Council Night 2: Gahan rules by edict via unelected boards, so Gonder posits a more pro-active council.

I probably borrowed this from the newspaper. 

Lots to digest here, so we'll travel point by point.

Gonder not pleased with lack of action by New Albany City Council in 2014, by Daniel Suddeath (News and Tribune)

NEW ALBANY — The New Albany City Council approved a third consecutive balanced budget in 2014.

But several meetings included no voting items or only a nonbinding resolution for consideration, and Councilman John Gonder said he felt like there was more that could have been done by the city’s legislative body last year.

“It’s sort of bothersome that we had a number of meetings where we were literally in and out in 15 minutes,” he said. “I think it seems like we’re trying to slip into reelection mode here and not do anything that would get anybody to object.”

Here's the specific reality that should be most bothersome to the conscientious council members.

Many big projects such as the aquatic center and recently the approval of a dog park and expansion of the downtown Farmers Market were approved by boards other than the council. The council did give its blessing to the aquatic center, but the New Albany Redevelopment Commission essentially holds the purse strings to the project.

Ah, but what, the mayor's left hand man worry?

Councilman Pat McLaughlin has served as the president of the body the past two years, and will seek a third-term in the seat Monday.

“I think we’ve had some good years, and some good, objective dialogue with the administration,” he said Friday.

The city has launched significant quality-of-life projects in the outdoor aquatic center and Silver Street Park, which are set to open in 2015, and McLaughlin said he would like to see New Albany pave more streets and alleys this year.

That's right, "objective dialogue" with a mayor who never attends council meetings, leaving us to guess that most of the chatting took place amid surf 'n' turf and longnecks at the Roadhouse. That, and even more paving in a time of stormwater runoff.

Meanwhile, CM Gonder notes "missed opportunities in 2014."

(Gonder) was a proponent of salvaging the former tavern at 922 Culbertson Ave. which was ordered to be razed by the administration. He said the demolition was a blow to historic preservation efforts in New Albany.

Gonder also wanted to see more progress on pedestrian projects such as adding sidewalks along Captain Frank Road and Slate Run Road.

The revamp of the city’s property maintenance codes should give the council a real opportunity to bring positive change to the city, Gonder said.

The ordinance — which is sponsored by Councilman Kevin Zurschmiede — has been tabled since last month. Administration officials said they wanted the changes to match state standards before moving forward with the legislation.

And then there is this.

Gonder said he would like to see the ordinance expanded to include rental property registration and other regulations that would curb problems with slumlords.

Wait -- you mean to say that the council is contemplating a property maintenance code update without including rental property registration and heightened slumlord scrutiny?

Isn't that like a doctor fixing your broken leg by prescribing a new pair of khakis?

Blair dazed as Phipps lands haymaker: "If it’s good enough for the suburbs, it’s good enough for my people downtown."

My 3rd district councilman Greg Phipps had important things to say at Monday's council meeting, but before we come to that, it's worth reprising the evening's distinctive leitmotif.

Mrs. Baird poses in updated Delacroix painting, embraces Highland Oaks People Power Revolution, by me (NA Confidential)

 ... When neighborhood residents flooded the Plan Commission to demand autonomy over their street, council person Shirley Baird looked in the mirror, saw Corazon Aquino staring back, felt the People Power Revolution rush through her soul, and declared the victory of the ochlocracy:

The residents of Highland Oaks overwhelmingly opposed the road extension; therefore, Baird voted for the amendment.

All right; it's a deal. I bring a couple hundred Midtown residents to the council chamber to demand two-way streets and an end to the vehicular reign of error at our front doors, and you'll cave on demand.

CM Phipps didn't waste anyone's time by abstaining or casting a meaningless protest vote, as the verdict was clear. Rather, Phipps made two valuable points. First, he reminded onlookers of why the connector road had been suggested in the first place, if not actually built.

There are some accessibly concerns with Highland Oaks Drive, as it takes a motorist quite a bit of time to reach the neighborhood, Councilman Greg Phipps said.

He was the only council member who found some rationale in the city planning department’s call to complete the road. “I think it’s a logical extension at some point,” he said.

Contrast the Phipps approach with that of 6th district councilman Scott Blair, whose frequent expressions of love and affection for the concept of cost/benefit analysis went flying out into the corridor, probably because People Power looked a little too much like angry voters to him.

Councilman Scott Blair said it was “ridiculous” that residents had to attend the meeting to ask for the road extension to be removed from the comprehensive plan. “I’m sorry it went to this extent,” he said.

So much for a banker's relentlessly factual inner world. As though directly answering Blair's typically fumbling interjections of "quality of life" as it exists 100% of the time in his own suburban council district, and only on widely scattered occasions elsewhere in the city, Phipps delivered a veritable sermon.

Phipps voted in favor of the amendment, and the District 3 representative encouraged his fellow council members to support pedestrian safety for downtown streets and property owners as well.

“If it’s good enough for the suburbs, it’s good enough for my people downtown,” Phipps said.

With a street study set to be finalized next month, Phipps said the council should also be wary of the dangers excessive vehicular traffic can cause downtown residents.

What was that?

We downtowners deserve "quality of life" too -- even if we don't reside next door to John Rosenbarger on Main Street?

Phipps's utterance may be the most stridently revolutionary statement made at a council meeting during the last decade. Through it all, Mayor Jeff Gahan and his team remain silent.

And this is the biggest problem of all. Read Daniel Suddeath's coverage of the Monday council meeting (quoted above): Road through park nixed by New Albany City Council; Exception still needed for baseball fields, county park.

Mrs. Baird poses in updated Delacroix painting, embraces Highland Oaks People Power Revolution.

Just once more, let me get this grassroots democracy thing straight.

When neighborhood residents flooded the Plan Commission to demand autonomy over their street, council person Shirley Baird looked in the mirror, saw Corazon Aquino staring back, felt the People Power Revolution rush through her soul, and declared the victory of the ochlocracy:

The residents of Highland Oaks overwhelmingly opposed the road extension; therefore, Baird voted for the amendment.

All right; it's a deal. I bring a couple hundred Midtown residents to the council chamber to demand two-way streets and an end to the vehicular reign of error at our front doors, and you'll cave on demand.

I'm glad we are clear on this point, Shirley. I feel better, so much so that I'll skip tonight's council meeting to devote time to collating my collection of tiddlywinks.

New Albany council gets vote on road connection, by Daniel Suddeath (All About Jeffersonville)

New Albany City Councilwoman Shirley Baird believes there will be enough votes to remove a required road connection for a property projected to be used for baseball fields and a community park.

The council is scheduled to vote this evening on a resolution to amend its comprehensive plan. The amendment would abolish a portion of the plan that calls for Highland Oaks Drive to be completed to connect from Kamer Miller Road to Charlestown Road.

In which it is revealed that the farmers market expansion will be delayed a year pending further review.

As reported by the News and Tribune's Daniel Suddeath, via Twitter, during Monday evening's city council meeting.

Here's his newspaper coverage, with councilman Blair providing the accurate summary:

Councilman Scott Blair said it would be wise for the city to wait until a street and walkability study is conducted this summer before moving ahead with the farmers market project.

It isn't so much that the "right" thing happened, as the "dubious" one was avoided. But at this point, a win's a win. No one is hurt by the farmers market operating for another season as it has before, at the current location. We all might be helped by extra time in which to clarify the farmers market's ultimate best framework. Too much time and energy was spent on the recent, needless debate. Maybe this will serve to sharpen the debate next time around. A boy can dream ... even in New Albany.

Gonder: A farmers market alternative.

At the Thursday meeting of the council, councilman-at-large John Gonder suggested operating the farmers market in and around the street level of the parking garage at State and Market.

Before you scoff, consider John's ten reasons. DNA's grandees are not going to like it, but he has some very good points.

Bill of Fare

Last night at the Common Council meeting, the civic equivalent of haggis was served to some picky Council diners. Following on the heels of a Tribune article, Wednesday the 19th, which revealed that a Farmer's Market redo had arrived at the table ready for consumption, came news that we're going be about $75,000 short of paying the tab.

While the Council had appropriated $270,000 for an addition at the existing market site, because of grading, and drainage work at the expansion, those funds would be insufficient. A discussion of the new reality revealed little stomach for additional funds for the expansion.

A somewhat offhand remark led to further exploration following the meeting. The remark was a question, "had it been considered to move the Farmer's Market to the municipal parking garage?" Prior to looking for ways to meet the new funding requirements of the Farmer's Market expansion, at the current site, it might be worthwhile to consider some of the benefits of moving to a new venue at the parking garage, which is hardly used on weekends.

More disgust: "New Albany City Council questions farmers market expansion."

My initial impressions were written last evening.

Disgust

Let's agree on one point: Everyone's in favor of the farmers market -- in theory, in principle, as something of value to the community.

However, favoring the farmers market does not imply a willingness to accept without questions the infuriating opacity of the funding process, which council person Baird evidently has abetted without once considering the many counter-arguments, or how the back-door budgetary conjuring of the money appears to outsiders.

For those of us kept out of this loop, it appears as though Develop New Albany is being given a blank check to "improve" an urban corner owned by the city, when the corner might be better deployed as infill, except that to determine the respective values of its use, there would need to be a plan ... and there is absolutely no downtown plan guiding this non-thought process.

Thus, the appearance is a payback to the same old grandees, plain and simple.

Another way to look at it: If the farmers market truly is as significant to downtown revitalization as its proponents claim it to be, might not we be harming its future potential by refusing to consider other options in terms of location and operation? After all, if a swimming pool is worth nine million dollars, isn't the farmers market worth a building, or a plaza, or its very own organic veggie farm at Valley View golf course?

Where is the overall downtown economic development plan?

There is a plan, right?

New Albany City Council questions farmers market expansion; Vote on funding for new police cars again tabled, by Daniel Suddeath (N and T)

 ... The suggestion that more money will be needed for the project caused some council members to question the improvements, as well as the management of the market.

“That seems terribly excessive,” Councilman John Gonder said of the estimated cost for the expansion.

The market is not being managed to its “full extent” and perhaps a separate entity should be formed to help operate the market along with Develop New Albany, Councilman Dan Coffey said.

The city is putting up a lot of money and has a responsibility to ensure its investment is being handled properly, he continued.

“I want to see what return we’re getting for our dollar,” Coffey said.

He added that downtown business owners should be more involved in the design process for the market.

Disgust.

Unexpected controversy arose tonight when Mrs. Baird chose to disclose a shocker: Having already earmarked $270K for farmers market improvements, bids came in high, and she'd be coming back to ask the council for another $75K.

A discussion broke out, perhaps the first one to occur since the council's budget was revealed to have included a line item for this project -- a fact that at least two council persons I spoke with cannot remember ever seeing.

Mr. Duggins proceeded to mount a defense, which I'm sure Daniel Suddeath will explain in tomorrow's paper (the link will be included here), but the part of particular interest to me was Mr. Gonder's question of the city's economic development director, paraphrased: One criticism of the farmers market I've heard comes from those who run businesses downtown the year round, wondering why weekend seasonal temporary vendors merit such attention when downtown businesses are on duty every day. 

Duggins's reply, also paraphrased: It's just like the complaints about Harvest Homecoming blocking storefronts; we'll talk about it someday; and the farmers market is important, so it's different. 

Excuse my being obtuse, but permit me to ask (non-paraphrased).

How so?

And: Those complaints about Harvest Homecoming ... are they the ones not being taken seriously, yet again, for another year?

Look, it's beginning to get tragi-comic around here. The more the topic is raised, the faster they're ducking and covering.

Swimming pools have a plan. Parks have a plan. Dog runs have a plan. Industrial entities (the heroic job creators) have a plan. The farmers market has a plan. Harvest Homecoming has a plan -- a bad one, which downtown business owners widely loathe, but a plan nonetheless.

What do all these plans have in common? Money is being thrown at them.

And then there are our local, independently owned businesses downtown. They've written the book on revitalization and played a disproportionately large role in lifting the city out of its self-imposed stone age, putting us on the map for the future generations ... and nothing. Not a peep. Not even a half-hearted effort to mediate the annual Harvest Homecoming cluster; just a change of subject.

Yes, and there's the other key facet of city life subsisting without a plan. It's the street grid, with the exception of Main Street ... and that's the wrong plan.

Really? This is very discouraging.

On the Bicentennial's Crutchfield seat cushions: How many were sold? Was the loan paid back?

According to tweets, news stories and other secondary sources ...

At last night's city council meeting, Pat "Patty Mac" McLaughlin retained his seat in the lead chair, with John Gonder agreeing to another term as sidekick.

A wholly redundant "aggressive panhandling" ordinance was adopted, to be immediately relegated to the considerable civic file folder (paper only, and quaintly non-electronic) marked "shit we'll never bother enforcing," but at least Shirley "Farmer Baird" now has a legislative achievement apart from creatively siphoning money to DNA's corner market stalls.

Curiously, Dan Coffey got all belligerent about the Port Authority, placing him in rare non-accord with the Gahan administration, for which the erstwhile Wizard of Westside has acted as de facto whip for the past two years. The PA was passed, anyway, and my guess would be that those unfortunate schmucks in attendance were witnessing some carefully scripted boilerplate: Pick an ordinance sure to pass, oppose it anyway with advance clearance from the top, and bolster one's credentials in the race for commissioner by taking a hard line on nothing.

Yawn.

But as Mrs. Beam pointed out, all we really want to know is how well those hired-gun Bicentennial books sold, how many of the 5,000 (!) remain to be sold, and whether Redevelopment's loan was paid back. We're fairly gripped with mercenary gala nostalgia just thinking about it.

Whatcha say, CeeSaw? Here is the newspaper report from November, 2011:

BOOK DEAL

In related news, Caesar updated the redevelopment commission on the status of a bicentennial book being prepared for release next year.

To produce and print 5,000 copies of the book will cost $144,000, Caesar said.

“I know that’s a lot of money, but there’s a lot of work that goes into these,” he said.

Redevelopment funds were used as a loan to the bicentennial commission to get the book started, and Caesar said the advance will be paid back after sales start accumulating.

Standard copies of the book will be sold for $40, but 200 limited editions will be sold for $200 through an invitation process, Caesar said.

As Caesar said the $144,000 will be derived from donations to the cause, proceeds from the book sales will go straight to funding bicentennial activities.

About $107,000 of the production total has already been raised, Caesar said.

He added the book will be extremely detailed and an appropriate representation of New Albany’s history.

“We feel there won’t be any problem selling it,” Caesar said. “These stories will have flavor to them.”