Pinocchio Gahan never stops doubling down on his deceptive "balanced budget" boasts and financial rating fudges.

Well, an emperor's pants can't be on fire from lying when he's not wearing clothes to begin with. Bluegill helpfully explains.

"New Albany Mayor Jeff Gahan keeps sending extremely misleading messages to the public, crediting himself for a balanced budget and an A+ financial rating.

"What he doesn’t explain, of course, is that state law demands a balanced budget from every mayor and that, when one views the financial rating system on the whole, an A+ actually ranks as fair to middling. Each time a citizen intervenes to explain the above so the public actually understands what they’re looking at, their 100% factually accurate comments are deleted.

"Gahan not only lies but works hard at keeping others from telling the truth. Those of you who vote for him are voting for that. Here’s to hoping you get to experience a lot of similar behavior in your professional and personal lives. After all, that’s what you want, isn’t it?"

He also reminds us that partial truths reveal Gahan's lack of ethical bearing, just as much as outright honking whoppers.

"For anyone interested in understanding/refuting Gahan campaign lies, here’s a handy reference chart showing the actual bond/credit rating system. It runs not from A to F as most people are familiar but from AAA to AA to A to BBB. An A+ is a much lower grade than people are being led to believe."

In fact, we're only a step above "speculative grade." Ouch.

Long-Term Investment Grade Credit Ratings (Standard and Poor's)

Borrowers are rated by S&P on a scale from ‘AAA’ to ‘D’. Investment grade ratings are securities with higher ratings of ‘AAA’ (highest) to ‘BBB-‘. These represent bonds with the highest creditworthiness.

Speculative grade bonds, also known as non-investment grade, represent securities with lower ratings from the S&P (‘BB+’ to ‘D’).

Below is an outline of each grade and what it means in terms of financial commitments and credit viability.

AAA

AA

A
Debtors with an ‘A’ municipal bond rating have a strong ability to meet their financial obligations. However, they are more vulnerable to economic and circumstantial changes that could affect their overall repayment strength.

‘A+’ debtors are upper-medium grade with a low credit risk. Their susceptibility to economic changes keeps their ratings from the ‘AA’ and ‘AAA’ ratings. ‘A’ debtors also represent a strong ability to repay short-term debt but lack the same strength in long-term obligations.

I asked Bluegill if there was a ready definition for "economic changes."

"I’ve never seen anything that specifically defines them, though it would depend on how the debt and repayment are structured. Since our debt is mostly TIF based, anything that could negatively impact property tax assessments or projected increases in assessments would be a factor, especially since we live in a state with property tax rate caps."

Something like another recession? it would be interesting to see how we shape up today interms of overall debt and exposure versus 2008.

Mark Seabrook attended the mayoral forum at the Southern Indiana Realtors Association. Jeff Gahan skipped it. Remember that, voters.

Seabrook?

He shows up.

The ironic part?

Democrats seem to think that whispering malice about Seabrook's health will make people forget that Gahan's a serial shun-meister of public discourse, forever unwilling to answer for his actions as paymaster of the city's political patronage machine.

Jeff "No Debates" Gahan ecstatic as League of Women Voters ditches the candidate debate format.

Next: Consider this photo.

Donnie Blevins knows better than most about the Bully Gahan. In case you missed it in April ...

ON THE AVENUES: Donnie Blevins tells his story.

 ... For Blevins the end came in February, 2018. He was working nights on snow removal, out on a run after 9:00 p.m., when Gahan made a visit to the street department office.

When Blevins returned, his supervisor called him inside to deliver the ultimatum he'd just been given. According to the supervisor, who said he had no idea why any of it was happening, Gahan had gone “berserk” about Blevins, referring to him as “that son-of-a-bitch” and promising to “fire his (Blevins’) ass the first chance I get.”

It took the consummate narcissist Jeff Gahan a full 16 years to say the word "opioid," and now the hypocrite-in-chief thinks he's Jonas effing Salk.

Crazy, isn't it?

"Silent Jeff" Gahan served eight excruciatingly underachieving years as a councilman, followed by seven years and 238 days as the city's second-worst mayor ever (behind Warren Nash) before at long last becoming vaguely aware of an opioid crisis in New Albany -- wait, I'm sorry, make that "Floyd County" -- none of which has the slightest thing to do with a tough re-election fight just around the corner.

Whatever. I pulled the only relevant paragraph from Gahan's boilerplate recitation of things we already know.

The City of New Albany has already taken an important step by bringing legal action against the manufacturers and distributors. Floyd County officials, unfortunately, have opted to not join the lawsuit against opioid distributors. I am urging county leaders to recognize this problem and join the lawsuit. Now that we have solid data concerning the problem, we need to do more as a community.

It's the ceaseless war against Floyd County government, yet again. This war is the only imperative for Gahan's tenure, and not a single Democrat in New Albany can recall exactly why it's being fought apart from their need to preserve political patronage as local Democrats have always featherbedded it.

This emperor has no clothes; Gahan cares not a jot about societal ills apart from his skill in spinning them to his advantage. Now, how about an uplifting round of  loaded Rice Krispies Treats?

#SocialistsForSeabrook2019

"There are reasons to be cheerful. These are the dying days of a rancid old order."

On the one hand, the essay linked below by Will Sutton bears a degree of thematic unity with my column last week.

ON THE AVENUES: Unless you open your eyes, “resistance” is an empty gesture.

But it's an ideal link for posting because the Democratic Party swamp meme needs to be seen as often as possible between now and November.

There are reasons to be cheerful. These are the dying days of a rancid old order, by Will Hutton (The Guardian)

In the UK and the US, the political wind will soon change in favour of those demanding good government

Don’t despair. We may be living through an attempted rightwing revolution, but its foundations are rotten. There may be a counter-revolution, as there is after every revolution, and it will be built on much firmer ground. The charlatans may be in control in both Britain and the US, but their time is limited. Their programmes are self-defeating and destructive and they do not speak to the dynamic and increasingly ascendant forces in both our societies ...

Cognitive dissonance: An abundance of gratitude for violent city "leadership" -- and other ways we lie to ourselves.

Who among our community's most vulnerable will Jeff Gahan attack next -- and to what phantasmagorical lengths will local Democrats go to rationalize it?

So very, very sad.

Low standards in high places, or the way Democrats avoid talking about the excessive costs of Gahanism.

 

Yes, a strong case can be made that a public official pulling down $125k sans requisite qualifications, driving with expired tags and making excuses for impaired driving, probably should be held to a higher standard.

It must start at the top.

By all rights such standards should emanate from Mayor Jeff Gahan, but we all know they haven't. From the murky ethics of pay-to-play political patronage to nepotism, from board-packing to a steadfast refusal to hold his underlings accountable for their snark (TASER jokes, anyone?), Gahan has abdicated his responsibility to maintain high standards.

New Albanians have a chance to do better, and to restore ethical standards to City Hall. By voting for David White, who already has denounced nepotism and refused donations from the beneficiaries of pay-to-play patronage, we can begin the long overdue process draining the swamp and flushing the clique.

I have a question for my Democratic friends.

In your own personal world -- your life, not the lives of others -- do you believe the end justifies the means?

Do you believe it doesn't matter if people and principles are trampled, so long as you get what you want?

Do the rights and wrongs of the procurement process matter, or is to have and to hold the bright and shiny object enough for you?

How's it working out for you to become accustomed to cringing and looking the other way?

This primary season many of my friends will have cast their ballots for Gahan, a mayor who has consistently fudged, bullied and self-monetized his means in justification of his ends.

Friends having done so remain friends all the same, at least on my end. But I harbor the strong suspicion that many of these same voters don't sanction those means embodied by Gahan's political behavior when they pertain to the ends in their own private worlds.

I suppose they tolerate it from Gahan because the daily rationalizations borne of Democratic Party afiliation are all too easy: the "nice" things they choose to see look so good; all politicians are corrupt but he's on OUR team; we can always pay the bills some other time; or least convincing of all, "the Republicans are worse."

For two weeks I've been asking the following questions of Democrats. I'd ask them of Gahan himself, although as we know transparency and accessibility are the very least of his considerations -- and he routinely refuses to debate political opponents.

• So tell me, why does Gahan get a pass from you when he can't tell the truth about budgets, rate increases, taxes and TIF debt?
• Is saying "things look good" satisfactory without asking how they got that way?
• Have you noticed that every street grid "improvement" hailed as a victory for walkability actually enhances car-centrism? 
• Why does one man need $450,000 in campaign donations?
• Does it bother you that donors receive no-bid contracts and sinecures, like magic?
• What is there in the Democratic Party platform that encourages "luxury" development to the exclusion of public/affordable housing occupants?
• Is it a healthy civic trend for mayors to bully and harass city employees whose only offense is to opt out from loving him? 
• Isn't the "silo" approach of all decisionmaking emanating from a tiny clique at the top of a pyramid ultimately injurious to our city's success?
• Isn't Gahan's personality cult akin to self-deification, and can this ever be a sign of stable mental health?

The only substantive comment I've received in return came from an Independent/Libertarian, which of course I appreciate. It would be nice to hear a die-hard Democrat answer the preceding questions, and the fact of their general refusal tells us quite a lot, doesn't it?

---

Democratic mayoral candidate David White understands that change begins with a whole lotta scrubbing, and NA Confidential advocates just such a deep civic cleansing. 

After eight years on the job, Mayor Jeff Gahan's list of stunning "achievements" is long, indeed: tax increases, budgetary hide 'n' seek, self-deification, daily hypocrisy, public housing takeover, non-transparency, pay-to-play for no-bid contracts, bullying city residents and bullying city employees. Eight years is enough. It's time to drain Gahan's swamp, flush his ruling clique and take this city back from Gahan's Indy-based special interest donors. 

NA Confidential supports David White for Mayor in the Democratic Party primary, with voting now through May 7. 

Pinocchio Gahan doubles down on his deceptive "balanced budget" boasts and financial rating fudges.

Bluegill helpfully explains.

"New Albany Mayor Jeff Gahan keeps sending extremely misleading messages to the public, crediting himself for a balanced budget and an A+ financial rating.

"What he doesn’t explain, of course, is that state law demands a balanced budget from every mayor and that, when one views the financial rating system on the whole, an A+ actually ranks as fair to middling. Each time a citizen intervenes to explain the above so the public actually understands what they’re looking at, their 100% factually accurate comments are deleted.

"Gahan not only lies but works hard at keeping others from telling the truth. Those of you who vote for him are voting for that. Here’s to hoping you get to experience a lot of similar behavior in your professional and personal lives. After all, that’s what you want, isn’t it?"

He also reminds us that partial truths reveal Gahan's lack of ethical bearing, just as much as outright honking whoppers.

"For anyone interested in understanding/refuting Gahan campaign lies, here’s a handy reference chart showing the actual bond/credit rating system. It runs not from A to F as most people are familiar but from AAA to AA to A to BBB. An A+ is a much lower grade than people are being led to believe."

In fact, we're only a step above "speculative grade." Ouch.

Long-Term Investment Grade Credit Ratings (Standard and Poor's)

Borrowers are rated by S&P on a scale from ‘AAA’ to ‘D’. Investment grade ratings are securities with higher ratings of ‘AAA’ (highest) to ‘BBB-‘. These represent bonds with the highest creditworthiness.

Speculative grade bonds, also known as non-investment grade, represent securities with lower ratings from the S&P (‘BB+’ to ‘D’).

Below is an outline of each grade and what it means in terms of financial commitments and credit viability.

AAA

AA

A
Debtors with an ‘A’ municipal bond rating have a strong ability to meet their financial obligations. However, they are more vulnerable to economic and circumstantial changes that could affect their overall repayment strength.

‘A+’ debtors are upper-medium grade with a low credit risk. Their susceptibility to economic changes keeps their ratings from the ‘AA’ and ‘AAA’ ratings. ‘A’ debtors also represent a strong ability to repay short-term debt but lack the same strength in long-term obligations.

I asked Bluegill if there was a ready definition for "economic changes."

"I’ve never seen anything that specifically defines them, though it would depend on how the debt and repayment are structured. Since our debt is mostly TIF based, anything that could negatively impact property tax assessments or projected increases in assessments would be a factor, especially since we live in a state with property tax rate caps."

Something like another recession? it would be interesting to see how we shape up today interms of overall debt and exposure versus 2008.

In 2016 alone, 50,400 reasons to vote against Jeff Gahan in 2019.

In the year of Our Dear Leader 2016, Jeff Gahan's re-election committee received 31 donations totaling $50,400.

That's an average of $1,625 for all donors. Not exactly grassroots affection, is it?

However, just the top ten of these donors -- 4 of them at $5,000, 4 at $3,000, 2 at $2,500 -- brought in a total of $37,000. Some of them were individuals, but their companies are well known.

Of this $37,000, 60% of it came from donors outside city limits -- and all 10 top donors, as well as numerous other donors contributing $500 to $1,000 (two of them at $2,000), do business with the city in some capacity.

They pay Gahan -- and they're paid with YOUR money.

2016 was just another normal patronage-as-usual year out of the past eight. If you'd like to peruse the "who's who" of the lawyers practicing in Indianapolis -- and the PACs, and the developers, and so many special interests that the mind reels -- stay tuned. I'm almost finished with the first part of the journey through the 2011 - 2018 Gahan campaign finance swamp, and it's simply amazing.

The 2019 municipal election season has one major issue: pay to play as practiced by the governing clique in New Albany, and the inevitability of corruption arising from it. You don't think they're giving him money because of his looks, do you?

#FireGahan2019