Just tell me why we should refrain from pointing to the wealth amassed by religious personalities like the late Rev. Berniece Hicks.

The Main Street "house" owned by the late Rev. Hicks is up for sale.

Meanwhile in Indianapolis, I believe Session 5 of the estate auction is scheduled in October.

Even the auctioneer is thunderstruck.

“In nearly 30 years as an auctioneer, I’ve never seen a collection as large as this one”, said Darin Lawson, CAI, President, Wickliff Auctioneers. “Our staff is eager to begin the process of sorting and cataloguing all items, and making them available for worldwide bidding.”

Hicks was a preacher, and she had a church. Maybe she owned the church; maybe it owned her. Obviously she owned lots of stuff. One needn't devote hours of research to grasp that the church Hicks founded has been controversial almost from the beginning, as this front page from 1979 attests.

Note the effort made 40 years ago by the Courier-Journal to get Hicks' and her church's side of the story (naturally the News and Tribune didn't bother in the aftermath of Hicks' death, preferring the usual platitudes), and indeed, even I am compelled to admit there are two sides.

I heard from local residents over the weekend who've lost family members to what they consider is a cult. Others have spoken of love and service to mankind.

And: A million dollar house in New Albany, and a collection of valuable so vast that is makes a luxury auctioneer's head spin.

I'm an atheist, and my skepticism pertaining to religion predates all the other aspects of my life (travel, beer, politics, small business ownership) that readers may know about me.

From mainline mega-churches old and new to Christianity's hundreds of bizarre splinter sects, about the only points of agreement amid the cacophony is derision toward rationalists like me.

I've no desire to proselytize non-belief -- it doesn't even make sense to do so -- but from my perspective as an onlooker, the "prosperity gospel" alibi used to shield personages like Hicks surely is the most cynical P.T. Barnum-like of all notions somehow derived from the figure of Jesus as handed down to us. Even a cursed, filthy, drunken atheist can read desert scrawlings and conclude that the Jesus narrative, real or contrived, had nothing to do with wealth accumulation. 

But didn't all those church members tithe voluntarily?

I'm sure many did, although in any power structure there's a long discussion to be had about the nature of "voluntary," because it's seldom all that simple. Significantly, even if the members tithed "voluntarily," this fact in itself tells us nothing about the manner by which their faith was manipulated and their money spent.

Lifestyles of the ostentatiously rich and pious? Okay, but don't expect me to look the other way. 

Following is an excerpt from Elmer Gantry, the classic satirical novel, which makes this point in gripping fashion.

Elmer Gantry, the traveling evangelist who loved whiskey, women and wealth, was conceived by Sinclair Lewis in a best-selling 1927 novel. Lewis went on to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, and Gantry went on to lofty-synonym status: Displays of hypocrisy and showmanship will often evoke his name, especially in reference to preachers — and, increasingly so, to politicians.

In this passage, the garrulous wealth-accumulating charlatan preacher Gantry converses with the humble and impoverished true believer, Pastor Pengilly – and it happens in Indiana, of all places.

---

He came with a boom and a flash to the town of Blackfoot Creek, Indiana, and there the local committee permitted the Methodist minister, one Andrew Pengilly, to entertain his renowned brother priest ... when he heard that the Reverend Elmer Gantry was coming, Mr. Pengilly murmured to the local committee that it would be a pleasure to put up Mr. Gantry and save him from the scurfy village hotel.

He had read of Mr. Gantry as an impressive orator, a courageous fighter against Sin. Mr. Pengilly sighed. Himself, somehow, he had never been able to find so very much Sin about. His fault. A silly old dreamer. He rejoiced that he, the mousy village curé, was about to have here, glorifying his cottage, a St. Michael in dazzling armor.

After the evening Chautauqua Elmer sat in Mr. Pengilly’s hovel, and he was graciously condescending.

“You say, Brother Pengilly, that you’ve heard of our work at Wellspring? But do we get so near the hearts of the weak and unfortunate as you here? Oh, no; sometimes I think that my first pastorate, in a town smaller than this, was in many ways more blessed than our tremendous to-do in the great city. And what IS accomplished there is no credit to me. I have such splendid, such touchingly loyal assistants — Mr. Webster, the assistant pastor — such a consecrated worker, and yet right on the job — and Mr. Wink, and Miss Weezeger, the deaconess, and DEAR Miss Bundle, the secretary — SUCH a faithful soul, SO industrious. Oh, yes, I am singularly blessed! But, uh, but — Given these people, who really do the work, we’ve been able to put over some pretty good things — with God’s leading. Why, say, we’ve started the only class in show-window dressing in any church in the United States — and I should suppose England and France! We’ve already seen the most wonderful results, not only in raising the salary of several of the fine young men in our church, but in increasing business throughout the city and improving the appearance of show-windows, and you know how much that adds to the beauty of the down-town streets! And the crowds do seem to be increasing steadily. We had over eleven hundred present on my last Sunday evening in Zenith, and that in summer! And during the season we often have nearly eighteen hundred, in an auditorium that’s only supposed to seat sixteen hundred! And with all modesty — it’s not my doing but the methods we’re working up — I think I may say that every man, woman, and child goes away happy and yet with a message to sustain ’em through the week. You see — oh, of course I give ’em the straight old-time gospel in my sermon — I’m not the least bit afraid of talking right up to ’em and reminding them of the awful consequences of sin and ignorance and spiritual sloth. Yes, sir! No blinking the horrors of the old-time proven Hell, not in any church I’M running! But also we make ’em get together, and their pastor is just one of their own chums, and we sing cheerful, comforting songs, and do they like it? Say! It shows up in the collections!”

“Mr. Gantry,” said Andrew Pengilly, “why don’t you believe in God?”

GREEN MOUSE SAYS: Why has the city of New Albany purchased apartment buildings and a strip center between Slate Run and Old Ford?

3:30 p.m. update: Zurschmiede Properties says Elevate got it WRONG; Lone Star Apartments has not been sold and only a Slate Run easement was taken over by the city. Apologies for any inconvenience. I've found Elevate to be reliable, but there always are exceptions. This apparently was one.

---

Original article below.

"I have a contact who believes the apartment complex behind Zesto, between Slate Run and Old Ford, now belongs to the City of New Albany (it's one of Kevin Zurschmiede's holdings). If true, this was a mighty quiet acquisition."

The Floyd County Elevate web site says yes, it's true -- but neither a transaction date nor a selling price appears in the listing. As with the listing shown above, all four properties involved have the City of New Albany as owner, but also still include Zurschmiede's name.

Funny, isn't it? There was no mention of this at last evening's city council meeting, even as more than one council persons and grassroots activists expressed support for a comprehensive consideration of the Charllestown Road corridor from Vincennes to ... that's right, the area where Slate Run and Old Ford meet Charlestown Road.

Council rejects Gahan's, Redevelopment's Colonial Manor tax increment financing lollapalooza by a 5-4 vote. Alterations to come?

1636 Slate Run Road is a multi-purpose commercial building perhaps best known as the home of Mac's Hideaway and Empire Comics. It's a hybridized building, and Zurschmiede is shown as still owning the western side of it.

1637 Old Ford Road is the address for Lone Star apartments.

Let's briefly hypothesize. The New Albany Housing Authority has been buying commercial properties unsuitable for housing.

GREEN MOUSE SAYS: Bet you didn't know NAHA owns these properties on two corners of Main and Vincennes. Why?

GREEN MOUSE SAYS: Why is the New Albany Housing Authority buying commercial property at the dumping grounds downtown on State Street?

The City of New Albany is buying apartment buildings on Old Ford Road.

Do you think there's a connection, and a series of property "swaps" are imminent?

Going a bit deeper, now that Jeff Gahan's theme park Disney fetish has run its course, is he the new property-slinging, wheeler-dealer Donald Trump?

"Legislation aims to tame ‘Wild West’ nature of land contracts."

In co-authoring this single bill, Ed Clere (a Republican) accomplishes more to help just plain folks than Jeff Gahan (a nominal Democrat) has during his seven-plus years as mayor.

I asked Ed about this.

"Aaron (Fairbanks) brought up land contracts when we met for coffee last year. It was an issue," he replied. "I was already concerned about as a result of my real estate experience, and his story prompted me to research what other states were doing and craft a bill, which I asked Rep. Summers to introduce and Rep. Fleming to co-author along with me. I invited Aaron to testify, and he did."

Coming together across the aisle and working on a solution. It can be done.

Legislation aims to tame ‘Wild West’ nature of land contracts, by Marilyn Odendahl (The Indiana Lawyer)

Aaron Fairbanks estimated he lived in more than a dozen houses during his childhood as his family chased the dream of owning a home.

A number of the homes were bought on land contracts that treated the family like traditional homebuyers, requiring them to provide a down payment and monthly payments that often came with double digit interest rates. However, unlike traditional homebuyers, they could not get the title to the home until they had paid in full.

In the meantime, Fairbanks’ family was responsible for all improvements and refurbishments. The houses needed major repairs — new plumbing, electrical systems, furnaces, air conditioners, insulation and, in one instance, they added a new master bedroom. Fairbanks remembers wiggling into crawlspaces to install insulation and chopping wood to feed the fireplace because the central heating system did not work.
Always, the family lost the homes.

Sometimes the bills piled up, finances dwindled, and they could not keep up the payments. Other times, the local sheriff knocked on the door with an eviction notice because the seller, who still had the title to the house, had not maintained the mortgage payments and the home had fallen into foreclosure.
As a result, the family would pack their belongings and move without getting any compensation for the money and sweat equity they had spent making the dwellings habitable.

“We’re trying to find a home,” said Fairbanks’ mother, Lisa. “We had four kids, we wanted to raise our four kids in a home. We just wanted to have homeownership. I think that’s what everybody wants.”

A bill that passed through the Indiana House 82-14 and is headed to the Senate would protect families such as the Fairbankses from predatory “principal dwelling land contracts.” House Bill 1495 contains provisions that require the buyers be told the value of the property and how much they will ultimately pay for it if they complete the terms of the agreement. Also, after they pay 5 percent or more of the purchase price, buyers will be subject to foreclosure if they fall behind in payments, rather than being evicted.

“It’s an important issue. It’s something that’s received very little attention, and there is almost no consumer protection in current law for land contracts,” said Rep. Ed Clere, R-New Albany, who co-authored the bill with Democratic Rep Rita Fleming of Jeffersonville and bill author Rep. Vanessa Summers, D-Indianapolis. “I’m glad we’ve been able to come together across the aisle and work on a solution” ...

All about Paul Kiger in Extol.

There's an excellent profile of Paul Kiger in the most recent issue of Extol. I'd credit the writer, but didn't notice a byline.

Paul probably is most famous for selling my mom's house, but he's done some other things, too.

Read all about them at the web site.

Free at Last | Paul Kiger

Local real estate guru Paul Kiger was a force of nature, a whirlwind of energy. But much of that was focused on running from demons, until he came clean and focused on himself.

SHANE'S EXCELLENT NEW WORDS: Appurtenance, chattel, unreal estate and a few glorious synonyms.

Let's begin by tackling one of mankind's oldest questions.

What Is Real Estate?

No, it’s not a trick question, and we don’t think you’re dumb. But this definition isn’t as simple as many people think, especially first timers. It’s not just the house we’re talking about here.

Also called “real property,” real estate is the land and all the things permanently attached to it, like houses, garages, outbuildings like play houses, fences and trees. You might hear those things called “appurtenances.”

Everything else is what real estate agents would call “chattels.” That’s personal property that’s removable.

Carpet that's nailed to the floor is an appurtenance; a rug you can roll up and take with you is a chattel.

The word "appurtenance" recently came to me via The Free Dictionary's word of the day.

Definition: (noun) Equipment, such as clothing, tools, or instruments, used for a specific purpose or task.

Synonyms: paraphernalia, gear

Usage: He had half expected that she would drive up to the side door in a hansom, would wear a thick veil, and adopt the other appurtenances of a clandestine meeting.

"Clandestine" deserves its own column. "Chattel" is perhaps a simpler concept, with its legalism extending past removable objects to movable people.

Chattel

[chat-l]

noun

1. Law. Often, chattels. a movable article of personal property.
2. Often, chattels. any article of tangible property other than land, buildings, and other things annexed to land.
3. a slave.

Veering back to appurtenance, we find a word richly endowed with synonyms: accessories, trappings, appendages, accoutrements, equipment, paraphernalia, impedimenta, bits and pieces, things, and stuff.

So, in the end, is the city's corporate attorney an appurtenance of Jeff Gahan's, or his chattel?

Rinse, repeat -- and discuss among yourselves.

Hurry: Four of Jeff Gahan's delightful gingerbread houses in Midtown remain up for grabs.

2 for 6 in 7 months.

Midtown Renaissance: It depends on what you mean by "painted lady."

The Green Mouse was told that the city would like to see more houses like these built on the Vinod Gupta properties it is acquiring on Market (Lancaster's) and nearby King Street.

But will the feds pay for this round of balsa and prayers?

Wouldn't you love to know the scope of the plan before the congratulatory press release, typically issued AFTER the project is complete?

DNA scoop: We'd tout Wal-Mart if it paid membership dues.

The only reason for bringing this up another time is that a year ago, Develop New Albany expressed a willingness to be the comprehensive information consolidator and disseminator for all downtown non-profits, organizations and presumably, businesses. I heard it with my own two ears.

Since then, it apparently was decided to construct what amounts to a reverse paywall by requiring membership in DNA to generate social media touts. There's nothing intrinsically wrong with that, apart from it contradicting DNA's previous stated aim to be inclusive. As revealed in the Fb exchange below (note the abrupt shift in tone from the real estate agent Fb poster in the first reply to someone real in the second and third), it also means that Wal-Mart now ranks as highly as the Frenchman in DNA's strange reckoning -- and that's highly disturbing. If DNA purports to be about downtown, then the Frenchman beats Wally World, every single time.

One gets the impression that DNA's tiny core of decision-makers don't always think these things out. And that's why I bring it up. If DNA's community "services" are to become pay/membership based, one can argue that the organization then disqualifies itself from being official or even semi-official in any capacity, insofar as city funding is concerned, or city sanction. It's just another non-profit, and should not pretend to be otherwise.

Now, can DNA explain to us how those Pillar aware winners are determined? The Green Mouse says there isn't an election, just selection over coffee. True or false?

---

Roger A. Baylor 
Give 'em a hand, folks. At least this one's in New Albany.

Develop New Albany 
Yes, we share Schuler Bauer because they are a member of ours.

Roger A. Baylor
Thanks for replying. Could you take this opportunity to update readers on the posting policy for DNA at Fb? Who can participate? Who cannot? What are the criteria? Are you still deleting some comments and discussions? If WalMart joined DNA, would you share its messages, too? Thanks again for replying.

Jameson Bledsoe
I personally don't know who's administering DNA's FB page, but helping promote available New Albany properties is a great idea, and an idea that should go beyond just Schuler Bauer, especially since DNA receives tax support. There needs to be a link on DNA's website linking to HistoricNewAlbany.com.

Develop New Albany wrote: 
Hi Roger what we did with our Facebook page was make it an outlet for our members to post specials and things about their business. Our office administer friends their page then she copies them to our page anyone should be able to comment on them because that is what we are doing now. We fixed the problem with comments and discussions being deleting I hope. Yes if WalMart joined we would post their items if they wanted us to because this is a perk of being a Develop New Albany member, I do not see them becoming a member but at least their membership money would help our other fellow members which to me is not bad if they are willing. We have our website area under the polling section for anyone and everyone to comment and are always looking for questions to post, please let us know what you would like us to poll and we will post it (within reason please)! Thank you for inquiring.

Develop New Albany
Hi Jameson not sure what tax support we receive? Our funds come from membership and some grants that we have been approved for, I will have to check if there are other sources - thank you.

Downtown non-profit Develop New Albany Does Exurbia ... now incessantly on Facebook.

Can a historic building advertisement get any more generic?

On-line at the News and Tribune. The voice mail said Gil Gwinn.

Downtown Louisville condo dividends.

It's a brief piece offering the case for downtown Louisville residency in general, and condo living in particular, but the number that strikes me is 86 (see below).

How many condo units were in that original River View plan?

Downtown Dividends, by Tara Anderson (Insider Louisville)

Bob Holt, a 47-year-old lifelong South End resident, has picked out his new 700-square-foot studio condo at the Mercantile Gallery Lofts on Market Street, and it’s just a matter of paperwork before he can move in ...

... According to the Greater Louisville Association of Realtors, 86 units sold in downtown last year for an average price of $135,035. A decade ago, so few condos were sold or for sale in downtown Louisville that they were grouped with Old Louisville, Shively, Butchertown and the West End. “I work in the early stages of the construction industry, so we see more product going out, and that tells us things are starting to pick up some,” Holt says. “I’m getting in incredibly cheap. Five years from now, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a 15 to 20 percent increase in value.”
And, of course, he can spend his weekends doing something besides mowing the lawn.

The building at 8th & Culbertson is for sale.

Strange, I thought a buyer already had been identified. The controversially rehabbed building's also being painted, which means that soon, the gator's going away. Talk about a historic landmark ...

Dale Moss on Paul Kiger.

A nice C-J shout-out for Paul: New Albany Realtor Paul Kiger breaks mold, makes sales; 31-year-old could be region's youngest agent of the year.

Defying categorization is one thing; ignoring it is another.

Travel + Leisure, in conjunction with CNN, recently surveyed what 600,000 people thought of 25 U.S. cities based on a list of specific criteria as part of their 2008 America’s Favorite Cities guide. CoolTown Studios took the list, broke it down to the qualities that matter to creatives, and posted the results.

Not surprisingly, names like Portland, Austin, and Chicago appear near the top.

New Albany's puzzle, however, is not national. It's regional. It's metro. It's within 10 miles in any random direction. A notion of revitalization that at times seems vague and impossible is really just a matter of capturing a tiny percentage of real estate and retail activity within a relatively small area.

The categories, as defined by Travel + Leisure and separated out by CoolTown, are below. I might cavil at a couple of them, but I'm not editing a national magazine or running an international television network.

Within the Louisville Metro-Southern Indiana area, how do we comparatively rate? What are we good at? How do we capitalize? What and how do we improve?

Figure it out or die. No biggie.

People
Diverse
Athletic/active

Culture
Live music bands

Shopping
Local boutiques
Art galleries
Vintage stores/flea markets

Food/dining
Ethnic food/cheap eats
Cafes/coffee bars
Farmers’ and specialty food markets

Quality of Life & Visitor Experience
Public transportation and pedestrian friendliness
Affordability
Environmental Awareness

Nightlife

"We do": An open letter.

Dear REALpro,

Sorry you left so quickly today. It would have been nice to have a few words. I understand that I may have been a bit harsh. At least it was sincere, and I really meant it.

You say that math's your thing, and I can appreciate that. You’re not that old, but you found a way to apply your grasp of math to real estate and rental properties, by calculating costs and expenses, and knowing when to flip and when not to flip. You played the game the way the game's always been played.

Congratulations. I’m so impressed that I’m tempted to drink Bud Light and think it’s beer.

Not.

Your math skills are all well and good, but you see, your outlook is reminiscent of discredited colonialism as practiced by the long defunct European monarchies, who conducted grand experiments in profitability on playing fields located in far-off lands. They were fascinated with numbers, too, and they could count on one thing in the end: The effects of their actions would be felt only in those places where they, the ones initiating the actions, didn’t live themselves.

Rather like you.

You live up on the hill, in a grandiose subdivision of garish exurban McMansions (pun intended), and those properties you flip are in the center of the doughnut, and involve real people … but they’re not YOUR people, are they? Your people are a demographic devoted to vacuous consumption, right? Meanwhile, those degraded downtowners ... they’re just pieces on the math wunderkind’s chess board, aren’t they?

Heck, it looks to me like those doughnut centers were just made for speculators like you … so that you could finance a home quite far removed from contact with any of the people that your actions impact on a daily basis, even as you ignore the concepts and the ideas that are relevant to your work area.

Yes, I know about your trauma, about the time that you didn’t do your homework, didn’t know what you were getting into, and because there were historical preservation covenants involved, you couldn’t plasticize a rental property (are you still the president of the rental property owners support group -- rental property owners being those business people who should be paying the same property tax as other business people?), so now all problems can be traced back to those nasty historical preservation people who you never really engaged, anyway, and you want to know what?

That’s just tiresome.

You spoke of your demographic. Are they all as undereducated as you when it comes to aesthetics? Do they all think that neighborhoods are the same thing as unguarded apple trees, with fruit ripe for the plucking? I know lots of folks your age, and others your age work for me, and they get it.

You don’t, and you need to learn. When you say that the exteriors of one of your rental properties don’t matter, and only the interiors do … and then you turn around and apply for a UEZ façade grant (approved) for your business on the corner of State and Elm … you’re saying that exteriors do matter for a business. But wait – a rental property’s a business, too … right? Or did we already cover that little bit of blatant hypocrisy?

Then, when you put a front door on your new business, one that should be on your or The Gary's exurban McMansion (pun intended), you serve notice again that your generation wouldn’t know aesthetic if it bit you on the ass. But I know that’s not true (see above) because I know 27-year-olds who know art. What’s crazy about that is their commitment to people, to neighborhoods, and to progress. Atypical? You tell me. I'm very confused here. It upsets you that you can’t demolish two poorly maintained rental properties and build a nice brick four-plex on the same spot, one that would look at home in any exurban development.

But, my dear boy, it simply ain’t the exurb. It’s the inner city. It’s supposed to work a certain way because that’s how it was built. And nothing – nothing – you said today shows me that you “get” any part of it other than the fact of your exploiting it. Prove me wrong. I'm waiting.

I’m calling you out not because I want to make another mortal enemy (rest assured, I have enough of those already). It’s because I’m an optimist, and I believe that with the proper effort, almost anyone can understand the program. One of the fellows sitting next to you talked of looking for success in those places that have achieved it. That’s where you should start. Right now, all you’ve done is provide indication of cluelessness. Where I come from, that’s nothing to brag about.

Tough love, math guy. That’s where it’s at. I hope you get it … sooner, rather than later. I don't want to be your enemy. But when your chosen "business" threatens neighborhoods ... well, let those chips fall where they may.

Roger

Afternoon Reminder: downtown loft tour on Saturday

From the New Albany Historic Preservation Commission's web site:

Lofty Ideas Downtown Walking Tour
May 19, 2007

Meet at the loft residence of Matthew and Jessica Bergman, in the Historic Wilcox Block, 133-135 East Market Street, New Albany, to begin a tour of five fantastic spaces with opportunities for their development into living quarters.

The tour is designed for investors, real estate professionals, developers, architects, professionals with an interest in urban living, along with anyone fascinated with the second and third floors of New Albany’s historic downtown buildings.

On hand for serious discussion of how to proceed with acquisition and renovation: Mike Kopp, Commercial Realtor, Lopp Real Estate, LLC; Ed Clere, Dragonfly Realty; Anita Massey, Marketing and Business Development Director, Schaefer General Contracting Services and David Barksdale, New Albany Historic Preservation Commission and Floyd County Historian.

Sponsors: Develop New Albany and Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana. Free and open to the public.



The tour begins at 11:00 a.m. and should last until around 1:00 p.m. with discussion and appetizers following at Bistro New Albany.

Readers are also reminded that Treet's Bakery Cafe, occupying the storefront of the Bergmans' building, is open for breakfast tomorrow and the next couple of Saturdays as part of a trial run for weekend hours.

A Million Dollar Challenge

Unsurprisingly, 3rd district uncouncilman Steve Price blew it.

When the The Tribune asked Price, allowing him total creative license to showcase his understanding of city redevelopment issues, what he'd do with a million dollars to help his constituents, he answered that he'd lower their sewer bill 28 cents a month.

Unlike Steve, think about it: The City Council has already granted the utility over $12 million in EDIT funds - which Price voted against- to subsidize the sewer rate through 2023. The result is that the average sewer user saves about $3.40 per month. That means each million equates to roughly 28 cents on each bill.

The only thing more baffling than shame not keeping people from putting Price's reelection signs in their yards is another challenge at the million dollar mark.

The map above is of census tract 704, which nearly mirrors the boundaries if taken in sum of the Main Street, East Spring Street and S. Ellen Jones neighborhoods downtown. According to the 2000 census, there are 14 owner-occupied homes in 704 whose values equal or exceed $1 million dollars.

I've been itching for a NABC Jasmine the Mastiff Stout and if anyone can figure out where there are 14 individual million dollar homes within a few blocks of mine, I just might buy them one, too.