The Jeff Gahan Money Machine, Part 9: These west end properties and their ultimate redevelopment surely comprise a rich, albeit tangled, source of campaign finance extractions for our Genius of the Flood Plain.

Previously: The Jeff Gahan Money Machine, Part 8: Our towing and recovery companies offer their tithes to Dear Leader.

Some people curate playlists, but during the coming weeks we'll be plucking highlights from eight years of the Committee to Elect Gahan's CFA-4 campaign finance reports. Strap in, folks -- and don't forget those air(head) sickness bags.

As a prelude to the following it bears repeating: numerous sources verify that individual Americans seldom donate to political candidates, and when they do, the amount is small. Far fewer Americans account for the bulk of campaign finance. Using $200 and above as the minimum yardstick, 0.47% of Americans account for 71% of the money being given to politicians. The remaining 29% comes from donations of less than $200.

Correspondingly, in 2011 Jeff Gahan received 36 recorded donations of $200 or less from individuals, as opposed to companies or entities. In 2018, this number fell to 16.

In 2011, Gahan's $1,000+ individual donor club was made up of only six individuals, two of whom (Jorge Lanz and Sanjay Patel) had obvious corporate tie-ins. By 2018, this number had doubled to 12 donors of at least $1,000 -- and all but one were connected directly to a municipal contract holder.

I believe the "vested interests first" trend to be discerned in Gahan's CFA-4 filings (the iceberg's visible tip) is sufficiently obvious to need no further discussion here, so let's look at three individuals/entities mentioned in a blog post from May 29, 2018:

Donor Pat Harrison owns the "defiled" impound lot, so we're witnessing artfully scripted (and remunerative) outrage from Dear Leader.

Bennett's Towing: (detailed in the previous installment) = $7,000

Pat Harrison: 310 (2011) + 1,000 (2015) + 500 (2018) = $1,810

Jeff Eastridge/CCE: 2,500 (2015) + 3,000 (2016) = $5,500

Let's flip back to this blog post from 2018, repeated in its entirety.

When one stops to consider these various realities: the blighted impound lot, Harrison's citywide rental properties, the disappearance from the civic agenda of rental property inspection, the towing company property, the way Gahan acquired the former QRC land (the sewer utility of which he is president coyly purchased it under the guise of future wastewater facility expansion) and the need for even more public money to convert QRC into grandiose parkland ... then consider the imperative of Gahan remaining in office to coordinate the spider web of skullduggery ... it's very clear that when it comes to toxicity in New Albany, a few tons of coal ash might be the least of our concerns.

---

MAY 29, 2018

It happened that last week, renowned local realtor and rental property owner Pat Harrison's name was dropped within the Courier Journal's coverage of Floyd County's surreptitious cinder/coal ash disposal.

Following up: "An Indiana county is paying a steep price for burying toxic coal ash." That's us, folks.

Since 1998 Harrison has been the owner of the land off IN-111, upon which the impound lot began operations in 2009.

More, recently, when the decade-old coal ash poo hit the fan, Mayor Jeff Gahan promptly utilized Harrison's property as a stage prop in another political grandstand play, in the process indiscriminately blaming his own political party members in county government for polluting a patch -- and under the bus they merrily went, rolling and tumbling.

Odd, but Jeff Gahan uses "his" city government Facebook page to attack fellow DemoDisneyDixiecrat Chuck Freiberger for illegal coal ash dumping.

(Note to Democratic Party members: Even YOU aren't safe from the megalomania. Unless you're called Warren Nash, your turn at the show trial is coming so long as Dear Leader reckons the sacrifice will benefit him.)

From Grace Schneider's CJ coverage about the coal ash disposal:

In late 2008, Floyd’s highway department had a huge black mound at its works yard on Ind. 64 in Georgetown, hauled there for free from University of Louisville Hospital's coal plant near downtown Louisville. In rainy weather, black residue washed off the pile and into a nearby creek, so the county was told to get rid of the stockpile, former highway superintendent Ron Quakenbush said.

A few neighboring counties came and took truckloads, then more went to C.C.E., a contractor grading land on Ind. 111 in New Albany for real estate agent and owner Pat Harrison.

By the way, C.C.E.'s Jeff Eastridge, himself once beset by continuous allegations of polluting, flipped the land for Silver Street Park to NA several years ago. He then hopped aboard Team Gahan's "preferred contractor" list.

Another Gahan campaign donor, Bennett's Towing, obviously services the impound lot along with other wrecker companies.

To Gahan campaign , 2015.

To Gahan campaign, 2017.

Ah, but perhaps Bennett's is on the donor list because it occupies desired property adjacent to the future city parks department unit by the river, more land to be taken off the tax rolls, which currently is owned by the heirs of QRC Recycling's founder Tim Janson, who died last year.

This $2.5 million parkland acquisition is supposed to be finalized any day now, and it has been long rumored that the city would use the opportunity to buy out Bennett's, just as long as the overheated bunker printing press keeps churning out Ben Franklins. 

Getting back to coal ash and the impound lot, the Green Mouse reports that Harrison is standing firm in the face of pressure from the county's operatives.

Seems Harrison will not sign the letter Floyd County's legal counsel wants her to sign before they'll clean up the impound lot. They want her to say she knew what was being dumped on her land. But she didn't know. She has a good case and a lawyer. You think they'd be smarter then that.

Given the caliber of the operatives involved in the coal ash disposal operation, whose fictional equivalents worked with Mr. Haney on television's Green Acres, it certainly seems possible that Harrison knew nothing about it.

There's isn't any way of knowing, so let's go back in time to recall a far juicier topic, in March of 2016, when Harrison surprisingly threw her community pillar's weight behind Gahan's tepid rental property registration ordinance.

Given Harrison's past characterization of even the most milquetoast of rental property reform ideas as emanating from Nazi stormtroopers (or as intentionally misspelled, Stromtroopers), the city council gallery was shocked to hear her singing the praises of Dear Leader.

Except perhaps it makes sense, after all. There's this:

2015.

And, in addition, nothing further has occurred since 2016 to encourage the alleged second step of inspecting rental properties -- and neither will it, seeing as we're less than a year away from the 2018 primaries. I'd say Harrison lost a battle to win the war.

Gahan's not touching inspections unless the AdamBot comes up with evidence it might further the prospects for his re-election campaign, and the mayor can count on the usual Sycophantic Shuffle, with council members like Phipps and Caesar remaining mum if directed by Big Daddy G.

In retrospect, Harrison's 2016 rental registration arc likely was telegraphed well in advance, and there's no reason to doubt she's reading from Gahan's coal ash script again in 2018, when any conceivable points to be scored by the otherwise environmentally disinterested Gahan will be coming straight from the hide of future mayoral candidate (and current commissioner) Mark Seabrook.

Scoring political points and lubricating them with campaign finance grease?

That's something the Genius of the Flood Plain can really get behind.

Related:

March 8, 2016 Analysis: Gahan and the rental ordinance, or the emasculation of the once-powerful Oz.

As time merits, there'll be more to say about last evening's council epic, but for the moment a few plain facts should suffice.

On Monday morning, for the first time in 50 months as mayor, Mayor Jeff Gahan timorously placed a quivering toe in the water, and the minimum required number of chips on the table, and released an awkward statement in support of rental property registration, inspection and enforcement -- something he had studiously avoided mentioning throughout his 2015 campaign for re-election.

BOMBSHELL: Citywide confusion as Mayor Jeff Gahan is abducted by space alien impostor, who promptly takes public "pro" stand on rental property ordinance.

Once the council meeting began, shepherds in far-off Patagonia felt the seismic shock when Pat Harrison, inveterate opponent of such intrusive measures, not only endorsed the rental property ordinance and appealed to the many rental owners in the room to unite around it, but refrained from using the word "Gestapo" for the first time in living memory.

Pat Harrison's Slumlord Uprising of 2008, 6/6: "Endangered Slumlord Protection Act? Local rental property mogul and realtor cites a 'pitiful' absence of tax breaks."

The rental owners responded by gazing upon the figure of Harrison much in the fashion of Trump rally attendees when the lone minority protester dares speak apostasy aloud, and set about angrily voicing their perennial objections to being compelled to follow the same general regulations as the remainder of the city's business community.

An hour and a half later, after a brief diversion to New Albany's never-ending stormwater drainage problems (also never mentioned during last year's campaign), it came time for the mayor to speak.

Of course, such was the epochal importance of the occasion -- Gahan referred to the rental ordinance as a "must" --  that the mayor yet again failed to attend, thus missing the chance to confront dissenting property owners face to face, and sending customary surrogate Mike Hall in his stead. Hall read the mayor's statement, which he likely wrote in the first place. Proponents surely felt deflated. If not now, when?

---

#FireGahan2019

Rebuttals are welcome and will be published unaltered -- so don't forget spellcheck. If you have supplementary information to offer about any of this, please let us know and we'll update the page. The preceding was gleaned entirely from public records, with the addresses of "individuals" removed.


Next: The Jeff Gahan Money Machine, Part 10: Oh Cripe! Or, the path from Al "Indy" Oak's company PAC leads to Silver Street Park and Breakwater, and probably others.

Jeff Gahan's Money Machine: Donor Pat Harrison owns the "defiled" impound lot, so we're witnessing artfully scripted (and remunerative) outrage from Dear Leader.

Far fetched?

Maybe. The Green Mouse takes what he can get. At the same time, with all the cash changing hands, perhaps Occam's Razor is right, and the simpler answer is better: the joys of public service are a stretch, so it's all about the money.

It happened that last week, renowned local realtor and rental property owner Pat Harrison's name was dropped within the Courier Journal's coverage of Floyd County's surreptitious cinder/coal ash disposal.

Following up: "An Indiana county is paying a steep price for burying toxic coal ash." That's us, folks.

Since 1998 Harrison has been the owner of the land off IN-111, upon which the impound lot began operations in 2009.

More, recently, when the decade-old coal ash poo hit the fan, Mayor Jeff Gahan promptly utilized Harrison's property as a stage prop in another political grandstand play, in the process indiscriminately blaming his own political party members in county government for polluting a patch -- and under the bus they merrily went, rolling and tumbling.

Odd, but Jeff Gahan uses "his" city government Facebook page to attack fellow DemoDisneyDixiecrat Chuck Freiberger for illegal coal ash dumping.

(Note to Democratic Party members: Even YOU aren't safe from the megalomania. Unless you're called Warren Nash, your turn at the show trial is coming so long as Dear Leader reckons the sacrifice will benefit him.)

From Grace Schneider's CJ coverage about the coal ash disposal:

In late 2008, Floyd’s highway department had a huge black mound at its works yard on Ind. 64 in Georgetown, hauled there for free from University of Louisville Hospital's coal plant near downtown Louisville. In rainy weather, black residue washed off the pile and into a nearby creek, so the county was told to get rid of the stockpile, former highway superintendent Ron Quakenbush said.

A few neighboring counties came and took truckloads, then more went to C.C.E., a contractor grading land on Ind. 111 in New Albany for real estate agent and owner Pat Harrison.

By the way, C.C.E.'s Jeff Eastridge, himself once beset by continuous allegations of polluting, flipped the land for Silver Street Park to NA several years ago. He then hopped aboard Team Gahan's "preferred contractor" list.

Another Gahan campaign donor, Bennett's Towing, obviously services the impound lot along with other wrecker companies. 

To Gahan campaign , 2015.

To Gahan campaign, 2017.

Ah, but perhaps Bennett's is on the donor list because it occupies desired property adjacent to the future city parks department unit by the river, more land to be taken off the tax rolls, which currently is owned by the heirs of QRC Recycling's founder Tim Janson, who died last year.

This $2.5 million parkland acquisition is supposed to be finalized any day now, and it has been long rumored that the city would use the opportunity to buy out Bennett's, just as long as the overheated bunker printing press keeps churning out Ben Franklins. 

Getting back to coal ash and the impound lot, the Green Mouse reports that Harrison is standing firm in the face of pressure from the county's operatives.

Seems Harrison will not sign the letter Floyd County's legal counsel wants her to sign before they'll clean up the impound lot. They want her to say she knew what was being dumped on her land. But she didn't know. She has a good case and a lawyer. You think they'd be smarter then that.

Given the caliber of the operatives involved in the coal ash disposal operation, whose fictional equivalents worked with Mr. Haney on television's Green Acres, it certainly seems possible that Harrison knew nothing about it. 

There's isn't any way of knowing, so let's go back in time to recall a far juicier topic, in March of 2016, when Harrison surprisingly threw her community pillar's weight behind Gahan's tepid rental property registration ordinance.

Given Harrison's past characterization of even the most milquetoast of rental property reform ideas as emanating from Nazi stormtroopers (or as intentionally misspelled, Stromtroopers), the city council gallery was shocked to hear her singing the praises of Dear Leader.

Except perhaps it makes sense, after all. There's this:

2015.

And, in addition, nothing further has occurred since 2016 to encourage the alleged second step of inspecting rental properties -- and neither will it, seeing as we're less than a year away from the 2018 primaries. I'd say Harrison lost a battle to win the war.

Gahan's not touching inspections unless the AdamBot comes up with evidence it might further the prospects for his re-election campaign, and the mayor can count on the usual Sycophantic Shuffle, with council members like Phipps and Caesar remaining mum if directed by Big Daddy G.

In retrospect, Harrison's 2016 rental registration arc likely was telegraphed well in advance, and there's no reason to doubt she's reading from Gahan's coal ash script again in 2018, when any conceivable points to be scored by the otherwise environmentally disinterested Gahan will be coming straight from the hide of future mayoral candidate (and current commissioner) Mark Seabrook. 

Scoring political points and lubricating them with campaign finance grease?

That's something the Genius of the Flood Plain can really get behind. 

---

March 8, 2016 Analysis: Gahan and the rental ordinance, or the emasculation of the once-powerful Oz.

As time merits, there'll be more to say about last evening's council epic, but for the moment a few plain facts should suffice.

On Monday morning, for the first time in 50 months as mayor, Mayor Jeff Gahan timorously placed a quivering toe in the water, and the minimum required number of chips on the table, and released an awkward statement in support of rental property registration, inspection and enforcement -- something he had studiously avoided mentioning throughout his 2015 campaign for re-election.

BOMBSHELL: Citywide confusion as Mayor Jeff Gahan is abducted by space alien impostor, who promptly takes public "pro" stand on rental property ordinance.

Once the council meeting began, shepherds in far-off Patagonia felt the seismic shock when Pat Harrison, inveterate opponent of such intrusive measures, not only endorsed the rental property ordinance and appealed to the many rental owners in the room to unite around it, but refrained from using the word "Gestapo" for the first time in living memory.

Pat Harrison's Slumlord Uprising of 2008, 6/6: "Endangered Slumlord Protection Act? Local rental property mogul and realtor cites a 'pitiful' absence of tax breaks."

The rental owners responded by gazing upon the figure of Harrison much in the fashion of Trump rally attendees when the lone minority protester dares speak apostasy aloud, and set about angrily voicing their perennial objections to being compelled to follow the same general regulations as the remainder of the city's business community.

An hour and a half later, after a brief diversion to New Albany's never-ending stormwater drainage problems (also never mentioned during last year's campaign), it came time for the mayor to speak.

Of course, such was the epochal importance of the occasion -- Gahan referred to the rental ordinance as a "must" --  that the mayor yet again failed to attend, thus missing the chance to confront dissenting property owners face to face, and sending customary surrogate Mike Hall in his stead. Hall read the mayor's statement, which he likely wrote in the first place. Proponents surely felt deflated. If not now, when?

Analysis: Gahan and the rental ordinance, or the emasculation of the once-powerful Oz.

Hit suit, win sign.

As time merits, there'll be more to say about last evening's council epic, but for the moment a few plain facts should suffice.

On Monday morning, for the first time in 50 months as mayor, Mayor Jeff Gahan timorously placed a quivering toe in the water, and the minimum required number of chips on the table, and released an awkward statement in support of rental property registration, inspection and enforcement -- something he had studiously avoided mentioning throughout his 2015 campaign for re-election.

BOMBSHELL: Citywide confusion as Mayor Jeff Gahan is abducted by space alien impostor, who promptly takes public "pro" stand on rental property ordinance.

Once the council meeting began, shepherds in far-off Patagonia felt the seismic shock when Pat Harrison, inveterate opponent of such intrusive measures, not only endorsed the rental property ordinance and appealed to the many rental owners in the room to unite around it, but refrained from using the word "Gestapo" for the first time in living memory.

Pat Harrison's Slumlord Uprising of 2008, 6/6: "Endangered Slumlord Protection Act? Local rental property mogul and realtor cites a 'pitiful' absence of tax breaks."

The rental owners responded by gazing upon the figure of Harrison much in the fashion of Trump rally attendees when the lone minority protester dares speak apostasy aloud, and set about angrily voicing their perennial objections to being compelled to follow the same general regulations as the remainder of the city's business community.

An hour and a half later, after a brief diversion to New Albany's never-ending stormwater drainage problems (also never mentioned during last year's campaign), it came time for the mayor to speak.

Of course, such was the epochal importance of the occasion -- Gahan referred to the rental ordinance as a "must" --  that the mayor yet again failed to attend, thus missing the chance to confront dissenting property owners face to face, and sending customary surrogate Mike Hall in his stead. Hall read the mayor's statement, which he likely wrote in the first place. Proponents surely felt deflated. If not now, when?

The council's own discussion began, with Dan Coffey predictably tossing red meat to the crowd, Scott Blair making gurgling sounds about spread sheets, and Greg Phipps defending his (read: the mayor's) ordinance with the common sense suggestion that as with other businesses, if they're not profitable, perhaps the business owner should seek a new line of work.

Subsequently, it became clear why Gahan bothered to so much as commission a statement on his strange new "New Albany City Hall" web site, even if deigning to appear before council and citizens constituted an onerous chore.

It's because the council's new math has deprived Gahan of painless, easy victory when a vote cannot be evaded. For 12 years, there have been eight Democrats and one Republican. During Gahan's first term, those eight Democrats were as pliable on the mayor's behalf as the Supreme Soviet was for Uncle Joe or Comrade Nikita. For four years, Gahan sought to rule by closeted writ, but always could rely upon a servile council rubber stamp when desired ... when responsibility needed to be shared.

Those days are gone. Blair and Coffey comprise a vacuous, unprincipled "you-pay, we-vote" rump that should not be honored by use of the word "independent." There are three Republicans, and Al Knable is a particularly prepared and formidable seeker of bipartisan input.

This leaves only four reliable DemoDisneyDixiecrats, none of whom are natural leaders, all of whom formed a rote line when Gahan finally ventured from his down-low bunker with yesterday's public statement ...  except that it takes five votes.

Phipps didn't have them.

Consequently, the Thanksgiving turkey (the rental ordinance, not Duggins) set about being carved. The result was a compromise: The registration component was separated from the teeth of inspection and enforcement, and this rump was approved unanimously for the first two readings. Inspection and enforcement sections now will return to committee, where the teeth will be vigorously filed down to  mimic gently sloping, loosely fitted dentures.

That even this much was approved probably owes to the many rental property owners conceding openly to living elsewhere, from Scott County, Indiana to Shepherdsville, Kentucky.

After all, foreigners don't vote.

In the end, Monday night represented much ado about precious little. However, something a bit different has been born. In 2015, Gahan lost 13 points off his mayoral margin, and when Coffey went rogue, the council dynamic shifted. Will the mayor accede to Coffey's terms and grease him back inside the tent, where he can resume pissing out of it from the inside? Will he bite his tongue and negotiate with scrubbed and perfumed corporate fetishist Blair? Or, will City Hall double down on government by appointed committee, i.e., redevelopment and the board of works?

That reminds me: Gin.

Must buy more gin.

Pat Harrison's Slumlord Uprising of 2008, 1/6: "Realtor Pat Harrison name drops 'Gestapo,' seeks monopoly on disingenuousness.

Eight years later, and it's déjà vu all over again as Pat Harrison prepares to defend our downtrodden slumlords against the Gestapo.

The following was originally published here on March 4, 2008.

2/6
3/6
4/6
5/6
6/6

---

Realtor Pat Harrison name drops "Gestapo," seeks monopoly on disingenuousness.

Following is an excerpt from Wikipedia’s definition of Gestapo, an acronym for Geheime Staatspolizei, the “secret state police” in Nazi Germany. Any reader who can locate any conceivable correlation between the Gestapo as defined and a program of mandatory rental property inspections in the city of New Albany, as suggested twice last evening by local realtor Pat Harrison during blatantly disingenuous and self-serving remarks before the Building Commission, is encouraged to report these to us.

The video is here: Patience is a version.

----

The role of the Gestapo was to investigate and combat “all tendencies dangerous to the state.”

It had the authority to investigate treason, espionage and sabotage cases, and cases of criminal attacks on the Nazi Party and Germany.

Laws passed in 1935 effectively gave the Gestapo carte blanche to operate without judicial oversight. Nazi jurist Dr. Werner Best stated that “[a]s long as the Gestapo ... carries out the will of the leadership, it is acting legally.” The Gestapo was specifically exempted from responsibility to administrative courts, where citizens normally could sue the state to conform to laws.

A further law passed later in the year gave the Gestapo responsibility for setting up and administering concentration camps. Also in 1935, Reinhard Heydrich became head of the Gestapo and Heinrich Müller, chief of operations; Müller would later assume overall command of the Gestapo after Heydrich's assassination in 1942 and Ernst Kaltenbrunner would take over as overall head of the RSHA and SD. Adolf Eichmann was Müller's direct subordinate and head of department IV, section B5, which dealt with Jews.

The power of the Gestapo most open to misuse was called Schutzhaft—“protective custody,” a euphemism for the power to imprison people without judicial proceedings, typically in concentration camps. The person imprisoned even had to sign his or her own Schutzhaftbefehl, an order declaring that the person had requested imprisonment (ostensibly out of fear of personal harm). Normally this signature was forced by beatings and torture.

During World War II, the Gestapo was expanded to around 46,000 members.

Pat Harrison's Slumlord Uprising of 2008, 2/6 (VIDEO): "Patience is a version."

Eight years later, and it's déjà vu all over again as Pat Harrison prepares to defend our downtrodden slumlords against the Gestapo.

The following was originally published here on March 4, 2008; text and video by Jeff Gillenwater.

1/6
3/6
4/6
5/6
6/6

---

Patience is a version.

There was a council meeting last night but quite frankly, the Building Commission, who met a little earlier, had the more intriguing agenda.

Local Realtor and landlord Pat Harrison addressed the commission regarding code enforcement and rental property inspection. Deputy Mayor Carl Malysz did the same, and Commission Chair Steve LaDuke added some comments.

I won't, letting readers or, in this case, watchers make their own.




Comments at the time:

TedF said...
Thanks for being there to video Bluegill. There were some positives in the total exchange worthy of comment.

But first I would like to say now how distasteful, offensive and unprofessional it is to compare any code enforcement effort to a fascist effort to carryout genocide. Ms. Harrison made that comparison a couple times while speaking when using the term “Gestopa”. It was an extremely poor use of words and poor judgment.

New Alb Annie said...
I'm not a fan of the Harrison group's tactics. If this is a group of about 100 people, they should be directing their efforts toward the 'few bad ones' that she referred to. Why waste time meeting with the building commission if you're not doing anything wrong? Why not target the slumlords and apply some peer pressure to get them to clean up their acts?

Harrison has called my mother on several occasions--my 87-year-old mother--to get her riled up about property taxes and rental property issues. If this group has time to start a phone tree, I'd suggest they call the owners of the bad properties, and apply some pressure.

bluegill said...
"Harrison has called my mother on several occasions--my 87-year-old mother--to get her riled up about property taxes and rental property issues."

I got some of those early calls, too, about property taxes. I suppose it was from attending the tax "forum" at the Grand that was so falsely advertised.

It does help explain, though, why one of Harrison's group, when first arriving, leaned over to her and asked why he was supposed to be there.

Highwayman said...
Unfortunately I was unable to attend this meeting last night as my Jeep decided to turn engine parts into shrapnel on the way there.

As one of the more vocal proponents of this particular issue, I regret that I missed this opportunity.

However, had I been present my response to Ms. Harrison, the group she represents,as well as the city's representatives would have been as follows.

"All that was proposed sounded like the beginnings of a solution to the problem. Now let's see some action!!"

We as taxpaying property owners would much prefer that the rental industry in our city police itself.

Likewise, we'd like to see New Albany's government actually govern in the area of code enforcement as well as many other areas.

Having said that, let me assure all parties that platitudes alone will not suffice as success.

You have some time to bring in some results, but the clock is running!!

***NOTE*** To the editorial staff of NAC...feel free to extend this comment further if you see the need.

Greg said...
I find her remarks to be offensive and self-centered. If she really cared about cleaning up rental properties then she would have stepped up to the podium a long time ago. Also, if she thinks the "Clean Up New Albany" signs very negative, there were plenty of venues (a website, neighborhood meetings, letters to the editor, etc..) to provide feedback.

There has been plenty of opportunities for her to work with neighborhood groups to better our neighborhoods in New Albany, but not until her slums or purse strings are threatened she steps up as this caring perosn! I agree with Highwayman, it is time to see action.

I personally invite Ms. Harrison to our next neighborhood clean up. Also, I will be asking the ESNA president to invite Ms. Harrison and her group to one of our neighborhood meetings to speak with property owners and to layout her plans how she is willing to work with us to Clean Up New Albany. I am sick of the slumlords that Ms. Harrison has sold New Albany to and the ones that she represent.

Greg said...
Highwayman,
This is a issue that is on the top of my list this year and has been for several years! Let me know what I can do and how I can help.

Highwayman said...
Greg,

My suggestion for all of us is that we stay "persistent" and "consistent".

Attend every City Council, Building Commission, BZA, Zoning and Planning meeting you possibly can.

Mention it every time you see an elected or appointed city official or councilmen.

Stay involved in your neighborhood groups and above all stay informed & keep those around you informed.

The more we know about upcoming events or proposed actions, the better chance we have of either supporting or combating them.

New Alb Annie said...
What I find most irritating about the whole issue of code enforcement, especially regarding rental properties, is the incredible waste of time it is for everyone who just expects ordinances to be enforced, or whose job it is to enforce them.

I don't have time to waste, especially when it's the result of people simply not wanting to follow the rules. I don't think there are any of us posting here who have the luxury of time to waste on a slumlord's bad habits and poor business practices.

For example, the Harrison group showing up at this meeting. Why waste everyone's time? If you own property and you have violations, repair them--bring them into compliance. Seems it would be far less stressful and expensive, in terms of the time spent trying to delay the inevitable matter of codes being enforced, to just fix the problems. I can tell you this, if I owned a slum in one of the mentioned 'targeted areas' for concentrated enforcement, I wouldn't be lollygagging around in meetings--I'd be fixing my situation.

If you are an honest business person running a legitimate business, you'd be insistent upon following the rules for your business. I am very suspect of a group who is actively attempting to delay code enforcement and inspections.

The New Albanian said...
Just for the record, I've e-mailed Pat Harrison several times to offer time in this blog to present her case, or to respond to things that I've written here.

Total responses: Nada.

Iamhoosier said...
NA,
Have tried corresponding with her in German?(grin)

MommyKnowsBest said...
When was this meeting?

Who are the people with Pat Harrison that are n/k/a the "Harrison Group"? Has she ever come to your house (if you were a for sale by owner) to try and list your house? If so, can you say what happened with that?

Pat Harrison's Slumlord Uprising of 2008, 3/6: "Wrong tree, wrong dogs barking."

Eight years later, and it's déjà vu all over again as Pat Harrison prepares to defend our downtrodden slumlords against the Gestapo.

The following was originally published here on Repeat from February 19, 2008. Text by Jeff Gillenwater.

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6/6

---

Wrong tree, wrong dogs barking




As the chart above from the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance shows, 74.2% of the total county property tax levy is paid by residential property owners. While the implied argument for economic development as a method of property tax relief is strong as the development of additional businesses would reduce the portion of taxes collected from residential property, one factor that's not so obvious is the built-in landlord subsidy.

According to the 2000 census, there are 29,087 residential units in Floyd County at about 95% occupancy. Those units include single-family homes, trailers, apartments, and any other arrangement of separate living space. Only 68.6% (19,954) of them are owner-occupied, however. That leaves 7,557 of them as rental units. 26% of all housing units in the county are owned by someone other than their residents and are operated as rental businesses.

Why does this matter? Because the current property tax proposal being mulled over by our state legislature seeks to tax rental businesses at a different rate than other businesses. Owner-occupied residential property tax caps would be set at 1%, rentals at 2%, and other businesses at 3%.

It's difficult to exactly calculate how 7,557 rental units are divided up between various properties. One property could be comprised of 30 units while another could be a detached, single-family rental, i.e., one unit. For comparison's sake, let's assume a typical New Albany rental property of four units. 7,557 total rental units with four units per property is equal to 1,889 properties.

With that figure in hand, take into account the median county property value of $104,300. 1,889 properties multiplied by the median value equals $197,022,700 worth of taxable property.

That property, taxed at an as yet unjustified special rate of 2% would lead to $3,940,454 in revenue. If taxed at the same 3% rate as other businesses, however, the revenue would be $5,910,681. That's a difference of $1,970,227- a difference that would be made up by homeowners every year.

How would that affect individual households? Remember, as of the 2000 census, there were 19,954 owner-occupied homes in Floyd County. $1,970,227 divided among 19,954 homes equals $98.74 per homeowner each year. It may not seem like much on its surface, but those interested in fairness should take note. With the owner-occupied residential property tax rate set at 1% and the median home value at $104,300, the typical property tax bill will be $1,043. That means that if our "number of units per property" assumption is anywhere near correct, roughly 10% of every "average homeowner" property tax payment would be going to subsidize area landlords who refuse, via special interest lobbying efforts, to fairly pay the same tax rate as other businesses.

We've already been collectively subsidizing the rental property business for years by allowing owners to pay residential tax rates on their business property and have often been paid back with an alarming lack of property maintenance and the accompanying attraction of the criminal element into our communities. The newest take on property taxes further codifies that subsidy without requiring any additional responsibility from landlords in return for it.

At the very least, the Jim Bakers and Pat Harrisons of the area should be held publicly accountable for such a boondoggle, as should those public officials who would vote in favor of it.

Pat Harrison's Slumlord Uprising of 2008, 4/6: "Code enforcement and rental registrations back in the news."

Eight years later, and it's déjà vu all over again as Pat Harrison prepares to defend our downtrodden slumlords against the Gestapo.

The following was originally published here on February 7, 2008.

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6/6

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Code enforcement and rental registrations back in the news.

Get, 'em, Lloyd.

Lloyd Wimp keeps his New Albany property maintained; he wants rental property owners to do the same, by Daniel Suddeath (News and Tribune).

(Lloyd) Wimp is leading a movement with like-minded property owners who want better enforcement of codes in New Albany. His current focus is rental property owners that live out of the city and do not keep their lots up to par.

Wimp spoke to the Building Commission on Monday about the problem.

“One of the big issues that I understand is they (code enforcement officials) are having trouble finding who owns the property, and when they find out who owns the property, finding out where they are at,” Wimp said.

After researching cities around Indiana, Wimp has come to the conclusion that requiring rental property owners to register with the local government would help solve some of the problems.

Better hurry down to the courthouse. I hear Pat Harrison's planning a public immolation.

Wouldn't want to miss it ...

Pat Harrison's Slumlord Uprising of 2008, 5/6: "More on the 'American Dream' of rental property exploitation."

Eight years later, and it's déjà vu all over again as Pat Harrison prepares to defend our downtrodden slumlords against the Gestapo.

The following was originally published here on August 28, 2007.

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2/6
3/6
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6/6

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More on the “American Dream” of rental property exploitation.

It’s a mellow morning accented by espresso, kippers and a multi-disc listening of the “Complete Stax/Volt Singles, 1959-1968,” and I’m hesitant to dive back into the rancor sure to be engendered by the topic of tax relief for rental property owners.

However, to judge by curent readership, I'm on a roll, so what the hell.

Yesterday in a private e-mail, a longtime NAC reader expressed annoyance with the apparent emergence of yet another campaign to improve the desperate plight of starving rental property owners, whose dented and soiled tin cups are expected to become a recurring feature of local editorial pages:

This is a joke!


Indiana landlords to make plea for tax relief (Courier-Journal).

I think this needs a spot on your blog, and there should be a group called, “Citizens against the Slumlords.” Everyone needs to call Indianapolis and request that their representatives vote NO on tax breaks to slumlords until they bring their properties up to code. These are businesses and should be taxed as such! These are problems and eyesores that I’m very passionate about …

After reading this note, I composed an e-mail to Pat Harrison:

Greetings,

I'm the senior editor of the NA Confidential blog, and we share your concern with certain problems associated with rental property in New Albany and Floyd County, although our emphasis as long suffering residents -- i.e., single family homeowners – in New Albany's long neglected historic core centers on the absence of applicable code enforcement and the proliferation of "slumlords."

Having viewed your recent advocacy on behalf of rental property ownership, and likewise perusing statistics suggesting that a high rate of rentals runs hand in hand with overall societal decay, we'd like to ask you a couple of questions.

Now many rental units do you currently own?

Do you hold mortgages on these?

Do you support the enforcement of applicable codes for all citizens?

Thanks for helping us understand your side of this question. Rest assured that we will continue to publicly advocate meaningful codes and rental property inspections as a means of alleviating the problems that have been experienced with irresponsible rental property management, irrespective of the tax burden -- which is but one side of the coin.

Twenty-four hours later, we’ve not received a response, but the situation is being monitored.

Alms, anyone?

Pat Harrison's Slumlord Uprising of 2008, 6/6: "Endangered Slumlord Protection Act? Local rental property mogul and realtor cites a 'pitiful' absence of tax breaks."

Eight years later, and it's déjà vu all over again as Pat Harrison prepares to defend our downtrodden slumlords against the Gestapo.

The following was originally published here on August 22, 2007.

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2/6
3/6
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5/6

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Endangered Slumlord Protection Act? Local rental property mogul and realtor cites a “pitiful” absence of tax breaks.

Back on August 12, the Tribune’s Chris Morris heeded the squeaky realtor’s wheel and considered the outer limits of the “American dream” (unlimited-horizon-free, New Albany-style):

Rental property owners in Clark, Floyd counties say enough is enough.

The idea sounds like a winner. You buy property, fix it up, find someone to rent it, and then sit back and collect the monthly check.

However, it’s not quite that simple, according to local Realtor Pat Harrison. In fact, she said what used to be the American dream of owning property has turned into a nightmare for many. The reason, she said, is property owners are being taxed to death.

“This state is not giving any kind of tax break on commercial and investment property. It’s pitiful,” Harrison said.

Chris didn't intend to be insightful, but his line, "sit back and collect the monthly check," is a classic.

Why do we get the sneaking suspicion that the next grinding trench warfare phase of trying to bring New Albany’s enduring “slumlord protection program” into line with the dictates of the 21st century will inevitably revolve around fanatical opposition (vigilance with Bics in hand, just itching to flick) to absolutely necessary rental inspection reform, on the spurious grounds that extreme poverty caused by Harrison’s “pitiful” absence of tax breaks should absolve owners of adhering to community standards?

We can hear the tune already, and it is discordant -- and dysfunctional -- as ever.

Rental property regs inelegantly tabled as bile, petulance and "ethnic cleansing" fill the air.

This meme is dedicated to Pete.

On Thursday evening, during the final city council meeting of the year, CM Greg Phipps introduced a piece of legislation dealing with rental properties, their registration and inspection.

The 30-page draft ordinance was released by the city attorney on Monday. The best possible outcome would have been for the first two readings to be approved last night, the ordinance to go into committee, and the buffed and polished final version to be considered by a brand new council some time next year.

It remains unclear from whence this ordinance came. City attorney Shane Gibson obviously wrote it. Phipps introduced it. Building Commissioner David Brewer defended it. Economic development director David Duggins watched but said nothing. Neither the mayor nor his hologram was in attendance.

Dan Coffey, who let it be know early and often that he's off the leash and ready to renegotiate his contract with the mayor, denounced the ordinance as originating elsewhere and being handed to the council without sufficient time for review.

The room was filled with rental property owners, business owners who tend to advance disingenuousness to a sublime art form, but had a very sound point: Not a word was said on the topic throughout the political campaign, and now, at the last minute, they were told of impending regulation -- something to which they're unaccustomed.

As will forever be the case when people actually attend meetings and appear angry, the council was terrified, but also had a sound point: Some of us are leaving, others staying -- so let's go watch Star Wars instead. 

When it came time for a vote, Phipps quickly threw in the towel, tabled the ordinance, and added that he'd washed his hands of the exercise; it could be someone else's baby next time. There'll be a committee to explore options, to include stakeholding property owners.

Again: Was this Phipps' idea? Gibson's? Brewer's? City Hall's? The man in the moon's? No one knows, but in the end, isn't it Jeff Gahan's idea? And shouldn't he be the one articulating it?

Oh, and during Pat Harrison's comments in opposition to these rental property regulations, which we're told might have the unfortunate effect of invading tenants' privacy (somehow the laugh track stalled at this point), she offered that the ordinance would be the "beginning" of "ethnic cleansing" in New Albany.

This might come as a surprise to people in Srebrenica or Rwanda, but then again, Pat doesn't own rental properties in those places.

Yet.

(Since the meeting didn't occur in Jeffersonville, the newspaper has not published coverage as of this writing. I'll link to it HERE when and if it occurs (9:05 a.m.)

Remember back in 2008, when Pat Harrison feared the rental inspection Gestapo?

Ignorance of history is a New Albany birthright. Last night it was ethnic cleansing, but in March of 2008, Pat Harrison saw the Gestapo lurking behind rental property registration and inspection proposals.

That's right.

Seven years of nothingness ago.

Bluegill recalls ...

One of the funniest episodes in the past 10 years of New Albany political history: When Harrison again used the term Gestapo to refer to rental property inspection at another meeting after the one I mentioned, Greg Phipps called the comparison out as offensive, given that the actual Gestapo had murdered so many people like him. Harrison thought he meant Jewish and justified it by saying she had read Anne Frank's diary. You just can't make this stuff up.

NAC's coverage at the time:

Realtor Pat Harrison namedrops "Gestapo," seeks monopoly on disingenuousness.

Patience is a version.

The latter includes a video clip. I think it was just repeated, last night. 

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.

Coffee with a touch of bile, please.

Today’s irony-free recapitulation (in itself an ironic assertion, no?) begins with my column in today’s Tribune, which addresses a topic familiar to blog readers: Anonymity, and the many reasons why responsible adults should refrain from practicing it.

Consequently, it is mere coincidence that an interesting item pertaining to rental property ownership recently bobbed to the surface on the newspaper’s on-line forum, but because the posting’s target is a known political entity and the accuser remains pseudonymous, the potential usefulness, not to mention impact, is muted.

Too bad about that; it’s like being on the receiving end of the perfect lob pass and hearing the ref’s whistle blow before the ball can be rammed through the hoop, but since the Tribune forums are a matter of public record, there’s nothing to stop you from reading an otherwise entertaining thread.

Who would have guessed that the rental property owner standing squarely in "Warpig’s" crosshairs once made an infamous public utterance referencing his contempt for regulatory regimes? Was it an untidy Freudian slip, or universal description of prospects for the city as a whole? You be the judge.

And yet ...

The preceding must be regarded as little more than the click track echoing though the drummer’s ears, because the lead guitarist is letting go with majestic power chords of disingenuousness. To hear/read them, scroll through today’s Tribune letters to the editor to this one: “Let’s clean up the city.”

Our group, Interested Citizens, previously began as a way for investment property owners to protect their rights, especially concerning property taxes. We have seen the problems that our neighborhood associations face and always try to help them and invite them to our meetings.

So it is that the realtor and staggeringly prolific rental property owner Pat Harrison apparently believes that by way of a good, coordinated scrubbing, New Albany can return to All-American City status, a term that she conveniently fails to define, but one that was bestowed during a time more than forty years ago when the troubled neighborhoods of today could still boast predominant single-family home ownership, itself a reliable key to avoiding the sort of problems that have become commonplace ever since ... which, in turn, led to all those marvelous rental property investment opportunities.

It would seem that Ms. Harrison, whose financial interest as a rental property owner of her chosen style very much depends on the status quo, believes that carefully bathing the patient precludes the need to diagnose and repair the infection that required hospitalization in the first place. Imagine the doctrine of "Potemkin Village" as cure for what ails us.

Then again, what else could she say?

For starters, how about “Gestapo”?

Here are two other links from 2008. Taken together, they should tidily serve to show you what we're up against: Flagrant mediocrity, which in this degraded open air museum is worshipped far more readily than the Gods on Sunday.

Or maybe it's a religious ritual?

Bring your butterfly nets: Council's rental registration & code enforcement committee meets Wednesday night; Price votes "no".

Or maybe it's a religious ritual?

Owning a rental property is more than an investment — it's a business. You have to be willing and able to commit the time and resources necessary to run your business successfully.
--GMAC Mortgage website

Did you know that to search the Internet for “rental property” +business is to generate more than 3,000,000 hits?

Amazing, isn’t it?

Ask Pat Harrison about this, and she’ll respond – presumably with a straight face – that amassing hundreds of rental properties for the ostensible purpose of charging renters a fee to inhabit them, and retaining the leftover cash (commonly referred to as "profit") is somehow not the same thing as a business venture, and should not be regulated.

She has yet to divulge whether entering into such a "non-business" contract to accept payment for the daily use of a piece of property she owns should be defined as a hobby, charitable service or sexual fetish. Being perverse at heart, I’m guessing the latter.

What other crazed, biochemical impulse could possibly lead her to publicly differ with standard, accepted English usage?

All of this has quite a lot to do with the city council’s Greatly Unnecessary Smoking Debate of ’08. There’ll be more to say about this later, but for now, here’s my viewpoint:

(a) Undeniably, both workplace smoking and slumlord proliferation pertain to public health.

(b) Of the two public health issues, curtailing slumlord proliferation through rental property regulation and overall code enforcement stands to be of greater benefit to all, as opposed to merely some, city residents.

(c) Assuming (as CM John Gonder informs us) that there indeed exists a city council voting bloc that is genuinely concerned with public health issues (not so fast, Dan Coffey – your conversion to tender concern is a transparent ruse), it has been a potentially critical tactical mistake to select workplace smoking as the first public health task to be addressed, primarily because it will alienate the same people who must be brought aboard when it’s time to bring slumlords to heel.

As the only pro-ban council member with the courage to venture into the blogosphere and engage in discussion, Gonder has assured his readers that meaningful rental property reform will be achieved shortly, and that we should give the present council time to facilitate the kneecapping of slumlords -- something that, given the proclivities of past New Albany councils, will be regarded as miraculous when and if it finally occurs.

Meanwhile, precious political capital is being expended to achieve the smoke-free workplace and permit Jamey Aebersold to once again play Hughie's.

Will enough remain in the council’s collective wallet to ensure the long overdue regulation of Ms. Harrison’s non-business fetish?

Patience is a version.

There was a council meeting last night but quite frankly, the Building Commission, who met a little earlier, had the more intriguing agenda.

Local Realtor and landlord Pat Harrison addressed the commission regarding code enforcement and rental property inspection. Deputy Mayor Carl Malysz did the same, and Commission Chair Steve LaDuke added some comments.

I won't, letting readers or, in this case, watchers make their own.

Realtor Pat Harrison namedrops "Gestapo," seeks monopoly on disingenuousness.

Following is an excerpt from Wikipedia’s definition of Gestapo, an acronym for Geheime Staatspolizei, the “secret state police” in Nazi Germany. Any reader who can locate any conceivable correlation between the Gestapo as defined and a program of mandatory rental property inspections in the city of New Albany, as suggested twice last evening by local realtor Pat Harrison during blatantly disingenuous and self-serving remarks before the Building Commission, is encouraged to report these to us.

The video is here: Patience is a version.

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The role of the Gestapo was to investigate and combat “all tendencies dangerous to the state.”

It had the authority to investigate treason, espionage and sabotage cases, and cases of criminal attacks on the Nazi Party and Germany.

Laws passed in 1935 effectively gave the Gestapo carte blanche to operate without judicial oversight. Nazi jurist Dr. Werner Best stated that “[a]s long as the Gestapo ... carries out the will of the leadership, it is acting legally.” The Gestapo was specifically exempted from responsibility to administrative courts, where citizens normally could sue the state to conform to laws.

A further law passed later in the year gave the Gestapo responsibility for setting up and administering concentration camps. Also in 1935, Reinhard Heydrich became head of the Gestapo and Heinrich Müller, chief of operations; Müller would later assume overall command of the Gestapo after Heydrich's assassination in 1942 and Ernst Kaltenbrunner would take over as overall head of the RSHA and SD. Adolf Eichmann was Müller's direct subordinate and head of department IV, section B5, which dealt with Jews.

The power of the Gestapo most open to misuse was called Schutzhaft—“protective custody,” a euphemism for the power to imprison people without judicial proceedings, typically in concentration camps. The person imprisoned even had to sign his or her own Schutzhaftbefehl, an order declaring that the person had requested imprisonment (ostensibly out of fear of personal harm). Normally this signature was forced by beatings and torture.

During World War II, the Gestapo was expanded to around 46,000 members.

Theater of the absurd as slumlords embrace civil rights movement in march on Indy.

Thanks to Greg Roberts, who provides a nice lead-in to today’s marquee story with this message, as posted in the comments section of yesterday’s thread (Are you in favor of the rule of law? Hypocritical, contemptuous city council “has-beens” think you’re a “wannabe”):

Please call Senator Luke Kenley at (317) 232-9400 or (800) 382-9467 (State Tax and Financing Policy Commission Chairman looking at cutting tax rates for slumlords) and tell him that you do not agree that slumlords should be given a tax break. These are businesses!!!

Please see the following article:

Landlords call for parity on taxes; Floyd real estate agent among those at meeting (Courier-Journal)

Hmm.

It seems to me that begging for tax abatements in and of itself constitutes an implicit admission that rental properties are, in fact, business enterprises and not charitable undertakings.

Note, however, that Senator Kenley artfully avoided connecting the word “economic” with rental property ownership, preferring instead to deploy the word “social” in the context of “rehabbing” – as though renting your property were an act of altruism, and with filthy lucre never entering into a strictly angelic tableau.

Many rental property owners serve an "important social function in terms of rehabbing certain areas in lots of communities," Kenley said. "We're discouraging them now" instead of offering them incentives, he said.

Right, Luke. Quadplexes as touchy, feely methods of bonding with other human beings? Can I own one, too?

Perhaps we need to negotiate a bit of quid pro quo, in the sense of extending tax abatements to rental property owners, who in turn can be recognized as full-board business owners, with all the rights and responsibilities (read: code enforcement and an inspections program) implied therein.

What a marvy compromise that would be ... and already, I here Pat Harrison practicing the flicking of her Bic in preparation for a self-immolating bonfire at the court house.

By the way, Ms. Harrison never has answered the questions we asked of her on August 28: More on the “American Dream” of rental property exploitation.

Her “businesses” must really be keeping her busy these days.

More on the “American Dream” of rental property exploitation.

It’s a mellow morning accented by espresso, kippers and a multi-disc listening of the “Complete Stax/Volt Singles, 1959-1968,” and I’m hesitant to dive back into the rancor sure to be engendered by the topic of tax relief for rental property owners.

However, to judge by curent readership, I'm on a roll, so what the hell.

Yesterday in a private e-mail, a longtime NAC reader expressed annoyance with the apparent emergence of yet another campaign to improve the desperate plight of starving rental property owners, whose dented and soiled tin cups are expected to become a recurring feature of local editorial pages:

This is a joke!

Indiana landlords to make plea for tax relief (Courier-Journal).

I think this needs a spot on your blog, and there should be a group called, “Citizens against the Slumlords.” Everyone needs to call Indianapolis and request that their representatives vote NO on tax breaks to slumlords until they bring their properties up to code. These are businesses and should be taxed as such! These are problems and eyesores that I’m very passionate about …

After reading this note, I composed an e-mail to Pat Harrison:

Greetings,

I'm the senior editor of the NA Confidential blog, and we share your concern with certain problems associated with rental property in New Albany and Floyd County, although our emphasis as long suffering residents -- i.e., single family homeowners – in New Albany's long neglected historic core centers on the absence of applicable code enforcement and the proliferation of "slumlords."

Having viewed your recent advocacy on behalf of rental property ownership, and likewise perusing statistics suggesting that a high rate of rentals runs hand in hand with overall societal decay, we'd like to ask you a couple of questions.

Now many rental units do you currently own?

Do you hold mortgages on these?

Do you support the enforcement of applicable codes for all citizens?

Thanks for helping us understand your side of this question. Rest assured that we will continue to publicly advocate meaningful codes and rental property inspections as a means of alleviating the problems that have been experienced with irresponsible rental property management, irrespective of the tax burden -- which is but one side of the coin.

Twenty-four hours later, we’ve not received a response, but the situation is being monitored.

Alms, anyone?