Reader writes about River Run: "I was under the impression public records HAD to be made public."

Yesterday we examined yet another instance of City Hall foot-dragging over public records requests.

River Run Family Water Park: Why won't the city of New Albany comply with the law and grant Randy Smith's public records request to view the financials?

Once again the city's corporate attorney Shane Gibson oversees Team Gahan's activities in a manner indistinguishable from William Barr's, but let's move ahead to a comment by regular blog reader RW:

"I was under the impression public records had to be made public. Any newspaper can request these be given for we the people. Am I incorrect?"

You are correct in theory, but if governmental entities don't comply, there isn't a pathway to compel them short of a lawsuit. Hence the traditional "Fourth estate" role of the newspaper in making issues like this public, a task which our biased Jefferonsvile-centric News and Tribune typically refuses to exercise;  reporters show interest, but management likes Jeff Gahan's advertising income a bit too much.

And yes, there is the Indiana Public Access Counselor, who can make rulings pro or con, but enforcement mechanisms are lacking. Gahan's sycophantic city hall is a persistent violator, but again, short of hiring a lawyer and seeking a judge, little can be done to bring them to the table.

Obviously this needs to change. In Gahan's case, the handiest expedient is underway as we speak: Election 2019, and an opportunity to drain the swamp.

River Run Family Water Park: Why won't the city of New Albany comply with the law and grant Randy Smith's public records request to view the financials?

Campaign finance implications, too.

Today we have two related topics.

Second, there's a question and answer session with a citizen who is being stonewalled by the city with respect to a public records request.

But first, some background on the subject of the request: River Run Family Water Park. In 2013, NAC's Jeff Gillenwater did what the newspaper refuses to do, then as now -- namely, research:

Water on the brains: Much less for far more will keep us swimming in it.

Unlike some voluntarily voiceless council members, I bothered with a smidgen of research into how comparable cities have handled comparable situations.

Six years later, with River Run in its fourth season of non-transparent operation, we spotted an example of selective municipal reasoning:

GREEN MOUSE SAYS: Why does City Hall demand financials from the county parks department when it eternally refuses to divulge its own River Run Gahan Water Dome numbers?

To the Green Mouse's knowledge, the city has steadfastly resisted releasing the financials of the water slide for four years, almost surely because they're not pretty, or contain buried land mines; for instance, how is the aquatic acreage connected with the new fire station's monthly disbursements?

Now for the facts of the city's public records request refusal, as revealed in the following interview conducted by NA Confidential with Randy Smith, New Albany resident, taxpayer and owner of Destinations Booksellers.

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NA Confidential: Randy, when did you submit a records request? To whom was it directed?

Randy Smith: I hand-delivered the request (dated August 6) on August 7, 2019 to Linda Moeller, controller for the city of New Albany. I did not request copies of these records at that time – only access to them to inspect and record the information for further use.

NAC: Why did you make this records request?

RS: My purpose is to analyze the financials of River Run Family Waterpark (RR) and to share my findings with the public.

NAC: What did you request of the city toward your aim of analyzing River Run’s financials?

RS: I requested access to the following records dating from the June 2015 to the end of July 2019:

REVENUES
1. Monthly revenue from admissions to RR.
2. Monthly revenue from concessions sold at RR.
3. Any other revenues from any source resulting from the use of RR each month.
4. Monthly reports to the Indiana Department of Revenue for sales taxes collected, reported, and remitted with respect to the operation of RR.

EXPENSES
1. Monthly expenditures/claims for utilities, including water, sewer, electric, gas, telephone, internet, or any other like expenditures related to RR and/or metered billing for each month for each category.
2. Monthly wages, salaries, and benefits for each person paid for work at RR, including professional, full-time, part-time, temporary, employee, paid contractor, or person paid, regardless of how that person’s position is designated.
3. Reports of allocations of payroll and benefits for administrative personnel whose duties include supervision or operation of RR for each month.
4. Reports of allocations of payroll and benefits for personnel from other city departments whose time has been spent in the operation or maintenance of RR, including public safety officials.
5. Expenses for maintenance conducted by contractors not employed by the city.
6. Expenses for consumables (other than utilities) necessary to the operation of RR.
7. Expenses for food and non-food items necessary to conduct concessions operations at RR.
8. Vehicle and equipment expenses that can reasonably be allocated proportionally to the operation and maintenance of RR.

NAC: Under the Indiana Access to Public Records Act, citizens are entitled to a response within 24 hours of receiving such a request. Were you contacted within 24 hours as stipulated?

RS: Yes, Moeller’s initial acknowledgement to my note came on August 7th when I handed it to her. She observed that the city has its own form, only slightly different from the official state form. She said my form complied.

On the 8th I followed up by e-mail, indicating that while it might take time to pull together all the information I’d requested, I am especially interested in the sales tax returns to the Department of Revenue, which would take almost no time to produce; I could even come down to the City County Building immediately and inspect them.

At this point (August 9) she replied.

Randy,

I was out of the office yesterday and was getting ready to respond to your public records request dated August 6, 2019. Within 10 days you will be provided with the materials requested or a status update.

Linda Moeller

NAC: To be clear, on August 9 you were told that within 10 days the request would be honored, or a “status update” given. Have you heard from Moeller since then?

RS: No, I have not.

NAC: That’s approximately 72 days late, isn’t it?

RS: Yes, it is. It’s important to understand that the stipulated 10-day wait is purely arbitrary. With respect to sales tax records, while it might take me a few minutes, my own business can provide copies of every single sales tax return for the past 15 years. The major limitation on that is the time it takes to change from page to page of my returns history.

I also can't understand the use of the term "available." Why would not these records be "available" almost immediately? Certainly the 2018, 2017, 2016, and 2015 FY records are immediately available, right? Obviously the June and July 2019 numbers wouldn’t have been compiled, but why wouldn’t these numbers for previous years be right at hand?

NAC: Is there any mechanism for redress in cases like this?

RS: In view of the city’s non-responsiveness, I have sought the assistance of the state’s Public Access Counselor.

NAC: As of this writing, you’re not the only citizen to have requested the River Run financials and been refused. The city council evidently has seen only limited numbers for the past four years. What’s the principle at stake here?

RS: I think we all have the right to know how much it’s costing us to operate this facility. State law says we have that right. In other states, laws like the APRA are called “Sunshine” laws, in the belief that sunshine, or transparency, is a guard against misfeasance and malfeasance. And a suspicion of corruption is not a requirement. How a city spends its money is a legitimate public question.

Since I’ve received no formal response from the Gahan administration, I literally can’t say why these records remain secret. I am left only to surmise.

NAC: Do you think River Run is losing money?

RS: That’s actually beside the point. The city’s water recreation facility probably loses money — a lot of money. That’s OK. Elected officials can choose to lose money to provide a wading pool, splash pads, waterslides, and a “lazy river.” Those of us who thought the “pool” was a poor use of borrowed money can but criticize it now.

But, we are entitled to see the numbers.

It would be nice if the newspaper paid close enough attention to get details correct, like how long we've been waiting for River Run financials.

"Council members also asked Gibson to provide a breakdown of 2018 revenue and costs associated with the River Run Family Water Park."

If memory serves, the first such request for River Run financials came in 2016, one year after the water park opened just in the nick of time to serve as campaign prop for the mayor in 2015.

Team Gahan refused to divulge these numbers then, and has continued to do so ever since.

Surely the reporter Morris knows this by now; just as surely his superiors at the News and Evangelbune are aware that Jeff Gahan's penchant for secrecy means that his minions routinely ignore information requests or purposefully distort answers on the rare occasions that they take such requests seriously.

But Morris is obsessed by sports, and Susan Duncan my Facebook memes, and Bill Hanson with turning over the editorial page to Tom May.

And, consequently, none of them give a damn.

New Albany City Council begins budget process (Morris; Tome May's Bluespaper)

City employees expected to get 2 percent raise

NEW ALBANY — The New Albany City Council held a 2020 budget workshop Monday to get preliminary revenue numbers and budgets from various city departments. Another workshop, which will deal with police, fire and parks department budgets, will be held at 5 p.m. Aug. 15 before the next council meeting.

The 2020 general fund revenue is expected to be around $28 million, according to city attorney Shane Gibson. He told council members he will have riverboat and Economic Development Income Tax (EDIT) revenue projections at the Aug. 15 work session.

Gibson went through several city department budgets with the council members which included: mayor, city controller, city clerk, city attorney, flood control, building, motor vehicle/local roads and streets and weights and measures during the workshop ...

How much does the mayoral fixer Gibson earn yearly, anyway? They won't ever tell us that, either.

Jeff Gahan's slick newspaper ad claims the city profits from River Run waterpark. If so, why won't he show us the financials so we can see for ourselves?

There Gahan goes again, taking credit for restaurants and stores. Is he planning Grand Closing ribbon-cuttings ...

 ... for the ones that don't make it? If Gahan birthed them, shouldn't he bury them, too?

Or is this too much to ask of Wile E. Gahan, Genius?

I've no idea how many taxpayer dollars are required to purchase ads like this in the increasingly irrelevant News and Tribune, although as we've pointed out in the past, they're a fantastic investment for Gahan, who uses YOUR money to buy HIS de facto campaign ads, all the while making boasts he has no intention of proving.

They're also not unlike a form of protection money, in the sense that the newspaper typically treats follow-up questions as a strain of Ebola, refraining from the sort of invasive journalism that might result in an embarrassing question like this:

Mr. Gahan, can you PROVE the assertions in this ad? After all, we make sure Roger's claims in a letter to the editor are utterly factual before printing it -- and shouldn't the same rules apply to everyone, even the mayor?

HA HA HA. Can you even imagine it? Gahan would respond by threatening to pull the taxpayer-financed ads -- and that would be the end of it.

Here's the text of the ad. Note that during the River Run waterpark's four previous years of operation, financials have yet to be released in spite of numerous requests to view them. These would address profit-and-loss realities. Wouldn't YOU like to know how much money the fire department transfers monthly to the parks department as "rent" for its station on Daisy Lane, such to (maybe) balance the books?

THE CITY OF NEW ALBANY, INDIANA

We replaced problems and potholes with pipes, paving, parks and pools.

Like any city, New Albany has had its share of issues. Unlike most cities, New Albany is focused on fixing them. That's why we pour resources into things you may not see. Like reducing the number of sewers that flood when it rains from 90 to zero. Fixing potholes. Updating and enhancing parks. And creating a popular public waterpark that provides family fun and a profit for the city. All this, plus new restaurants, stores and more that add up to a great quality of life. New Albany...it's where you should be!
cityofnewalbany.com

THE CITY OF NEW ALBANY, INDIANA

New Albany Mayor Jeff Gahan

But here's the funny part. On-line, the photo and text are followed by this:

Check availability with the advertiser as the information and offers in this ad may be time-sensitive.

And where might we conduct this check?

Nothing, not even Mike Hall.

Crickets chirp, pins drop. Somewhere a dog barks ... and Gahan tells lies.

Nice start, News and Tribune: C'mon, non-transparent Gahan, turn over the animal shelter fur-nances.

No sooner than I rake them over the coals for refusing to shine a beam on our-ever secretive ruling clique, than out comes a flashlight.

That wasn't so hard, was it?

Shall we all file FOIA requests in tandem, and cause Jeffrey and Shane to sweat a bit as they plot delays, refusals and roadblocks?

OUR OPINION: Turn over shelter finances

NA-FC Shelter finances are needed to move forward in funding dispute.

At a $25 million company, it would be fairly simple for an executive to walk over to the chief financial officer's office and get income and expenses for individual departments at the business.

That should be the case as well in New Albany — a city with an annual budget of about $25 million — but for some reason the city controller's office is holding onto the financial documents for the local animal shelter like they were money.

As a result, the Floyd County Council and county Auditor Scott Clark are suing the city of New Albany for release of the financial records of the New Albany-Floyd County Animal Shelter.

The suit comes as the city and county continue to debate funding for the shelter, with the county claiming it does not know how much money it should be contributing via interlocal agreement because it can't determine the amount being spent by the shelter ...

Jeff "Look at Me" Gahan's aquatic cult of personality: He brings us health, all by himself.

Taxpayers are footing the bill for full-page magazine ads like this one, and yet since the River Run Family Water Park's inception, detailed financial records about its annual summertime operation have remained a complete mystery because Jeff Gahan, whose photo dominates the layout, refuses to release them.

Before the city spends at least $8.5 million on a new city hall, shouldn't we know about the financial performance of Gahan's numerous other big ticket, bright and shiny projects? After all, initial expenditures are the proverbial tip of the iceberg. What are the ancillary costs for things like maintenance?

Where are the artful subsidies coming from?

And: the biggest question of all: Why are we spending money for ads like this, which serve primarily to glorify a solitary, grubby mayor?

Q. What do Donald Trump's taxes and River Run Family Water Park's financials have in common?

A. Neither will viewed by taxpayers any time soon. 

Just don't mention it to the mayor. Open records make him mean.

We feel for you, CM Blair.

Your council colleague Bob "Plead the Fifth" Caesar pulled the same stunt with the Bicentennial Commission records, and ironically, precisely the same handsomely remunerated municipal mouthpiece kept the books firmly shut.

In other news, the Green Mouse ...

 ... says he has learned the identity of the genetically engineered (hey, Green isn't?) Deaf Gahan mouse.

It's none other than ...

Who'd have guessed?

Nice mustache, though.