Local pretend Democrats joyful as Jeff Gahan offers to demolish homeless camps in exchange for more pretty downtown landscaping.

If local Democrats have no intention of protesting their mayor's eight-year record of abuses committed against the community's less fortunate -- has a single ranking Democrat spoken publicly about Team Gahan's breathtaking lies in the lead-up to demolishing the Silver Creek homeless encampment? -- then perhaps the rest of us should protest against the Democrats. One effective way of doing this arrives in November.

The Floyd County Democratic Party has abandoned any semblance of principle save the ironclad imperative of preserving pay-to-play political patronage in New Albany. A friend said it best yesterday at Facebook:

The destruction of this homeless camp was ordered by New Albany mayor Jeff Gahan (D) who is up for re-election this November. I urge my New Albany friends who vote Democrat to make an exception this fall, and vote for his opponent, Republican Mark Seabrook. Jeff Gahan is a thoroughly corrupt politician.

For the record, my friend Roger ("NA Confidential") Baylor is an independent with a strong leaning towards European-style social democracy, but like me, has found common cause with local Republicans on many local issues.

The News and Tribune's Boyle does fine work with this story.

WATCH: New Albany homeless camp demolished, by John Boyle

NEW ALBANY — A homeless camp along Silver Creek in New Albany was demolished by city crews Monday ...

 ... Marcy Garcia, a volunteer with Hip Hop Cares, has been helping those living in the camp since last winter. The reason the site came to the attention of city officials, she believes, was a fire that took place in one of the structures roughly five weeks ago.

"I think the fire brought it to light," Garcia said. "I think that's really what gave attention to this camp. It was a pretty major fire that happened, and it brought attention, not only to them, but it makes people question the city of New Albany about the homeless population" ...

Previous link(s):

Gahan's boom that crashed: "Quite the tab (for taxpayers) for making vulnerable people's lives harder."

Exit 0's Paul Stensrud pulls zero punches v.v. Gahan's violence against the homeless: "In order for things to change there needs to be a change of hands within local government."

Gahan's boom that crashed: "Quite the tab (for taxpayers) for making vulnerable people's lives harder."

Looks flaccid to us. Time for an Rx?

Damn. I missed the self-congratulatory post-homeless camp demolition pep rally. Wish I could have been there for the popping of corks.

NAC reader DS posted the photograph above in response to social media speculation about the street department's casualties in yesterday's assault on the homeless encampment by Silver Creek.

"The boom didn’t malfunction, it crashed. It will need serious repairs. Another financial hit."

Frequent reader KC replied:

"Wow. That's going to be quite the tab for making vulnerable people's lives harder."

UPDATE: It turns out that Wednesday is a national holiday with deep significance as it pertains to the mayor's customary attitude toward the less fortunate. Perhaps this explains yesterday's hurried conclusion.

Previous link(s):

Exit 0's Paul Stensrud pulls zero punches v.v. Gahan's violence against the homeless: "In order for things to change there needs to be a change of hands within local government."

Exit 0's Paul Stensrud pulls zero punches v.v. Gahan's violence against the homeless: "In order for things to change there needs to be a change of hands within local government."

It appears that Jeff Gahan is as adept at co-opting the Homeless Coalition of Southern Indiana as he has been in snookering Purported Progressives into hand-feeding him grapes. Gahan has picked a side he can control; if Dear Leader could bulldoze Exit Zero as a concept, then he'd do that, too.

Gahan is pathology, not policy.

Watch the video, and ponder the true nature of Gahan's "compassion." Has a single ranking Democrat spoken publicly about the housing camp demolition?

DemoDisneyDixiecratic Party chairman releases stunning statement about Gahan's violent homeless encampment takedown today -- and more on our Dear Leader's drumpf envy.

Industry and compassion? Hardly. Jeff Gahan refers to public housing as a "compound." He has prisons on the brain, not affordable housing.

Does a New Albany homeless encampment by Silver Creek exist if a blind mayor can't see it?

DemoDisneyDixiecratic Party chairman releases stunning statement about Gahan's violent homeless encampment takedown today -- and more on our Dear Leader's drumpf envy.

What, you expected actual words?

For the real poop, read the Courier-Journal: After 3-day delay, New Albany tears down secluded homeless camp.

For the self-serving bullshit, read Jeff Gahan's re-election page: But the beautiful people all love me dearly.

The Aggregate is working on a story. As of mid-afternoon today, the News and Tribune didn't even know there was a story.

And this is my take:

---

“What you permit, you promote. What you allow, you encourage. What you condone, you own.”

I've been trying my best to begin the process of disengagement from local politics. 15 years is enough, and I need a break; besides, it's become very tedious constantly doing the GOP's job of articulating the resistance to idiocy when I'm a damnable socialist, not a Republican.

That said, my conscience precludes silence in the instance of Jeff Gahan's horrid "information" about "industry and compassion" with regard to the community's less fortunate. The statement, albeit composed by a bootlicking minion, was anything but helpful.

Petulant, flatulent and disingenuous comprise the tip of the iceberg; Gahan's reference to the public housing "compound" might be recent history's most revealing Freudian slip. When Donald Trump emits like-minded tweets, our city's Democrats are gravely offended, screaming and howling, but when their (Democratic?) mayor follows suit the only sounds we hear are pins dropping, crickets chirping and the mournful wail of an underfed mutt off in the distance.

As a friend astutely observed, Team Gahan's absence of "protocol" simply means they can do as they please about a homeless encampment, either look the other way or dial up the dozers, all without a trace of a political, philosophical or humanitarian rationale. Just the sheer whimsy of C-minus students on a power trip with plenty of Jorge Lanz's money.

Don't look at me. He's YOUR mayor, not mine, Democrats.

It's far past time for a reality check amongst those of you fancying yourselves progressive or liberal or whatever, because Gahan's stance with respect to your fellow citizens most in need of a boost -- exemplified by but not restricted to his cynical public housing takeover and of course today's demolition fetish -- has been absolutely abysmal, savagely contradicting any semblance of the "social justice" you claim to be pursuing.

Democrats, I suppose it's your business supporting a morally bankrupt fraud, even if it's based on sheer delusion -- but maybe you can be less blatantly hypocritical about it?

Industry and compassion? Hardly. Jeff Gahan refers to public housing as a "compound." He has prisons on the brain, not affordable housing.

The Courier-Journal has provided an object lesson about the utility of journalism.

By covering a story Team Gahan dearly wished to be kept hidden ...

Does a New Albany homeless encampment by Silver Creek exist if a blind mayor can't see it?

 ... Louisville's newspaper (not the N & T, which is predictably MIA) has New Albany city officials scrambling to put lipstick on their "quality of life" pigs by contriving a "policy" on homelessness (and by direct extension, non-affordable housing) that didn't even exist prior to the past weekend apart from frequent denials over Bud Light Mang-O-Rita at the Roadhouse.

If you've followed New Albany for any length of time, you'll find this headline at the city's propaganda organ absolutely hilarious. 

Mayor Gahan Provides Information About Homeless Assistance in New Albany

Really? Irony-free Nawbany.

Dear Leader wrote the article himself after eight years of refusing to comment publicly on the very same topic?

Constipation, indeed.

Is it an election year?

But okay; fine. We'll take them at their dubious word, and as such, here's a Freudian slip of epic dimension.

"The city of New Albany is the host of the largest public housing compound in the state of Indiana, outside of Gary, Indiana."

The Genius of the Flood Plain should know that the noun "compound" in this instance is defined as such:

Compound: a fenced or walled-in area containing a group of buildings and especially residences

• a prison compound
• an embassy compound

As Major Winchester once noted on television's M*A*S*H, "out of the mouths of babes comes drollery."

For Gahan and his generational cohort, surely vivid images of walls have always crowded their minds as it pertains to their absolute certainty that if public housing (read: nasty poor people) could be removed from this fair city, we'd be enriched to the point of Persian Gulf sheikdom.

It then follows that Gahan wouldn't miss another opportunity to repeat his mantra about the city's commitment to its less fortunate citizens.

New Albany is doing more than its share to provide for the homeless.

Wow.

Gahan has sought for eight long years to avoid publicly mentioning those aspects of human society he finds unclean and distasteful, including homelessness, opioid addiction, non-living wages, petty crime and the like.

Now, even in this PR release masterpiece of sidestepping, avoidance and subterfuge, Gahan can't avoid repeating the unexamined bromides of his generation's upbringing, devoid as they are of substantive intellectual content.

Now, called out by the C-J, he becomes a towering figure of "industry and compassion" (a phrase probably cribbed from this hotel awards release). But actions speak more loudly than mere words, and it's simple.

With enthusiastic support from local Democrats riding the political patronage gravy train, and ignoring their own party platform, Gahan has done nothing in eight years to assist those in this community who are in greatest need. 

Period; full stop. 

The Gahan Bait and Switch has been elevated to an art form -- that's why the pig is wearing lipstick and those levers remain unseen. No civic problem is too great to be hidden behind the Wizard of Disney's network of fake computer-generated facades, and when necessary, out-and-out lying.

This fib-fest about "compassion" for the downtrodden is just the latest example, although it's a unique insight into the brain of New Albany's worst ever mayor and the resulting C-minus student's paradise.

Here's the insipid PR release in its entirety.

---

Mayor Gahan Provides Information About Homeless Assistance in New Albany

July 28, 2019

New Albany has a long history of being a city of industry and compassion, and we are well positioned to carry these traditions forward. Today’s Courier—Journal brings to light the situation of two people who are in need of support and a safe and secure roof over their heads. As always, the city will work with Homeless Coalition members, the New Albany Housing Authority, and other affiliated organizations to meet their needs.

Link to Courier Journal article: https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/local/indiana/floyd/2019/07/27/homeless-camp-remains-after-new-albany-nearly-clears/1846883001/

We appreciate and hear the concerns of organizations mentioned in the Courier-Journal article, including Exit 0 and Hip Hop Cares. However, building codes, zoning ordinances, and other laws do not permit the construction of unsafe structures to be used for shelter in the woods, in parks, or in the public right-of-way.

The city of New Albany is the host of the largest public housing compound in the state of Indiana, outside of Gary, Indiana. For a city our size, it is one of the largest in the United States. With over 1100 units, the New Albany Housing Authority dwarfs all others in southern Indiana, having more than Jeffersonville, Clarksville, Charlestown, Sellersburg, and Corydon combined. New Albany is doing more than its share to provide for the homeless, even while facing budget cuts from the federal government. Due to those federal cuts, the New Albany Housing Authority has been shorted over $130 million in maintenance costs alone.

If you, or someone you know, lives in New Albany and needs help finding shelter, please contact one of the following partner agencies to receive assistance:

Homeless Coalition of Southern Indiana: (812) 913-5179

New Albany Housing Authority: (812) 948-2319

New Albany Township Trustee’s Office: (812) 948-5498