Following up: Kudos to the city for the cleanup.

I'm told the city dispatched a crew to pack away the garbage and construction debris from the alley behind Pints&union, and they're to be thanked for doing so -- as is the health department for coming yesterday to have a look.

This has happened before, and it almost certainly will occur again. All we can hope for is that the city gets serious with the violators.

Why we can't have nice things, Volume 467 (illegal alley dumping edition).

As it appeared yesterday morning.

Why we can't have nice things, Volume 467 (illegal alley dumping edition).

This latest example of alleyway dumping within a few feet of Pints&union's back door obviously is not acceptable. These piles of interior remodeling debris and just plain garbage have been there for at least ten days. Ordinance enforcement had a glance at it last week; the health department stopped by earlier today.

For many years this alley was considered a penalty-free dumping ground by all manner of individuals and businesses, from both near and far. I'm hoping that this time, there'll be some means of enforcement.

Fingers crossed.

Amid Gahan's penchant for opulent municipal luxury, do we even have a word for this vista at 1730 E. Oak Street?

A friend who'd been speaking with neighbors sent these two photos of the back yard at 1730 E. Oak. It's in the 3rd council district (Precinct 10) in case you're curious.

Neighbors say homeless and drug users have taken over this home. They wander the alley digging through everyone’s trash throwing out on the ground. One lady saw a buck naked man wondering in the yard! By anyone’s measure this is a serious problem. They say it’s been going on for 18 months. Needles, human waste, etc.

They say the city isn’t helping them, so who can they turn to?

I went to Elevate and looked up the owner; supposedly he's owned the house since 2007. Next came the state of Indiana's Odyssey courts search. Here are the first and last records of the same case, with names omitted.

Obviously this one is on the city's radar. Older satellite photos show the back yard looking like a war zone, and this case goes back two years. It took eight months for the complaint about cleanliness to work its way through the labyrinth. Whether the owner performed the required tidying isn't clear, but as of less than a year ago, he was supposed to have done it.

Judging from the other court records arranged before and after this one, it would seem that the house's owner quite possibly is a familiar face among local law enforcement officials. Looking at it from afar, it's easy to deduce that someone's life went off the rails. The nasty condition of the house appears to be collateral damage in a much larger story.

All of this fits the neighbors' sad narrative, and not one bit of it helps them. Sorry about that, but after doing the research I don't have any better of an answer, at least yet.

Anyone have anything?

Bicycles and sidewalks? As always, New Albany's legal stance is as clear as mud -- and City Hall gazes at the ceiling.

Behold, another Rosenbarger bike lane triumph.

We've all been here before, but the fake factoids never cease, so let's have another look at the question of whether it is legal to ride a bicycle on the sidewalk in New Albany. Not unexpectedly in a state with its own contradictory laws, sections of the official code of ordinances in New Albany don't jibe.

§ 73.01 OPERATION OF BICYCLES.
(A) Every person riding a bicycle upon a street shall be granted all of the rights and shall be subject to all of the duties applicable to the driver of a vehicle. Every person riding a bicycle upon a sidewalk shall be granted all of the rights and shall be subject to all of the duties applicable to a pedestrian.

(D) No person 14 years of age or older shall operate a bicycle on the sidewalks located within the geographical incorporated boundary limits of the City of New Albany ("city").

73.01 seems to suggest that since no person 14 years or age or older should be on the sidewalk anywhere within the city limits, everyone else should be riding on the street.

Then it gets weird.

§ 73.03 RIDING ON SIDEWALKS.
(A) Except as provided in division (B) of this section, it shall be legal to operate a bicycle upon a sidewalk when sidewalks are available and are not congested with pedestrian traffic. If the sidewalk is congested with pedestrian traffic, any bicycle operator using the sidewalk shall walk the bicycle.

(B) No person shall ride a bicycle upon a sidewalk in a business district or upon or along which signs have been erected by authority of the Board of Works prohibiting such bicycle riding.

In 73.03, it's legal to ride on the sidewalk with no reference to age, except in a business district, which isn't defined (here or elsewhere in the code), or wherever signs prohibiting bicycling have been erected.

Which is it? Maybe BOW can spin the wheel during its next meeting. In truth, it doesn't matter much because there is no enforcement of any conceivable interpretation.

As for which direction a bicyclist should travel when riding on a street, it should stand to reason that if the code of ordinance explicitly holds bicyclists riding in the street to the same duties of motorists, and it does, then these duties include riding in the same direction as traffic, seeing as a driver wouldn't decide to drive against traffic -- for the very same safety reasons as a bicyclist shouldn't.

You were taught to ride against traffic? Sorry, but you were taught wrong.

DEBUNKING WRONG-WAY RIDING, by Jamie Wine

Lots of us were taught as kids to ride facing traffic ... this sense of safety is tragically false, but that doesn’t stop it from being widely believed – especially if your last lesson in bike safety was when you were seven.

Even closer to the center of the target:

When you see someone riding the wrong way on a bike, the chances are good that they have chosen this as a crummy alternative to an even crummier series of major roads and horrifying intersections.

Yesterday during a conversation at Facebook, some guy living in Harrison County insisted that bicycle licensing is the answer to all these issues: "I believe that it (licensing) should be on the books and enforced. Especially with bike lanes now prevalent like never before."

Bike lanes prevalent? It's hard to believe bicycle lanes in New Albany amount to more than a few single digit percentage points of the street grid's total acreage. Perhaps it seems like more for folks living in mobile homes by a cornfield.

Bizarrely, until recently, the city of New Albany had bicycling laws on the books, dating from the aftermath of the Great Flood.

Rewind: Bicycles, mopeds and the ordinances not governing them.

§ 73.20 LICENSE REQUIRED BEFORE OPERATING BICYCLE.
No person shall ride or propel a bicycle upon any public highway, street, boulevard or other public place in the city, unless the same shall be licensed as herein provided.
('71 Code, §73.28) (Ord. 4120, passed 3-6-39)

In summary, city government's relationship with the street grid is devoted roughly 95% of the time to assuring drivers that car-centrism is king. There are no stated policies v.v. bicycling (or walking), no goals for improving non-automotive access, and no evident will to improve. If you're interested in this changing, then it's time to begin holding feet to the fire -- and next year, when there's a municipal election, you'll have the opportunity.

Rant over.

Croissants d'BBQ Bologna: Dan Coffey says that restaurants are taking up the sidewalk and his compatriots damn well better do something about it.

There will be a city council meeting tonight. If I can remain sober today, I might attend it.

But first, at the July 20 city council meeting, the king of barbecued bologna -- the Wizard of Westendia, and the Shunner of Tulip Tiptoeing -- indulged his penchant for diversionary innuendo.

Coffey's germ of truth is irrefutable, because disabled users really do face myriad daily challenges attempting to navigate the city of New Albany's sidewalks and streets.

But making this point by attacking the city's food and dining community, which has done more than any other economic sector to make downtown habitable again, misses the larger truth by a Birdseye mile.

As we've pointed out numerous times before, city government itself has no mission statement or internal policy pertaining to prioritization of mobility, and City Hall needs to begin by policing itself in this regard.

The vast majority of abuses occur at the hands of the city's chosen contractors, indifferent utility monopoly slackers, and unfortunately the city's own Street Department. Neither Jeff Gahan nor the Board of Public Works and Safety has made an effort to embrace modernity.

To repeat: it's merely procedural.

The city must develop good habits, and to develop them, the city must acknowledge it has a problem. A good start would be reading the bimonthly council agenda. At the bottom, there is a promise of assistance from the city clerk to disabled council meeting attendees who are in need of it.

Shouldn't the city's own workers, contractors and utility monopolies adhere to the same promise?

It starts with BoW's rote interrogations. Instead of this:

"How will (a proposal) affect parking/traffic/cars?"

The board first should ask this:

"How will (a proposal) affect handicapped users without cars?"

Infrastructure decisions routinely are rendered in the absence of forethought as to their effect on persons with disabilities. These tiny bits of effort will have little if any ultimate effect on the Holy Writ of Autocentrism, as worshipped by City Hall. However, these instances will immeasurably assist the disabled in getting back and forth.

Consequently, it is laughable for Coffey to continue pointing his dull reaper's finger at downtown business violators when there are far larger fish to fry. Furthermore, it's a safe bet that these scattered and inconsequential instances of eatery transgression are occurring not in Coffey's 1st district, but Greg Phipps' 3rd, which embraces the epicenter of downtown east of State Street.

And so we've learned to ask the question: What's Coffey after this time? I guess we'll find out after Adam Dickey hands the envelope du jour to Coffey on a gilded Democratic Party platter.

Tonight's agenda follows. After writing the preceding spiel, that half-full bottle of gin over in the corner is starting to look very much like lunch.

How does Bill Allen get away with this pile? Is he a Ginkins-level donor to Jeff Gahan, or what?

Why is Deaf Gahan more eager to terrorize public housing residents than enforce codes v.v. the likes of Bill Allen?

Maybe Billy's waiting for some of that Horseshoe Foundation beautification cash -- but what a perfect re-location site for City Hall.

As is.

Gahan and Coffey Together Forever, Part 3: What The F@#* Opie? Ya Ain't Seen Nothun Yet! (16 January 2009).

LAST: Gahan and Coffey Together Forever, Part 2: Ulrich out, Robison in as city council attorney (15 January 2009).

The second council meeting of 2009 was when the Democratic Party fix hit the fan, as Dan Coffey tactlessly shouted down a speaker during public input time ... but the Wizard was just warming up for the main event to come at the now defunct Studio's.

I missed it all. It was the time of intense build-out for Bank Street Brewhouse, which debuted in March, so Friday coverage of the Thursday evening meeting was provided by the late Lloyd "Highwayman" Wimp.

Lloyd had considerable potential as a writer; he wasn't trained in any respect, but harbored excellent instincts when it came to a juicy story. Unlike so many purported reporters, there wasn't a question Lloyd wouldn't ask.

We miss him.

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What The F@#* Opie? Ya Ain't Seen Nothun Yet!

16 January 2009

Here it is, the middle of the week, the predicted coldest night in recent memory, there’s nothing of consequence on TV, and y’all still elected to be couch potatoes when you could have attended one of the most entertaining New Albany Common Council meetings to date.

It started out harmless enough. Our resident mail carrier took to the podium to say he felt the Council had better things to do with its time than deal with a Resolution in support of HR676 (a US House bill concerning universal health care).

After all, the city of New Albany has no influence on the Beltway Boys so why waste the time.

At this point a non-agenda item was raised in the form of a council committee report from the housing/code enforcement threesome. (make that a twosome as CM Price abstained from officially signing the recommendation.)

Steve's reasoning was that he disagreed with a sentence that seems to hold rentals to a higher standard than us lowly homeowners as it pertained to enforcement.

As a side note, Pat Harrison & her entourage of landlords presented CM & Committee Chair John Gonder with a copy of said recommendation prior to the meeting. The mystery of that is according to Gonder himself, he had not presented said report to any Council Members prior to tonight’s meeting. Strange indeed!

Then in the Communications from City Officials slot an employee from the City Controllers office took a stand against A-09-01 which would give a raise in pay to two Non Bargaining Unit employees who work in the Utility Billing Department.

It seems they have inherited the billing duties from EMC as it pertains to Storm Water, Trash, & Sewer bills as those has now been brought back into the Cities venue.

She was followed by one of the two affected employees who pled their case for the increase after which the fun began in earnest.

Carl then stood in the absent Mayor’s stead and proceeded with a detailed explanation of England’s surgery, (good thing I didn’t eat before), recovery, therapy, and remorse for not being at tonight’s gathering.

He was going to elaborate even further but Council President Coffey took the floor and exclaimed that while the Council and the audience were concerned about the Mayor’s well being, it was not necessary to give a blow by blow report at each & every gathering.

He went on to request that if the Deputy Mayor had any further official city business to discuss to get on with it.

I went blank for a few seconds but as I recall Carl offered a report about the insurance monies received for the Tabernacle Building, the FEMA funds forthcoming from Ike, the city’s resolve to address code enforcement based in part on the committees recommendations, and his assurance that Mayor England would give his State of the City address at the next meeting.

With that we moved into “the meat of the meeting” per President Coffey.

Resolution (R-09-01) to support the aforementioned HR676 passed with a vote of 7 for & 1 abstention (CM Gahan).

Ordinance A-09-01 amending Salaries for Non Bargaining Unit employees garnered a 4 to 4 vote. At this point Pres. Dan conferred with Council Attorney Stan Robison (oh! Did I forget to mention we have a new attorney?) who ruled that a tie vote on first reading amounted to a failure to pass.

Next came Z-09-02 to amend the Zoning Classification in a portion of the West End of our fair city. Upon a recommendation from Zoning and Planning it passed with an 8-0 count on first reading.

There were two more ordinances on the agenda but one got tabled (again) and the other I blanked out on (again). Even more evidence that attending one of these events stone cold sober is hazardous to ones health!

Then came the first round of the Headliner of the evening ie; Non-Agenda Items! Our good friend and comrade-at arms Mark Cassidy took the podium to ask this council to consider the US Constitutionally mandated redistricting of New Albany’s voting districts.

If you’ll recall, the previous Council’s prime objection was that action had been initiated without having first requested that they (the Council) do their duty. Mr. Cassidy was merely attempting to abide by the Council’s wishes by bringing it forward again.

However President Coffey was going to have none of it. He cut Mark off in mid sentence explaining that in these dire times there were much more important issues facing New Albany.

He furthered that the previous Council had indeed passed a redistricting plan that met the State statute and that was the end of it.

Not one to be ignored, Mark respectfully asked if he could at least finish his remarks. Coffey nodded in the affirmative and Mr. Cassidy began again.

At this point the new Council Attorney began to dress down Mark about events concerning this subject that occurred back in 1999. Apparently Mr. Robison had been sitting in as a substitute for then Council Attorney Henderson on the evening that this subject was broached and afterwards had been berated in the media and elsewhere for his action/inactions during that event. So tonight opened up an old wound and he came out like a wounded pit bull.

To his credit he later in the evening apologized to Mark for his outburst and seemed genuinely remorseful for his actions.

President Coffey took over where Stan left off and began to look like the Dan we’ve all come to know over the years. Mark tried several times to finish his statement but in the end he was gaveled down and the meeting was adjourned.

We all took a deep breath of WHEW! Damned glad that’s over without bloodshed!

But is was not to be for Round Two was just over the horizon!

I hurriedly guided Mark out the door to the elevator and into the cold night air. We proceeded to Studio’s for our regularly scheduled Council Meeting Afterglow. We ordered a coupler of beers and were pleasantly surprised to see our very own Bluegill and his compatriot Roy stroll in.

We began to impart a report of the gathering to them and who walks in but Coffey, Gonder, Robison, & Carl Malysz!

Dan apparently hadn’t had enough and the discussion began anew with gusto!

It wasn’t long until Bluegill got involved and he & Coffey got nose to nose. The volume rose, the faces got red, threats got hurled and then slowly something close to a tone of reason began to return.

Almost all present exchanged their views on the subject and although no agreement was reached there was no broken glassware, no blood on the carpet, and no 911 calls.

Dan left, Stan again expressed his remorse to Mark, we ordered another round and collectively discussed the variety of still unresolved issues before us.

In the end it was a toss up somewhere between definite lines being drawn in the sand and a no harm/no foul street ball game.

Sure does make one wonder what the future holds though. So grab a season ticket and enjoy the festivities.

Hell they’re FREE!

---

NEXT: Gahan and Coffey Together Forever, Part 4: The new conjoined councilmen: Coffey and Gahan (17 January 2009).

Pleasant Ridge in the NYT: All that nice outside money waiting to be invested, and all those low-income people refusing to get out of the way.

If you live in New Albany, you're advised to pay close attention to the ongoing saga of Pleasant Ridge, a neighborhood in Charlestown, which has been covered in some depth by both the News and Tribune (links below) and the Courier-Journal. On February 11, the story reached the New York Times.

Many of these same themes are playing out right here as Jeff Gahan seeks to remove affordable public housing -- and many of you are looking the other way, quietly pleased that someone finally is "cleaning up The Project" without stopping to consider the nature of the tactics, and without realizing that these tactics, once deemed acceptable, needn't stop with public housing residents who are in the way of big money.

Gahan considers himself a model Democrat (Clintonian sub-species), while Charlestown's mayor Bob Hall at least dispenses with Gahan's hypocrisy by embracing his inner Republican. Apart for disdain for the poor, apparently they have one other signal trait in common.

"Mr. Hall did not respond to requests for an interview."

Familiar, isn't it?

The NYT article is broken into three "teaser" sections.

Where a City Sees Decay, Neighbors Fight to Save a Community, by Monica Davey (New York Times)

 On Friday, residents who hope to save Pleasant Ridge filed a request for a preliminary injunction in state court, aided by the Institute for Justice, a libertarian public interest law firm that sees what is happening here as a troubling new way for a city, in essence, to clear land.

“What’s very unusual about this is using code enforcement to circumvent eminent domain law,” said Jeff Rowes, a lawyer in the case, which asks a judge to stop the city. “And we’re worried about this becoming a model — the model for how to replace housing for people of modest means in states everywhere that have passed limits on the powers of eminent domain.”

SNIP

Michael Gillenwater, the city attorney, says what is happening in Pleasant Ridge, where a private developer has begun accumulating lots, is all about safety, not wealth ... “We’re not going to ever make a dime on this,” Mr. Gillenwater said. “It’s a matter of helping out the city and the people in the long run. All we’re doing is trying to have safe housing.”

“This is not about rich and poor,” Mr. Gillenwater continued. “When you’ve got the crime, the drugs, animals running about, this is about life and death.”

SNIP

“There’s no question that there are problems,” said Josh Craven, who lives here and is president of a homeowners association that has grown out of this fight. “But the city let this happen over all these years. They allowed the slumlords to come in, to not live up to the property maintenance code. They’ve let this go on so long that you can’t come in now and say, ‘Oh, you have to repair everything now or we’re going to fine you thousands of dollars every day so that you just have to sell to get out from under the debt.’”

February 9
Pleasant Ridge residents pursue court action to stop building code fines from the city of Charlestown, by Danielle Grady (News and Tribune)
Neighborhood Association filed lawsuit in January

January 11
Pleasant Ridge Neighborhood Association sues city of Charlestown over building fines, by Elizabeth Beilman (News and Tribune)
Lawsuit claims several Constitutional rights violated

Invariably, when faced with a question they can't or won't answer, there is silence like snow falling on the earth.

But here's the bright side, because when Warren cloaks himself in the junta's gag order, there's time for a number.

Breathlessness begets toothlessness as rental property registration begins tomorrow.

Bring out yer slumlords!

The self-congratulatory boilerplate begins in three ... two ... one ...

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Official News and Information about the City of New Albany directly from the Mayor's office. You can also keep up with our full calendar of events by clicking HERE.

Rental Registration Program to Begin December 5th

December 01, 2016

Earlier this year, Mayor Jeff Gahan and Building Commissioner David Brewer urged the City Council to pass a rental registration program that requires landlords to register any properties within the city limits that will be rented to tenants. The Rental Housing Ordinance will increase communication that will help prevent the deterioration of residential housing, assist in compliance of minimum rental housing standards, improve safety for residents, protect the character and stability of residential neighborhoods, and preserve and increase property values throughout the city.

For more information about this history of this ordinance, please see here: http://newalbanycityhall.com/home/2016/3/7/rental-housing-ordinance-a-must-for-new-albany

To view the Rental Housing Registration Ordinance, please click HERE.

Rental Property Registration will begin on Monday December 5th. All landlords within the city will have until January 31st, 2017 to register their properties.

>> Click Here for a Rental Property Registration Form <<

To register a property, please download and complete the form (linked HERE). After completing the form, you can mail the form in or turn it in at the City-County Building. A registration fee of $5.00 will be applied per rental address/parcel.

To mail in your completed rental registration form, please send both the form and $5.00 registration fee (checks only) to:

City of New Albany Building Department
311 Hauss Square, Rm. #329
New Albany, IN 47150

To e-mail your completed application, please send it to RentalRegistration@cityofnewalbany.com

If an application is e-mailed, you will still need to pay your registration fee either in person or through the mail.

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

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

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

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

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

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

The video is here: Patience is a version.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Patience is a version.

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

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

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




Comments at the time:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Highwayman said...
Greg,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Total responses: Nada.

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

MommyKnowsBest said...
When was this meeting?

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

12-foot high street spam? Not a problem, so piss off, spammer.

I enjoy parading the booty through the streets.

New Albany's new slogan: "Truck Through City" ... Part 39: As the Board of Works piously genuflects at the Harvest Homecoming shrine, what's roaring past YOUR quality of life?

Two excellent comments were added to yesterday's Trucks, speed, children and institutionalized moral cowardice posting, which asked:

Why are Mayor Jeff Gahan and his "planning" minions being so willfully blind to the public safety hazards they're responsible for creating with Truck Through City?

Oops. I may have answered my own question. NAC's Jeff G wrote:

The Main Street project, specifically designed to handle such truck traffic, is almost complete. Once Market, Spring, and Elm are reclaimed with 10' lanes in both directions and bike facilities, diverting heavy traffic to the Main Street highway will be a no-brainer.

Regular reader CM got down to a very relevant point:

The Mayor should walk around town. Wonder if he ever has? Just walking once gives you a really good idea of the streets that are more dangerous for walking, even on the sidewalks. Trying to cross some of the streets can really make you nervous.

Them?

Walk?

What are they ... poor people or something?

Following are today's beeftruckcake photos.

Neighborhood architecture tends to be displayed at its most stunning and tourism-worthy when Tiger Truck sends its fleet of diesel belchers flying past.

Don't you want to be biking next to this heaving mass of steel? After all, when you see the Ass Plunder truck racing past, you know that some unfortunate tree is about to be Drop Crotch Pruned, reminding us to Nationalize Utility Monopolies Now.

Wait -- how'd THAT one get in here? Looks like some trucks manage to sneak through, even in Bruges. Meanwhile, the morning Dump Truck Regatta has set sail.

New Albany's new slogan: "Truck Through City" ... Part 38: Have you heard the one about J & J Pallet and the Main Street Deforestation Project?

Okay, listen; it goes like this.

See the pretty J & J Pallet truck roaring down Spring Street, unhindered by feebly enforced ordinance in any respect as it makes for the other interstate as fast as humanly possible?

John "Rasputin of Redevelopment" Rosenbarger and his oblivious handlers in the mayor's office say that when the Main Street Deforestation Project is finished, trucks like the one belonging to J & J Pallet -- currently speeding down Spring Street all day long -- will voluntarily change their routes back to Main Street and pass through openings like this.

HA HA HA. That's a good one, eh? Well, here's another one. This truck ...

... will quickly divert back here HA HA HA HA HA HA.

And this one ...

... can't wait to squeeze through here, on its way to deliver to a Dollar General in East Jesus.

YOU'REMAKINGMYSTOMACHHURTOHGODPLEASENOMOREJOKES And this lovely dump truck would rather be driving half its current speed ...

... right here. HA HA HA HA HA HA

Small wonder the unemployment rate is up. Every city planner, not to mention a goodly number of elected officials, wants to be a stand-up comic.

New Albany's new slogan: "Truck Through City" ... Part 37: Watch while these downtown businesses disappear.

Let's look at that one again. It's like downtown independent businesses don't even exist.

Now back to the usual, numbing daily routine.