Sad Tweedledee: "Pleasant Ridge residents win injunction against city in fight to save their homes."

At the beginning of September, we surveyed the bizarre scene.

Charlestown's Bob Hall channels his inner Gahan. Are the cattle cars on their way?

We can't demand politicians be honest and transparent without congratulating Bob Hall for his candor.

If we're all being honest (paging Mr. Dickey), there can be little doubt that the conceptual basis of ersatz Democrat Jeff Gahan's public housing putsch in New Albany is perfectly synchronized with the undoubtedly genuine Republican Hall's crusade to erase Pleasant Ridge from the map of Charlestown.

Both seek to make the right kind of space for the better sort of citizen. Think of it as a neatly refashioned "Lebensraum" for River Ridge -- after all, it isn't like those low-rent, anti-social elements work, or anything as useful.

As of this afternoon, there's a fresh twist for the consideration of Tweedledee. No word from Tweedledum, though if he shows up at tonight's council meeting, I'll ask him.

HA HA HA

Pleasant Ridge residents win injunction against city in fight to save their homes, by Justin Sayers (Louisville Courier Journal)

A judge ruled in favor of Pleasant Ridge residents on Monday, granting a temporary injunction that ensures Charlestown, Indiana, officials treat property owners there the same as they do a company seeking to redevelop the low-income neighborhood.

In his ruling, Scott County Judge Jason Mount says that if the city waives fines for properties owned by Pleasant Ridge Redevelopment LLC, "then it must waive fines imposed on other property owners" in the neighborhood, according to court records.

Mount's ruling comes roughly 10 months after the Pleasant Ridge Neighborhood Association asked for the injunction. It also came three months after a contentious court hearing, during which Charlestown Mayor Bob Hall testified that he did nothing wrong in trying to help remove a "low-rent" neighborhood that can attract people "who are not contributing to society."

Charlestown's Bob Hall channels his inner Gahan. Are the cattle cars on their way?

We can't demand politicians be honest and transparent without congratulating Bob Hall for his candor.

If we're all being honest (paging Mr. Dickey), there can be little doubt that the conceptual basis of ersatz Democrat Jeff Gahan's public housing putsch in New Albany is perfectly synchronized with the undoubtedly genuine Republican Hall's crusade to erase Pleasant Ridge from the map of Charlestown.

Both seek to make the right kind of space for the better sort of citizen. Think of it as a neatly refashioned "Lebensraum" for River Ridge -- after all, it isn't like those low-rent, anti-social elements work, or anything as useful.

To paraphrase Pete Townshend, "Go to the mirror boys."

Mayor denies Pleasant Ridge accusations, says 'low-rent' neighborhood needs to be removed, by Kirsten Clark (Courier-Journal)

SCOTTSBURG, Indiana — Charlestown Mayor Bob Hall — who is accused of improperly colluding with private developers to wipe out the low-income Pleasant Ridge neighborhood — testified Friday he did nothing wrong in trying to help remove a "low-rent" neighborhood that can attract people "who are not contributing to society."

During a hearing before a judge, Hall maintained that enforcement of the city’s property maintenance code through inspections and fines — which Pleasant Ridge residents allege is part of an “illegal scheme” to force them out — was carried out lawfully and has been effective in addressing issues of crime, garbage and substandard housing in the neighborhood.

“I know it’s not politically correct to say this, but when you have a low-rent district, it invites people who are not contributing to society,” Hall said.

As a closing thought, I fixed Hall's statement:

"I know it’s not politically correct to say this, but when you have One Southern Indiana, it invites people who are not contributing to society."

RDA in our time, or an early Christmas for One Southern Indiana and Rep. Ed Clere.

Thanks Martina.

Approval of Son of RDA probably was a foregone conclusion.

(1 of 2) It's Son of Regional Development Authority, coming from your Floyd County Council at Tuesday's meeting.

(2 of 2) Floyd County Council set to approve Son of Regional Development Authority after rejecting it two years ago.

Almost no one knew the RDA had returned to Floyd County Council for down and dirty adoption, but one thing is clear. Now that Floyd County's governmental tier has hospital sale money to spend, we're compelled to start paying close attention to them, too.

In 2015, council Republicans led the way in voting against RDA, but there has been turnover since then, and anyway, when all the DemoDixieDisneycrats in the room are falling over themselves to agree with Rep. Ed Clere, Wendy Dant Chesser and the regional oligarchs she represents ... hey, wait.

It's National Bourbon Day, isn't it?

Now there's an idea for coping skills.

But seriously ... had I known sooner, much more hell would have been raised, though to be truthful, it's on me. I missed the approaching RDA boomerang, and as we've gleaned from so many years observing Deaf Gahan's bunker charades, politicians are secretive just like fish gotta swim and birds gotta fly.

I hope not to be fooled twice. Here's a thought from regular reader Kelley Curran:

The only purpose of an RDA is to "get things done" that supposedly can't be done now because of "politics." Translated, because elected officials are charged with representing their constituents, it makes it difficult to do things not in those constituents' best interests, and that frustrates the (big) business community.

Here's a graphic from CounterPunch. The next time you see this graffiti, it'll have been made One Southern Indiana's homepage banner, because irony is something they're not calculated to grasp.

The newspaper covered last evening's meeting here. Lots of hard, cutting edge questions, and ... say, what about that bourbon?

(2 of 2) Floyd County Council set to approve Son of Regional Development Authority after rejecting it two years ago.

For further background on the 2015 origins of this story, go here.

It was August, 2015, and we were living through an era of alphabet soup. That was then ...

For the sparse straight dope, read Chris Morris's description of yesterday's meeting, in which the Floyd County Council voted 5 - 2 to reject One Southern Indiana's entreaties and remain outside the Regional Development Authority (RDA) required to participate in the Regional Cities Initiative lottery. The voting breakdown reflects this issue's strange non-partisan orientation. Four Republicans and a Democrat (Striegel) voted against, with Pickett (D) and Schellenberger (R) voting in favor.

... this is now.

It seems that for quite some time, some local government officials have been conferring with One Southern Indiana, and we're now going to witness a revival of the Regional Cities Initiative, as plotted and stewarded by an appointed Regional Development Authority board, with the ostensible goal being a share of economic development monies disbursed by the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (go here for more).

I'm told the votes are there to pass this measure. For proponents of the RCI, the best case scenario would be an RDA accepted by Floyd, Clark, Harrison, Washington and Scott counties.

Here's the ordinance.

Apologies for the quality of reproduction.

I'm only a pro bono blogger with a full plate today, annoyed yet again by non-transparency on the part of local government, but in little position at the moment to elaborate beyond what I've written.

I've heard the arguments in favor, and respect them. I'd respect them even more if they were accompanied by pledges of renewed transparency, and a concurrent goal to involved more citizens in the process. 1Si has a dreadful record in this regard, and it has consistently refused to be accountable for the horrible plan it created in 2015.

Seeing as 1Si is responsive only to its members, my recommendation is simple.

Engage your county council representatives. 

Agree or disagree; say yea or nay. Ask questions. Expect coherent answers. We need to know if this time we'll be allowed to make input to this process. If not, then it's just another one of 1Si's shell games.

Find them here: http://www.floydcounty.in.gov/index.php/floyd-county-government/floyd-county-indiana-county-council

Good luck, and let me know what they tell you.

(1 of 2) It's Son of Regional Development Authority, coming from your Floyd County Council at Tuesday's meeting.

At the Floyd County Council meeting on Tuesday evening, it is expected that the county's fiscal body will reverse course from 2015 and approve participation in a Regional Development Authority (RDA) to be formed for the purpose of devising and implementing a future Regional Cities Initiative.

Read the ordinance here.

I know; acronym sickness is just over the horizon, but bear with me. All of these slick letter combos are a reprise of 2015, when the state minted the notion of staging a quasi-reality show to disburse lottery winnings (actually, the state's share came from a tax amnesty program).

My effort to explain it in 2015 contained the following excerpt from Elizabeth's Beilman's N & T coverage, although interested parties should reread the whole column to benefit from some of my best-ever pitchfork rhetoric.

ON THE AVENUES SPECIAL EDITION: When it comes to the RCI, can the RDA opt out of the RFRA?

August 12, 2015

(Beilman): One Southern Indiana has taken the lead in producing this plan through a new initiative called “Our Southern Indiana.” The plan includes developments across Clark, Floyd, Washington, Scott and Harrison counties as the Southern Indiana region.

Wendy Dant Chesser, 1si president and CEO, presented the five key areas that the projects cover — waterfront development, regional greenway system, workforce development, River Ridge Commerce Center economic engine and regional water resources ...

... In order to be chosen by the IEDC for RCI funds, the five counties’ fiscal bodies that form the region here must approve the formation of a Regional Development Authority, or RDA. Five non-elected or nongovernmental representatives will be chosen and approved by the each county commission.

If chosen, the Southern Indiana RDA would execute the plan that Our Southern Indiana has devised with the input of local officials and residents through various public forums.

Infuriatingly, the state's website doesn't really explain what an RDA is; rather, it rehashes propaganda from those RDAs already in existence. Exceedingly annoying.

At any rate, 1Si's 2015 RDA/RCI effort collapsed like a house of cards in a hurricane. Clark County approved, then changed its mind. Floyd County's council voted no.

As preface for tomorrow's new vote, which I'm told will pass easily, reprinted below are two 2015 explanatory pieces.

---

Indiana Regional Cities Initiative: One Southern Indiana's math didn't help its case, did it?

September 6, 2015

Let's reduce this to the most simple component.

One Southern Indiana convenes a meeting of politicians and acolytes, which I attended, and introduces its grand plan (Our Southern Indiana) for how a quasi-lottery windfall of $434-odd million is to be spent within the framework of a "regional" cities initiative.

1Si takes the Goebbelsian gambit a step further by shrouding it with MBA-level, lower-case tagging: "imagine - empower - illuminate," reminding me that buffed and polished PR-speak tends to send me running in search of a bucket.

Forget all the major topics of discussion before and after the triumphal roll-out meeting, including concerns about the powers of the Regional Development Authority, the potential for eminent domain controversies, and whether or not any of this money actually would be real according to commonly accepted definitions of reality -- and whether any of it would benefit ordinary working people.

Just keep your eyes on the dollar-sign propaganda.

1Si's lottery winning disbursement committee produces proposals for regional unity over a projected five county area, because, yet again, the founding shtick of the whole plan is regional cooperation. One would think this might imply a semblance of proportionality, given the goal of universal participation.

Except that it gets predictable, and quickly.

Greenway expansion funding (can't we finish the 1990s model first?) omits Harrison, Scott and Washington Counties entirely from direct investment. Waterfront development excludes the latter two counties, which don't front on the Ohio. Workforce development spreads a few million farthings around, some of which might leach into the outer reaches of the five-county target area. A paltry 200K is proposed to study regional water resources,which arguably is the most important consideration of all in a time of climate change.

This leaves roughly $252 million to  -- that's right, incentivize River Ridge, which already has been enabled by the state as a regional economic development "winner" for two decades, and showered with every imaginable form of abatement, subsidy and happy ending potions known to corporate welfare fetishists hereabouts.

Proportionately dividing Greenway and Waterfront proposals between counties, it leaves us with $300 million out of $434 million earmarked for Clark County alone.

How exactly does one sell this notion to Washington County -- to Floyd County?

To repeat: I understand that the situation is more nuanced than this. What I'm trying to convey to the usual suspects in imaginary One Southern Indiana Land is that given the numbers you provide, there is almost no compelling reason for a politician sitting outside Clark County to vote in favor of ceding authority when so little of the benefit accrues to his or her home turf.

And, again: Had 1Si led with even the slightest recognition that River Ridge's ongoing "empowerment" suggests regional transit options of the sort that big-time state funding could help realize, I might have given the business-as-usual elites the benefit of the doubt.

There are numerous other reasons to be suspicious of the Indiana Regional Cities Initiative, and Rep. Clere can paint it any way he likes, but until One Southern Indiana accepts a measure of responsibility for its ongoing institutionalized tone deafness, it's all moot.

New Albany state rep: Southern Indiana's regional funding bid derailed by 'misinformation', by Marty Finley (Louisville Business First)

When Indiana State Rep. Ed Clere co-authored legislation meant to inject major dollars into various regions of Indiana, he expected the largest hurdle to be getting that bill passed and funded.

What he didn't expect was for local Republican-led political bodies to shoot down a plan that was passed by a Republican-dominated legislature with support from a Republican governor.

But that's what happened ...

 ... And though competition for the funding was sure to be stiff, the Clark-Floyd county region was thought to be a strong contender, based on its size and proximity to the Louisville market.

But that's now moot for Southern Indiana, as the region has declined to submit an application, according to Wendy Dant Chesser, president and CEO of One Southern Indiana, the chamber of commerce for Clark and Floyd counties.

---

Finally, how it ended.

---

Merciful closure for 1Si as three (!) Indiana Regional Cities Initiative lottery winners are announced.

December 19, 2015

File under: "For the record."

The regions identified below have as their hubs the cities of Evansville, South Bend and Ft. Wayne, respectively.

There'll be chickens in every pot, and the wine will flow like water, or at least Bud Light Lime. Fatted calves will be rendered onto veal, etc, and so forth.

Meanwhile, there is the Break Wind Lofts at Duggins Flats.

We've got that going for us.

Pence, IEDC Put Stamp on Regional Cities Selections, by Andy Ober (Inside Indiana Business)

INDIANAPOLIS - Governor Mike Pence and the Indiana Economic Development Corp. Board of Directors have approved the Indiana Regional Cities Strategic Review Committee recommendations. As a result, the southwest, north central and northeast regions will receive funding as part of the statewide Regional Cities Initiative.

One Southern Indiana seeks roadside assistance as "Indianapolis Voters Overwhelmingly Pass Nation's First Income Tax for Transit."

Think back to One Southern Indiana's epochal masterwork, the plan to leverage potential Regional Cities Initiative (RCI) monies by diverting the vast bulk of them to River Ridge, already the beneficiary of largess on a colossal and game-changing scale, rather than seeking to answer the most obvious prevailing question:

If all the jobs are to be in River Ridge, and if the aim of the RCI is regional cooperation, then is there a way to get workers back and forth between their region-wide homes and their jobs by public transit?

1Si's plan sank like the proverbial stone, although it surely would have amply wetted beaks among the organization's targeted corporate enrichment classes.

Now read the following, and contemplate Indy's chamber of commerce actually helping in this mass transit taxation initiative.

Imperfect? Of course it is, but it's a convenient way of illustrating yet again that when it comes to greater goods and modern ways of thinking, Wendy Dant Chesser's 1Si isn't just behind the curve.

It has nailed a deer, thrown a rod, blown two tires and currently awaits a tow truck, circa 1986.

Might as well break out the Champale while you're waiting, guys.

Indianapolis Voters Overwhelmingly Pass Nation's First Income Tax for Transit, by Irvin Dawid (Planetizen)

 ... Marion County may soon have the nation's most progressive tax dedicated to public transit, and only bus transit at that. In addition to the faith and business communities that backed the measure, Gov. (now V.P.-elect) Mike Pence deserves credit.
November 13, 2016, 7am PST |

"Proponents of a public transit ballot referendum to increase bus service in Indianapolis declared victory Tuesday night, hailing the income tax hike approved by voters as a long-term solution for the city's transportation woes and a benefit to workers and employers, alike," writes John Tuohy, Indystar transportation reporter.

"With 99 percent of precincts in the county reporting, voters favored the measure 59 percent to 41 percent," reports Susan Orr for The Indianapolis Business Journal (IBJ).

The transit question, which was included on all Marion County ballots, asked voters whether they wanted to give the City-County Council the authority to impose an income tax of up to 0.25 percent—25 cents per $100 of income—to help fund the Marion County Transit Plan. For a resident earning $50,000 a year, that 0.25 percent equals an additional $125 in annual income taxes.

The plan calls for $390 million in improvements aimed at strengthening IndyGo’s bus service—extending hours of operation, increasing the number of bus routes that run at 15-minute frequencies, and running every route seven days a week. The transit tax also would fund the operational costs of three rapid-transit lines, which feature buses that run more often and make fewer stops

As Planetizen editor James Brasuell detailed in August 2016, the public transit referendum, Public Question 2 on the November Marion County ballot was backed by the "ministers, priests and pastors in the Indianapolis Congregation Action Network (IndyCAN), who view "public transit [as] a social justice issue for low-income residents," writes Tuohy. But they also had powerful allies in the effort.

"We've spent 10 years working on this. I think its time has come," Mark Fisher, Indy Chamber's vice president of government relations and policy development, told IBJ.

Huzzahs all around as Mayor Gahan finally delivers jobs ... to Charlestown.

Was there a finder's fee?

I mean, the car salesmen pay it. Maybe lunch at Hooter's?

Earlier, I mentioned the "local economy solution."

I'm reading Michael Shuman's "The Local Economy Solution," primarily because David Duggins isn't.

"In his tenth book, Shuman, who was instrumental in designing the crowdfunding JOBS act as well as in the founding of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies, introduces his concept of “pollinator” enterprises. These are “self-financing entities that stimulate and strengthen other local businesses,” and Shuman presents a range of these successful economic-development programs from around the world, laying out a strong alternative to the usual top-down economies dependent on taxpayer subsidies."

With this thought as backdrop, consider one of the more bizarre stories to come down the pike in a while, wherein the mayor of New Albany is thanked profusely by the mayor of Charlestown for providing providential assistance in the latter's successful use of top-down corporate welfare subsidies to attract a company even after the former's offer of the same incentives failed to entice it.

UPDATE: Auto supplier coming to Charlestown portion of River Ridge, by Elizabeth Beilman (N and T)

CHARLESTOWN — An automotive company that originally had eyes on New Albany announced Thursday it will locate in Charlestown at River Ridge Commerce Center.

Magnolia Automotive Services LLC, a minority-owned joint venture between Toyota Tsusho America Inc. and James Group International, plans to invest $4.4 million to establish a new facility and create 26 new jobs in the Southern Indiana community by 2017.

As David Duggins would say, it's all just "boilerplate" crony capitalism up to this point, but Charlestown's Mayor Hall provides ironic further context. Turns out he had an ace in the hole.

The Japanese company had tentative plans in December to locate in New Albany. The plan commission there approved preliminary plans for Toyota to locate two 62,000-square-foot distribution centers on a 20-acre site at Grant Line Industrial Park West before it pulled out.

Charlestown Mayor Bob Hall attributed some of the success in nabbing Magnolia to New Albany Mayor Jeff Gahan.

“I also give a lot of credit to Mayor Gahan and the city of New Albany for keeping Southern Indiana in the hunt for this project when company leaders were on the verge of going in another direction," Hall said in a news release. "Had Mayor Gahan not kept the dialogue going with company leaders, this project would have landed in an entirely other region or state."

There is an opportunity cost to the city of New Albany's top-down approach to economic development, and it is amply illustrated in this instance. Toward which other outcomes might City Hall have used this time and money?

As it stands, we're left with no new industrial park tenants, but the adulation of One Southern Indiana and Mayor Bob Hall.

And this isn't even sufficient return to buy a pumpkin spice latte at Starbucks -- all of it for only 26 jobs, anyway.

I agree with Michael Shuman, whose simplified overarching point is this: Use the same time and less money to target needs within the existing local economy and help it to grow, with the probablle results being the same number of jobs created, which in any event would emanate from existing local businesses tied more closely to the local economy, whose presence contributes more to ongoing local job creation than Magnolia Automotive Services ever could.

As Jeff Gahan expended time and money placing a tenant at River Ridge, Indatus got away. It's worth repeating this reader comment from yesterday.

I'll say it again - if Indatus had had access to real high-speed internet service and been encouraged to expand in New Albany, then the investment by out of town businesses, the spin-off businesses, and the growth heralded by the White House would have happened here, not in Louisville.

New Albany lost a great deal when they let that business go…

How many businesses have been sought out and encouraged to move here in the past twelve years?

Indiana Regional Cities Initiative: One Southern Indiana's math didn't help its case, did it?

Let's reduce this to the most simple component.

One Southern Indiana convenes a meeting of politicians and acolytes, which I attended, and introduces its grand plan (Our Southern Indiana) for how a quasi-lottery windfall of $434-odd million is to be spent within the framework of a "regional" cities initiative.

1Si takes the Goebbelsian gambit a step further by shrouding it with MBA-level, lower-case tagging: "imagine - empower - illuminate," reminding me that buffed and polished PR-speak tends to send me running in search of a bucket.

Forget all the major topics of discussion before and after the triumphal roll-out meeting, including concerns about the powers of the Regional Development Authority, the potential for eminent domain controversies, and whether or not any of this money actually would be real according to commonly accepted definitions of reality -- and whether any of it would benefit ordinary working people.

Just keep your eyes on the dollar-sign propaganda.

1Si's lottery winning disbursement committee produces proposals for regional unity over a projected five county area, because, yet again, the founding shtick of the whole plan is regional cooperation. One would think this might imply a semblance of proportionality, given the goal of universal participation.

Except that it gets predictable, and quickly.

Greenway expansion funding (can't we finish the 1990s model first?) omits Harrison, Scott and Washington Counties entirely from direct investment. Waterfront development excludes the latter two counties, which don't front on the Ohio. Workforce development spreads a few million farthings around, some of which might leach into the outer reaches of the five-county target area. A paltry 200K is proposed to study regional water resources,which arguably is the most important consideration of all in a time of climate change.

This leaves roughly $252 million to  -- that's right, incentivize River Ridge, which already has been enabled by the state as a regional economic development "winner" for two decades, and showered with every imaginable form of abatement, subsidy and happy ending potions known to corporate welfare fetishists hereabouts.

Proportionately dividing Greenway and Waterfront proposals between counties, it leaves us with $300 million out of $434 million earmarked for Clark County alone.

How exactly does one sell this notion to Washington County -- to Floyd County?

To repeat: I understand that the situation is more nuanced than this. What I'm trying to convey to the usual suspects in imaginary One Southern Indiana Land is that given the numbers you provide, there is almost no compelling reason for a politician sitting outside Clark County to vote in favor of ceding authority when so little of the benefit accrues to his or her home turf.

And, again: Had 1Si led with even the slightest recognition that River Ridge's ongoing "empowerment" suggests regional transit options of the sort that big-time state funding could help realize, I might have given the business-as-usual elites the benefit of the doubt.

There are numerous other reasons to be suspicious of the Indiana Regional Cities Initiative, and Rep. Clere can paint it any way he likes, but until One Southern Indiana accepts a measure of responsibility for its ongoing institutionalized tone deafness, it's all moot.

New Albany state rep: Southern Indiana's regional funding bid derailed by 'misinformation', by Marty Finley (Louisville Business First)

When Indiana State Rep. Ed Clere co-authored legislation meant to inject major dollars into various regions of Indiana, he expected the largest hurdle to be getting that bill passed and funded.

What he didn't expect was for local Republican-led political bodies to shoot down a plan that was passed by a Republican-dominated legislature with support from a Republican governor.

But that's what happened ...

 ... And though competition for the funding was sure to be stiff, the Clark-Floyd county region was thought to be a strong contender, based on its size and proximity to the Louisville market.

But that's now moot for Southern Indiana, as the region has declined to submit an application, according to Wendy Dant Chesser, president and CEO of One Southern Indiana, the chamber of commerce for Clark and Floyd counties.

Demographics 'n' stuff, part 2: From Goslar to River Ridge.

As noted previously, One Southern Indiana concurs with state economic development officials in supporting measures like the Regional Cities Initiative as a means of resolving Indiana's demographic problem.

Perhaps the easiest way for 1Si to move forward would be to let the accredited denizens of River Ridge decide which immigrants are fitting and proper, and which -- well, you know.

Meanwhile in Germany, a conservative mayor (this is not a misprint) in Goslar actively seeks immigrants. Ironically, just yesterday I read an article about Bamberg, where the now entirely vacated US military base has the potential to free up housing for thousands of students, assuming the government doesn't place Balkan immigrants there, first.

It depends on local circumstances, doesn't it?

Get rid of the immigrants? No, we can’t get enough of them, says German mayor, by Kate Connolly (The Guardian)

Goslar is a gem of a town in central Germany, nestled in the slopes of the Harz mountains. It is popular with tourists, some of whom come to enjoy its cobbled streets and half-timbered architecture, others to ski or mountain bike, or to trace the footsteps of William Wordsworth who penned the beginnings of the Prelude here while homesick during a visit in the freezing winter of 1798.

Now it is becoming famous for another reason. Behind the rich culture is a town with huge problems. It is in one of the weakest economic areas of western Germany, and – like much of the country, which for years has had one of the lowest birthrates in the world – it is facing a demographic crisis. Goslar, a town of 50,000, has shrunk by 4,000 in the last decade and is currently losing as many as 1,500 to 2,000 people a year. In some parts of the town, which once thrived on silver mining and smelting as well as a spa, whole housing blocks stand empty while others have been torn down.

Its problems were only exacerbated by the end of the cold war, when it lost its status as a major garrison town close to the border with East Germany.

Oliver Junk is determined to reverse the trend. The mayor of Goslar has sparked a debate that has spread across Germany by saying he wants more immigrants to settle in the town. While other parts of Europe are shunning refugees, sometimes with great brutality, Junk is delivering an alternative message: bring on the immigrants. There cannot be enough of them, he says.

RCI, River Ridge, one-way streets and a gas tax too low.

Last night, I finally got around to surveying the Regional Cities Initiative, and found it profoundly auto-centric -- no surprises there.

ON THE AVENUES SPECIAL EDITION: When it comes to the RCI, can the RDA opt out of the RFRA?

The usual economic development suspects see $250 million in River Ridge investment as a goal worth surrendering local autonomy in multiple counties to attain. I'm seeing several thousand cars with one occupant each trying to make their way through densely populated urban areas lying between them and their destination, thus increasing the value extractors' pressure to preserve one-way street networks as de facto interstates, thereby maintaining the degradation of our cities.

But worse of all, I see the usual economic development suspects forever ignoring the realities of the preceding paragraph, because it's all about them and their world view, and the remainder of us be damned.

That's why I'm running for mayor. Can we at least begin a rational discussion which acknowledges more than one side?

By the way, Americans pay too little in gas tax.

Even Doubled, America's Gas Tax Would Be Low by World Standards ... And yet opposition to raising it remains fixed and fierce, by Eric Jaffe (City Lab)

The federal gas tax that pays for America’s highways hasn’t been raised in decades, but that doesn’t stop some determined lawmakers from trying. The latest effort comes via Senator Tom Carper of Delaware, who has introduced a plan to raise the tax four cents a year for four years then index it to inflation so it remains effective over time. The move would ultimately bring the fuel tax to 34 cents a gallon—nearly double the existing rate of 18.4 cents.

That might seem like a big bump, but even a gas tax twice as high the current one would be incredibly low by global standards.

Moral cowardice rises to the top as Jeff CM, Tech educator, River Ridge flunky and One Southern Indiana chief duck and cover on HJR-6.

Nope. No answers, not then, not now.

They've all had years to consider HJR-6, otherwise known as "The Hoosier Stain", but now that the bigotry has come home to roost, none of them have thought about it yet.

Nathan Samuel doesn't have "a feel" for the view of his constituents, primarily because he's already opted out of the discussion with swirling casuistry exceeding that deployed by New Albany's CM Blair.

David L. Clifton, a professor at Ivy Tech Sellersburg, blithely repeats the hoary stereotype to the effect than we business folks think only about profit, and harbor no interest in matter of lowly social conscience -- although he makes no effort to explain why powerhouses like Cummins and Eli Lilly oppose HJR-6. Maybe it's just our retrograde business thinkers down here in One Southern Indiana's constituency.

Notably absent from weighing in on the matter were several of Southern Indiana’s major employers. The News and Tribune requested comments from Clark Memorial Hospital and American Commercial Lines Inc. on their stance on the resolution, but neither of the entities responded as of press time.

One Southern Indiana's Wendy Dant Chesser typically wiggles out from any hint of coherence on the topic by citing her organization's failure to reach "consensus," which naturally didn't stop it from advocating for the Bridges Boondoggle, or joining the far right over affordable health care, but the single best evasion of all comes from Jerry Acy of the River Ridge Commerce Center, which owes its very existence, as well as its current status as the Mecca we're all compelled to worship five times daily, to political maneuverings:

“That is something our board has not even entertained,” said River Ridge Executive Director Jerry Acy. “Typically, we don’t take a position on political matters.”

These are the "leaders' in the community -- but is it a community, or an Adam Sandler flick? Ye Gods, EVEN BOB CAESAR GETS IT. Here it is at The 'Bune, if you can slip through the Hanson Wall: Local officials weigh in — or don’t — about gay marriage amendment; Area business agencies say they haven't formed an opinion.

River Ridge chieftain makes an excellent, if wholly inadvertent, case to promote Acy all the way to Tolling Junta.

Props to the newspaper's Braden Lammers for extracting one of the top quotes of the year from Mark Robinson, holder of the Kerry Stemler Chair for River Ridge Oligarchy Development, who had this to say about Jerry Acy (Robinson's adjutant) upon learning that Acy had recorded a second OWI in three months' time:

"Based on the limited information, I don’t think his job is in jeopardy at this moment, assuming that he will take seriously the advice ... we’re going impose."

Imposed advice.

If only it could be so simple for those of us just beneath the upper strata of mover-shakers. Oh, well. Perhaps we can bike to work.

The straight fulfillment excitement from the Clere Channel Network, as delivered the very next day by Amazon.

Sainthood surely cannot be far away ... but for whom?

Here's the press release, as submitted to NAC by the Indiana House Republicans.

Economic incentives draw Amazon.com, over 1,000 jobs

STATEHOUSE – Amazon.com, Inc. announced its plans to locate a new fulfillment center in Jeffersonville, Ind., creating up to 1,050 new jobs by 2015 and approximately $150 million in investment in the state.

“We’ve made Indiana one of the most taxpayer and business friendly states in the nation, and it’s paying off,” said Rep. Clere. “That climate combined with Southern Indiana’s ideal location for logistics and fulfillment operations makes it likely that Amazon’s exciting news will be followed by other similar announcements.”

Amazon.com expects to open the new facility at the River Ridge Commerce Center this fall – the fifth fulfillment center in Indiana. The Seattle-based company already has fulfillment centers in Indianapolis, Plainfield and Whitestown with operations covering more than 4 million square feet.

“As we continue to rebound from the recession, look for Indiana to lead the charge in job creation and economic development,” said Rep. Clere. “Indiana is positioned for unprecedented economic expansion and growth.”

According to the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC), they offered Amazon.com up to $2 million in conditional tax credits and up to $300,000 in training grants based on the company's job creation plans. These tax credits are performance-based, meaning until Hoosiers are hired, the company is not eligible to claim incentives.

Also, the IEDC and the Indiana Department of Transportation will allocate funds to improve Cox Road. River Ridge Development Authority has approved additional property tax abatement through the enterprise zone and will support infrastructure improvements.

This latest economic development announcement adds to the state’s growing transportation and logistics industry. Indiana is home to more than 4,700 miles of mainline rail track, three international airports and more than 11,000 total highway miles. Each year, more than 1.1 billion tons of freight travels through Indiana, making it the fifth busiest state for commercial freight traffic in the nation.

“The outlook for Southern Indiana is exciting as the prospects for new business and employment opportunities are very encouraging,” said Rep. Clere.

Morrison on River Ridge: "When did we start farming brownfields?"

The newspaper dutifully “reports” a press release, while it is left to a citizen blogger to provide the background necessary to even begin asking the many obvious questions raised by the guileless stenography. So it goes in Stemlerstan.

When did we start farming brownfields?, by Curt Morrison at Louisville Courant

As a kid growing up in rural Southern Indiana, I knew the 10,000+ acre, Indiana Army Ammunition Plant was blighted by long-term pollution. My step-dad had told me. It wasn't a secret back then.

That's why I was surprised to hear in it's last meeting of 2011, the River Ridge Development Authority which has owned and controlled the former Plant since 1998, announced they're offering more than 360 acres of land to farmers. (News and Tribune: River Ridge offering land to farmers: Farm leases expected to bring in additional revenues)

Thumbs down and demanding a refund, sans erection.

Thanks to J for this video buzzkill.

http://www.riverridgecc.com/index.php?/about_overview/video2

Perhaps I'd feel differently if I were seated on the 1Si secret policy Politburo, but if that happened, I'd have to shoot myself.

Folies de pont continues record run with Nicklies upping his ante from 3% (ooh) to 5% (ahh).

As mayor-elect Irv Stumler spins the Wheel of Party Affiliation and signs warrants for the arrest of Tree Commission members in preparation for his emergency deforestation plan -- gotta get those damned tree limbs away from the street -- let's look at recent developments on the billionaire's mobility boondoggle front.

I couldn't attend Tuesday's meeting, but Braden Lammers of the Evening News explains that the fight against tolls continues, with local officials gathering with Southern Indiana No Bridge Tolls group to listen as Tom Galligan, Jeffersonville mayor-for-life, says he's heavy against tolls and will at the same time reserve judgment until final plans are announced. Profiles in re-election courage, indeed.

With a River Runyon Through the Fields hit squad in hot pursuit, the Courier-Journal's Marcus Green seeks to evade the strictures of the Hawpe Code, noting that cheaper Ohio River bridges plan may open door to more delays (that's a hopeful thing), and then offering this fly-on-the-wall view of saintly elected public advocates in prayerful action: Bridges plan changes hatched at December meeting in Indianapolis.

Green omits the wonderful story making the bedtime story rounds in which Rep. Clere heroically stows away on the Beechcraft King Air amid storms and turbulence to beseech St. Daniels thah he must listen to the earnest wailings of battered constituents, with Daniels responding, "Before or after the lashings continue?", and Clere answering, "Why, yes."

And then there's the one about the forever unctuous David Nicklies, as relayed by Lammers in his knee-slapping account of yesterday's meeting of River Ridge commerce center's budgetary bigwigs.

Bridges request

While the bulk of the revenue for River Ridge will be designated for the bond payments and infrastructure improvements, David Nicklies, chairman of the Bridges Coalition was present to ask for additional support for the Ohio River Bridges Project.

“We’re needing to raise about another $150,000 to $175,000 to get through this year of what we’ve already got committed,” he said.

Last year, River Ridge committed $50,000 to the Bridges Coalition to be disbursed in quarterly payments of $12,500. The coalition has spent the funding it has received on marketing and educational purposes.

While Nicklies said the coalition has been lobbying at the state and federal levels, part of the marketing campaign has been directed toward answering local anti-toll groups.

“There has been a huge anti-toll effort [and] they’ve actually been fairly organized,” he said.

Nicklies mentioned the groups’ frequent attendance at the Louisville and Southern Indiana Bridges Authority meetings and a petition of 10,000 signatures the group’s organizers sent to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood.

“We’re spending a lot of time putting those fires out and talking about the silent 95 percent which you don’t hear from all the time,” Nicklies said.

Marketing and advertising efforts have been directed to outcry against the initial figure of $3 tolls used to provide an update for the Kentuckiana Regional Planning and Development Agency’s long-range plan.

“We said politically that was a disaster,” Nicklies said of the $3 toll figure. “Then, we put the $1 commuter toll on the table and we were able to get the bi-state authority to roll that out, which got us into a little more positive mode.”

He continued and said the next 12 months for the project will be critical and referenced the bi-state authority’s upcoming industry forum.

“They’re going to invite design-build firms from all over the world to come in, look at the project, put teams together to come back and see how they can deliver a $3.5 billion project, hopefully for $2.5 billion or less,” Nicklies said.

Don't look at me. You're the one who keeps voting for them.