Jennifer Ortiz wants the HRC to educate, and that's needed. She'd best start with the Democratic Party's ideological gatekeeper, Père Nash.

The mayor's vision.

Make no mistake: Appointee Jennifer Ortiz has the right ideas in terms of the Human Rights Commission's potential outreach, and it's to be hoped she succeeds in implementing them.

At the same time, she'll be receiving zero assistance from the local Democratic hierarchy, which fears an HRC it can't control and is fully aware of its own myriad failures when it comes to human rights.

The public housing takeover springs immediately to mind, and the bullying of city employees, and ... campaign finance donor rights matter, too. 

ON THE AVENUES: As long as the Democratic hierarchy keeps the Human Rights Commission under its thumb, it's hard to be optimistic.

Here's a fun fact, to which previous Human Rights Commission appointees will attest, because when the HRC was re-animated a few years back and began discussing ways to publicize and promote its activities, Mayor Jeff Gahan's team let it be known in no uncertain terms that human rights were to be seen, not heard.

It's also ironic that IU Southeast generally is ignored as a community asset, but now has two faculty members on a (currently) five-member board (40%), with another having returned from the gloaming of self-exile to yet again take credit for a commission which only a year ago he'd loudly and publicly "washed his hands" of responsibility.

Has anything substantive changed in a year, apart from the mid-term election drawing closer?

We live in strange, theatrical times.

Having discarded the Human Rights Commission like a used prophylactic, local ruling Democrats fell in love with it all over again when Republicans began the HRC's overdue resuscitation. 

Mayor and party chairman can't have THAT, can they? The blue squad wants to be seen wielding human rights like a savage club, one to be waved menacingly at Republicans, only to be made of foam rubber and generally shoved under the couch for safe keeping.

Good luck, Professor Ortiz. You're going to need it.

Jennifer Ortiz to join New Albany Human Rights Commission, by Steven Krolak (IUS)

 ... In her new role, Ortiz intends to help the HRC become more well known.

“Although the commission was created to respond to complaints of discrimination, I think it is equally important to educate people about the variety of cultures that exist in New Albany,” Ortiz said.

To that end, she is developing ideas for events to commemorate and celebrate various diversity holidays and remembrance days.

This effort also has a practical application that speaks to the commission’s more focused intent.

“Because many people don’t know that the commission exists, it is possible that there are incidents that go unreported,” Ortiz said. “If we don’t know what the problems are, we can’t address them” ...

Mike Moore banishes Papa John Schnatter as an amazed Deaf Gahan keeps both eyes on the money.

Cry me a river. John Schnatter has those millions to keep him warm. Still, I'm surprised at the speed by which Mike Moore distanced the city from the pizza mogul.

You can't even imagine Deaf Gahan displaying resolution like this, can you?

By the way, can someone remind Gahan that his signature human rights commission remains in the down-low garage, up on blocks, and as moribund as the New Albany mayor's summer reading list?

Verily, there's a better chance of locating an edible Papa John's pizza than Gahan's pulse when it comes to real-world civil rights: "Dixiecrat ingredients, Dixiecrat governance: Papa Jeff's."

Papa John's hometown takes his name off gym after he admits racial slur, by Morgan Watkins (Louisville Courier Journal)

The mayor of John Schnatter's hometown removed the Papa John's founder's name from the city's basketball gym Wednesday after he admitted using a racial slur.

"The city of Jeffersonville represents a very diverse community," said Mayor Mike Moore, who added that he knew Schnatter when they were both growing up and considers him a friend. "It was a tough decision, but I believe it was the right decision."

Forbes reported Wednesday morning that Schnatter used the N-word during a May conference call with a firm that had been hired to help him avoid public relations problems. Schnatter had previously been criticized for comments he made about NFL players who were taking a knee during the national anthem to protest racial injustice ...

C-FAIR'S Fischer endorsement: "But LGBTQ politics must be about all the things that affect all marginalized people."

I have to explain to far away friends and relatives that in southern Indiana, it’s the Democrats who are the crooks.
-- NAC reader

Meanwhile in Nawbany, no one can say Mayor Jeff Gahan hasn't been mostly absent when it comes to our city's LGBTQ community.

Minor gestures have sufficed as evidence of commitment in the absence of any single measure requiring Gahan to expend political capital, as when he enabled a reconstituted Human Rights Commission only after hard-wiring it to be toothless.

As of 2018, Gahan refuses to make his appointments to the HRC, without which there can be no meetings; he's probably refraining because with an election year approaching, it cannot be entirely guaranteed that the commission wouldn't be infiltrated by citizens of principle, and direct too much sunlight on the mayor's signature public housing demolitions.

Then again, maybe the well is dry of shameless bootlickers.

In similar fashion, an Ethics Commission that also was erected as Potemkin press release sans legs or arms might currently be examining Gahan's campaign finance windfalls.

New Albany does not possess an organization like the Fairness Campaign to make endorsements, and consequently, NA Confidential cannot speak definitively about our LGBTQ community's perspective on Gahan's reign. However, it can be said that as Gahan's record pertains to intersectional issues ...

Some in the LGBTQ community — including me — question whether Fischer deserved the endorsement, given his stands on intersectional issues — his support of the so-called anti-gang bills, his failure to declare Louisville as a sanctuary city and his focus on economic development while the city’s homeless population grows. They say Fenwick was a better choice because of his progressive platform.

 ... a list of concerns stretching across a spectrum of topics applies as accurately to Gahan as Fischer, the New Albany mayor's pin-up idol.

#FireGahan2019

Why an LGBTQ endorsement should weigh all issues of social justice, by Deena Lilygren (LEO Weekly)

No one can say Mayor Greg Fischer hasn’t been good for Louisville’s LGBTQ community. Compared to LGBTQ life in Kentucky outside the city, we have an embarrassment of riches: Under his leadership, Louisville is one of the only Southern cities to extend domestic partner benefits to city employees and ahead of the Supreme Court ruling on marriage equality. It has earned a perfect score from the Human Rights Commission for the past three years — outperforming peer cities. Then, there are the emotional benefits we reap from living in a city with an openly pro-fairness mayor.

These accomplishments came about through a close partnership with the Fairness Campaign, an LGBTQ advocacy group that works with cities to enact fairness, or non-discrimination, ordinances. Fairness makes political endorsements through C-FAIR, a political action committee.

This year, the endorsement went to Fischer, not his Democratic opponent, lawyer Ryan Fenwick, the first openly gay mayoral candidate.

Some in the LGBTQ community — including me — question whether Fischer deserved the endorsement, given his stands on intersectional issues — his support of the so-called anti-gang bills, his failure to declare Louisville as a sanctuary city and his focus on economic development while the city’s homeless population grows. They say Fenwick was a better choice because of his progressive platform.

More broadly, however, Fischer’s endorsement underscores how LGBTQ organizations — and all social justice organizations — can become entrenched in the establishment that they help, even inadvertently, to maintain the status quo.

But LGBTQ politics must be about all the things that affect all marginalized people.

“C-FAIR routinely declines to endorse exciting, inspiring and truly progressive candidates because it prefers to scratch backs, return political favors, and remain in the good graces of Louisville’s alleged political elite,” said Jaison Gardner, who is 89.3 WFPL “Strange Fruit” podcast co-host, and has served on the Fairness board. “Fairness has endorsed Mayor Fischer despite his anti-black, anti-sanctuary and anti-working class political positions, despite the opportunity to endorse a truly-progressive, openly gay man with justice-minded ideas.”

Nick Conder, who is vice chair of the local Democratic Socialists chapter and gay, pointed to the contradictions of social justice goals with city policies under Fischer’s administration.

“When 40 percent of homeless youth identify as LGBTQ, should Fairness really endorse a mayor who bulldozes homeless camps? When queer people are more likely to live in poverty than straight people, should Fairness really endorse a mayor who opposed even a $10 minimum wage? When LGBTQ people face unique health challenges and have a poor history with the police, should Fairness really endorse a mayor who is increasing funding for LMPD while social services continue to be underfunded? We need a mayor who will support all queer people, not just a privileged few,” he told LEO.

snip

Any social justice organization worth knowing about is devoted to intersectionality. The Fairness Campaign includes in its mission statement that “dismantling racism is central to our work,” and “all issues of oppression are linked and can only be addressed by working in coalition.” Also, it wants to work toward a “non-violent, grassroots organizing that empowers individuals and build a social justice movement that creates lasting change.”

Overlay that on several issues that position Fischer to the right of fairness:

— his support of the methane plant in West Louisville, which community residents defeated on the grounds that it was unfair to site an industrial plant in a low-income neighborhood.

— his failure to declare Louisville a sanctuary city, in the face of threats from the Trump administration.

— his support of police Chief Steve Conrad, whose department has failed to effectively cap the epidemics of homicides and heroin use, was helping federal immigration agents and has had officer-involved shootings that call into question its use-of-force policies, in addition to the overtime and Explorer Scout scandals.

— his support of House Bill 169, the so-called anti-gang bill, which other community civil rights activists and groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, feel will lead to the perpetuation of racial disparity in the criminal justice system.

snip

C-FAIR’s job is to report which candidate most embodies “fairness” values and with that endorsement, provide voters with a tool to vet candidates.

If that tool is broken, then it may be time to do what we’d do with any broken tool: have it mended, repurposed or set out by the curb.

Gahan the human rights mayor? Spare us, please.

It was never Jeff Gahan's idea to enable a human rights commission, but in the grand scheme of political maneuvering, there was sufficient support that he acquiesced, pausing only to be assured that he'd receive credit for the sham he at first opposed, and would extract payback chits from those duly assuaged, redeemable for bonded boondoggles down the road.

Consequently, New Albany was gifted with vintage Gahan intellectual infrastructure: An entity neutered and defanged at birth, suitable primarily for posturing and press releases. The sycophants were delighted, and so little of merit occurred (for once, actually by design) that a whole other entity (Southern Indiana Equality) was privately created.

If you can find anything in this story to suggest a vote to re-elect Jeff Gahan, please let me know. While you're pondering this, consider yet again the "human rights mayor's" abysmal record in matters such as ... well, human rights.

ON THE AVENUES: No more fear, Jeff.

And the uncontested winner is: Dan Coffey's vile, bigoted New Albany.

8:15 a.m. update: I missed last night's belated Democratic social media agitprop on the topic.


Following last evening's predictably anti-climactic council meeting, here's your Dan Coffey LGBT Slur Scorecard.

Coffey: No apologies, because knowing your peers are astoundingly weak means never having to say you're sorry.

Pat McLaughlin's City Council: Silent.

Jeff Gahan's City Hall: Silent. Evidently the mayor left his pooper scooper leaning against the plaque in Bicentennial Park.

Adam Dickey's Democratic Party: Silent. Coffey delivers votes to a party that stands for nothing, which makes him a superstar among the posturing.

Chris Lane's Republican Party: Silent, but understandably so. Why on earth would Lane utter a single word when Coffey's happily toeing the GOP's primeval sociability line, and the Democrats seem determined to issue hourly shotgun blasts to their own feet?

Welcome to your so-called civic leaders.

Welcome to their willingness to play their silly small-pond games of politics as usual while one of their own tramples the city's image.

Welcome to New Albany, where fundamental rules never, ever matter, but where the Democratic Kool-Aid is awesome.

The conclusion? It's the essence of simplicity. These "leaders" have not led, and are not leading. If you're appalled at Coffey's antics, these "leaders" have shrugged and let you down. They're not supporting you.

Why continue supporting them?

In which we finally hear Silent Ron's side of the HJR story -- except he says absolutely nothing at all.

In the run-up to the Indiana Senate's vote on HJR-3, Ron Grooms refrained from all social media inquiries prior to infamously adding his name to the list of "yea" votes for the Hoosier Stain. Rest assured; it wasn't just social media on my part. I wrote him privately, and my e-mail also was ignored. Still has been, to this very moment.

Following is a Facebook thread ensuing after a blog post share, beginning on February 18, and concluding (so far) yesterday. In it, Ron Grooms finally offers a tepid reply.

Of course, it's no reply at all.

Now he instructs me to phone him, presumably to listen as the same tripe is recycled, and the same evasions repeated aloud. He might phone me, as my number as there on my FB page for the entire world to see, but no matter, for you see, I'm a written word kind of guy. Am I judgmental this way? Of course I am. Words matter, and the written word matters. Listing various public meetings attended isn't exactly exculpatory, is it? Universals are what matter in this instance. Explain them in writing, or not at all. Oratory disappears. Words on the page remain.

C'mon, Ron. Take pen in hand, and explain your collusion with cowardly discrimination. Describe how it jibes with liberty, justice, economic development and those other hoary bromides you and your brethren toss out without ever thinking. Gimme some meat here, Ron ... and not over the phone, thanks.

Write. It. Down.

---

It would be revealing to hear Silent Senator Ron Grooms's side of the pro-HJR-3 story. What high personal principle is involved in aligning with the anti-human rights bash mob? Electoral considerations only? Is economic development pursued by depriving talented citizens of inalienable rights? Ron, are you going to say anything at all, anytime soon?

RW
I have never heard him say anything of substance before.
February 18 at 8:14am · Like

JG
As unfortunate as it is that Grooms has turned out to be the sort of senator so many of us expected, this another race that has inspired me not to vote unless a better alternative materializes.
February 18 at 10:28am · Like

MC
I'm pretty in the same boat as JG. Mr. Freiberger will have to step it up to get my vote. His recent statement was a step in the right direction. I definitely don't want to hear anymore about his ball playing days.
February 18 at 1:31pm · Like · 1

Roger A. Baylor How can Silent Ron be punished? Give a guy an idea here.
February 18 at 1:44pm · Like

KB
Without a strong candidate running against him, I'm not sure he sees his actions as remotely harming his future and continued political aspirations.
February 18 at 1:47pm · Like

Roger A. Baylor
Chuck didn't lose by much last time. But: I understand all your points.
February 18 at 2:03pm · Like

KB
Grooms is more entrenched now....
February 18 at 2:05pm · Like

Roger A. Baylor
I'll end with this. We all hate sporting analogies, but I've always been hesitant to underestimate Chuck. He hustled and got the most out of average basketball skills. Now, granted, I'd like to see that diligence applied toward a left-liberal agenda like mine. At the end of the day, we're going to have a State Senator no matter what. Silent Ron's a disaster, and voting against the worst candidate is a refuge of sorts. Dunno, but for now, I stick to my viewpoint.
February 18 at 8:29pm · Like

AB
Freiberger is more conservative than Ron in many ways. Even if Ron wasn't a family friend, I wouldn't vote for Chuck. The Clark County races are shaping up to be much more interesting to me, especially the prosecutors race. Both guys are very much qualified. You got to like that.
February 18 at 8:34pm · Like

Roger A. Baylor
AB, yeah, well, Ron loses me forever on the HJR fiasco, especially compared with his continual advocacy of same old economic development fluffing; apparently it's okay to subsidize the unctuous Kerry Stemlers of the world while at the same time dissing the sort of diversity that builds a genuine contemporary workforce. I call that old and out of touch ... politically, of course; he seems a nice enough guy personally. Then there's the silence.
February 18 at 8:42pm · Like

KB
I, too, take issue with the silence. Whether it's bridges/tolls, school vouchers, or HJR-3, he has yet to tell constituents which way his political winds are blowing until he actually votes. And even when an entire school cafeteria or gym is telling him they don't like the plan as outlined by the GOP, he lines right up for the party line. It makes him look like a political pawn playing typical political games, whether he intends to be one or not. I disagree with Clere on many things, but have been heartened by his principled stances on Medicaid and HJR-3 even when they've ruffled party feathers ... On the other hand, I wasn't impressed with Freiberger last time I saw his campaign materials. His pitch seemed to boil down to him being a democrat in name only, and that he has a conservative haircut. I'm also not terribly impressed by anyone currently serving on the county council, given that body's track record of managing the county and its funds. I'll reserve judgment until I see more of what he has to say this time around, but I'm not terribly hopeful he'll present a strong candidacy or viable option against an incumbent.
February 18 at 9:11pm · Like

RS
Ron Grooms made a choice. He must be fired. If voting for Chuck Freiberger accomplishes that, so be it. At the very least, Freiberger will pretend to listen to constituents
February 18 at 9:15pm · Like · 1

Ron Grooms
Roger,If you would like to contact the State House office phone, 317-234-9425,and leave your name and number ,I will be happy to return your call as soon as possible.You can email me at S46@iga.in.gov.In November,2013, we conducted four town hall meetings on each Saturday morning in November.On Friday,February28,2014 we will complete our fourth straight Town Hall meeting on Fridays when we meet in Highlander Point.We appear weeky in the district to gather input and provide my position on issues. HJR 3( House Joint Resolution) came to the Senate after being amended in the House after its origin.The Senate had 5 session days to debate the bill after the House sent it to the Senate.My opinion was seldom asked by the media and when asked was never printed.Many citizens spoke their opinions during our weekly February meetings or during private meetings of small groups as requested.There were several meetings of four or less with me, on both sides of the HJR 3 issues.I am currently answering letters from January about this issue. Also.let me know if you have concerns about the various winery or microbrewery bills that passed in recent sessions. Ron
February 23 at 12:48am · Like

RS
Hey, Roger. See? Ron has been "responsive." He's perfectly willing to tell you that he is responsive. You should be ashamed of yourself for letting yourself read anything into his actual vote on HJR-3 or any prior votes that he is anything other than responsive. After all, this is only the defining issue of the 21st century so far. What makes you think Sen. Ron Grooms is a bigot who is completely disconnected with a demographic as little as 5 years younger than he? What makes you think he is an ideologue so wrapped up in partisan lockstep that he is willing to create a legal, nay Constitutional ban on the marriages of homosexuals? It is clear to me, from Mr. Grooms's Facebook response that he merely voted along party lines and simply didn't know that a vast majority of his constituents find his vote to be repulsive and disqualifying. Perhaps only now does he realize how deeply he has diminished his reputation and legacy. Gosh, Roger Baylor, you seem to have been so unfair. Surely now Sen. Grooms will commit to kill this bill in the next legislative session. Aren't you now embarrassed that you called him out? Sen. Grooms is sensitive to this issue and no merely voted aye to let us know how responsive he is to constituent sentiment. Clearly, you have hurt his feelings. If only he had known how repulsive his vote would be, he would have stood up for the future, not a regressive past.
February 23 at 2:33am · Like

Roger A. Baylor
Apparently he can be reached if predisposed to agree, but if not, then the damage must be completed first, before belated alibis are proffered. Lame.
20 hours ago

Human rights on the down-Iow: If not for New Albany's city council opposition to the HJRs, we'd already be constructing the gulag.

As we await the GOP's inevitable legislative hijinks with regard to HJR-3 (formerly HJR-6), otherwise known as the Hoosier Stain  ...

HJR 3 vote delayed NUVO (NUVO)

Analyst breaks down details of HJR-3 (WANE.com)

 ... let's look back to December 3, and those 12 mayors in Indiana who took a bipartisan approach in speaking out against the brown shirts.

Indiana Mayors Stand with Freedom Indiana, Speak Out against HJR-6

Today, Mayors from across the state of Indiana stood with Freedom Indiana and spoke out against HJR-6, the proposed amendment to the Indiana Constitution that would permanently define marriage and would remove existing protections under law for same-sex and unmarried couples and families.

Let's see. I don't see the mayors of New Albany and Jeffersonville on that list. But I probably just missed them. Maybe they used invisible ink.

The Indiana Democratic Party seems solidly and publicly against HJR-3. That's fitting and proper. Meanwhile, glancing at the Floyd County Democratic Party's web site and Facebook page, I find several references (on FB only) to HJR-3, including a link to a Democratic legislator's sound viewpoint, but no actual statement opposing the Hoosier Stain's spread.

But hey -- I probably just missed it.

Of course, here in Floyd County, where Democrats outnumber Republicans, and Republican presidential candidates win the vote in landslides, there's a good deal of getting down with the down-low. Apparently the Dixiecrat contingent is easily offended ... eh, Adam?

Elsewhere in Southern Indiana, we've seen moral cowardice rise to the top as Jeff CM, Tech educator, River Ridge flunky and One Southern Indiana chief all ducked and covered on HJR-6, HJR-3 immediate predecessor.

However, in November, the New Albany city council stood tall: A "principled" Blair votes no, but council approves resolution condemning HJR-6.

Afterward, I wrote CM Blair, asking him to explain his non-vote.

I'm still waiting for the reply. That's how we do it, down here, on the down-low, where the headlights of speed-crazed oncoming one-way arterial traffic aren't the only phenomenon freezing politicians dead in their tracks.