Which of these monstrously ugly downtown structures is the worst of all?

Is it this one, where the absentee businessman thumbs his nose at the investments adjacent to his atrocious sheet metal storefront?

Or is it this one, where the rich lawyer thumbs his nose at the investments adjacent to his atrocious dilapidation?

Or is it this one, which looks like the poster for a horror flick?

Not even close, is it?

On the 285-day anniversary of the News and Tribune's last New Albany beat reporter, an editorial about guns.

By our Jeffersonville-based chain paper's normal standards, this editorial is timely to the point of bizarre. The only changed variable compared with past inconsistencies is the arrival of Susan Duncan as editor, so my guess is we have her to thank.

Thank you.

Now, about the 10-month-long chasm of a hiatus in truly meaningful coverage of New Albany news? C'mon, dudes. Your Hanson is showing.

OUR OPINION: Our national dilemma: guns

The Constitution on which the Second Amendment is written can no longer sop up the blood staining our streets; it is saturated.

It is far too easy for those intent on evil to obtain guns in America. Our denial of that truth will only result in more deaths. It is time we, as a nation, have an open discussion about stricter and more comprehensive background checks. While most states require a basic background check, nothing keeps us from purchasing a gun from a neighbor or someone off the street, where no background check is needed.

For the record ...

The News and Tribune editorial board is comprised of Publisher Bill Hanson, Editor Susan Duncan, Digital Editor Claire Munn, Assistant Editor Chris Morris and Assistant Editor Jason Thomas. Responses can be sent to susan.duncan@newsandtribune.com

You'd think that in three weeks, SOMEONE would notice a pile of garbage.

Yesterday at Facebook, I posted this photo: "One wonders if Develop New Albany might remove its Jingle Walk trash, three weeks later?"

A range of viewpoints were posted in response.

P: Lol ... why? No one has bothered to clean the windows from Harvest.

H: I wonder if they will also remove all the housing for sale ads. I do not feel that is appropriate. Perhaps for business space, but housing?

J: Well, you could just pick it up and recycle it yourself. Or is that just not curmudgeonly enough?

DNA's Stefanie Griffith replied:

I will be happy to pick up the boxes and apologize they were left behind, I am sure it was overlooked during tear down since it was dark but wish it was brought to our attention before now. No excuse shame on us. I do have to agree with J though; sad no one would pick them up -- fellow merchants, Develop New Albany members, The City -- we are all to blame until we can pitch in as a whole to make New Albany a better place, that is my two cents.

Several readers "liked" Stefanie's reply, and I'll concede (given that she's unfailingly honest and open) that she's probably miffed with my mode of presentation, so here's why I posted the photo in the first place.

How can it be that in three whole weeks, no one, including the downtown-oriented members of an organization chartered to the improvement of downtown, noticed the Jingle Walk leftovers? 

(As an aside to J, it isn't curmudgeonly at all; it's the fact that I seldom have a car downtown to load. I usually am walking, which is why I've been seeing the boxes, all the while surmising that it's the failure of others to get out of their cars causing them not to see the boxes. I'm aiming for a larger point here.)

Surely, given what we're constantly told is a vastly improved and revitalized downtown -- this being the gist of DNA's daily social media presence -- someone on the Jingle Walk committee, or someone on the organization's board ... or someone in general ... would have walked past this spot during the course of three whole weeks and reported the debris.

Apparently this has not happened. I find this sad and noteworthy, to say the least. Then again, while P. is right in pointing to painted Harvest Homecoming windows still not cleaned two months later, reminding us of the carpetbagging mentality that "one off" events perpetuate, Stefanie also is absolutely correct in suggesting that we're all to blame.

Because we are.

I've walked or biked through the historic business district almost every day for years, and the disconnect hasn't changed at all. It has barely even budged. Yes, there are merchants who won't pick up trash in front of their own doors, exacerbated in autumn by wind and leaves, but the city never, EVER communicates who is responsible for leaf and garbage removal, downtown or elsewhere.

Sometimes it happens, sometimes not. Let there be an organization like Clean and Green taking an interest in the appearance of the area (whether its ideas are good or bad), and the city pushes back, evidently concerned lest its own delineated boundaries for doing nothing are challenged.

Amid all our trumpeting of advancement, the institutionalized neglect of downtown is the same as before, on the part of all users, and isn't THIS neglect precisely what would be addressed by a downtown economic development plan IF we actually had one? Of course merchants come to ignore the garbage. They're merely following the city's own stellar example.

Our unchanged one-way arterial street grid is a perfect point of reference. It is constructed to negate every facet of a revitalized downtown. It reinforces the point of neglect every time a semi-trailer thunders past outdoor dining areas, every time speeding cars frighten bikers and walkers -- it exists to undermine.

And this administration won't even address the topic aloud. No wonder no one else cares, if the city cannot be bothered to do so itself. 

Instead, Mayor Gahan addressed a handful of business people Tuesday (more on that later) and spoke glowingly of things that may or may not happen, far into the future, with a state program called the Regional Cities Initiative, or some such chamber of commerce blather. As he was reprising the someday maybes, mirroring the sentiments of songs ranging from "Don't Worry, Be Happy" to "Everything Is Beautiful," these cardboard boxes remained stacked where they'd been discarded three weeks before, illustrating that we cannot get even the simplest daily tasks done as we grasp for pies in the sky.

Sorry, Stef. That's why I posted the photo.

The plumber with the incriminating photos?

Imagine the money it's taken to get this Spring Street home looking so great. It's a showplace. You'll notice a curtain on the porch, presumably placed so the view to the west is screened:

Parishioners at the newly refurbished St. Mary's, just a block down the street, have this view to the east:

Yes, I know we've been here before, but seriously: Why does this guy get a permanent pass? Is he the mayor's personal plumber, or something? Not a finger has been lifted since the hurricane damaged the structure in 2008, and it wasn't being maintained even before that.

Anyone?

Northeast corner of Spring and Ninth.

The siding's been off for more than a year, and the when the big fleet vehicles are parked on either side of the corner, it's a sight hazard for driver, cyclist and pedestrian alike.

Should we care? Or is it free enterprise to let this house rot?

Louisville's revolutionary conclusion: "Vacant buildings cost taxpayers by reducing the value of properties nearby."

The following article from the Courier-Journal has been making the rounds by e-mail. Those members of ROCK who embrace the concept of "property values" in the argument against free speech might glance at a few of the statistics below.

Meanwhile, have you ever wondered why matters like this elude the platforms of local political parties?

That's easy. They fear platforms the way that vampires fear daylight.

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Louisville targets owners of blighted buildings; Owners may be hit with triple tax bills, by Dan Klepal

The Louisville Metro Department of Housing referred 2,400 dilapidated homes and vacant lots in Jefferson County to the property valuation administrator's
office -- starting a process that could result in owners having to pay triple their normal property tax bills.

The referrals were made under a law intended to make it more expensive for people to neglect derelict buildings or unkempt lawns.

PVA officials say the reason for the law is simple: Vacant buildings cost taxpayers by reducing the value of properties nearby. They also cause more fire runs, according to a study by the nonprofit National Vacant Properties Campaign.

Under department rules, a building or property is considered blighted if it's been unoccupied at least one year, is unsanitary, not properly boarded, vermin-infested, unfit for human habitation or been tax-delinquent three years.

"It's a good program because it really helps neighborhoods, and the city's tax roll," said Tony Lindauer, Jefferson County property valuation administrator. "This gives the owners the incentive to get off the stick."

The department referred about the same number of properties in 2007. But Lindauer suspended the program last year because he did not think there was enough research on the properties to ensure they met the blight definition. There also was no appeals process for people whose property was wrongly cited, he said.

This year Louisville Metro Housing Director Bob French said the city is checking water and electric records for each building referral to ensure they've been unoccupied for a year. He also established an appeal process, which the city's Vacant Property Review Commission will handle.

"This program means it is not inexpensive for (owners) to do nothing with their properties," he said.

Property owners will get letters stating their properties are blighted, and their tax bills will be tripled. The letters go out March 1; the appeal deadline is May 31.

French said blighted buildings have a dramatic impact on their surroundings. Consider the findings of the National Vacant Properties Campaign, which used government grants to study the cost of vacant buildings and lots:

• Houses within 150 feet of a vacant or abandoned property experienced an average net loss of $7,627 in value.

• Blocks with unsecured buildings had 3.2 times as many calls to police, 1.8 times as many thefts and twice the number of reported violent crimes as blocks with no vacant buildings.

• More than 12,000 fires erupt in vacant buildings each year, resulting in $73 million in property damage.

French said property owners who get letters can also call the department if they think their properties were cited in error.

The list of properties is still in draft form -- and French would not release it. However, he did review the list and reported that none of the targeted properties are owned by Louisville metro government.

"Blight affects the property of the guy next door," he said. "For the owners of these properties, this should get their attention."

Let's do a photo essay on the C-J -- first view, the loading dock and garbage dumpster.

The Sunday editions of both the Tribune and the Courier-Journal provide good coverage of yesterday’s Holiday Fest in downtown New Albany, although kindly permit me to note that the “real” Saturnalia begins on December 12, and not downtown – yet.

See box at right and click on the illustration for complete details. Perhaps next year Saturnalia will run at multiple campuses, including 415 Bank Street … but I digress.

Given that the point of it all was to stage the annual celebration at various places scattered throughout downtown in an effort to draw attention to the revitalization effort, the C-J certainly didn't do the organizers any favors with its accompanying photograph.

Of all the more tasteful vistas that might have been incorporated into the piece -- perhaps one of the business recently opening downtown, as mentioned by Stefanie Griffith and Debbie Farmer of Develop New Albany in the text of the article itself -- the editor instead chose to give the reading public a prime view of the long-neglected Reisz furniture building, complete with its “metaled” up windows and a huge “for sale” sign.

Thanks, dude, although another way to look at it is if building owners treated their properties with respect instead of neglect over seemingly endless decades, some of that good karma might come flowing back to them.

Holiday Fest bigger, better in New Albany, text and photos by Christopher Hall.

The streets of downtown New Albany were a little busier than normal yesterday, as the city's bigger-than-normal Holiday Fest offered everything from Christmas trees for sale to a chili cook-off -- even before Santa showed up to switch on the city's Christmas lights.

Questions of history vs. decay ... or, will the real slumlords please rise?

For those still unaware, the Highwayman has joined the NAC team. Welcome aboard, Lloyd.

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The sleepy little river city of New Albany, Indiana, which lies just across the river from Louisville, Kentucky, has a rich history dating back to the early 1800’s. In fact, in just a few short years she will be celebrating her 200th birthday.

She is a city of many modern innovations, such as the home of the first storefront plate glass manufacturer in America, the first store in the Woolworth’s Department Store chain to boast an in-store café, and many other such examples.

She is home to many historic structures, both residential and commercial, and there is a plethora of public and private entities that speak volumes about their preservation.

Various non-profit groups host a variety of street festivals annually to tour these structures and provide their histories to all who are interested.

The city's mayor, economic development staff and Historic Preservation Commission uses the presence of historic structues as selling points to entice business, industry, and home buyers to our community.

All of the above mentioned entities are constantly speaking to both residential and commercial property owners alike to restore these structures (or at least the outside façade of them) to acceptably near their original historic appearance.

So, why do we still see so much decay, and more specific to this query, why do we see it at all in property owned by the city itself?

As cases in point, the city of New Albany currently holds title to two formerly prominent downtown historic structures.

One is the Schrader Stables building on Main Street, that was acquired as a part of the Scribner Place land acquisition.

The other is the Baptist Tabernacle on 4th Street, which was bought in March of 2008 for the sum of around $90K with no specific purpose in mind at the time of the purchase.

The latter lost its roof along with whatever historic architectural features were left in the interior as a result of Hurricane Ike's early September winds.

The former has a collapsing roof in the rear that is allowing water to flow in freely with each rainstorm.

To date both the city council and the administration of New Albany apparently have chosen to do nothing to preserve either of these from further damage by the elements, even though they are allegedly covered by the city’s insurance.

So, could this possibly explain the lack of building code enforcement in our community?

Is it possible that those elected and appointed officials fear declaring war on slumlords and abandoned property owners, as they may by default implicate themselves as such?

Is it possible that the historic preservationists, although quite willing to pursue private property owners who dare to ignore the rules in historic districts, are reluctant to bite the hands that feeds them in the public sector when they do so?

Is this really the image we want to present to the world, not only for New Albany’s upcoming bicentennial, but for potential future investment as well?

Didn't I hear somewhere that leadership by example was a good thing?

You have the floor.

Photo essay: Neglect.

We were walking down Main Street past a decaying group of buildings owned by a respected local professional, and Diana said, "I've never understood why people don't take care of their buildings."

Beats me. You?