more popular by the day (and that's why) they are already scoping out where to put their new city hall.

Bully!

Coffey beats rush, starts October surprise in July.

Does it matter that Council Member Dan Coffey recently voted to approve $19 million in recreational spending without even knowing for sure what will be built? Nope.

Does it matter that he defends funding a Bicentennial Commission that publicly told him they had no idea how the money would be spent? Nope.

Does it matter that during the local NSP approval process, when at least some council members were questioning the overall expenditure of federal money, Coffey's primary argument was that the spending should occur in his district rather than some other? Probably.

But the real question, as it always is, is if this will serve as sufficient fissure in ending his cheerleading of the current administration. We've seen this shtick repeatedly: a new administration and council takes office, Coffey presents himself as a senior statesman and ally long enough to gain a position of trust and perhaps collect a few baubles, and then, shazam, it ends as abruptly as it started with Coffey giving up the pom-poms in favor of his preferred grandstand(ing) seat.

This is the second time in the past couple months Coffey has publicly suggested untoward behavior associated with the NSP, having yet to offer a speck of evidence in support of his rhetoric.

Coffey persistent on Midtown audit, by Daniel Suddeath (N and T)

New Albany City Councilman Dan Coffey continued his scrutiny Tuesday of the agency in charge of the $6.7 million Neighborhood Stabilization Program. 

A resolution sponsored by Coffey that was passed last month was reaffirmed by the New Albany Redevelopment Commission. It calls for an audit of the NSP program, which has resulted in the rehabilitation of 32 vacant and dilapidated properties in the Midtown neighborhood.

NSP, DMB, SOL.

It's politics, you know.

(We need an investigation)

It's politics, you know.

(Let's let the state do it)

It's politics, you know.

(Can't be too careful with that Federal money)

It's Coffey tics, you know. Previously, there was this: Who dunnit? My money's on that copperhead over there.

And this.

Transparency? That's a fine idea. Found any yet?

Following is the official reporting. Sighhh.

State to get conflict-of-interest probe over New Albany home purchase; Gonder: Review gives impression of political motivation regarding councilwoman, by Daniel Suddeath (News and Tribune)

NEW ALBANY — On Tuesday, the New Albany Redevelopment Commission voted in favor of allowing the state to rule on whether the purchase of a home by a city council member’s niece would constitute a conflict-of-interest.

The issue revolves around the niece of Councilwoman Diane McCartin-Benedetti, who was a day away from closing on the purchase of a house at 315 E. 11th St. when the city administration froze the deal so it could be reviewed.

The house was refurbished through the $6.7 million federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program, which is managed at the state level by the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority, or IHCDA. Benedetti served as a nonvoting council liaison to an NSP board that was set up by former Mayor Doug England. She also was a member of the redevelopment commission while the project was being implemented.

Who dunnit? My money's on that copperhead over there.

Yesterday, we considered the Case of the Councilperson's NSP Niece:

Transparency? That's a fine idea. Found any yet?

Therein, we linked to the newspaper's account of this horrendous scandal (italics below by the editor) whilst pondering who was doing who.

New Albany councilwoman subject of conflict-of-interest review; Diane Benedetti’s niece was in process of purchasing NSP home

 ... City Councilman Dan Coffey serves on the redevelopment commission.

“First off, I hope it’s not true. Because if it’s true, what they did put the city in a lot of jeopardy as far as future grants,” he said, as Coffey added he feels sorry for Benedetti’s niece if she ultimately isn’t allowed to move into the home. “But for every person like that involved, there’s somebody else out there that didn’t get a chance.”

Coffey said an independent agency or individual not associated with the project or local officials should also review the situation.

“As a city official, you cannot try to push anything that’s going to benefit yourself or a family member,” he said. 

Now we have yet further unwanted testimony, with the long-silent Gary "The Gary" McCartin weighing in. His words are among the comments at the article on-line (underlined passage below courtesy of the editor).

This is welcome news that finally my daughter can be exonerated for simply taking advantage of a program that allows her to purchase her first home for her and my grandson to live in! My sister had absolutely nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, to do to influence, persuade, or effect the transaction with New Directions or anyone associated with the purchase of the home, and the suggestion that anything otherwise is unwarranted and unfair to everyone involved.We are thankful that at the end of this review that it will be transparent that there was and is no conflict of interest, and that the program in fact is working as it was intended to do, and that my daughter can proceed to owning her first home as she so innocently desired to do in the first place. I applaud Mr. Duggins and Mr. Gibson and the staff for requesting this review to insure the assurance of transparency and protections to insure that nothing should jeopardize future funding for such worthwhile projects in the central areas of our community!

First, to even begin fathoming the rampant hypocrisy of The Gary's reference to "worthwhile" centrality, we must turn back the pages of the calendar to January, 2006, and an article in which I quoted a newspaper account of The Gary's downtown redevelopment pontifications: The Gary: An excess of pure, unadulterated ego? Perhaps tolerable in the exurban sprawl, but not relevant to downtown New Albany.

Not everyone is convinced that Scribner Place will be the great catalyst for downtown New Albany. Longtime developer Gary McCartin doesn’t think people are interested in living downtown. And he doesn’t think a YMCA will entice people to do so

… Instead, he thinks people would rather have a yard and live near their church and other conveniences …

… McCartin reviewed the plans for Scribner Place when they were originally introduced by former Mayor Regina Overton.

“My expertise told me it was not a winner,” he said.

McCartin thinks there is hope for downtown. He thinks city officials should use their power of eminent domain to tear down some buildings and determine what would be best to erect. He thinks some part of the downtown could be utilized for discount-priced retailers.

“It’s (about) getting the right facilities,” he said.

That was then, and this is now. It's 2013, and bizarrely, those "right facilities" include NSP housing rehabs, and yet apart from "how the mighty hath fallen" ruminations, who really cares whether The Gary's daughter (Ms. Benedetti's niece) buys one of them, so long as she qualifies according to the parameters of the program?

Dan Coffey apparently does. You see, Dan's currently the City Hall whip on council; Pat McLaughlin may be titular head, but Coffey's the one banging heads to spend millions on selected quality of life projects (let's hope someone in the Gahan administration is keeping track of what is due Coffey for these services), and if The Gary sees fit to publicly "applaud" city officials for exonerating his daughter -- not blame them for bringing it up in the first place -- then Coffey's your man on the scene.

It's artful, at least in that low-rent, oozing sort of way that forever defines this city's underachieving political culture. Coffey wields the hatchet to punish Benedetti for being the sole "Democrat" on council who is refusing to follow the party line on expenditures. Any mud generated lands on the whip, who is accustomed to groveling in it not unlike a slop-flecked hog, and city officials pose angelically off to the side ... message duly dispatched. Afterwards, there'll be cigarettes all around and a quick rinsing in the lazy river at Camille Wright.

Then again, perhaps The Gary speaks facetiously in commending the city. Rather than be troubled at the pronouncements, we'll just leave him be, out there in the fringe, scouting fresh new greenfields to pave, because none of it changes an ever-escalating pattern of ugliness.

There is weird complicity, and things are getting strange again. Benedetti's niece? She's the very least of it.

Transparency? That's a fine idea. Found any yet?

Hmm.

It's Dan Coffey's council, and he and Diane Benedetti have been on opposite sides of many issues given the current council's rubber-stamp configuration. Now Coffey's out in front of the pack with axe in hand as it pertains to the specific issue of Benedetti's niece and the NSP.

(Uh huh. Move along; nothing to see here. No politics in any of it)

What's even more curious is David Duggins' mention of transparency.

Most of us didn't know there was a Main Street corridor public meeting earlier in the week.

Most of us didn't know there was an Urban Enterprise Association program to award low-interest loans and equipment grants to small businesses, and yet these were awarded at the UEA's most recent meeting.

Most of us understand that megabuck aquatic center plans were a done deal before they were brought to three sparsely attended public meetings, which in all likelihood were sparsely attended because the plans were a done deal.

I like Dave, and transparency is a wonderful thing, indeed. However, shall we say gently and yet firmly that transparency equally applied is even better? If it's right, then it needs to be right all of the time, wouldn't you say?

New Albany councilwoman subject of conflict-of-interest review; Diane Benedetti’s niece was in process of purchasing NSP home, by Daniel Suddeath (N and T)

NEW ALBANY — A potential conflict of interest regarding the Midtown Neighborhood Stabilization Project and involving New Albany City Councilwoman Diane McCartin-Benedetti will be the topic of a special meeting Tuesday morning.

According to sources, the conflict-of-interest claim relates to Benedetti’s niece attempting to purchase one of the NSP houses. David Duggins, director of economic development and redevelopment for the city, confirmed Thursday the sale has been frozen pending review.

The New Albany Redevelopment Commission — which has been the lead city agency for the $6.7 million federal program — will weigh the matter the Tuesday meeting.

“The NSP project is too important and has done so much good for the neighborhoods that have been positively affected by it, that we just want to ensure that the perception of the project is as transparent as possible,” Duggins said.

Nobody said implosion would be pretty.

After spending years fighting nearly everything residents of our older downtown neighborhoods have tried to do to improve their surroundings (read as: slumlord eradication), Pat "Gestapo" Harrison is now majorly peeved that she wasn't selected as as a designated Realtor specialist for the Midtown Neighborhood Stabilization Project.

That's not only poetic, it's just plain funny.

Neighborhood Stabilization Program: Stories from other cities.

Thanks to NeighborWorks America for sharing these video NSP stories from partner organizations around the country.


Elkhart & Goshen, IN



St. Louis, MO



Chelsea, MA