On this blogging day in 2007: Luddite testimonials and DNA's mayoral forum.

There were two posts on October 23, 2007. The first refers to the infamous and now entirely forgotten era of the Trog Blog Wars.

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Okay, so I changed my mind ...sue me already.

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The second posits the inconceivable (DNA being neutral about politics prior to its annexation by Deaf Gahan) grafted onto the "look how far we've ... er ... never mind." Stay tuned for 2019, when Deaf will dodge many of these same questions.

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Reminder: "Develop New Albany to Host Mayoral Candidates Forum" on Wednesday night.

(From Develop New Albany)

Develop New Albany, the City’s non-profit, Main Street organization is hosting a Mayoral Candidates Forum to be held on Wednesday, October 24th from 7:00 - 9:00 pm at the Strassweg Auditorium at the New Albany-Floyd County Public Library.

The forum will consist of two 45-minute question-and-answer sessions with a 10-15-minute break in between. Mr. Randy Hubbard, Republican mayoral candidate, has agreed to participate in the first session and Mr. England, Democratic mayoral candidate, has agreed to participate in the second session which is anticipated to begin at 8:15 p.m. Neither candidate is invited to attend the session in which the opposing candidate is featured.

The sessions will be moderated by Greg Sekula, Develop New Albany Vice-President, and a series of questions will be asked by the moderator that relate to the issues of downtown and neighborhood revitalization. The public is invited and encouraged to attend.

The following topical issues are likely to be covered in the forum in no particular order:

1) Your vision for Downtown New Albany;

2) Strategies for furthering economic development in Downtown New Albany and surrounding older business districts such as the Vincennes and State Street corridors;

3) Addressing problems associated with rental housing conditions including absentee property ownership, illegally subdivided structures, and your position on a City-initiated rental housing inspection program;

4) Strategies for promoting and increasing homeownership and re-investment in older urban neighborhoods;

5) Relationships between the City and local neighborhood associations and non-profit groups;

6) Historic preservation, including the role of the Historic Preservation Commission, historic district designation, and design guidelines;

7) One-way vs. two-way street circulation patterns in the Downtown;

8) Enforcement of violations of City ordinances;

9) Aging infrastructure;

10) Upkeep of downtown streets and public spaces;

11) Ohio River Greenway project;

12) City-County Building space issues;

13) Relationship between the office of Mayor and City Council;

14) The role of public transportation in downtown revitalization and regional economic development;

15) Strategies for the City and school system to work together to strengthen inner-city schools and what impact that would have on downtown neighborhoods; and

16) Strategies for combating neighborhood crime, particularly drug activity.

For more information contact Develop New Albany at 812/941-0018 or e-mail here.

Senior editor sez: Doug England for Mayor.

Readers of the Tribune, our local newspaper, have by now grown accustomed to the diversionary banter of Floyd County Republican Party chairman David Matthews, who has taken on the seemingly full-time task of vacuum interpretation and nuance creation for his enduringly sphinx-like mayoral candidate, “Silent Randy” Hubbard.

However, last week it was the turn of Rove’s – oops, make that Matthews’s – fellow party operative Jennifer Mayfield to defend an ever somnolent Hubbard’s honor by way of a stinging attack on the NAPD’s Todd Bailey, himself an outspoken advocate of Democratic candidate Doug England. Mayfield since has been answered by a friend of Bailey’s, and the muddy scrum of accusations and counter-accusations will continue to grow unabated until the final whistle blows on Election Day, when, thanks to state law, we’ll be cruelly denied the gentle consolations of alcohol until 6:00 p.m.

It just isn’t fair.

None of it.

Especially the alcohol part.

(Rereading those first paragraphs, I now tremble with fear while awaiting the rhetorical lash of that pastureland brown shirt dude that Matthews handed me over to last time, but maybe he’s distracted by penning mash notes to his poster child Mike Sodrel. Should I reword what I wrote and spare him the pleasure?)

(Nah; it’s too much fun as it is. Now, back to our regularly scheduled essay.)

Surely Mayfield exaggerates more than even the vituperous non-professor Erika in portraying Officer Bailey as a veritable leech supping at the collapsed veins of taxpayers, although it is probable that in a hotly contested election, and given the stunning absence of ideas that continues to characterize Matthews’s and Mayfield’s perpetually sandbagging local Republican encampment, that dully repetitious saturation sliming is the only available recourse to the GOP’s probable fate of disappearing from the electoral radar screen entirely.

Matthews was in print yet again last Thursday afternoon, this time flashing photos of the candidates in order to rebut Bailey’s admittedly bizarre previous assertion that England is the better dressed of the two candidates, although photos from Wednesday night’s “forum” depict both men as suitably suited and potentially administrative. In the end, while amusing, certainly the GQ factor isn’t relevant to the issues at hand … although in honesty, I’d pay good money to see any candidate for office wear a toga while campaigning.

As for the opportunity to hear England and Hubbard respond to questions (just not to each other) at the forum, the author was otherwise engaged and has yet to view the film, but it is difficult to imagine that anything said by either candidate would be sufficient to change minds even if the general public cared, and alas, little interest in the forthcoming election has been generated up until now, with voter turnout likely to be depressingly small unless a referendum question is inserted along the lines of, “Are you in favor of paying no taxes whatsoever but receiving the same or greater levels of service from the government you intend to emaciate?”

That’d bring ‘em out in droves, wouldn’t it?

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There’s no time better than the present to offer my personal endorsement in the mayoral contest, because as in the Federer/Woods/Henry razor advertisement, the present is all that matters to me. In considering the England-Hubbard mayoral match-up, I find it useful to strip away the verbiage and superfluous embellishments and concentrate instead on one fundamental factor.

Active vs. passive intent.

From the outset, Hubbard has promised to be deliberate, cautious and, frankly, conservative if elected to office. This is hardly surprising, and for those who believe that incremental and largely passive caretaking is the proper approach to governance, and especially for those who harbor congenital antipathy toward change, the ex-sheriff is the only real choice: "Don't do something - just stand there."

Appropriately, on the other side of the aisle, England’s campaign slogan might be fairly paraphrased as, “Don’t just stand there – do something.”

Culled to its essence, his platform is one of unapologetic activism. For those who believe that problems can be recognized and diagnosed, and solutions undertaken, and especially for those who understand that there is no constant in life except change, the ex-mayor is the only real choice for the job.

One man will be chosen. Whether the winner is Hubbard or England, neither man will please all of his supporters all of the time. Either of them will make mistakes, and in the end, the political wheel will not be reinvented for the sake of tiny New Albany.

What is the real difference to me?

Easy. It can be clearly seen that a transitional situation in New Albany merits an activist stance on the part of local government. This blog has provided three years’ worth of testimony on behalf of such a stance, and of the two candidates for mayor, only Doug England has shown himself willing and capable of articulating an activist stance and possessing the ability to formulate a platform that reflects reality on the ground and offers more than a few thoughtful, workable potential solutions.

Yes, England served previously as mayor.

Yes, he carries baggage from his previous service.

But the present isn’t the past.

As the estimable performer Steve Miller once observed, "Time keeps on slipping into the future," and truer words have seldom been sung. Our next municipal election isn’t about “last time,” or “before,” or “back then.” It’s quite clearly about now. The city is at a particularly important juncture, with certain societal and economic factors illuminated and others not, and with specific difficulties to be faced, but also numerous opportunities there to be seized. Of course, the past is instructive, and when it comes to making sense of what happened before, history books are filled with examples of people whose natural abilities were right for the circumstances of a particular time.

I believe England to be just such a man. What he is best at doing is what we need now.

Of course, like all the rest of us, England is a flawed human being. Fortunately, we’re not being called upon to elect a saint, but to choose a mayor.

Surveying New Albany as it is now, and regarding Doug England as who he is now, there is little doubt in my mind that he possesses the superior skill sets for the job at hand, but surreally, Hubbard’s hastily concocted campaign slogan would have us believe that caretaking and passivity are “right” for New Albany in the current transitional time, and that Hubbard is the “right” man to do very little when much needs to be done.

Perhaps a vow of do-nothingness is a decent gambit in the absence of a platform, but it doesn’t change the fundamental equation, which begins with a plainly evident admission on the part of a vast majority of observers that in New Albany, “something” needs to be done.

England promises to try and do something, and that’s more than enough for me. He’ll receive my vote on November 6.

I encourage readers to follow suit ... not by trusting what this or any other blog tells you, but by choosing your candidate according to your own conscience, and most importantly, by VOTING.

Reminder: "Develop New Albany to Host Mayoral Candidates Forum" on Wednesday night.

(From Develop New Albany)

Develop New Albany, the City’s non-profit, Main Street organization is hosting a Mayoral Candidates Forum to be held on Wednesday, October 24th from 7:00 - 9:00 pm at the Strassweg Auditorium at the New Albany-Floyd County Public Library.

The forum will consist of two 45-minute question-and-answer sessions with a 10-15-minute break in between. Mr. Randy Hubbard, Republican mayoral candidate, has agreed to participate in the first session and Mr. England, Democratic mayoral candidate, has agreed to participate in the second session which is anticipated to begin at 8:15 p.m. Neither candidate is invited to attend the session in which the opposing candidate is featured.

The sessions will be moderated by Greg Sekula, Develop New Albany Vice-President, and a series of questions will be asked by the moderator that relate to the issues of downtown and neighborhood revitalization. The public is invited and encouraged to attend.

The following topical issues are likely to be covered in the forum in no particular order:

1) Your vision for Downtown New Albany;

2) Strategies for furthering economic development in Downtown New Albany and surrounding older business districts such as the Vincennes and State Street corridors;

3) Addressing problems associated with rental housing conditions including absentee property ownership, illegally subdivided structures, and your position on a City-initiated rental housing inspection program;

4) Strategies for promoting and increasing homeownership and re-investment in older urban neighborhoods;

5) Relationships between the City and local neighborhood associations and non-profit groups;

6) Historic preservation, including the role of the Historic Preservation Commission, historic district designation, and design guidelines;

7) One-way vs. two-way street circulation patterns in the Downtown;

8) Enforcement of violations of City ordinances;

9) Aging infrastructure;

10) Upkeep of downtown streets and public spaces;

11) Ohio River Greenway project;

12) City-County Building space issues;

13) Relationship between the office of Mayor and City Council;

14) The role of public transportation in downtown revitalization and regional economic development;

15) Strategies for the City and school system to work together to strengthen inner-city schools and what impact that would have on downtown neighborhoods; and

16) Strategies for combating neighborhood crime, particularly drug activity.

For more information contact Develop New Albany at 812/941-0018 or e-mail here.

Surprise: Mayoral "forum" on tap for Wednesday, October 24 at the library.

NAC graciously permitted the Tribune the scoop on this one.

Don’t call it a debate in New Albany mayor’s race, by Eric Scott Campbell.

Mayoral candidates Randy Hubbard and Doug England have not appeared on the same stage yet in this campaign, a distinction that will continue even after a forum featuring both of them next week.

Some weeks back, Develop New Albany’s economic restructuring committee discussed the possibility of arranging a mayoral candidate forum for the express purpose of focusing the candidates' attention on downtown revitalization issues.

Democratic candidate Doug England’s camp immediately and enthusiastically signaled acceptance, but Republican candidate Randy Hubbard subsequently let it be known that he would accede to no such gatherings, citing scheduling conflicts and conceding indirectly to a general absence of political acumen.

Fortunately, Develop New Albany board member Ed Clere didn’t let it rest there, and now a compromise of sorts has been reached.

We are pleased to announce that Develop New Albany will sponsor a mayoral candidate forum at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 24, in the Strassweg Auditorium of the New Albany-Floyd County Public Library. Each candidate will have 45 minutes to answer prepared questions presented by a moderator. Republican Randy Hubbard will appear first, followed by a 15-minute break and then Democrat Doug England. Questions will focus on downtown growth and revitalization issues.

In spite of the fact that there will be no questions allowed from the public, NAC nonetheless asks readers to submit questions and topics for this forum. We'll listen carefully to see if these are answered, albeit indirectly, and perhaps submit them for follow-up answers to the candidates' handlers.

For more thoughts on the forthcoming election, visit NA Shadow Council.

David Matthews really showed me, didn’t he?

Well, actually no; he didn’t. He didn't show me anything, and that's the problem.

As is the curious habit of the political party he leads, Dave aimed low and missed the target, lifting gracefully ineffectual dust devils while providing discerning readers with all too much of nothing, and insisting all the while that his party's conceptual vacuousness is in fact made of something so vitally important that he continues to decline frequent invitations to concretely define it.

At the conclusion of more than 700 words devoted to stale rhetoric and a bit of deft soft shoe, the veil of secrecy remains firmly draped atop the heroic sandstone statue of Randy Hubbard, uniformed and armed, erected by Republicans as a symbol of “leadership,” but one that is just as uncommunicative as most pigeon-gathering stations in public squares the world over tend to be.

Think: "Schlock of Gibraltar," as scored and staged by your friendly local (dare we say it) Karl Rove wannabeen.

MATTHEWS: Substantive talk is taking place in forums

I would love to respond to Roger Baylor’s recent opinion published in the New Albany Tribune concerning the Randy Hubbard-Doug England race for New Albany mayor.

As a side note, I’m guessing that Dave Matthews was taught the importance of context in attribution, and when he omits it, one can only surmise that he does so intentionally.

Of course, anyone can peruse this blog or any other for ammunition to support or attack almost any position and surely find it, and Dave’s probably correct in assuming that the subtleties of scholarship and erudition aren’t the primary concern of voters that he and the GOP target with their current “platform,” one composed entirely of slimings of Doug England.

Note however that Dave is capable of neat stylistic pirouettes of his own, such as taking NAC’s suggestion that the intelligence of voters is insulted by a candidate who won’t publicly discuss platform planks with his opponent, and flipping it over to accuse us of insulting the intelligence of voters by asking them to consider substance.

Gads ... those poor, incapable voters. Having to think! Quick, Dave -- go fetch a straw man and a few broom handles before a thought breaks out.

Okay, so let's get down to the basics. Noting that NAC’s criticism of Randy Hubbard’s mayoral campaign has focused on one central point, this being Hubbard’s persistent inability or plain unwillingness to offer substantive platform planks and address these planks in a public debate forum with his opponent in such a manner that his recognition of problems and consideration of potential solutions are evident to onlookers, readers are begged to peruse Dave’s Saturday column in an effort to locate any such planks.

In fact, there are none, and the GOP chairman all but concedes that there are not likely to be any indications of his candidate’s grasp of specifics or insights as to a possible governing strategy during what remains of the campaign season.

Looks to me like you don’t have to be a “self-proclaimed Web blog czar” to see that NAC has won that particular argument. In place of substantive discussion, Dave leaves us with this alternative:

I’ll take honesty, integrity and leadership over experience any day.

To each his own.

Last winter, when I was looking for a surgeon to repair my shoulder injury, it seemed a good idea to select one who’d done the operation previously rather than one who hadn’t. The surgeon I found was able to brief me beforehand, explain the problem with my rotator cuff, and describe comprehensively how he was going to approach fixing it.

Was he telling me “what I wanted to hear?" Absolutely, because what I wanted to hear was that he understood my problem and had a plan for resolving it.

Had my surgeon followed the scant outlines of the Randy Hubbard Hands-Off Model of civic management grudgingly handed to us so far by the party chairman (talk about "tinkle-down" effects), I suppose he’d have told me what a great guy he is and then asked me if I had any thoughts as to how he should proceed rebuilding the rotator cuff.

No, thanks. It seems to me that there are times when it’s just a better choice to go with experience and proven skills rather than trust an informal polling of sidewalk superintendents and street corner passers-by.

And that’s why I’ll be voting for Doug England in November, and why this whole artificially inflated "character" discussion reminds me of Abraham Lincoln's response to Ulysses S. Grant's purported drinking problem:

"Tell me what brand of whiskey that Grant drinks. I would like to send a barrel of it to my other generals."

By the way, Dave – where’s that Brenda Scharlow yard sign you said you’d get for me? After all, our sitting councilman remains a nonentity and a civic embarrassment ... and I'm a bi-partisan type of guy, at least when my intelligence isn't being insulted by denizens of the exurban veld.

GOP’s six-week saturation sliming of Doug England begins – and yes, NAC told you so.

I was elected the Floyd County Republican Party Chairman back in March. One of my top priorities was the upcoming New Albany mayor and city council races.
--David L. Matthews, chairman of the Floyd County Republican Party

That’s six long months for the Republican chairman to formulate a platform plank – any platform plank will do, thanks – that pertains to the city of New Albany in this day and time.

Instead, from the relative solitude of his suburban Greenville command bunker, Matthews has leaped into the New Albany mayoral fray by unleashing the first salvo of his party’s forthcoming negative campaign against Democrat Doug England, with the intended beneficiary being Republican candidate Randy “Silence Is Golden, Golden” Hubbard.

But with yesterday's letter to the editor of the Tribune, Matthews uncannily (and surely unintentionally) corroborated something I wrote in this space just two weeks ago:

It’s beyond debate: Hubbard “tete-a-tete” avoidance mode noted by city residents, Tribune columnist, the Who’s Tommy, and man in moon.

In this continually widening Republican void, where platform planks and ideas go to die, I’m left to surmise that Hubbard’s “duck ‘n’ cover” defensive posture circa the Labor Day opening political campaign weekend is merely a tactical prelude to calculated fireworks later in the autumn. It’s just about the only thing that makes sense at this point.

My best guess would be an 11th hour outburst of negative campaigning in October, with the saintly Hubbard himself deigning to remain “above” the muddy fray while local confederates do the dirty work of contrasting Hubbard’s purportedly impeccable law enforcement credentials with patronage abuse questions that linger in the public consciousness from England’s two previous terms as mayor.

Such a late attack strategy would at least explain Hubbard’s odd reticence as England has aggressively lapped the somnolent ex-sheriff early in the contest, and twice opening bloody cuts: First, with the Democratic candidate’s city hall relocation press conference and Hubbard’s subsequent conceptual disorientation, and second, in the aftermath of the GOP candidate’s inexplicable debate withdrawal …

It is highly flattered to have been proven absolutely correct, even if I erred slightly in thinking that the Republicans might wait until October to begin dropping napalm.

Silly me, although when you have a dog that won’t hunt, perhaps it’s best to periodically squeeze off a few noisy rounds to make the folks back home think they might be having meat for dinner instead of the same tired soup bone.

If only the voters in New Albany might be gifted with red meat from the Republican party.

Of course, it cannot be denied that Doug England carries baggage from previous administrations, and by the terms of political engagement, it’s certainly not unfair for the GOP to play dirty and to go negative, even this early in the contest.

It's just that for once we'd love to see these terms of engagement altered to reflect the power of ideas rather than the soiling capacity of spitballs.

Given that Hubbard has failed to articulate any platform planks of substance … given that he refuses to debate England one on one and ask questions of England himself rather than permit Matthews to carry his lunch pail … given that neither Hubbard nor his party chairman have shown any willingness or ability to address New Albany’s big ticket urban issues at this decisive time, we must regard Matthew’s swift boat pyrotechnics as strictly diversionary in nature, and we’ll continue to do so until Hubbard shows signs of a pulse.

Whether NAC’s opinion matters of not (hold your catcalls, Troglodyte Nation), we’ve spent much of the past three years bemoaning the lack of substantive dialogue on pressing local issues, and positing that we stand at a particularly important juncture with respect to the city’s future viability.

Meanwhile, Matthews can do no better than deploy a Republican Youth League operative’s second-hand smirk to mock England’s willingness to discuss issues on any street corner, and before any size crowd, even as Hubbard’s catatonic silence threatens more of the same cautious, caretaking “conservatism” that has managed to “conserve” only those numerous bad political and governmental habits that have led to regress in the first place.

And, without a debate. How short-sighted (read: arrogant) is that?

England has made one thing perfectly clear, and arguably, it is the most important point that any candidate for public office in New Albany needs to make in 2007: Doing nothing is not an option at this point in the city’s history.

The sooner Matthews, Hubbard and the GOP grasp this self-evident wisdom -- shall we accompany the GOP brain trust on a walking tour of the historic city core to promote much needed consciousness-raising? -- the sooner a genuine debate can be joined and a legitimate alternative offered.

With the mud already flying, there seems depressingly little hope for optimism … but somewhere, at least, Karl Rove is smiling.

It’s beyond debate: Hubbard “tete-a-tete” avoidance mode noted by city residents, Tribune columnist, the Who’s Tommy, and man in moon.

But what the hell, you can win a plasma screen television without even showing your face at the forthcoming pachyderm picnic. Appropriate, eh?

A couple of weeks back, NA Confidential was entirely unsurprised to learn that Republican mayoral candidate Randy Hubbard would be cravenly sidestepping an October debate with his Democratic opponent, Doug England.

Randy Hubbard and the headlong flight from ideas.

Apparently Plan A is the hope is that England will commit an unforced error capable of being exploited for electoral gain. There seems to be no Plan B. In the interim, Hubbard’s attempted gravitas seems increasingly less plausible than what is almost certainly the non-spinnable reality: A comprehensive absence of platform content, grasp and ideas on the part of a reluctant candidate desperately recruited by his own party for the sole reason of warding off an expected insurgency emanating from the upstart outsider residing at the Admiral Bicknell.

With Hubbard’s silence deepening by the day and his electoral stock quavering, the Tribune’s Sunday guest columnist Daniel Robison opportunistically spotted an opening and commented serviceably on September 2 in Englandfest tickets available.

(Hubbard) recently told IU Southeast that he can’t face off against Democratic nominee Doug England in mid-October because of time constraints; an excuse I would’ve taken for a joke if it weren’t Hubbard’s true explanation.

Hubbard’s move suggests he has all but thrown in the towel. If he cared at all about Nov. 5’s outcome, he would’ve agreed to this showdown — at the very least to prevent England from milking the situation for his campaign’s benefit. And refusing to debate is certainly no way to comfort donors nor attract new money, the true lifeline of a campaign.

But such obviousness apparently can’t to be taken for granted in Hubbard’s camp. Undeterred by his opponent’s refusal to RSVP for the debate, England has smartly stated that he will turn the event into a one-candidate forum, effectively turning a would-be debate into a promotional event for himself on Oct. 16.

In this continually widening Republican void, where platform planks and ideas go to die, I’m left to surmise that Hubbard’s “duck ‘n’ cover” defensive posture circa the Labor Day opening political campaign weekend was merely a tactical prelude to calculated fireworks later in the autumn.

It’s just about the only thing that makes sense at this point.

My best guess would be an 11th hour outburst of negative campaigning in October, with the saintly Hubbard himself deigning to remain “above” the muddy fray while local confederates do the dirty work of contrasting Hubbard’s purportedly impeccable law enforcement credentials with patronage abuse questions that linger in the public consciousness from England’s two previous terms as mayor.

Such a late attack strategy would at least explain Hubbard’s odd reticence as England has aggressively lapped the somnolent ex-sheriff early in the contest, and twice opening bloody cuts: First, with the Democratic candidate’s city hall relocation press conference and Hubbard’s subsequent conceptual disorientation, and second, in the aftermath of the GOP candidate’s inexplicable debate withdrawal, as referenced previously by columnist Robison.

As Hubbard’s image resolution bytes grows ever fuzzier, surely England’s team is tempted to consider a more conservative campaign, but I’ve never been one to advocate running out the clock. It seems to me that Hubbard’s virtually pulse-free profile, coupled with the likelihood of a textbook GOP smear campaign down the road, actually provides England with yet another tactical opportunity, albeit counterintuitive, to land a haymaker.

Here’s why.

If people on New Albany’s streets know anything, it is that the hyperkinetic England won’t sit still for a moment if again elected mayor. He may do the right thing, and he may do the wrong thing, but he possesses sufficient energy and vision to do something.

Love him or hate him, this much is known.

Unfortunately for England, many of these same people haven’t completely forgotten that there were reasons for his crushing defeat at the hands of Regina Overton in 1999. These reasons include hubris, which the ex-mayor seems to have convincingly addressed on numerous occasions since re-entering the political fray, and the public’s lingering recollection of behind-the-scenes patronage scandals and slushy improprieties … which he has not.

At least, not yet.

Hence the current, golden opportunity.

By mustering a measure of introspection as to the lessons of the past and the wisdom of age, and by offering a wee bit of penitence as a prelude to a hopeful future, England might now stage a bold preemptive strike and earnestly address the legacy of backroom dealings that inevitably arises whenever his 2007 candidacy is discussed around town, and in particular, as these perceptions pertain to individuals whose shadowy influence at the time has come to be viewed as malign rather than constructive.

England might reassure voters that having learned from experience, there is no need to fear that history might repeat itself. He might explicitly distance himself from the key backroom players of the time. He might close by pledging that a future England administration will not become entangled in the sort of good-old-boy’s school patronage disbursements and borderline ethical fundraising ties that sadly discredited otherwise successful terms in office.

In fact, he might raise the bar even higher. Dare we broach the possibility of an ethics commission for municipal government in New Albany?

If Hubbard intends to open fire, then England should make the gunslinger's powder as wet as possible as a prelude to spiking the barrel on election day.

Then again, maybe I’m mistaken about it all.

Perhaps the mayoral contest is all but sewn up, and England need not make such a journey as a necessary step toward ensuring a third act in his mayoral history. Certainly I’ll still vote for him either way, although with this niggling caveat:

The suggestions offered here serve primarily to address doubts and concerns that have been expressed to me in wide ranging conversations with friends and acquaintances, most of whom acknowledge England’s considerable chutzpah, while remaining far less enamored of some members in his past, and perhaps present, entourage.

My mind’s made up, but they’re the ones who might yet need reassurances that this time around, sharing in the spoils on the part of certain of England’s coterie is subordinated to creating more for all the city’s residents.

It was a productive weekend, so let the anonymous hate mail begin!

The past weekend was busy, with numerous festivals, picnics and events, and for some unknown reason, my muse wouldn’t let me be.

Redistricting: Grudgingly coming soon to a laggard city near you.

Council obstructionists, now burdened with the responsibility of fulfilling the redistricting mandate publicly, and with transparence, can now be counted upon to mobilize the misdirected malice of downtrodden ratepayers and (what else?) strenuously object to being forced to pay the legal costs accrued solely by reason of the council’s own vacuous indolence.

Ritz, Whiz and Ripple: Envious troglodytes point random disinformation generator at the Carnegie Center, demand full investigation of wine and cheese.

Seeing as incomprehension and disinformation are veritable birthrights of New Albany’s “little people,” it’s safe to assume that for at least some of them, neither an educational evening spent at the Carnegie Center for Art and History, nor the Center’s annual habit of pairing one such evening with a fundraising wine and cheese tasting, is quite enough to quell the pain and anger dwelling within the breasts of those for whom the existence of well-adjusted, rational people is an insufferable daily affront.

Randy Hubbard and the headlong flight from ideas.

Apparently Plan A is the hope is that (Doug) England will commit an unforced error capable of being exploited for electoral gain. There seems to be no Plan B. In the interim, Hubbard’s attempted gravitas seems increasingly less plausible than what is almost certainly the non-spinnable reality: A comprehensive absence of platform content, grasp and ideas on the part of a reluctant candidate desperately recruited by his own party for the sole reason of warding off an expected insurgency emanating from the upstart outsider residing at the Admiral Bicknell.

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Turning to the national page, I haven’t seen yesterday’s New York Times, but last Sunday the inimitable Frank Rich offered another of his devastatingly accurate indictments of the lamentable “Reign of Error” otherwise known as the presidency of George W. Bush. It came at the end of a requiem for Karl Rove:

Last weekend's Iowa straw poll was a more somber but equally anachronistic spectacle. Again, it's a young conservative commentator, Ryan Sager, writing in The New York Sun, who put it best: “The face of the Republican Party in Iowa is the face of a losing party, full of hatred toward immigrants, lust for government subsidies, and the demand that any Republican seeking the office of the presidency acknowledge that he's little more than Jesus Christ's running mate.” That face, at once contemptuous and greedy and self-righteous, is Karl Rove's face. Unless someone in his party rolls out a revolutionary new product, it is indelible enough to serve as the Republican brand for a generation.

Speaking of entertaining collapses on the part of the GOP, the Tribune’s fine young guest columnist took the Republicans to task yesterday for abandoning one of their own in his time of need:

Where’s the loyalty?, by Daniel Robison.

Another local resident has made it to the big-time spotlight. Lately, he was all over the Internet, radio, newspapers — you name it. He was at the center of national debate; talking heads and bloggers yakked and spun prose, respectively, about his personal and professional life. Even Jay Leno made a joke at his expense — a tried and true indication that a person has hit the big time.

But this local is not famous; he is infamous. Fingered in a police report as committing a sex act on a sleeping man, president of the Young Republican National Federation and Clark County resident Glenn Murphy Jr., is now a poster child for what happens when one’s personal, professional and political lives meet at an unfortunate impasse.

Daniel exhibits praiseworthy compassion at Murphy’s personal plight:

But that is no excuse for how the GOP has hung him out to dry. If he’s eventually charged and convicted, fine, that’s grounds for cutting ties. But right now it seems that Murphy’s Republican friends and colleagues have abandoned him, and that’s no way to treat one of their own.

Fortunately, Murphy lives in kinder, gentler times, and he'll not be forced into the solution presented to Colonel Alfred Redl by the Austrian high command.

Not that Rove wouldn't have offered it ...

Randy Hubbard and the headlong flight from ideas.

Hello.
Is there anybody in there?
Just nod if you can hear me.
Is there anyone home?

-- Roger Waters/Pink Floyd

We’ll forgive you for thinking that it has been hot this August, because on the local political front, matters finally seem to be heading toward the anticipated pre-election autumn boil.

Hubbard’s refusal scuttles IUS debate, by Eric Scott Campbell (News and Tribune).

IU Southeast’s proposed mid-October debate between New Albany mayoral candidates Doug England and Randy Hubbard is off the table after Hubbard declined the invitation.

You’d be more surprised at the “unexpected” outcome of a professional wrestling match than with Hubbard’s debate duck ‘n’ cover, and in today’s Tribune, a letter to the editor by Todd Bailey (a self-professed supporter of Democratic candidate England) offers a response:

Late in the game” and scheduling conflicts do not wash with me, nor will it with other voters. If Mr. Hubbard wants to be viewed as a credible candidate he should not hide behind such empty excuses …

… I support Doug England for mayor as I believe that Mr. England has the interest of the community and its citizens at heart. Mr. England supports progress, fiscal responsibility and an overall better New Albany. Mr. England has made this clear by outlining his agenda and stance on the issues at hand to the citizens of this community. To my knowledge Mr. Hubbard has made no such attempt which is unfortunately consistent with his refusal to debate.

Almost from the moment that Hubbard, a former Floyd County Sheriff, was nominated by the Republican Party to run for mayor, he has been curiously unwilling to display visible enthusiasm for his campaign. Rather, he has struck a pose of lofty detachment, suggesting that his candidacy owed not to any burning commitment to principle or eagerness to serve, but instead came about because concerned citizens scaled the imposing peak of his disinterest and earnestly petitioned him to make a bid.

Maddeningly, Hubbard has offered virtually nothing of substance with respect to issues or a platform, and when asked for specifics, he has deferred to outdated platitudes or asked for more time to seek from others the answers to questions that he apparently hasn’t yet considered.

Granted, it can be theorized that when one’s opponent spends most waking hours talking – Doug England’s garrulousness is legendary, entertaining and also substantive – a comparative reticence might prove quite useful in positioning oneself as the strong, silent type, and yet Hubbard seems to have strayed from opportunistic caution into verbally uncommunicative territories formerly occupied by Harpo Marx, Marcel Marceau and Rigor Mortis.

Apparently Plan A is the hope is that England will commit an unforced error capable of being exploited for electoral gain. There seems to be no Plan B. In the interim, Hubbard’s attempted gravitas seems increasingly less plausible than what is almost certainly the non-spinnable reality: A comprehensive absence of platform content, grasp and ideas on the part of a reluctant candidate desperately recruited by his own party for the sole reason of warding off an expected insurgency emanating from the upstart outsider residing at the Admiral Bicknell.

Casting aside what may or may not have been in political terms prior to the present day, it is at present virtually impossible for me to imagine a scenario in which Hubbard would make a better choice for mayor than England. All of us know that England has baggage carried over from two previous terms, and furthermore, we know that at some point, he’ll utter something that is politically incorrect. He will ally with people we find odious. If elected mayor, he’ll make mistakes, just as he did before.

But it is just as obvious that England possesses in abundance a character trait that the city of New Albany needs desperately, and needs right now: He will do something, as opposed to doing nothing.

Until Randy Hubbard, currently stuck at “cipher” and plunging, identifies his own something, his candidacy for City Hall simply cannot be taken seriously.

Randy Hubbard and Salman Rushdie … where are you tonight?

Earlier this week, a prominent New Albanian Republican finally, formally announced his mayoral bid. Here’s an excerpt from the Tribune’s coverage.

Former Floyd County Sheriff Randy Hubbard entered the New Albany mayoral race Wednesday, saying he’d been coaxed by residents “disillusioned with current and past administrations” …

… Asked what his goals would be if elected, Hubbard replied, “At this point, I just need to talk to people in the community” to find out what issues are important to them.

I’ve no interest in disputing the prevailing local wisdom holding that Mr. Hubbard is a man of exacting professional integrity, primarily because I’ve no reason to doubt it unless proven otherwise. To me, it’s a given.

Rather, might we briefly glance past the testimonials and acknowledge the hair-pulling, maddening incongruity of a high-ranking community figure’s weeks-long courting of citizen disillusionment, his certain deliberation and careful planning leading to Wednesday’s well-crafted announcement, and then a bizarre, vacuous comment to the effect that after all this thought and consideration, he still has no personal recognition of pertinent issues, but must ask community members to provide him with some?

That’s simply incredible, but in the open air museum of congenital dysfunction known as New Albany, somehow we’re the ones regarded as crazed and dangerous for discussing numerous issues on a daily basis for months -- years -- and expecting those seeking our votes to approach the table with a platform in their hands.

See: Mr./Mrs./Ms. Candidate: Just in time for the filing period, here are my modified rules of voting engagement.

Why insist? Without a coherent system of policy ideas -- without a platform -- the phrase “disillusioned with current and past administrations” has no substantive meaning apart from “my clan – your clan,” and we’ve seen where that particular “policy platform” has taken the city over long decades of decay.

With all due respect – and I want to be fair to him – how is it possible that Mr. Hubbard cannot think of a single issue beyond funding sources when so many pressing items currently crowd the city’s collective agenda? To be sure, integrity’s a promising start, but Mr. Hubbard and his fellow aspirants must do better than that.

Gratifyingly, someone already has done better.

Randy Smith, owner of Destinations Booksellers and a former contributor to this blog, is writing a series of guest columns for the Tribune. All the columns are archived together on-line.

SMITH: Walk this plank, candidates

By earning it, I mean that (city council nominees) will have campaigned on a platform of ideas. I believe that any candidate who does will benefit from a sharp increase in turnout that this city has seldom seen.

While no candidate will embrace all of these proposals (in fact, they’d probably be crazy to do so), I offer them up as a menu for action, free of charge, to any candidate bold enough to articulate them further. Some are tougher than others. Some will be controversial. But I believe in them all.

By local standards of antebellum ward-heeling and foot-dragging, it’s an audacious and ambitious notion to offer a unified system of ideas, and not unexpectedly, Randy’s already under attack for trespassing against New Albany’s long and sad history of anti-intellectual underachievement.

(Who in the hey do you think you are? This is our neighborhood, too. Do you even live downtown? BS.)

Note that the preceding comment refers not to genetic engineering or the advocacy of teenage sex, but to Randy’s suggestion that the city’s downtown streets be given bicycle lanes. If something as wholesome and healthy as biking prompts such gasbag Limbaughesque vitriol, just imagine how the remainder of his impeccably rational pleas for New Albany to gingerly consider joining the 21st century (soon, please) are going to be received down at the Luddite Bar & Grill.

Go here and read about policies and principles, and next time you drop in to Destinations to pay homage to the power of the written word – to the realm of ideas – say thanks to the proprietor for not being a coward.

Given the New Albany political climate in 2007, thinking publicly qualifies as an alternative lifestyle, and the open advocacy of thinking is a revolutionary act -- and we need as many of these revolutionary acts, and as quickly, as we possibly can find them.

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Link: Candidate filings (updated daily)