Top Ten List: Shit our Democrats say, or "The Top Ten Reasons Why It's the Hospital Sale, Stupid."

In 2016, Floyd County government officials, most but not all of them Republicans, approved the sale of Floyd Memorial Hospital, now known as Baptist Health Floyd.

Denied a $$$piece$$$ of the action, and as ever conveniently ignoring the fact that the city of New Albany is located within the county of Floyd, municipal Democrats have since become disturbingly prone to shifting any discussion whatever -- about public policy, private behavior or the best ribs in town -- to whining about the county's sale of the hospital.

Following are NA Confidential's Top Ten Reasons Why It's the Hospital Sale, Stupid.

10. We had to flip sides and subsidize the Summit Springs Luxury Mudslide Strip Mine Fun Park, give sewer tap-in waivers to wealthy Indy developers for the Break Wind Lofts at Duggins Flats, and strong-arm millions of dollars from the Horseshoe Foundation to spread around town like Jolly Ranchers ... all because of the hospital sale.

9. Once the dastardly Republicans sold the hospital, we had no choice except to take over the housing authority, give David Duggins a raise, evict the residents and demolish their homes. In fact, Duggins was so depressed about the hospital sale that he went to Keeneland for contractor therapy.

8. We had to paint anchors on every stationary object (and probably a few squirrels). Republicans sold the hospital, you know, and anchors are a well-known symbol of resistance.

7. If not for the hospital sale, we wouldn't have found it expedient to accuse Al Knable of crimes against humanity as they pertain to insignificant comments about separate 9-1-1 emergency call centers.

6. We had to spend $10 million on a new luxury city hall because after all, the damn Republicans sold the hospital out from under us.

5. Susie said if the hospital hadn't been sold, there'd have been no need for the school referendum we supported.

4. C'mon, face it, any Democratic city recoiling from the horror of Republicans selling the hospital would understand why we transformed a revolutionary two-way street grid modernization plan into just another pay-to-play, vote-buying, shoddy-ass downtown paving project.

3. Yes, it's true that when we split the city-county parks department, built a veritable Titanic of water parks and added $3 million yearly in parks and recreation budgetary outlays, the hospital had yet to be sold, but Adam said we were just being pre-emptive.

2. Why would anyone want to see Bob Caesar's sacred Bicentennial Commission financial records when the Republicans sold that hospital?

1. If Jeff Gahan doesn't get re-elected, and if Democrats don't retain control of the city, so many heads are going to roll, and so many loyalist beaks will be cruelly denied their traditional wetting, that the hospital sale's going to seem like chump change by comparison. Consequently, if yelling "Remember the Hospital Sale!" helps Democrats hold power, it saves us the trouble of asking Comrade Putin to hack the election results ... in return for the hospital.

Bravo: Commissioners, county council earmark future hospital sale proceeds for a destination not labeled Community Foundation.

Note the author's use of "clawed back," and join me in a resounding SMH.

Bill Hanson will be self-immolating soon, but will his own newspaper have reporters available to cover the bonfire?

Also see that these votes cut across party lines, and that Mark Seabrook for once found himself outvoted. It's the sort of thing to celebrate, if for no other reason than freshening the leadership gene pool.

Incoming commissioner Billy Stewart had this to say when I thanked him on Facebook: "I will always put our citizens first and hold ALL elected officials accountable for their actions. Political party doesn't matter, what's right does."

If you've been wondering why I've been drinking more coffee with Republicans than Democrats ... what Mr. Stewart said.

Ordinance affecting future Floyd Memorial Hospital proceeds repealed, by Chris Morris (Don't Come Around City Council No More)

Yearly payments will go into hospital fund

NEW ALBANY — The Floyd County Commissioners and Council passed Floyd County Ordinance 2017-3 Tuesday night in a joint meeting. The ordinance repeals three of the five sections in an ordinance passed last November, dealing with future proceeds from the sale of Floyd Memorial Hospital.

The $61 million to be paid over the next 10 years will now go into a line item termed "hospital fund" in the county budget, not to the Community Foundation of Southern Indiana as directed in the old ordinance. Where it winds up in the future is still to be decided.

However, the $70 million received from the sale of the hospital to Baptist Health at closing will be remain in the hands of the CFSI. If state legislation passes this year, which officials are hopeful it will, Floyd County will receive up to a 5 percent spend rate from the $70 million investment, but will not be able to spend the principal.

While the new ordinance does not specifically address the $70 million investment, a resolution will be written by Council attorney Steven Langdon to ensure the money will remain with the CFSI and will not be clawed back by the county.

Seabrookism: In order to remain local, the hospital sale proceeds must be wired to Wells Fargo in California.

Of course, the first sentence to jump out from the Morrass ...

Floyd County Council files court action against auditor, treasurer; Auditor Scott Clark says money to be transferred today, by Chris Morris (Conscience of John Wilkes Booth)

 ... is this one.

Clark and Berger have been criticized for not transferring the money and defying an agreement signed by the council and Floyd County Commissioners to invest the money with the Community Foundation.

This is true, though from the beginning there has been a whole other side (here and here) to the story, this side being the one almost entirely ignored by the newspaper, which has stooped to drearily touting John Q. Public's purported voice in an unscientific on-line poll, and overall, meekly obeyed the advertising-driven dictates of the publisher, who isn't a newsman, but who picked and pushed his own version of reality in spite of acknowledging a conflict of interest with regard to his board position on the Community Foundation of Southern Indiana.

But here's another quote even more revealing than the one before.

Clark confirmed by email Thursday morning that the money is being transferred at 11:30 a.m. EDT. "I have wire instructions to transfer the money to Wells Fargo bank in California," Clark said in an email.

Great. To keep the sale proceeds in the community, we must ship them to California.

And Wells Fargo?

Chew on this, Bill Hanson.

City of Seattle Dumps Wells Fargo Over DAPL, by Frank Hopper (Indian Country Media Network)

Financing Dakota Access Pipeline puts US bank in more hot water

For months supporters of the Standing Rock Sioux have been urged to boycott Wells Fargo, the world’s second largest bank, because of its financing of the Dakota Access Pipeline. Many closed their Wells Fargo checking and savings accounts, moving the money to credit unions. The amounts weren’t much, perhaps a few hundred or a few thousand dollars each. One supporter, however, represented a bit more, about $3 billion.

On Monday, December 12, the Seattle City Council introduced legislation that would effectively sever the city’s relationship with Wells Fargo. The bank currently manages the city’s $3 billion operating account, which includes the $30 million biweekly employee payroll.

Seattle gets it, even if lame ducks like Matt Oakley don't.

Just imagine the money staying right here, at home, in its own foundation, where it could stay right here and be reinvested right here to produce returns ... right here.

Scott Clark tried, but in the Strange Case of the Withheld Hospital Sale Bucks, the fix was very firmly "IN," and the Community Foundation had no intention of relinquishing the commissioner's proffered reins.

Thursday morning newspaper update here.  

Previously ...

In the matter of hospital sale proceeds, Floyd County's auditor and treasurer are fulfilling their fiduciary responsibilities. We should be thanking, not berating them.

The staff of NA Confidential took Bill Hanson's News and Tribune op-ed piece and ran it through our handy Kenmore fact-checker. When it came out the other side, it read quite differently than before.

In fact, it's been rendered factual. We challenge Hanson to publish our version in his newspaper, and provide the other side to this story. Hanson's original text is in black, and our fact-checked update in red.

Tuesday night's Floyd County government meeting under the Pine View Big Top was described by an acquaintance as the single most dysfunctional such gathering he'd ever witnessed, hands down.

Sadly, various signs since then point to the resolution of the GOP's internecine struggle over the disposition of hospital sale proceeds.

Gazing into the fog of battle, it seems that besieged auditor Scott Clark will be capitulating and authorizing the release of funds to the Community Foundation of Southern Indiana. Come what may, I'm grateful for this example of a public official standing on principle for the greater good.

And for those readers (and even Hanson, who probably doesn't read at all) unable to fathom a public official taking a stand based on a matter of principle, it might help them to consult the discipline we know as "history," and specifically (among others), the Saturday Night Massacre.

Chris Morris covered the Tuesday meeting. Look it up if you will, but to me, Hanson's unseemly intervention has poisoned the well insofar as the News and Tribune's coverage is concerned. We don't need stenographers to faithfully record the wisdom of Papa Doc Seabrook. Rather, there should be real questions and answers, and not rote deference to father figures. Maybe I'm old-fashioned that way.

In the end, my take hasn't changed. Good, bad or indifferent, the hospital sale was handed to citizens of Floyd County as a fait ac·com·pli (ˈfet əkämˈplē,ˈfāt/):

A thing that has already happened or been decided before those affected hear about it, leaving them with no option but to accept.

"the results were presented to shareholders as a fait accompli"

So too was the disposition of the funds. I'd prefer to see them invested in some sort of "Community Foundation of Floyd County," controlled by us, for us. There are existing templates for such entities, and there also are other ways this investment decision might have been made. Unfortunately, the same old back alley boilerplate, dispensed by the usual self-interested suspects, yet again has been the order of the day.

Why do we normalize this?

It has been the pinnacle of disingenuousness for the big wheels to suggest that one or two comment sessions at sparsely attended public meetings, pertaining to a huge investment decision safely settled behind the scenes before the merely symbolic votes were tabulated, somehow constitute consensus.

These may satisfy bare minimum standards of public "discussion," but the reality is far different, and we all know it. It would be refreshing it we could admit as much on widely scattered occasions, rather than hiding behind patriarchal veils of mock propriety.

As Hanson illustrated in his bizarre ad rag op-ed, openly conceding a personal conflict of interest, but refusing to let it stand in the way of petulantly directing his omnibus advertising vehicle (i.e., "newspaper") to openly advocate for a position not connected to embarrassing cooking schools or reality jail-bait television programs, the Community Foundation was not about to let Seabrook's gift horse gallop from the paddock.

Without further comment, here is the transcript of a public Fb conversation between NAC's roving contributor and a member of the Community Foundation board. I find it instructive, and hope that you do, too.

---

Kyle Ridout‎ (to NA Confidential; December 13 at 11:54 p.m.)
If Floyd County had transferred the fund to the Community Foundation at the beginning of November, their fund would have grown now by $2.49 million.

Jeff Gillenwater
Where would that money have been invested? Who would be using it and to what ends?

KR
Good questions. Call Kenton Wooden at the Community Foundation. I think he would be happy to answer those questions. I do know as far as the income is concerned, decisions regarding that would fall to the city and county councils.

JG
I read through the Foundation's published investment policies and couldn't find any ethical guidelines pertaining to the sorts of investments that are acceptable. That would seem like a major step toward ensuring a community wasn't shooting itself in the foot with its investments, particularly when public money is involved. In that regard, there's no such thing as an apolitical board or foundation, only whether we as shareholders get to vote them in or out. That's a lot of power that would be transferred to a private entity and, honestly, asking that everyone in the county call an individual to learn what a board member doesn't know or can't share isn't a very satisfying answer. It's the sort of thing that should be settled well before a transfer of funds. I think there are a lot of people who might need to reexamine this situation. I don't know if the public officials holding up the transfer have a legal leg to stand on, but I'm starting to appreciate their efforts much more.

KR
If you called and found out the facts, you could report back what you hear first hand rather than interpreting. Your choice.

JG
But you're the board member advocating for this massive transfer of public funds. Doesn't responsibility for those facts fall on you? If you don't know how and where the money would be invested and/or how much we'll be charged in administrative fees, how can you say if it's a good idea or not? The only thing I'm "interpreting" is that there isn't much public information to be interpreted.

JG
And, also, where did you get the $2.49 million number?

KR
I am not going to endlessly argue with you. If you want answers, you have a completely open path to get them. Yet, your desire to have an argument for the sake of arguing is similar to what internet trolls do and I will not take part. Attend the meetings, make the phone calls, but do not pretend that you can't find the factual answers. Stating suppositions, superstitions, and conspiracy theories does not help anyone.

JG
Argue endlessly? You've yet to posit any sort of argument at all beyond a specious return on investment claim. Not being knowledgeable about the potential investment is OK. Publishing exact dollar amounts as a board member in order to persuade the public sans that knowledge is not OK.

KR
I did not say I was ignorant of investment strategies. Indeed, I serve on that committee. However, I will not participate in a conversation which is just a vehicle for you to show an augmentative bravado. Jeff, you need to learn that not everyone is your adversary and you can learn more through kindness and care rather than getting the better of someone. Sorry, but I do not take the bait of someone who just wants to argue and tear down.

JG
I simply asked a couple of very straightforward questions pertaining directly to the potential investment that any responsible investor would ask. My investment decision making is always impacted by those questions. You could have answered them just as simply. Instead, you chose to make assumptions and impugn motives. If you do become a steward of such a large amount of public money, you won't have the option of not participating in such conversations. Perhaps that's something for you to think about in terms of your advocacy and involvement. Such insularity is certainly a concern in dealing with a private entity.

KR
Understood, yet I will not engage with someone I know who would not speak to me that way in person. In order to gain any understanding, you must do it in a peaceful fashion. You lost me when you celebrated your own ego in finding a platform to exploit. So much could have been achieved otherwise. I am a volunteer pure and simple. Roasting me on the internet does no one any good.

JG
I would ask the exact same questions/speak to you in the exact same way in person-- again, more assumptions. There's nothing not peaceful about asking them. Making public assertions and attempting to sway public opinion about such a high dollar/high impact public issue - particularly as a board member of an organization that has a direct fiduciary interest in that issue - while being unwilling to answer even very basic questions is not peaceful. It's disrespectful to the public at large as potential investors. You swung in here after arguing with people yesterday to try to prove a big point. I asked questions. You got irked. So be it. If you do the same thing again, you can expect more questions.

KR
I did not get irked Jeff. And I did answer questions until the meanness began. You can veil it any way you like. In the end, no one would respond in a favorable fashion to what you posted. I gave you an avenue to get your questions answered through a simple phone call. You just chose to keep attacking.

JG
I'm not veiling anything. If you're going to participate in these public discussions as a foundation official, try to make swaying points, question others and their motives, etc., my expectation is that you'll answer questions yourself. Throughout this exchange and your exchanges with others on this topic, though, you've continually suggested/harangued people about attending meetings, phone calling others, etc.. If you're interested in engagement and actual discourse, why not just share what you know? As I mentioned earlier, if a person is going to try to make a proactive argument in favor of something, doesn't it behoove that person to provide evidence, facts, figures, lines of reasoning in support? By not doing that, you set this up as a "find out for yourself" or "prove me wrong" scenario. As I also mentioned earlier, the idea that everyone in Floyd County with any questions should all call a particular individual at the foundation is untenable. It doesn't constitute a reasonable, good faith attempt at information sharing. Given that this conversation and many others concerning this potential investment are occurring in digital space via one of many platforms specifically designed to share digital content, it would be extraordinarily easy to share information related to potential investment strategies, any ethical guidelines about which types of investments are acceptable, expected rates of return, exit strategies, etc.. Where is any of that? "Call Kenton" and "Did you attend previous meetings?" function here as obfuscation, not education. By suggesting that you might not know, I was being far friendlier than suggesting that you just wouldn't answer. As it turns out, though, you just won't answer. We already have plenty of people in decision making positions who take that approach. It's difficult to think that adding more would be beneficial in the long term, especially if what's occurred here is reflective of how the foundation board might handle questions in future.

In the matter of hospital sale proceeds, Floyd County's auditor and treasurer are fulfilling their fiduciary responsibilities. We should be thanking, not berating them.

The staff of NA Confidential took Bill Hanson's News and Tribune op-ed piece and ran it through our handy Kenmore fact-checker. When it came out the other side, it read quite differently than before.

In fact, it's been rendered factual. We challenge Hanson to publish our version in his newspaper, and provide the other side to this story. Hanson's original text is in black, and our fact-checked update in red.

---

HANSON: Auditor, treasurer overstepping their authority

CITIZEN: Auditor, treasurer fulfilling their fiduciary responsibilities

I’ve been in the publishing business for 32 years. I’ve seen a lot of mind-numbing decisions when politicians get their heads together.

You may have thought I was in journalism and news-gathering, but you would be wrong. I’m in publishing. I’ve ignored a lot of mind-numbing decisions when politicians get their heads together.

However, what we have seen unfold with Floyd County Auditor Scott Clark and Floyd County Treasurer Linda Berger appears to me as arrogance of the highest order. They have thrown basic rules of order out the window and are ignoring the will of the county’s fiscal and executive bodies.

However, what we have seen unfold with the Floyd County Commission and Floyd County Council appears to me to be arrogance of the highest order. They have thrown the basic rules of financial responsibility out (of) the window and are acting politically, and as is usual as the county’s fiscal and executive bodies, ignoring the best interest of the people they were elected by.

This pair of elected officials have disregarded the pleas of other elected officials, this newspaper and private citizens to transfer $70 million from the sale of Floyd Memorial Hospital to the Community Foundation of Southern Indiana. Instead, the funds sit in a Certificate of Deposit at MainSource Bank, earning little financial return.

These two groups have disregarded the pleas of their own mega-compensated attorneys, retained to advise on this very issue, and numerous online news sites and private citizens to keep an element of democracy in the use of $70 million from the sale of Floyd Memorial Hospital by creating a county-established foundation as Indiana’s Porter County did with the proceeds from the sale of their publicly owned hospital. Instead, they want to sue the county’s financial auditor and treasurer to force the funds into a private foundation and invest them into a volatile stock market.

For total transparency, in addition to my role as publisher of the News and Tribune, I sit on the board of directors for the Community Foundation and I reside in Clark County, not Floyd.

For total transparency, not only am I not a journalist, but I sit on the board of directors of that exact private foundation, which would see its portfolio more than triple if those funds were turned over to us. And I reside in Clark County, not Floyd.

No matter what you do for a living, how you volunteer your time or in which city you lay your head at night, this fiasco should put you on high alert for government officials meddling where they do not belong.

No matter what you do for a living, how you volunteer your time or in which city you lay your head at night, this fiasco should put you on high alert for government officials botching the sale of a major public asset.

An agreement was signed in November by Commissioners and Council members to transfer the funds to the Foundation, yet Clark and Berger have somehow seen fit to ignore the document.

An agreement was signed in November by Commissioners and Council members to transfer the funds to the Foundation, yet Auditor Scott Clark and Treasurer Linda Berger have seen fit to protect the citizenry from a rashly made decision.

Commissioner Steve Bush asked Clark at a meeting Tuesday night, “Where are we at with the transfer of the money?” Clark replied, “I have no comment in regards to the transfer of the money.”

Commissioner Steve Bush asked Clark at a meeting Tuesday night, “Where are we at with the transfer of the money?” Clark replied, “You have publicly threatened to sue me, so I have no comment in regards to the transfer of the money.”

Sorry Mr. Clark, you’ve invited the spotlight to shine on you. Saying you have no comment doesn’t cut it. Floyd County voters deserve a better understanding of your motives.

Thanks Mr. Clark, you’ve earned the right to be applauded by elected officials, news gathering organizations and private citizens. Saying you have no comment is the only appropriate response to threatened litigation. Floyd County voters deserve to know why you have stepped up to protect their interests.

Whether or not Clark and Berger agree with the transfer of the money to CFSI is irrelevant. The officials charged with representing Floyd County in the matter did their due diligence. Their members researched and debated the issue and then agreed to move $70 million to an investment plan with the Foundation.

Whether or not Clark and Berger agree with the transfer of the money to CFSI is irrelevant. The officials charged with representing Floyd County in the matter – Clark and Berger - continue to do their due diligence. They have researched the issue and consulted with attorneys and then decided that moving $70 million to an investment plan with the Foundation is the wrong thing to do at this time.

Frankly, as long as I reside outside Floyd County, the final action on this issue will have little effect on me. It will, however, have a profound effect on Floyd County and its people for decades. The proposed investment strategy by CFSI officials is a safe and fiscally responsible plan of action. Relying on government officials to safeguard $70 million could be as dicey as giving a child the key to a candy shop.

Frankly, as long as I reside outside Floyd County, the final action on this issue will have little effect on me. It will, however, have a profound effect on Floyd County and its people for decades. The proposed investment strategy by CFSI officials was a boilerplate agreement designed for modest bequests and not a $70 million capital investment. Relying on government officials to safeguard $70 million is precisely the way democracy was designed to work.

So Floyd County residents, this is your opportunity to speak up and make a difference. Your auditor and treasurer have made it very clear they don’t believe they are obligated to follow the will of your county government. Maybe, just maybe, they will listen to you.

So Floyd County residents, this is your opportunity to speak up and make a difference. Your auditor and treasurer have made it very clear they don’t believe they are obligated to abandon their fiduciary duties simply because other elected officials want to privatize public money. Maybe, just maybe, they deserve your thanks.

Delete your account, Bill: Publisher (not newsman) Hanson takes time out from cooking school, wears Community Foundation conflict-of-interest on sleeve, denounces horrible "meddling" politicians but gives Jeff Gahan an eternal free ride.

Let's consult Occam's Razor:

Maybe the best explanation for why the Floyd County auditor and treasurer are withholding hospital sale funds from the Community Foundation is the simplest, in that placing these hospital sale funds with the Community Foundation is a bad political decision, one that was made entirely without substantive public input -- and, in fact, the auditor and treasurer are standing on principle for the future good of the public as a whole. 

And there's this:

It's endlessly frustrating to watch as Hanson floats serenely above the ongoing carnage of his newspaper's daily operation (but by his own reckoning he's in publishing, not news), in that all these wonderful principles of transparency and accountability currently pricking his skin because the Community Foundation is involved seem never to apply to New Albany City Hall's weekly evasions and subterfuge.

You know, like sewer rate increases sneaking through a December back door, and the newspaper's inexcusable three-day time lag in reporting it. Bill, need I remind you that you blithely sanctioned what amounted to a full year's blackout of New Albany news coverage by refusing to retain adequate staffing?

And so yet again, while we're on the topic of conflicts of interest, allow me to ask this question of Hanson:

How much advertising revenue flows from the City of New Albany to the News and Tribune on a yearly basis?

HANSON: Auditor, treasurer overstepping their authority, by Bill Hanson (Alabama Absenteeism Inc.)

For total transparency, in addition to my role as publisher of the News and Tribune, I sit on the board of directors for the Community Foundation and I reside in Clark County, not Floyd.

Freiberger waxes defiant, Seabrook wheezes offended and Gahan daintily skips critical hospital sale meeting to raise funds for State Senate quest.

Going, going ... gone.

Between Floyd Memorial's board, the county council and county commissioners -- nineteen public stewards in all -- only Chuck Freiberger's "no" vote broke the placid spell of our collective payday.

Jerod Clapp provides solid coverage, and the C-J's Lexy Gross excels with this glimpse of the hilarity.

"We should've been told about the sale and the process before any of this took place," said commissioner Chuck Freiberger, who had the lone "no" vote. "... Are we really getting a good deal for the hospital?"

Later, commissioner Mark Seabrook addressed Freiberger's concern in a heated argument about the transparency of the deal. "It offends me that someone would question my integrity," Seabrook said.

New Albany Mayor Jeff Gahan had similar concerns days ago, when he released a statement online explaining his disapproval of the deal and asked residents to email public officials with concerns before Tuesday's crucial vote.

Gahan was not at Tuesday's meeting.

Let the harvest of county government "must have" post-it notes begin.

Hospital sale: Gahanic hypocrisy aside, that's some nice party unity ya got there, boy wonder.

Surrealism simply doesn't play as entertainingly in the complete absence of ironic sensibility.

Nonetheless, in the service of stubborn persistence, I've underlined passages of interest to anyone who has ever tried to pry information from Jeff Gahan's City Hall.

More details emerge on proposed sale of Floyd Memorial Hospital; Answers on Little League donation, other questions given, by Jerod Clapp (Hanson Bible Tracts)

... Gahan said he's not aware of any invitations to him or other city officials to be involved in the process of the sale, but he's concerned about the county denying access to information.

"I don’t know what (Matt Oakley's) referring to," Gahan said. "Maybe he can elaborate and explain to the public exactly what the offers are, where the appraisals are and other information he can fully disclose. Tomorrow’s the vote," he said Monday, "and all I’m asking of him is to make those details public."

Gahan said the city needs that information to make sure its citizens are informed and he doesn't agree that the hospital sale has been a transparent process.

"I think we’re doing our job in encouraging the county council and the commissioners in making these documents public," he said. "I’ve been told I don’t have a say in it, it’s not a city issue, but when people call the office and they’re asking questions, it’s our responsibility to make sure we’re doing what we can to respond to that."

As the county council's scant two Democrats prepare to back Commissioner Chuck Freiberger's "no" campaign to the hilt ... they ... um, wait.

That's right. They aren't.

Gahan is disgruntled that his monopoly on secrecy is being challenged by county-borne upstarts -- including those in his own party.

• “Because of the nature of this business, it doesn't fall under the traditional model of appraising a piece of property,” (Brad) Striegel, who is in favor of the deal, said.
• “I am very excited about it,” said Councilman Tom Pickett. “For me it’s good to go.”

We might spend the next hundred years analyzing this, but the gist is easy to grasp.

County government, including both Republicans and Heavrin Democrats, long ago removed any consideration of revenue enhancement (including taxation rates) from the table. It's okay to discuss the potential intervention of space aliens, just not taxes. Now, the parties as ever combined in purpose, they're selling an asset to provide funding they couldn't/wouldn't acquire by other means.

Noting that the nominally democratic Gahan didn't actually oppose the sale, only parse the issue of transparency -- for which in his own fiefdom, there's no score lower than F -- it leaves the imperfect Democrat Freiberger as virtually the only one making a coherent opposition case.

Is this the best you can do, Adam?

Truth is stranger than fact: A whole day before the vote, Jeff Gahan publicly urges greater transparency in the hospital sale.

We're headed to the pawn shop with the hospital stuffed in a gym bag, but why this sale, and why now?

And with a donation and naming rights to the little league park's ball fields, finally the Floyd hospital deal makes sense.

With a scant five days notice, here's your chance to "speak out" about the Floyd Memorial Hospital sale.

Matt Oakley proposes giving the hospital to the Baptists for free, because otherwise, county government would have money.

Chuck Freiberger: Hospital sale non-transparency is bad, while Team Gahan non-transparency is ... THUMP THUMP -- is this thing on?

Truth is stranger than fact: A whole day before the vote, Jeff Gahan publicly urges greater transparency in the hospital sale.

"Remember when the City of New Albany withheld financial documents from the County for the Animal Shelter? Talk about hypocrisy."

Well, symbolic gestures are nice, too. Not that the same precepts of openness and transparency would apply to Gahan's own regime in our lifetime, but yes, definitely; whomever wrote the mayor's words for him is quite correct that full disclosure is needed before we hand over assets to the Baptists.

It's also good advance planning for Gahan's 2018 State Senate race. He'll be able to say he told us so, albeit it fewer than 24 hours before the fait accompli, and of course by 2018, his tardiness will be forgotten.

Mayor Gahan Encourages Full Disclosure of Public Documents Before Final Vote of Hospital Sale (City Hall)

... It is essential for the people of New Albany and Floyd County to understand the true value of Floyd Memorial Hospital before its sale on Tuesday, June 28, 2016. Rough estimates for the value of the hospital range from $150M to $450M.

This is only possible if hospital and county officials supply the public with any and all appraisals as required by state statute and any other business valuations. The City has requested that Floyd County officials reveal the other options and bids that they received and considered in private. In addition, any potential conflicts involving voting officials or others should be immediately disclosed to the public. These actions will ease fears and unrest regarding this unprecedented sale of a public asset in Floyd County.

County officials need to be open about the process that has led to their decision to choose Baptist Health over other proposals. Clarification after the vote is too late and it will not give us the confidence of due process we deserve. This citizen friendly action will help us to move forward without suspicion and worry. Further, full disclosure could reduce the probability of any future litigation or concerns regarding the sale of the hospital.

We're headed to the pawn shop with the hospital stuffed in a gym bag, but why this sale, and why now?

Three days later ...

And with a donation and naming rights to the little league park's ball fields, finally the Floyd hospital deal makes sense.

 ... the "local" paper catches up with the C-J's story. However, items of interest are revealed therein, so let's take a look.

Floyd Memorial sale vote coming Tuesday; Some questions still in the air, by Jerod Clapp (Claysburg Chronicle)

The last vote is just three days away, but some the details regarding Floyd Memorial Hospital's sale to Baptist Health have raised concerns among local officials.

We see the city of New Albany's corporate legal puppeteer Shane Gibson searching for loopholes.

Shane Gibson, city attorney, said in an email that the city continually examines things like TIF districts since they have an effect. But he also said the city requested the three appraisals he said are required by state law. Greg Fifer with Fifer Applegate and Pullium was hired to file the request. In a statement, Fifer said that information was denied.

Gibson's a Democrat. So is Brad Striegel, but he's down with the sale, and has been from the start.

(Striegel) said he's satisfied with the final agreement and is confident it'll go through.

“I am pleased with the process and have no concerns with the final draft,” Striegel said. “I believe it is the best thing for Floyd County, the community and the hospital that they will see for decades to come. History will judge us by this decision. I think it will have a positive impact for the community. It will set the county up financially for decades if the money is used properly.”

It's not a Brexit-scale split, although all Democrats aren't on the same page with the sale. Has there been any Republican dissent with the decision to sell the hospital? If so, I'm unaware of it.

Meanwhile, the most totemic of county Democrats, Chuck Freiberger, has continued to be the primary public voice of dissent with the deal -- in large measure, he's been the only such voice.

Has New Albany's mayor gone on record with an opinion?

Chuck Freiberger, county commissioner, said he's still unsure of the deal and doesn't know that he can vote in favor of it.

“We have a big decision coming up,” Freiberger said. “I am still a little hesitant. I still have questions and doubts whether we should sell the hospital, and if we are getting a good deal. At this time I don't see me voting yes.”

Granted, public reaction to the hospital sale has been tepid. Few seem to care, and there seems to be an accepted premise: Well, better to dispose of an asset than risk higher taxes.

And yet, there is a recurring question, down at the foundation: Should we sell the hospital?

The common answer to date has been this: Yes, because we'll never get a better deal than right now.

This is an answer, but not to the original question. It presupposes the answer to the original question: Should we sell the hospital?

Who answered the original question? Who made this decision? Was it the two Republican commissioners? The Republican county council majority? Dr. Eichenberger alone? With or without the Democrats?

There are two major queries here, and they're separate. Should the hospital be sold? If "yes," then is the deal we're getting a good one?

Can someone -- anyone -- show us the chronology of the decision to sell the hospital?

And with a donation and naming rights to the little league park's ball fields, finally the Floyd hospital deal makes sense.

As a local journalist observes, "The headline is not something from The Onion."

Just when you though Floyd County government could not possibly stoop any lower, it has enshrined the principle that yea or nay, multi-million dollar public health transactions can be tied to sports.

No wonder Gahan was so steamed about Hammersmith Park. He didn't have a hospital to sell in order to buy what is now Summit Springs.

That ol' crafty Mark Seabrook really got the knuckler past Gahan THIS TIME, didn't he?

Floyd deal gives new hospital name, funds NA little league, by Lexy Gross (C-J)

The contract between non-profit hospital system Baptist Health and Floyd Memorial Medical Group reveals details of the acquisition not formerly made public -- including the new hospital name and an agreement from the Kentucky healthcare group to assist with construction of little league baseball and softball fields in New Albany.

A 67-page contract outlines the details of Baptist Health's acquisition of the county-owned hospital. By law, the contract was required to be made public 10 days before a final hearing and vote by Floyd County elected officials.

Mike Hall, a spokesperson for New Albany Mayor Jeff Gahan's office, said in an email the city received the agreement and "the Mayor will be requesting additional information regarding the pending sale, and will continue to update the media and public with information received."

With a scant five days notice, here's your chance to "speak out" about the Floyd Memorial Hospital sale.

Wait, Larry -- is that a crosswalk on a street with uncontrolled traffic?

Whether you support or oppose the hospital sale, five days isn't much time to adjust calendars. Nonetheless, this could be a long one.  

Public meetings to discuss Floyd County finances, hospital sale, by Chris Morris (River Ridge Today)

NEW ALBANY – For the first time since it was announced, the public will get the chance to speak out about the proposed sale of Floyd Memorial Hospital and Health Services to Baptist Health.

Since the sale was announced in March, residents have not been able to voice their opinions, either for or against the transaction. That is until now.

The meeting will be at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Pine View Government Center. Members of the Floyd County Council and Floyd County Commissioners will be in attendance, as will representatives from Floyd Memorial Hospital.

"The goal of the public meeting is to inform the public about the details of the sale and help the public understand the process and how we got to this point," said Floyd County Council President Brad Striegel.

City council tonight: Blessings in a Backpack, Floyd Memorial sale, and CM Blair making love to a spreadsheet.

As we await Bob Caesar's compliance with my earnest request to produce records documenting Bicentennial 2013 accounts (it's now up to 355 days, Bob), there is a city council meeting tonight, and we can only hope that my hired dervish attends and whirls the invocation.

As a prelude, a note to Vicky Glotzbach: You may not be aware that at your city clerk's web zone, the most recent set of downloadable city council minutes is from March 2, 2015. All the rest after this date yield a "no results found" message when clicked.

My reason for wanting to read the minutes from late 2015 is that I thought former at-large councilwoman Shirley Baird's final substantive act on council was to gain approval of funding for Blessings in a Backpack. The organization itself mentions it here:

At the November 5th New Albany City Council meeting, volunteers from Blessings in a Backpack of Floyd County, Stephanie Watson, Cathleen Palmer and Kevin Beam expressed our gratitude to the Council for having committed to donate $35,000 towards our funding needs for the 2015-2016 school year.

However, funding for Blessings in a Backpack funding appears yet again at tonight's confab, this time offered by Greg Phipps.

What are the criteria for evaluating and determining the use of public funds for such causes? Perhaps we'll learn more tonight.

5th district councilman Matt Nash also offers a resolution on the non-transparency of the Floyd Memorial hospital transaction.

 

Nash is right, but just imagine the same standards of transparency as applied to the mayor and Mr. Disney's ruling party. That'd be genuinely revolutionary, although Lee Hamilton probably wouldn't notice.

Here's the meeting agenda. Caress your flasks, and requisite apologies for the minimalism of iPhone screenshots. I'll be live tweeting from 7:00 p.m., because cooking school!

Matt Oakley proposes giving the hospital to the Baptists for free, because otherwise, county government would have money.

Q. What happens when the newspaper combines cooking school !!! with pet o' the month nominations?

A. Bowser Burgoo.

(My compliments to the late, great John Ed Pearce for the dish)

Meanwhile, Matt Oakley takes his case for enforced starvation to an on-line click-bait bracket, which Ted Heavrin would win handily if he still served on the County Council.

Infrastructure and economic development? Just a thought.

online-petition/article_c9f293ee-f52f-11e5-af8e-57b048789e96.html">Floyd Councilman Matt Oakley proposing tax cut via online petition, by Chris Morris (Clark County Cornucopia)

NEW ALBANY — Matt Oakley does not plan to serve the final year of his term on the Floyd County Council doing nothing.

Oakley recently posted his plan to cut taxes online at the website floydforward.com, a free petition site where he is encouraging people to read the plan and sign it if they approve. He said with the money the county will receive from the sale of Floyd Memorial Hospital and Health Services — $75 million of $150 million will be paid up front if approved — county taxpayers should be able to keep more of their money. The other half from the sale will be paid over a 10-year period.

Chuck Freiberger: Hospital sale non-transparency is bad, while Team Gahan non-transparency is ... THUMP THUMP -- is this thing on?

Sorry, Chuck.

As much as I agree with you that the hospital sale process has been dismally non-transparent as finagled by the GOP-dominated county apparatus, we've endured precisely the same non-transparent operating regimen by the city's Democratic regime.

Give me a goose/gander "fair's fair" non-transparency denunciation of Team Gahan, and I'll emit a concurrent roar.

Until then, it's back to the liquor cabinet and a fresh round of yawns.

Floyd Memorial Hospital sale process debated; Commissioners take non-binding vote on Baptist deal, by Chris Morris (Neues River Ridge)

NEW ALBANY — Tuesday night, it was the Floyd County Commissioners turn to take a non-binding vote to proceed with the sale of Floyd Memorial Hospital and Health Services to Baptist Healthcare System.

But unlike the Floyd County Council last week, it was far from unanimous.

Commissioners Steve Bush and Mark Seabrook, both Republicans, voted in favor to proceed with the deal while Democrat Chuck Freiberger voted against it, saying he does not have enough information on the sale and was not kept in the loop during negotiations.

The debate became quite spirited between the commissioners. Seabrook was a member of the task force that negotiated the deal.

"I heard there were 13 bidders, but I don't know who they are. I don't know what the bids were," Freiberger said. "Transparency is a problem. The hospital belongs to the taxpayers, the taxpayers paid for it. The taxpayers don't know who the bidders were. The public should have been told."

Floyd County Council approves $150-300-eleventy million hospital privatization windfall. No wonder there are so many county government candidates.

"In a room where people unanimously maintain a conspiracy of silence, one word of truth sounds like a pistol shot.”
― Czesław Miłosz

First, something we'd been told was inevitable -- which naturally should make us suspicious. Chris Morris (Picayune de la Jeffersonvillia) has the scoop, with expanded story to come:

Floyd council agrees to Baptist Health's $150M offer for Floyd Memorial Hospital

NEW ALBANY — The Floyd County Council on Tuesday evening unanimously voted for a nonbinding agreement to sell Floyd Memorial Hospital to Baptist Health Systems for $150 million.

Louisville-based Baptist's offer is $75 million at the sale's completion and another $75 million to be paid out over 10 years.

In fact, some folks already were suspicious, even if the newspaper's seldom-deployed editorial board was not: OUR OPINION: The time is right to sell Floyd Memorial Hospital.

The view from Clark County? It's all copacetic. Anyway, it's Morris again.

Floyd Memorial Hospital cuts list to three suitors; Some officials upset over lack of information

 ... However, longtime commissioner Chuck Freiberger said before he votes on a sale, he wants more details. He said he has received "very little information" and said there has been no transparency through the entire process.

"There was a task force formed without my knowledge and they have been meeting for about a year. I am told they are taking bids ... I think that is a problem," he said. "The public should be told. It's been kept hush, hush from the public."

Mark Seabrook represented the commissioners on the task force and Steve Bush sat in when Seabrook was absent. Bush said there was very little they were able to disclose due to the nature of the negotiations. He said members had to sign a confidentiality form.

I'm guessing it's too late for a referendum, but 2016 is a Floyd County election cycle. There is a huge amount of money involved, and yet every politician and hospital administrator close to the negotiations accepted terms of non-transparency.

There hasn't been much sunshine in this instance. As Bluegill previously noted on Fb:

The whole thing sounds like one of Dr. Eichenberger's blog posts. We must sell because it can't possibly make it as a public institution and we must sell now because it's in such good financial standing. Oh, and we voluntarily signed confidentiality agreements so the fact that we can't talk about it is not our fault. This is a guy who strenuously argued that whether or not people can access health services should not be considered in measuring health system quality. 

(Remember NA Health? The archives remain.)

My point, predictably offered in vain, is this: If we must wait for the outcome of the presidential election to appoint a Supreme Court justice, under the GOP's rationale that the voters need to decide, as opposed to the incumbents, then doesn't Floyd County's GOP-dominated government owe it to the citizenry to wait until after the forthcoming election before deciding what’s to become of Floyd Memorial Hospital?

Let the candidates state their preference, and let the voters choose. It's only fair, right?

$150 million says that ain't happening.