Denmark, America and democratic socialism.

I didn't watch the Democratic presidential debate ...

Guess Who Else Is a Socialist?, Timothy Egan (New York Times)

One of the side benefits of a well-watched national political debate is the exposure it brings to something obscure and forgotten — like Denmark. Who doesn’t love a country that gave us a dish of frikadeller and rugbrod to go with paid parental leave and universal health care?

 ... but I love Denmark, and have spent more time there than anywhere else in Europe, with the exception of Slovakia and possibly Germany. Here is a reflection from our most recent visit in 2009.

Today's Tribune column: "One fine weekend in Copenhagen."

The crux of Egan's essay is this:

Once you label something socialist, it brings to mind dour Soviet types trotting out dreary worker clothing for the spring fashion line. Or, here at home, those insufferable parlor room Marxists who think it would be utopia if only we nationalized every Starbucks. In that sense, the worst thing about socialism is the socialists.

Free of the label, a hybrid economy where health care, education and pensions for the elderly are provided, side-by-side-by-side with creative capitalism, works pretty well in the Nordic countries, Britain and Canada. And most of the tenets of what is considered democratic socialism have majority support in the United States.

The Baylor for Mayor meme, October 16: Reorienting our economic development efforts.

From September 27, 2015:

This is New Albany's economic development challenge: "Developing the Cure for Corporate Welfare."

ON THE AVENUES: To the New Albanians, each and every one.

ON THE AVENUES: To the New Albanians, each and every one.

A weekly web column by Roger A. Baylor.

There is a monolithic message adorning the west-facing side of the former Anchor Range & Stove building, which for many years has been owned by Padgett, Inc.

The banner is two stories tall, almost as wide, and probably can be seen from Skyline Drive in the Knobs.

It reads:

Zurschmiede for Mayor

“Conservative Principles Driving Progress”

Paid for by New Albanians for Common Sense Government PAC

The last time I saw an inscription this large was in Moscow, back during Communist times – something about the critical importance of the five-year plan, the threat of American imperialism, or some such – but I mention this phenomenon not as the pretext for a series of “size really doesn’t matter when it comes to happy endings” jokes.

Rather, it’s all about the nomenclature.

You see, ideas do matter, and as human beings, we concretely express our ideas with words, and words are building blocks. It’s how we move beyond mental abstraction to communication, and from primitivism to progress.

So, while Adam insists I’m “not a serious candidate” for mayor, and Jeff dismisses me as having done nothing “in a positive manner for New Albany” – concurrent with the entire Padgett industrial enterprise differing with my viewpoint on the primacy of humans versus trucks on our street grid, most often by reverting to the non-verbal, as with their middle fingers held aloft, just look at the way all of them have started using these two words.

New Albanian.

Guess who coined that descriptor?

Until the New Albanian Brewing Company came along in 1994, did anyone in these parts ever routinely choose the words “New Albanian” to describe someone from New Albany?

It is possible they did so in a random or periodic sense, though let’s face facts: NABC’s adaptation of the term has spilled over into popular usage and acceptance, hence the identity of the slush fund sponsoring Padgett’s overwrought signage.

You’re welcome.

It’s nice to have a legacy, isn’t it? If only there were royalties at play.

---

Meanwhile, local Democrats and Republicans alike have been using the hashtag #CountTheWays in social media.

Gahan is busy counting the number of bright, shiny gifts he’s given us, always remembering to scrape the price tag off with his dainty finger nail before affixing the ribbon and grinning like the fatherly potentate he imagines himself to be.

Zurschmiede’s hard-working subalterns have been busy counting their own ways in rebuttal, often deploying phrases originating … from elsewhere. Since I’m feeling charitable, I’ll use the word “subconsciously” to describe their passage from source to meme.

I can live with it, even without the screenplay credits. After all, I’m a content creator. For me, the hashtag is #CountTheIronies, which embraces both the major political parties as they’ve reacted to my presence in the race.

You might think that as a European-style social democrat, my independent mayoral candidacy would have the effect of pulling our right-leaning local DemoDixieDisneycrats leftward.

Instead, the party establishment has responded by doubling down on its bizarre love affair with trickle-down Reaganomics, conveniently substituting ruinously expensive quality-of-life “wants” (water parks, beautification projects) for steroidal 1980s-era military spending in the partisan broken budget analogy.

Concurrently, the city's Republicans have gleefully adopted my platform points, pushing the GOP as an entity steadily left, toward the center. It’s surreal for the GOP to issue ritual denunciations of crony capitalism, corporate welfare and trickle-down Reaganomics, and recent promises to create a "user-friendly" city are enough to make dispassionate space aliens believe they’ve finally embraced two-way streets, too.

However, Padgett’s Soviet-scale banners and PAC money make such a conversion extremely unlikely.

All of this leaves this unrepentant Bernie Sanders fan as the only mayoral candidate eager to speak openly about specific, critical economic development needs, as opposed to quality of life wants.

Ironies aside, I'll just stay where I am, over here, comfortably left of center. If the Republicans are more eager to join me than the Democrats, then it just makes the irony even more delicious – although it should make a fair number of Democrats who ought to know better profoundly uncomfortable.

They’re probably too filled with mute nostril agony to even notice.

---

As it pertains to the mayoral race, the New Albanian (that’s me) is an outsider, insurgent and underdog. Apparently he’s also a wild card. Both party camps seem to be basing their electoral predictions on varying estimates of the votes I’ll extract, and from where.

But in a political system built and maintained for the benefit of two major parties, an independent surely must take votes from somewhere, almost by definition. That’s why we refer to the existence of voters who’ve been known to display autonomous tendencies, like thoughtfully considering individual candidates and their ideas outside the confines of the archaic phrase, “pulling the straight party lever.”

I believe these discerning voters can see quite clearly what I’ve brought to the table during this campaign. It’s a principled alternative, and a third way to approach local governance, one necessary because the two-party system here is tired and broken.

For most of us, governance isn’t about party affiliation, anyway. It’s about managing competently, planning rationally and producing results every single day – right here in New Albany -- where we live and work and play.

I’m not a politician, but 25 years as a local independent business owner have equipped me with a useful tool box. Local independent business owners strive to maintain a level playing field for consumers. We listen, accommodate, troubleshoot, manage employees and solve problems as they arise. We create tangible value from scratch, as with the American craft beer industry.

I’ve also traveled throughout America and Europe, paying attention to life and learning how things work. I’ve probably attended more council meetings than some elected council persons, and maintained this public affairs blog day in and day out, for the past 11 years.

The New Albanian (me again) is uniquely placed to break the two-party stalemate in New Albany and Floyd County, and to be a bridge to the next generation of leaders. I have no political party to serve, only the people of New Albany. As mayor, neither my name nor the names of elected officials will appear on plaques.

“The City of New Albany” means all the people, not just a privileged few. It’s going to be about us, not me.

As for the ramifications of my effort, it may or may not be true that Kevin Zurschmiede will be the ultimate beneficiary, but the ballot is set, and there's nothing I can do about the likelihood of Gahan's ego-driven vanity candidacy siphoning votes from the only genuine Democrat left in the mayoral race.

That Democrat is me, and conscience is key.

I’ve written about rumblings of threats and retaliation emanating from the mayor, his minions and Democratic Party elders. It is unfortunate when "group-think" is allowed to digress into intimidation, but apparently it has.

Know that if the local Democratic Party machine wishes to be spiteful and vindictive, it's the machine's problem, not ours. It remains a mystery how the party's chairman contorts reality so as to square his pious bromides about "respectful" candidates with Dan “Copperhead” Coffey's continued presence on the ballot as a Democrat -- but that's his problem, and a huge one.

Ultimately, it remains my position that ballots and basic choice are matters of personal conscience, and I've neither the desire, nor any solid reason, to tamper with such. If you support my independent candidacy, I'd rather you be able to express your preference openly, but at the same time, given the current atmosphere, I understand perfectly well if you cannot.

Some voters who ordinarily find themselves occupying a "side" based on factors beyond the actual issues (family, habit, compulsion at work) may choose to preserve the outward appearance of conformity, while resolving internally to opt out of politics as usual and vote differently -- independently -- in 2015.

If so, merely let conscience be your guide. That's why the ballots are secret, and no one should be looking over your shoulder, anyway.

If we’re voting as New Albanians, as opposed to Democrats and Republicans, then the choice is perfectly logical. It's doing what’s right for the whole city, and not only one or the other of our two clubs.

---

Recent columns:

October 8: ON THE AVENUES: There’s an indie twist to this curmudgeon’s annual Harvest Homecoming column.

October 1: ON THE AVENUES: No more fear, Jeff.

September 24: ON THE AVENUES: Almost two years later, Mr. Gahan has yet to plug in this clock, and so it's time for him to clock out.

September 17: ON THE AVENUES: Dear Neighbor: If you’re tired of the same old story, turn some pages.

September 10: ON THE AVENUES: Lanesville Heritage Weekend comes around again.

September 3: ON THE AVENUES: When even Mitt Romney can run to the left of New Albany’s Democrats, it's a very big problem.

August 27: ON THE AVENUES: Whips, chains and economic development (2010).

The Baylor for Mayor meme, October 15: Green buildings and historic preservation.

From October 2, 2014:

ON THE AVENUES: Now on tap at the ghost of Haughey’s Place: The politics of pure spite.

"Streets are about economics and urban design more than engineering."

It's about human beings in a densely populated urban area.

Streets are about economics and urban design more than engineering, by Robert Steuteville (Better Cities)

 ... Recognizing that most trips are economic decisions and that people have choices puts a whole new spin on roads and traffic. As Hertz of City Observatory says:

"The economic, or behavioral, approach brings back humans—and with them, the idea that given amount of vehicle trips isn’t just a feature of the natural world, but the result of decisions by actual people who want to get somewhere in order to do something. The question then changes in a subtle but profound way: not how to speed vehicles through a road most efficiently, but how to best connect people with the places they want to go."

"Bringing humans back into the question also allows you to acknowledge that people have desires that aren’t directly related to transportation. Safety, for example. Reducing the number and length of vehicle trips translates straight to fewer car crashes, and fewer avoidable serious injuries and deaths. Making streets a pleasant place to walk and gather—something that’s difficult when sidewalks have been narrowed to make room for speeding cars just feet away—can pay serious economic dividends and help establish a sense of community. In the economic or behavioral approach to transportation policy, all of these goals suddenly become fair game."

Viewing congestion as an economic problem may also get transportation engineers to recognize that congestion is often good. The bad kind of congestion is when people are just sitting in traffic and little economic activity is taking place. But in a mixed-use downtown, congestion is a sign of life ...

Campaign Diary, Chapter 10: Greenway news leads to bicycling flashbacks.

I'm the obsessive sort when I allow myself to be, and the past two years have been all about walking. However, today I got out the elderly bicycle and tooled around Midtown a bit.

When I say elderly ...

 ... that's the very same bike supporting my girth in 2004, along with my friends Bob and Tim, as well as a local horse trolling for apples. We're somewhere in the Ardennes hills of southeastern Belgium, in the process of visiting all the brewing monasteries in Belgium.

We called it the Tour de Trappist, and it was a blast.

The Ohio River Greenway has been back in the news the past couple of days, with work slated to begin on the third of four sections running through New Albany territory (from 8th Street to 18th Street). There is talk of the bridge across Silver Creek finally being started early next year.

It made me think of the forum Valla Ann Bolovschak hosted at The Grand in November of 2005. She'd been appointed New Albany’s recently representative to the Greenway Commission, and was soliciting opinions, suggestions and recommendations as to the future orientation of the project. Since then, we've finished the part from Silver Creek to 18th, and 8th to the Amphitheater.

Ten years ago, I prefaced my blog coverage of the forum with an anecdote about one of my own bicycling experiences in Europe.

Bob (pictured above) and I were bicycling in 2001 through the lovely wooded hillsides of the Franconia region of Germany, near Bamberg, and we stopped to soak up the countryside and look at a map. While doing so, we were overtaken by a group of five elderly men who we’d passed earlier in the day, before we had lost ground to them while pausing for a brief, restorative beer at one of the area’s many brewpubs.

All spoke English and were eager to exchange information about the immaculately signposted, maintained and dedicated bike route. In addition, as the precursor to a pattern we’ve observed so many times since, they were openly amazed to see Americans of any age riding bicycles in Germany.

It turns out that these well-heeled, multilingual and retired gentlemen were engaged in their 45th annual, several-hundred-kilometers-long bike jaunt in celebration of their university graduating class, and in this instance were making the trip from Frankfurt to Kulmbach – carrying light rear panniers loaded with the basics, traveling 25 to 30 mildly strenuous miles a day, then stopping for hearty meals, local beers and a good night’s sleep at an inn or bed and breakfast.

I looked at them, calculated their approximate ages, and thought, “that’s what I want to do when I get to be that old – but why wait until then.”

Even now, fourteen years later, I’m transfixed by the scene of these gracious, nonchalant, ruddy men enjoying a road trip’s worth of bicycling reunion time – and the five of them as utterly flabbergasted to see Americans riding bicycles for recreation as I was by the thought of my parents marking such an occasion by exercising in such a manner.

During the Greenway forum in 2005, it was revealed that in spite of the route's original stated intent as a roadway for automotive traffic, which in the 1990s took the form of a projected multi-million dollar vehicular bridge straight through the Loop Island Wetlands, common sense had at last prevailed, and the likely future form of the Greenway would be strictly limited insofar as motorized vehicles were concerned.

A senior citizen promptly interjected, somewhat indignantly, that to restrict the Greenway in such a fashion as not building it for automobiles would be to shortchange elderly residents (and their grandchildren) by denying them easy access to view from their car windows.

Dan Coffey, then as now the Wizard of Westside, later spoke about the critical need of making it easier for people to get across the levee from downtown to the river, noting that Scribner Place’s original design included a long ramp that would have eliminated the stairs currently required to gain a access to the river. He lamented the difficulty of climbing those stairs.

I kept thinking about the five elderly Germans on their bicycles.

There is no glib conclusion to these ruminations. As they say, it's a free country, and you can do as you please, but I'd rather keep exercising -- whether on foot or with a bike. I'm closer in age to those Germans than I was then, and I want to be like them when I'm 60-something, and beyond.

There's always mobile signboarding, too.

Theirs may be bigger, but I know how to use mine.

The Baylor for Mayor meme, October 14: Ideas, not political party machines.

From August 14, 2015:

ON THE AVENUES: It’s time to purge two-party politics and tie the community together.

Secrets that they keep: Team Gahan to be sued for non-transparency in county records request.

I'll never understand how the newspaper determines its photo accompaniment to articles like this. Floyd County's auditor (Scott Clark) and New Albany's controller (Linda Moeller) feature prominently, and the crux of the story is funding the animal shelter.

Consequently, the photo shows Matt Oakley, president of the county council, whose name appears one solitary time near the end. You'd think there'd be a file photo of a dog or cat.

Meanwhile, this move has been on the agenda for a while. The county pays its share of animal shelter upkeep to the city, which deposits the money and pays the bills. But the agreement as written is vague as to percentages of the tithe versus actual expenses, and there isn't a dedicated bank account. County money disappears into the city's general fund.

All Clark seems to be asking is to see the record of expenditures.

On the third floor, as ever, the wagons are circled. I was among those in favor of the parks department split, on the grounds of county non-support. However, doubts have long since crept into the narrative, and not only because of Team Gahan's TIF-fueled parks spending spree (entirely unmentioned during the 2011 mayoral campaign).

The county has a convincing case in the animal shelter funding imbroglio -- and Gahan's refusal to release information merely enhances it.

When does the arrogance stop?

Let's make a date for November 3, shall we?

Floyd County Council plans to file suit against New Albany, by Jerod Clapp (N and T)

FLOYD COUNTY — Following a determination from the state Public Access Counselor, the Floyd County Council plans to file suit against the city of New Albany today or Thursday for failure to provide financial information on their portion of funding the New Albany-Floyd County Animal Shelter.

Design as protest: “What does disaster capitalism look like on black women’s bodies?”

If, by chance, I'm not elected mayor, it's becoming increasingly clear to me which direction I'll be traveling in future endeavors.

A Radical Design Movement Is Growing in New Orleans, by Nina Feldman (Next City)

City zoning that supports fair housing is boring. Very few people want to jump into a casual conversation about the best way to manage blight or reduce verbal street harassment. Unless you’re with friends, it’s next to impossible for a discussion about Confederate monuments or race and policing to become anything but inflammatory. (If you need evidence of that, refer to the comments section below any online article attempting to deal with those topics.) Yet these issues of urban justice can’t be left to trolls, or even politicians, to hash out — not if we want to see progress in our cities. Change will only come as a result of public awareness, dialogue and, ultimately, political pressure.

So, the question becomes a simple one: How do we get people to pay attention?

Over the past several years, activists in cities from Cairo to Oakland to Rio de Janeiro have increasingly found answers in the built environment and the field of design. They have protested inadequate infrastructure by building their own, deployed street art as political missive and reappropriated abandoned homes. All of this can be described as design as protest.

In a sense, design as protest is a matter of branding. It is a means of broadcasting a message and drawing people in.

The Seeds and Greens One Year Anniversary Celebration Weekend is Friday and Saturday, Oct. 16th and 17th.

The Seeds and Greens One Year Anniversary Celebration Weekend is Friday and Saturday, Oct. 16th and 17th.

Everyday new boxes with samples or gift baskets arrive for our Anniversary Celebration to be held this Friday and Saturday, Oct. 16th and 17th. Seeds will also give away a $75 gift card. Stop in any time this week and sign up. Thanks to all the companies who send samples and baskets: Kehe Natural Foods Distributors, Namaste, Nature's Path bars, Zum Soaps from Indigo Wild, Alaffia soaps and lotions, Pamela's Gluten-Free Bars, Kirk's Castile Soap, Country Life Supplements, Real Salt, Tanka Meat Sticks, Dr. Bronners, Spry Gum & Mints, Grandpa's soap, Nourish Lotions and Soaps, Teecino ... and more."

Congratulations to Seeds and Greens on Year One, and best wishes for the years ahead.

On Standard and Poor ratings and Voodoo Gahanomics.

Thinking that most people are familiar with the A to F scale from their school days, Jeff Gahan for Mayor of New Albany is bragging about an A+ rating from Standard and Poor. But that's not how Standard and Poor ratings work.

They include both AA and AAA ratings, distinctions that are common for municipalities owing to tax base stability. New Albany could be AA , AA+, or AAA. Other financial institutions place the A+ rating in the medium to upper-medium range. It's just another case of a misleading presentation.

-- text by Jeff Gillenwater; illustrations by JG (bottom) and RB (top)

For my GOP followers: "One-Way to Kill Your Downtown Retail."

Occasionally when I'm explaining the numerous positive outcomes of two-way streets, someone will say, "But Roger, if one-way streets are bad for the downtown business district, how does it explain the success of revitalization downtown?"

The way I see it is this:

How much further along toward revitalization would we be if one-way streets weren't working against our efforts, 24/7/365?

ONE-WAY TO KILL YOUR DOWNTOWN RETAIL, by Jason Schaeffer (Strong Towns)

We talk a lot at Strong Towns about how a street designed around automobiles with little regard for people has an assortment of negative consequences. One of them is economic vitality. Particularly for store fronts in downtowns with a stroad running past them.

Something for the Bored of Works to nap on: "Nine foot travel lanes in practice."

Why 12-Foot Traffic Lanes are Disastrous for Safety and Must Be Replaced Now

As we've noted oft times before, speed kills in densely populated urban areas, and if a city is serious about reducing traffic speeds and increasing safety for all users of its streets, its streets will be reconverted to two-way traffic with narrower lane widths.

Speed traps are not the answer. They're Band-Aids at best. If one wishes to address fundamentals and not just prattle about them, then basics begin with basics -- not propaganda.

This essay is geeky, but highly relevant to the ongoing situation in New Albany, as Jeff Gahan continues to delay the implementation of safety for political expedience. We're highlighting four passages.

Nine foot travel lanes in practice, by Baron Haussmann (Walkable West Palm Beach)

When it comes to lane width, less is more.

This post explores a state highway section with 9 foot travel lanes, and will demonstrate that in spite of transportation agency misgivings about narrow lanes, Forest Hill Boulevard performs better on crash statistics than FDOT guidance for similar roadways, while offering advantages in the form of reduced construction costs, less negative impacts to adjacent properties, and decreased stormwater runoff, among other positive benefits.

The argument for narrower lanes is summarized.

Livable streets advocates often recommend the use of 9′ to 10′ wide travel lanes instead of wider 11′ to 12′ lanes for several reasons, including:

• Lower construction costs
• Less right of way acquisition required
• Decreased stormwater runoff
• Lower maintenance costs
• Lower travel speeds and less injurious crashes
• Smaller footprint which can allow limited right of way to be reallocated to other uses such as on-street parking, bike lanes, or landscaping.

The author returns to Jeff Speck's article from October, 2014, which should be waiting on the night stand to slap Gahan in the face each each time he rises to resume building his cult of personality at the expense of public safety.

Jeff Speck’s article, “Why 12-Foot Traffic Lanes are Disastrous for Safety and Must Be Replaced Now“, provides a strong case for why reduced free-flow speeds are desirous and how narrower lanes help to achieve lower speeds and safer streets:

When lanes are built too wide, pedestrians are forced to walk further across streets on which cars are moving too fast and bikes don’t fit…

All of the above data, studies, and pronouncements, collected and disseminated by the mainstream traffic engineering establishment, point to the following conclusion: 10-foot lanes cause no more accidents than 12-foot lanes, and they may cause fewer. These accidents can be expected to be slower, and thus less deadly. Therefore, 10-foot lanes are safer than 12-foot lanes.

The article closes with a reminder to fiscal conservatives of both political parties: What we're talking about here embraces both sides of the aisle.

If you’re interested in changing things, Strong Towns is an organization working hard to get us back on a path of a fiscally sound development pattern and sustainable transportation funding. Here’s a great place to start the conversation.

"Why Today’s GOP Crackup Is the Final Unraveling of Nixon’s 'Southern Strategy.’"

The reason why I cannot be a Republican: Neither country-club elites nor social-issue hard liners serve Kool-Aid to my taste.

At the same time, I'm cognizant of what unprincipled one-party dominance is doing to erode New Albany's future prospects -- and they're Democrats, not Republicans.

I suppose one must continue his search for a third way: Non-partisan localism, fiscally conservative and socially liberal.

In the interim, don't expect me to mourn the national GOP's travails.

Why Today’s GOP Crackup Is the Final Unraveling of Nixon’s ‘Southern Strategy’: Tea Party rebels are exposing the deep rifts between country-club elites and social-issue hard-liners, by William Greider (The Nation)

Fresh chatter among Washington insiders is not about whether the Republican Party will win in 2016 but whether it will survive. Donald Trump—the fear that he might actually become the GOP nominee—is the ultimate nightmare. Some gleeful Democrats are rooting (sotto voce) for the Donald, though many expect he will self-destruct.

Nevertheless, Republicans face a larger problem. The GOP finds itself trapped in a marriage that has not only gone bad but is coming apart in full public view. After five decades of shrewd strategy, the Republican coalition Richard Nixon put together in 1968—welcoming the segregationist white South into the Party of Lincoln—is now devouring itself in ugly, spiteful recriminations.

Fire station bidding questions, Part Three: A $1.5 million sale to enable a $2.75 million spending orgy.

Part One
Part Two

In 2014, against a backdrop of negotiations with Kroger largely hidden from public view, and in concert with the $9 million TIF-funded water park located nearby, City Hall elected to sell a youthful fire station for demolition and build a new one. Public discussion was non-existent.

Kroger paid $1.5 million for the 22-year-old station, and the new station cost $2.2 million. As the Courier-Journal explained, these moves were part of a larger deal.

New Albany officials said previously they intend to use a $5 million bank note to pay for the firehouse construction and improvements to two other firehouses. They’ll use proceeds from the Kroger transaction, as well as EDIT, or economic development income taxes, and TIF, tax-increment financing, revenues to repay the loan ...

Looking at Redevelopment Commission minutes 2012 and 2013, we find that minutes from the latter half of 2013 are entirely missing from the city's web site. What isn't mentioned in those minutes which are available for viewing is the bidding process for the fire station rebuild and accompanying upgrades. Rather, there is a reference to a contract with Axis Architecture and Interiors for $4,275,000.

In short, we sold an asset for $1.5 million, and immediately embarked upon a $2.75 million spending free.

My question: Why did the city sell itself short on the Kroger negotiations?

Not only was very little of this process transparent and the fire station swap an uneven transaction for the city, but we might have played this hand far better, leveraging Kroger's expansion needs with the Plaza's owner and addressing sore points -- the derelict Hardee's building that causes insomnia for Banker Blair, and notoriously bad traffic conditions at the State Street entrance that lacks a stop light.

Why did Jeff Gahan's economic "development" minions consistently undervalue the city's stake in these backroom deals?

Probably because for David Duggins, any negotiating position not specifically constructed to dispense corporate welfare largess at th city's expense threatens to be a deal-breaker.

Ready for a change?

Fire station bidding questions, Part Two: I see the $4.25 million contract, but where are the bids?

Part One
Part Three

There are no minutes on the city's web site for Redevelopment Commission meetings during the last five months of 2013 (after 2 August 2013, and until the first meeting in January of 2014). Two other meetings appear to be missing, too.

However, there are a few relevant passages. First, from April 9, with notification that a special meeting of the RC would be required to discuss details of the new fire station.

Then, April 29, which has less to do with the issue at hand than an admission of future water park access problems owing to the city's inability to bridge a creek that's been flowing there for centuries prior to the advent of TIF bonding.

Finally, June 11. Apparently the special meeting has come and gone, because the $4.25 million contract with Axis is up for unanimous approval.

Rumors have circulated ever since of Jeff Gahan's minions bragging about their "loophole" to avoid the bidding process. If you know anything that might help us understand this, please write to me. Confidentiality is assured.

Fire station bidding questions, Part One: Missing Redevelopment Commission minutes, Kroger corporate welfare and fire stations.

Part Two
Part Three

I've been looking at Redevelopment Commission minutes for 2012 and 2013. Interestingly (ominously?), minutes from the last half of 2013 are entirely missing from the city's web site.

I'm seeing discussions about the Kroger "corporate welfare" land deals (to which Banker Blair remains closely attached; see * below), the Green Valley Road firehouse's demolition, and the rapid fire station rebuild on Daisy Lane.

What I'm not seeing is any reference to a bidding process for the fire station rebuild and accompanying upgrades -- just a contract with Axis Architecture and Interiors for $4,275,000.

Are details of the bidding process missing from the minutes?

As a first step to seeing how Jeff Gahan's minions consistently undervalued the city's stake in these backroom deals, here is Courier-Journal coverage from May, 2014.

Daisy Lane construction: Firehouse, then pool, by Grace Schneider

Gradually the pieces of a redevelopment deal are coming together for New Albany to open a new firehouse on West Daisy Lane and for Kroger Co. to get its New Albany Plaza expansion rolling.

City redevelopment director David Duggins told the redevelopment commission Tuesday that the city’s new firehouse on Daisy will open to the public June 9. Because the new $2.2 million station is substantially completed, firefighters already have begun moving in equipment and gear.

The move follows an agreement struck more than a year ago for Kroger to pay $1.5 million to the city for its 22-year-old firehouse and adjoining property on Green Valley Road, adjacent to its store to make way for a large renovation and expansion.

The parties are scheduled to close on the property May 29, later than expected because construction crews working on the new fire station were slowed by 25 days of bad weather, Duggins said.

New Albany officials said previously they intend to use a $5 million bank note to pay for the firehouse construction and improvements to two other firehouses. They’ll use proceeds from the Kroger transaction, as well as EDIT, or economic development income taxes, and TIF, tax-increment financing, revenues to repay the loan ...

 ... As for Kroger’s plans, the company hasn’t submitted design documents yet for the expansion, but officials have told New Albany they expect to build a new “lifestyle center,” similar to large marketplace stores opened in Ohio and South Carolina, with food products and other merchandise.

* As explained in these articles.

 CM Blair's bank, the State Street exurb, commercial dereliction, corporate welfare and non-transparency.

Let's go Krogering?: Does CM Blair's fixation with a boarded-up Hardee's have to do with gas pumps and corporate welfare?

Council meeting recap 1: State's a trashy chain-ridden asphalt nightmare, and this sole derelict Hardee's must go!

Commentary worth repeating: Gahan's "balanced budget" claims are bogus.

(By Jeff Gillenwater)

Jeff Gahan says he's balanced the budget but the truth is he's significantly increased the budget, nearly doubling it. He says he's gotten us out of debt because former Mayor England's sewer rate increases - rate increases Gahan argued against - have paid off some sewer bonds but he doesn't mention his own borrowing, which has left us with increased not decreased debt levels.

Worth noting is that much of that debt is going toward paying off multimillion dollar projects that were awarded sans public bidding processes and, at least in some cases, have led to campaign kickbacks.

Now that we've taken on 20 years of debt to pay for them, Gahan says parks are a priority for quality of life but did not mention them at all when running for office. We're also now finding out about his administration taking options on Uptown area real estate and pursuing eminent domain actions on riverfront property but he's again not mentioning any of it in his campaign-- just like he didn't mention spending a million dollars on the golf course to the redevelopment commission or city council before he did it.

If anyone points these facts out too often, they're banished from campaign and party social media spaces. If people value transparency and honesty at all, they can't support this. If they do support it, they've really no right to complain in future about any political deceit. They will have chosen to tie their own blindfolds.

The really telling part is that, as Gahan and Floyd County Democrats block social media access to more and more people, they never actually deny what those people have said.

They can't.

They just don't want people to know about it. The truth makes them look bad so secrecy and lies begets more secrecy and lies. If incumbent and new Democratic council candidates won't speak up against such misleading tactics now, there's no reason to think they will if elected.

It's damning for the whole party.

Walkability = economic boost. Time to get walking, isn' it?

If walkability positively impacts knowledge-based businesses, and we continue to drag our feet in doing what's necessary to make downtown walkable, then city government is hampering economic development, not helping it.

Couple this with an absence of attention to communications capability (read: fiber optic), and you'll see two more reasons why there needs to be a change at the top.

How treating pedestrians better will boost the economy, Matt Wade (Sydney Morning Herald)

Retail is only one reason for making CBDs (central business districts) more pedestrian-friendly. Economic change, especially the growing importance of knowledge-based firms, has made the walkability of business centres all the more important. The exchange of ideas and information is crucial for the productivity of knowledge industries. That's one reason why knowledge-intensive businesses – like finance, insurance, IT and professional services – tend to cluster together in CBDs. Much of the sharing of ideas and knowledge takes place face-to-face. And those face-to-face encounters are very often the result of a walking trip. It might sound old school but walking is vital to our premier business hubs.

Campaign Diary, Chapter 9: Because it's the mayor of NEW ALBANY, not the mayor of HARVEST HOMECOMING.

Harvest Homecoming (Version 2015) has ended, and probably will be remembered for an unfortunate though apparently random gunshot more than this more important fact worth noting: While as yet imperfect, the festival's efforts in recent years to incorporate "here all year" businesses seem to be bearing fruit.

Matters are not ideal, but they're surely better. Good weather always helps. Let's recognize incremental progress and hope the momentum continues. There's always a element of "Kremlin watching" at play here, but Harvest Homecoming as an institution apparently understands there'll be a new variable in coming years, namely a larger and expanding cohort of downtown residents. It will be interesting to see how the festival reacts to these challenges, and evolves into its next phase.

It's the sort of process an activist mayor can help steward, seeing as his or her mandate is to consider the interests of the city as a whole, year-round.

Meanwhile, permit me to recap a weekend conversation. I wrote this on Saturday morning at Facebook.

In so many ways both great and small, Harvest Homecoming is a mass community exercise in selective collective memory. This isn't a pejorative, merely an observation, and having noted such -- so, how was the Swill Walk yesterday?

I was blithely confident that even casual observers would know that by including the words "this isn't a pejorative," my intent would be obvious: Not directed against Harvest Homecoming as an entity, since we all know the institution doesn't sanction the debauchery attached to it, but aimed at wretched beer in general.

As noted later on the same day, I detest bad beer of the sort that immerses and envelops Harvest Homecoming -- not every now and then, but every day. It neatly (and ironically) reverses my campaign staple of "every day, not every now and then."

But reader DL wasn't having any of it.

Why does this man want to be mayor? Does he realize that the Harvest Homecoming does not support or endorse an official beer walk, or "swill walk" as he chooses to refer to it? Does he realize that his consistent disdain for the city's largest and most popular festival only makes him look like an ass? With everything I've read, heard, and now seen for myself, I don't understand why this man wants to be mayor.

I'll answer DL's questions in turn.

He wants to be mayor to run the city more efficiently and introduce modernity to the decision-making process.

He knows Harvest Homecoming does not support the non-family-friendly aspects of the festival, and has spent much time ruminating on the legal framework, both state and local, in which the attendant "swill walk" culture thrives in spite of Harvest Homecoming's misgivings. A municipal open container ordinance, anyone?

He is willing to be perceived as an ass if his advocacy contributes to progress in helping Harvest Homecoming become aware of the "here all year" businesses inconvenienced by its temporary footprint, and is happy to report (see above) that this situation is improving. Kudos to any and all responsible for furthering an atmosphere of reform.

He gently suggests that what you've read, heard and seen probably emanate from sources with bones to pick, but having said this, he wouldn't think of restricting comments or freedom to exchange ideas. In fact, he believes it's important for a mayoral candidate to be completely open and transparent, and is happy to reprint subsequent messages (with DL's explicit permission).

Roger: Sorry, can't reply publicly (on your Fb page) owing to settings, but I will privately when there is time.

Roger: First, you can feel free to comment anywhere on my social media. Unlike Team Gahan, I don't censor. Second, I know quite well that the swill walk isn't HH's idea. I'm in the craft beer business, and it's swill I hate, not HH. Finally, I've been working with HH on worthwhile projects, summarized below. Cheers.

DL: Thanks for your concern over my sharing, however none of this answers my question. Also, I'm aware of how you deal with HH because I have family that is very active with the festival, my mind has been made on that issue. If you can honestly answer why you want to be mayor without attacking the incumbent, or large groups of NA voters, I'd be happy to adjust my settings so you could respond directly on my post.

Roger: When the incumbent runs on his record, it is fair game to critique the record. This I have done, and also added quite a lot of points of my own to it, most recently at the link below. As for my critiques of HH, the fact that the fest has begun to change the nature of its presence downtown in response to "here all year" businesses is proof of the accuracy of these critiques, and also indication that HH can be engaged -- which I've thanked it for. Pragmatism and compromise are good things. No need to change your settings if your mind is made up. I'd merely point out that when I was younger, my mind was made up about many things ... until it was unmade, which happens often when one's mind is open to other points of view. Cheers.

DL: "When the incumbent runs on his record, it is fair game to critique the record." You have a record of nit-picking everything the HH festival does. You offer nothing new from what I've read from what you have provided. It's nothing that the average New Albany voter will care about. You ran a great business and I appreciate and support that business as I consider myself a beer-snob as well, mostly from your beer, by the way. However, you or your supporters have given me any hope of a more positive, friendlier New Albany. Has the Gahan administration done everything I agree with? No. But I know that they absolutely have everyone in this city's best interests at their central focus and from everything you've provided me, I cannot say that about your candidacy. Cheers as well.

Roger: Fair enough, and that's why we have elections; let's just not confuse city government with HH. Both are about politics, but different politics, and over a period of almost 50 years. Politics is about power: Who has it, how it is used, who benefits, and so on. HH's recent reforms, like adjusting booths to provide alignment with year-round businesses downtown, seem to be having good outcomes. Far fewer of the "here all year" businesses are unhappy, as opposed to three years ago. HH has communicated better, and there has been improvement. That's why I said almost nothing this year save for the Fb comment you picked up on -- and that was about bad beer at root, not HH.

Most of us have good intentions. It doesn't mean that what we're doing doesn't have another whole set of options attached to it, and whether it's an election or HH, those who see it differently must have the opportunity to join the process in a pluralistic society. This I've done, and will continue to do. Thanks for chatting and exchanging views. BTW, do you mind if I blog your post and this conversation? I support transparency and openness, even when someone disagrees. I'd use only your initials. Thanks.

DL: I don't mind because I would like to do the same.

Roger: Excellent, and full reciprocity. Thanks.

"People have a remarkable ability to explain away evidence rather than change their cherished beliefs."

I never knew Rose Colored Delusion was a Kool-Aid flavor. Sells well here in New Albany, though. This article begins with the most relevant historical reference, and proceeds through ways that cult-think occurs outside the election cycle.

Cultish Thinking in Everyday Life, by Derek Beres (Big Think)

 ... The practitioners of mind control are not restricted to cult leaders and religious sects. Instead, they walk among us on a daily basis.

1968 Olympics: The white man in the photo "was rather proud to be a part of it."

Photo credit: The Nation article covering similar ground.

I always wondered, too.

The White Man in That Photo, by Riccardo Gazzaniga (griotmag.com via Films for Action)

Sometimes photographs deceive. Take this one, for example. It represents John Carlos and Tommie Smith’s rebellious gesture the day they won medals for the 200 meters at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, and it certainly deceived me for a long time.

I always saw the photo as a powerful image of two barefoot black men, with their heads bowed, their black-gloved fists in the air while the US National Anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner,” played. It was a strong symbolic gesture – taking a stand for African American civil rights in a year of tragedies that included the death of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy.

It’s a historic photo of two men of color. For this reason I never really paid attention to the other man, white, like me, motionless on the second step of the medal podium. I considered him as a random presence, an extra in Carlos and Smith’s moment, or a kind of intruder. Actually, I even thought that that guy – who seemed to be just a simpering Englishman – represented, in his icy immobility, the will to resist the change that Smith and Carlos were invoking in their silent protest. But I was wrong.

"It’s time for Pence to lead ... full civil rights protections based on sexual orientation."

Inelegantly written, but hey -- it's a business publication.

And no, I have NOT forgotten the role of Ron Grooms in this debacle.

EDITORIAL: Governor must back full LGBT rights (Indianapolis Business Journal)

Gov. Mike Pence owes the state leadership on LGBT issues that have damaged our reputation nationally while creating an ugly chasm among Hoosiers.

Pence helped to create the problem earlier this year when he pushed the General Assembly to pass the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, a law that was a poor solution in search of a largely non-existent problem ...

 ... It’s time for Pence to lead—and there’s only one place to go: Full civil rights protections based on sexual orientation.

The move may not put him in good stead with social conservatives, but Indiana needs to make the public statement—a national statement—that it’s the warm and welcoming place that we all enjoy.

Eminent domain? Is an Ohio River marina yet another Gahan expenditure on the down low?

The Green Mouse has received this note via the rumorama.

What's with this guy and water? Is it Freudian? First a bricks and mortar water park, then unaddressed storm water flooding taking the place of neighborhood splash pads, and now a marina.

The city has filed an eminent domain lawsuit against the owner of riverfront property near the 10th Street terminus. The city wants the riverfront property on the water side of the flood wall for the new "city marina."

What new city marina?

John Rosenbarger and David Duggins told him they'd already filed 25 such suits, and won them all. "We're very good at this," they threatened.

Bragging about stealing 25 properties from citizens? And what about crippling future property taxes through all the TIF bonds?

Is there a council person reading who'd like to do his or her job and verify these eminent domain lawsuits, as well as plans for a marina?

Because we KNOW you're reading.

Mailer Wars '15: KZ plays it safe and sticks to the platitudes.

Kevin Zurschmiede's opening statement is very safe. It's the small talk with the father of your date while you're waiting for her to come downstairs.

In large measure, the mayoral campaign to date has consisted of the two major party candidates repeating basic mantras.

Jeff Gahan: Look at these photos of the nice gifts I bought for you with YOUR credit card.

Kevin Zurschmiede: I'm not him ... I'm not him ... I'm not him.

Meanwhile, I've tried my hardest to offer substance: On neighborhoods , and localism, and health and safety, and human rights and free speech -- and yes, also on calmed and completed two-way streets.

Consequently, Kevin's challenge is moving beyond the character references and delving into specifics.

For instance, the mayor has had absolutely nothing to say about economic development or jobs during his reign. This is easy to explain: What development the local economy has undertaken has been in spite of Gahan, not because of him -- and jobs comprise a category defined primarily by persistent hemorrhaging, as with Pillsbury, StemWood and Indatus.  

Yes, Jeff, I know: Beach Mold & Tool is expanding -- and the company thinks so highly of your contribution to this expansion that it is hosting the GOP chili cook-off next week.

When there's nothing to say, you tend to change the subject, hence Gahan's "Elvis meets PT Barnum at Walt Disney's penthouse suite" persona.

I've campaigned on a platform of de-emphasizing economic development boilerplate in a time of River Ridge envy, turning attention to the localization of the economy, and devoting our economic development efforts to useful infrastructure improvements toward this end, as with fiber optic communications and two-way streets.

Kevin has not offered specifics, and worse still, he possesses his own 800-lb gorilla: Padgett, an old-school industrial entity which does not comprehend new-school economic development, and in fact has advocated actively against measures to achieve it (those pesky two-way streets, again).

As a candidate, I'm delighted to be the only one of three to so much as mention economic development as a civic priority, and to both articulate and define a future agenda.

As a voter, I find it curious that both major parties are playing prevent defense, but please, be my guest.

In closing, as with the DemoDixieDisneycrats, the GOP appears to be willing to embrace the attack, although even with this, the Republicans are being reactive to Gahan's ludicrous claims.

Where's the beef?

Mailer Wars '15: An unbalanced Gahan leads off with budgetary tall tales.

Jeff Gahan's first mailer is out, and it isn't balanced.

More tellingly, the DemoDixieDisneycratic Party's opening broadside is an attack on the Republican. It's likely to be the ongoing pattern, with Gahan aiming for the warm and fuzzy, while Adam Dickey brandishes the stiletto.

Just remember that Party Politics 101 is the primary reason for considering alternatives.

Previously we recalled Jeff Gahan's many promises from 2011. Curiously, among them was NOT a vow to fund $30 million in "quality of life" projects with TIF-backed bonds.

Shattered 2011 Gahan campaign promises, Part 1: The "good jobs" mayor!

Shattered 2011 Gahan campaign promises, Part 2: The "good education" mayor!

Shattered 2011 Gahan campaign promises, Part 3: The "let's work together" mayor!

NAC's Jeff Gillenwater explains.

Jeff Gahan likes to say that he has balanced the budget because it makes it sound as though he's somehow managed to run the city more efficiently. He's not as keen to put real numbers to that claim, though, for good reason.

As provided by the Department of Local Government Finance, the state agency that oversees local budgets, here are those actual numbers-- New Albany's annual budgets from each of the past few years. Gahan took office in 2012.

2011 - $14,665,386
2012 - $18,738,682
2013 - $20,084,675
2014 - $22,600,514
2015 - $24,300,565
2016 - Gahan is currently asking the City Council for another increase

Understandably given the large annual spending increases, the district tax rate has increased under Gahan each year as well.

Even with city government spending approximately $10,000,000 more per year now than it did before Gahan took over, those tax increases did not cover his tens of millions of dollars of additional spending on special and often seasonal projects like the aquatics center. Several of those projects, over $30 million, were financed with Tax Increment backed bonds, borrowed at interest against projected future tax revenues for the next 20 years. Many New Albanians 45 or older will likely be retired or perhaps even deceased before taxpayers manage to pay off just a single Gahan term as mayor.

And, as Gahan himself says, he's not done yet.

There's little reason to believe a second term would be differently focused, more efficient and practical, or more open and inclusive. As Roger Baylor says, transparency should not be a last resort. We shouldn't be reading about million dollar golf course deals months after the fact but we are. If, like many New Albanians, you're not comfortable with a mayor who tells you he's "balanced" the budget when he's substantially increased it or that he's paid off debt from previous administrations when he's taken on much more for comparatively frivolous projects and corporate subsidies, please vote accordingly.

Quality of life begins with honest communication, something that just doesn't figure in Jeff Gahan's accounting.

It makes perfect sense that the Floyd County Democrats would hire Comical Ali.

You'll remember Muhammad Saeed al-Sahhaf as Comical Ali (or Baghdad Bob).

He is best known for his grandiose and grossly unrealistic propaganda broadcasts before and during the war, extolling the invincibility of the Iraqi Army and the permanence of Saddam's rule.

Meanwhile in New Albany ...

ON THE AVENUES ENCORE: The Adamite Chronicles: Have muzzle, will drivel.

Hash it #gahanhypocrisy: A mayor who doesn't bother attending council meetings criticizes KZ for poor attendance.

ON THE AVENUES: No more fear, Jeff.

The nutty professor name drops hog wash, candidate Nash and Dr. Seuss.

Freedom to Screech is back, and less literate than ever.

WHO SAID IT?

We are concerned about a comment made by a candidate for City Council.

At a recent Democrat gathering he was overheard telling potential voters and we Quote: Candidate Matt Nash stated, that the people should serve local government rather than local government serve the taxpayer.

Matt was kind enough to tip me off when the pretend professor mentioned me, so I returned the favor on Twitter: They're taking issue with ya.

His reply: "I have no idea what they are talking about."

My summary: They don't, either, but it makes for much needed comic relief.

Vote early, vote now, vote often and vote Pirate.

The photo above has been doctored, and the extended link with complete information on when, how and where to vote is here: http://www.floydcounty.in.gov/resident/votecenter.htm

Both Koreas can agree on the virtues of the hangul alphabet.

A second fascinating article for the day, courtesy of The Economist.

South Korea’s hangul alphabet|Superscript: The country celebrates an ingenious writing system

... As North Koreans were preparing this week to mark the 70th anniversary of the ruling Workers’ Party with the usual display of bellicosity, the South had a day off to celebrate something indigenous, brilliant and pacific — their alphabet.

Speaking of South Korea, just in case Mike Bryant is reading ... sorry, but I've yet to uncover any solid information about homebrewing supplies in your current country. I haven't forgotten. It may take until after the election, but I'll find something.

On Che Guevara and semiotics.

Earlier today, The Economist coughed up a social media link to a 2007 article observing the 40th anniversary of Che Guevara's death:

A modern saint and sinner: Why the Che myth is bad for the left

What caught my attention is the word "semiotics," the professional specialty of Italian novelist Umberto Eco.

But it is semiotics, more than politics, that leads teenagers ignorant of the Sierra Maestra to sport Che T-shirts.

After all, I was a philosophy student once.

Semiotics, or semiology, is the study of signs, symbols, and signification. It is the study of how meaning is created, not what it is.

In turn, the 2007 piece links to the original report from 1967, and this prescient ending:

Che Guevara's name is already being classed with that of the Liberator, Simon Bolivar. Latin America's marxist “liberation” has yet to look even likely, but Guevara has died with his reputation intact. From his middle-class Argentinian youth, he became a revolutionary by conviction and profession. With the two Castro brothers he invaded Cuba in the cockleshell Granma, stayed on to help run revolutionary Cuba as minister of industry, then, perhaps growing bored, took his leave of Cuba on a dedicated secret mission to set the continent alight. He failed. But many Latin Americans will go on believing that the legends that will be spun round his Pimpernel existence may one day lead to his picture being hung beside that of the Liberator in Latin American halls.