Parkingticketgate, reprise.

(link repaired 2-5-11)

I didn't bother looking through the archives, but my guess is that here at NAC, we were debating the New Albany traditions of (a) poor strategic planning for downtown, and (b) ineffectual (read: non-existent) ordinance enforcement as far back as 2005 -- and we were very, very late to the wretchedly indicative game of wondering why simplicity comes here to die.

But what the hey; it's 2011, Fox-41 is right on top of matters, and that's not such a bad thing at all as a tool for renewed discussion, except that it's an election year, which means there'll be no discussion at all.

Welcome to NA.

New Albany: Unpaid parking tickets reach

FOX FOLLOW: Attorney won't pay ticket fine

Point of View: "Turning a Blind Eye to Parking Fines."

3rd district candidate Q & A tonight: Steve's pickin' but no one else except Erika is grinnin'.

Tonight the S. Ellen Jones Neighborhood Association and the East Spring Street Neighborhood Association will be hosting a question and answer session with the three candidates vying for New Albany's 3rd district city council seat. As most readers know by now, the candidates are:

Steve Price (D) Incumbent
Maury Goldberg (D) Challenger
Charlie Harshfield (D) Challenger

The session will run from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the cafeteria of the S. Ellen Jones Elementary School, 600 East 11th Street, New Albany, Indiana.

(It is unclear whether CM Price's current televised minstrelsy act will be sanctioned as applicable to the q & a session, especially if he attempts to answer serious questions via his well worn harmonica).

According to the organizers, each candidate will have ten minutes to introduce himself to attendees (30 minutes total), followed by questions and answers (60 minutes). A moderator will read questions aloud and each candidate will have three minutes to respond, and candidate rebuttals of one minute will be allowed. If submitted questions are exhausted, the moderator will facilitate questions from the audience, and because time is limited, there is no guarantee that all submitted questions will be asked.

For more information, please call 812.941.0466, e-mail at SEllenJonesNA(at)msn.com (replace "at" with @) or visit www.SEllenJones.org.

Here are a few of the questions that NAC submitted:

Do you agree or disagree with nationally syndicated columnist Thomas Friedman that in the future, green will be the next red, white and blue? What are the practical consequences of this for cities like New Albany?

How can we achieve “progress by design” through implementing the principles of Smart Growth and New Urbanism in our core neighborhoods?

Do you agree that the unregistered and unregulated proliferation of rental properties in the 3rd District, many absentee-owned, is a grave threat to a properly functioning core neighborhood?

Do you support traffic calming measure and the retrofitting of city streets back to their intended two-way usage?

Do you agree or disagree with this statement: “Progress is the ultimate manifestation of fiscal responsibility, because making the economic pie larger benefits everyone?”

Given that there is a good chance that the winner of this race will win the primary with less than a majority, as councilman, are you prepared to listen to all of your constituents, and not just the ones who voted for you?

How important is decorum and professionalism with regard to our city council, and by extension, has the last council’s antics and non-professional demeanor sent the wrong message to the world at large?

As councilman, will you fund the city’s ordinance enforcement program to succeed, rather than starving it to fail?

Local attorney Beardsley argues Indiana Supreme Court case.

Kudos to Stephen Beardsley – attorney, gadfly and downtown New Albany advocate:

Justices examine translator case; Court considers providing interpreter for all non-English-speaking defendants, by Lesley Stedman Weidenbener (short shelf life for some Courier-Journal links).

Attorney Stephen Beardsley of New Albany argued yesterday that the court should pay for translators to help all non-English-speaking defendants, regardless of their income.

"An interpreter -- so key to fundamental due process -- is part of the basic apparatus of the courtroom in the same way that a court stenographer, as a bailiff, indeed as a judge is," he said.