"The real triumph of (neoliberalism) was not its capture of the right, but its colonization of parties that once stood for everything Hayek detested."

Photo credit.

The end is the beginning: "Hayek told us who we are, and he was wrong."

Neoliberalism: the deep story that lies beneath Donald Trump’s triumph, by George Monbiot (The Guardian)

 ... It was inevitable that the blazing, insurrectionary confidence of neoliberalism would exert a stronger gravitational pull than the dying star of social democracy. Hayek’s triumph could be witnessed everywhere from Blair’s expansion of the private finance initiative to Clinton’s repeal of the Glass-Steagal Act, which had regulated the financial sector. For all his grace and touch, Barack Obama, who didn’t possess a narrative either (except “hope”), was slowly reeled in by those who owned the means of persuasion.

SHANE'S EXCELLENT NEW WORDS: 20 cherished ways to say "you’re fired."

Welcome to another installment of SHANE'S EXCELLENT NEW WORDS, a regular Wednesday feature at NA Confidential.

But why all these newfangled words?

Why not the old, familiar, comforting words, like the ones you're sure to hear when asking the city's corporate attorney why the answers to my FOIA/public records request for Bicentennial commission finances, due to be handed over on July 8, still haven't arrived on November 16?

Bicentennial commission financial trail? What's two (yawn) weeks (shrug) after 463 days?

November 16 update: Make that 19 weeks since the FOIA record request's due date and 581 days since I asked Bullet Bob Caesar to tell us how many coffee table books were left unsold, and how much the city's 200-year "summer of love" fest actually cost us. It's with Indiana's public access counselor now, and a verdict is to be rendered no later than the first week of December, so perhaps "compliance" would be a word for our friend's future consideration.

No, it's because a healthy vocabulary isn't about intimidation through erudition. Rather, it's about selecting the right word and using it correctly, whatever one's pay grade or station in life.

Even these very same iniquitous, paving-bond-slush-engorged municipal corporate attorneys who customarily are handsomely remunerated to suppress information can benefit from this enlightening expansion of personal horizons, and really, as we contemplate what they knew and when they knew it, all we have left is plenty of time -- and the opportunity to learn something, if we're so inclined.

Today's words were made famous by the President-elect, and in one of history's cruel ironies, they're now applicable to ... shall we say, others.

You're fired!

Personally, I prefer old standbys like canned, sacked, axed and shit-canned, but the story is here, and you can decide for yourself: 20 ways bosses fire you without actually saying ‘you’re fired’, by Catey Hill (Market Watch).

1. We’re letting you go
2. We’re downsizing/restructuring/right-sizing
3. You’re no longer needed at the company
4. We’re going in a different direction with your position
5. You’re dismissed from your position
6. We’re asking you to resign
7. You’ve been selected out of your job
8. We’re in the process of a workforce adjustment
9. We’re terminating you
10. Your position has been eliminated
11. You’re released from your role
12. Let’s call this a premature retirement
13. We’re in the middle of a personnel surplus reduction
14. We’re requesting your departure
15. Call it an involuntary separation
16. We’re destaffing
17. You’re not a fit here
18. We’re scaling back
19. I think it’s time we parted ways
20. You’re being discharged

Literally, "Pink Slip."

Pillsbury plant purchased; Team Gahan livid at press release snub. In other news, sun set to rise tomorrow morning.

Well, there go the sewer tap-in waivers.

Major New Albany manufacturing plant sold, by David A. Mann (Louisville Business First)

The New Albany Pillsbury plant has been purchased.

A joint venture of New Mill Capital Holdings and Tiger Capital Group, both based in New York, purchased the former dough-products manufacturing plant from General Mills Inc., a news release said. The transaction — which included a large portion of the production equipment that was used in the plant — closed Monday for an undisclosed price.

The new owners intend to auction the remaining equipment in early 2017, and remarket the real estate for manufacturing uses.

The old Little Chef/Coqui's is the new Lady Tron's, coming soon, with a whole new color scheme.

The photo below is mine, and the one above is by Michael Wimmer, who says "The former Little Chef in New Albany gets a new face lift by Art Cartel."

Most recently Coqui's Cafe, the space is being transformed into Lady Tron's.

New owners, new menu, and a new paint job underway! This is the former "Coqui's" / "Little Chef" in downtown New Albany, now known as "Lady Tron's." Please share the news with your friends and family. We plan to open in December, serving fresh and delicious soups and sandwiches.

In case you haven't seen it, the most recent Art Cartel decor job in New Albany was the Honey Creme building: See the sweet new public doughnut art at NA's classic Honey Creme Donuts.

Two Way Streets now? Finally? Gahan sets the bar as low as humanly possible and somehow clears it, as BOW opts for a rational street grid.

In the worst kept secret since the Electoral College sucks, the Board of Works voted today to adopt Option B, which restores two-way traffic to Elm, Spring, Market, Bank and Pearl, though at the considerable and heart-rending expense of gutting most of consultant Jeff Speck's worthiest proposals for bicycling lanes and parking innovations on these and other subsequently omitted streets (State and Vincennes most glaringly).

Area merchants are advised to refrain from selling lighter fluid or Bics to Antebellum Irv, though the Luddites might yet have pyrotechnics up their sleeves.

Just prior to the election, a very highly placed Democratic Party grandee personally opposed to these street grid changes informed me that it would be impossible for him to speak publicly about the topic owing to previous litigation over the Main Street Beautification Project, hinting strongly that truck-through lobbyists would do the same with our Ceausescu-styled "Downtown Grid Modernization Project."

We shall see. After 13 years of battling colossal stupidity and institutional timidity in pursuit of today's outcome, and given the ongoing absence of comprehension among city officials as to the benefits of street grid modernity, I'm refraining from a victory lap and sticking to my usual story, because verily, I'll believe it when I see it.

Here's the triumphal press release.

---

New Albany Adopts Downtown 2-way Street Grid

November 15, 2016

HWC Engineering presented 3 design options to the Board of Public Works and Safety on September 13, 2016. At this meeting, they recommended a conversion of all roads encompassed in the downtown grid system which included Pearl, Bank, Market, Spring, and Elm Streets. Additionally, the final environmental document required by the Indiana Department of Transportation was just recently approved, allowing action to be taken by the Board of Public Works and Safety.
Spring Street with 2-way traffic during the 1960s.

At this morning’s meeting of the New Albany Board of Public Works and Safety, the board moved to accept HWC Engineering’s recommendations on the Grid Modernization Project, and have begun the process of converting the one-way streets of Pearl, Bank, Market, Spring, and Elm Streets to two-way traffic.

“I think this is a positive change for our city. After months of review and preparation, the Board of Public Works and Safety has reached the same conclusion as planners and engineers. The City of New Albany has been one-way long enough. These changes improve walkability, the connectivity of all residents, and will further enhance our downtown,” stated Mayor Jeff Gahan.

The full text of the resolution adopted and approved by the New Albany Board of Public Works and Safety can be viewed below:

A RESOLUTION APPROVING GRID MODERNIZTION

WHEREAS, the Federal Highway Administration issued a revised Record of Decision approving construction of 2 new Ohio River Bridges projects and in 2013 toll rates were established for the new construction of the Ohio River Bridges with the Sherman Minton Bridge without tolls.

WHEREAS, in 2014 the City Administration hired Jeff Speck, a nationally known city planner and urban designer to analyze the City of New Albany’s downtown street grid system.

WHEREAS, the City of New Albany held 3 public meetings to discuss the Grid Modernization project with residents, businesses, and community stakeholders.

WHEREAS, the City Administration also hired HWC Engineering to review the recommendations of Jeff Speck and to provide options and alternatives that addressed the matters and issues presented by the public during the meetings.

WHEREAS, HWC Engineering was tasked with the goals of ensuring the Spring Street Corridor did not become a toll dodging route, improve safety and walkability in downtown, ensure adequate flow of vehicular traffic on downtown streets, and enhance downtown as a destination location.

WHEREAS, HWC Engineering presented 3 design options to the Board of Public Works and Safety on September 13, 2016, and recommended a conversion of all the roads encompassed in the downtown grid system which included Pearl, Bank, Market, Spring, Elm Streets.

WHEREAS, the final environmental document required from the Indiana Department of Transportation was just recently approved allowing action to be taken by the Board of Public Works and Safety.

BE IT RESOLVED by the New Albany Board of Works and Safety hereby adopts and approves the recommendations of HWC Engineering to convert the current one-way streets of Pearl, Bank, Market, Spring, and Elm Streets to two-way traffic.

---

Jeff Speck on HWC Engineering's bicycle-free, two-way streets abortion: "I guess that's what you get when you ask engineers who do not value biking to change a plan."

4-2-3: City council scorecard from Monday's public meeting on two-way streets.

Update: The Bored meets, except for me and my monkey. Can someone loan me a code talker?

Earlier this morning, I asked a question.

ASK THE BORED: This week they're being more secretive than usual. Wonder why?

The BOW agenda e-mails were indeed sent as always, and as I'd guessed, there was something screwy, namely a technical glitch with my work account, this no doubt being some sort of cyber-sabotage on the part of my soon-to-be-ex-business-partners, or more likely, the fact that NABC's e-mail has always been weird and spotty.

File under: You Get What You (Seldom) Pay For.

It was good for some over-wrought drama, and lightened a dreary morning. Meanwhile, I've provided a new e-address to Ms. Milburn and she forwarded the BOW agenda (so did the redoubtable I Am Hoosier). Items 2 and 3 in this list are of potential interest.

Do city officials ever really communicate? Still, if he's able to extricate himself from an ever-lengthening nose, Rosenbarger will explain new and modernized traffic signals on State from Main to I-265.

A casual observer might find circumstantial two-way evidence in the signal project, as coupled with the city engineer's morning spiel on environmental documents and plans for a downtown grid project yet to be approved, but Trump will be president, and what the hell do I know?

Having consulted my BS Tolerance blood levels and found them sorely challenged, I decided not to attend the meeting. Rather than wading through a chorus of nods, winks and blithely misdirected blind horses to mine clues as to what the Bored will do next, staying home and reading tea leaves by the fire seemed to offer a more fruitful outcome.

By the way, has Adam fired himself yet?

ASK THE BORED: This week they're being more secretive than usual. Wonder why?

Read the 10:00 a.m. update here.

I'm so old that I used to watch for the postman.

Wait, oh yes wait a minute mister postman

Wait, wait mister postman

Mister postman look and see

Is there a letter in your bag for me

I been waiting a long long time

Since I heard from that girl of mine

E-mail isn't quite the same; nonetheless, when Mondays roll around the anticipatory spinal tingling begins, because there'll be a Board of Public Works and Safety agenda and meeting minutes package right there, in my inbox, ready to peruse in case I decide to risk my rapidly evaporating sanity and attend the gathering in person at 10:00 a.m, on Tuesday morning, when most folks are at work.

Except this week, as of 7:00 a.m. on Tuesday, there has been no mailing, an omission that has me scratching my head, as this morning's meeting supposedly will be about ... ya know, something really important ... say what?

Oh, right.

They probably don't want me telling you what the meeting will be about, assuming that's actually what it's about, although all such hints have been conveyed by nods and winks, which as we know are equal in the eyes of a blind horse.

Whatever. It's probably just a coincidental oversight, because the clerk's usually right on top of these things, and so instead of a Bored of Works meeting agenda, enjoy these two photos posted to Facebook by former city councilman Kevin Zurschmiede. Apparently the derelict property is near our re-emerging White Castle.

What interests me about this post is the active participation of councilman Al Knable, both here and during other social media threads. The post hadn't been up for very long before CM Knable began asking and answering questions, concluding with this comment:

Neither owner occupied nor rental properties should exist in this manner. I notified code enforcement officers of the issue earlier today immediately after it was brought to my attention. Let's give the officers time to do their work.

This pro-active style seems fitting and proper for a city official, either elected or appointed, and points to a genuinely productive use of social media. It's almost a two-way street, in terms of communication.

However, I'm compelled to contrast Knable's helpful tone with that of another city official, at an entirely different yet similar thread elsewhere on social media, in which the Upper Spring Street road diet was being vigorously debated, both pro and con.

I tagged the official in the hope that he'd appreciate viewing some of the concerns being discussed by citizens, seeing as some of them might be voters (gasp), and while he provided a good answer, it was prefaced with this:

I typically don't get involved or even pay attention to threads.

Dude: Excuse me, but why not?

Aren't you being paid to be involved with legitimate questions about a city project in your bailiwick?

In a nutshell, isn't a grudging attitude like this the single biggest issue with Team Gahan as a whole? The "communications" director isn't available on social media platforms, and the city's content is generated by a contractor.

Just imagine using social media to inform and educate -- to display a quality remotely approximating responsiveness to rate payers -- rather than posting rote testimonials to the Dear Leader's unerring genius?

Verily, an institutionalized and ongoing absence of transparency remains Jeff Gahan's biggest problem as mayor. Now it's 7:30 a.m., and still no agenda, which means I'll have to attend the meeting. Fortunately, being unemployed, I can do that, and report back later today.

America's "empire of chaos," a cannon now turned inward and pointed at YOU, lord.

Ready for more uplifting Tuesday morning reading? Okay, here goes. We've uncorked the bad genie from so many worldwide bottles, and now we're enveloped in the consequences.

American History Explains Donald Trump, by Tom Engelhardt (The Nation)

After so many years of creating chaos abroad, it’s finally come back to haunt us.

The one thing you could say about empires is that, at or near their height, they have always represented a principle of order as well as domination. So here’s the confounding thing about the American version of empire in the years when this country was often referred to as “the sole superpower,” when it was putting more money into its military than the next 10 nations combined: It’s been an empire of chaos ...

Now, set the hook, because we'd best get used to it.

 ... The United States with all its wealth and power is, of course, hardly an Afghanistan or a Libya or a Yemen or a Somalia. It still remains a genuinely great power, and one with remarkable resources to wield and fall back on. Nonetheless, the recent election offered striking evidence that the empire of chaos had indeed made the trip homeward. It’s now with us big time, all the time. Get used to it.

Mead, Baldwin, and the general problem of capitalism.

The book A Rap on Race is out of print, and Amazon will sell you a used paperback for $88.00, but fortunately relevant excerpts are surveyed at Brain Pickings, a fine portal that I was unaware existed until now.

James Baldwin and Margaret Mead on Reimagining Democracy for a Post-Consumerist Culture, by Maria Popova (Brain Pickings)

“Democracy should not mean the leveling of everyone to the lowest common denominator. It should mean the possibility of everyone being able to raise himself to a certain level of excellence.”

Three years before E.F. Schumacher laid out his seminal vision for a Buddhist approach to economics, urging us to stop prioritizing products over people and consumption over creative fulfillment, two other titans of thought shone their luminous intellects on the dark underbelly of capitalism and consumer culture. When Margaret Mead and James Baldwin sat down for their remarkable public conversation in August of 1970, the transcript of which was eventually published as A Rap on Race, they explored with great insight and dimension the many factors that shape the forces of equality and inequality in our world — the world of 1970 and doubly so the world of today, for such was the prescience produced by cross-pollinating these two formidably fertile minds ...

The next downtown merchant meeting is tomorrow morning (Tuesday, Nov. 15) at Sorg's Sport & Wellness.

Sorry for the late notice.

---

Good Morning,

Our next Merchant/Business Meeting is tomorrow November 15th, 8:30 am at Shelly Sorg's - Sorg's Sport & Wellness at 800 E. 8th Street, New Albany.

Several merchants have relayed to us that they think adding the Window Reveal will be too much to do on top of having the Small Business Saturday, Jingle Walk and the Old Fashioned Christmas. So let's try to do it next year and plan a little more ahead and perhaps do earlier. We are still having a Window Decorating Contest like we did last year. If you want to enter all you need to do is once your window is decorated send 3 or 4 pictures of your window to me and I will post on the Develop New Albany Facebook page, we will have judges determine the winners. Please have your windows completed by Small Business Saturday, Jingle Walk. This will allow everyone more time.

Jingle Walk - Courtney will have update tomorrow.

Old Fashioned Christmas - December 10th - Updates as well

Please everyone share this info on social media to help us get the word out. Please spread the news to your neighbors also, just in case someone is not attending our meetings.

Thanks

Teresa

A Plan Commission docket heavy on lurid construction porn, but isn't hardcore past its prime?

The Plan Commission's web site section hasn't been updated in a year and a half (it still lists long-departed council representative Shirley Baird as a member), but at least the meeting notice e-mails still arrive, and this one's more interesting than most.

With its Hiddardendum shot popped, the school corporation has earth movers idling on standby, as do the community-minded Kelleys in their build-up to the Summit Springs PUD daisy chain.

An ever eager Scott Wood and a plan commission packed with the usual appointed suspects await conductor Gahan's baton cue to begin the Bolero, with fiddles played by animated TIF bonds in an outtake from one of Chairman Dickey's Disney flicks.

As for me, I dearly hope there's a plot twist. These in-and-outs are so very boring, aren't they?

By the way, do any of them even know what "plot twist" means?

Meeting Notice

To:             New Albany City Plan Commission

                                   

From:        Scott Wood, Director

Subject:    Regular Meeting, November 15^th, 2016

Date:         November 10^th, 2016

Tentative Agenda

The regular meeting of the New Albany City Plan Commission will be held on Tuesday, November 15^th, 2016 at 7:00 p.m., in the Assembly Room (Room 331) of the City-County Building, New Albany, Indiana, at which time a Public Hearing will be held to consider the following petitions:

Public Hearing Item(s):

None

Public Meeting Item(s):

Docket B-39-16:         New Albany Floyd County School Corporation requests a Special Exception to permit a rebuild of the existing school in the R-2, Urban Residential district, at 1452 Slate Run Road.

Docket B-40-16:         New Albany Floyd County School Corporation requests a Special Exception to permit an addition to the existing school in the R-2, Urban Residential and OS (fp), Open Space (flood plain) district, at 4202 Charlestown Road.

Docket B-41-16:         New Albany Floyd County School Corporation requests a Special Exception to permit an addition to the existing school in the R-2, Urban Residential district, at 1020 Vincennes Street.

Docket B-42-16:         New Albany Floyd County School Corporation requests a Special Exception to permit a rebuild of the existing school in the R-2, Urban Residential district, at 2230 Green Valley Road.

Docket B-44-16:         Lisa Livingston requests a Special Exception to permit a halfway house for women in the R-2, Urban Residential district, at 2106 East Elm Street.

Docket P-09-08:         Pat and Pam Kelley request a Secondary Planned Unit Development District (PUDD) for multi-family residential and commercial/office land uses in an R-1, Suburban Residential and OS (ss), Open Space (steep slope) district at 2303-2307 State Street, 220 Woodbine Drive and 2301-2320 Fawcett Hill Road.

Docket C-05-16:         Pat and Pam Kelley request a Secondary Plat approval for an eight (8) lot subdivision in a PUDD, Planned Unit Development District, at 2303-2307 State Street, 220 Woodbine Drive and 2301-2320 Fawcett Hill Road.

Other Business:

           

1)     Approval of Minutes from October 18^th, 2016 Plan Commission meeting 

True, although Uncle Walt had a better year in 2016 -- and he's been dead since 1966.

With apologies to the mirthful empire, there's just nothing more entertaining than a party chairman self-immolation watch.

As of Tuesday's epic Democratic fail, Gahan's a bigger fish in a smaller pond -- and Dickey's looking for a food taster.

Bernie Sanders: It looks as if an Independent is the current leader of a rudderless Democratic Party.

ON THE AVENUES: Kind-a full-a you know what, but now we're going to find out whether Jeff Gahan has any cattle under his hat.

ON THE AVENUES: Don't be a Dickey, local Democrats. The verdict is in, and it's time for a change.

WITHIN CITY LIMITS: Episode XIII, This Isn’t the Article I Expected to Write.

WITHIN CITY LIMITS: Episode XIII, This Isn’t the Article I Expected to Write

By Nick Vaughn, Guest Columnist

I stood in the ballroom of the JW Marriott in Indianapolis on November 8th. It was a long and winding road from campus that luckily provided service so I could stay updated on the US Senate and House races. That was where the real battle would be fought, I had thought. I put in a ton of hours over the summer as well as over the course of my first semester of college to make sure that Congressman Todd Young would beat Evan Bayh. I was tracking the early results as they came in and I was a tad perplexed. To be running against someone like Bayh, I thought the early results were odd. I wasn’t sure what to make of it. Young jumped out to a 10% lead and never looked back. Then Eric Holcomb won and then Jennifer McCormick won and before I knew it Donald Trump was the projected winner of Florida. What was going on?

I am still processing what occurred on Election Day as well as the events that have followed. I never thought in a million years I would see Donald Trump as President-Elect. I knew Hillary Clinton was unpopular but I never knew that it was to this magnitude. Clinton must feel lower than Walter Mondale. Of course, a blowout probably hurts much less than a close defeat (I can attest). Clinton simply dropped the ball. Sure, she can blame this on FBI Director James Comey’s letter to Congress that they were alerted to new emails and they needed to check them out, but he did send another letter that said they were all hunky dory. This race was Hillary’s to lose and she lost it. She simply underperformed. She was 100,000 votes behind President Obama’s 2012 total in Wisconsin and the voter demographics were certainly not in her favor. Further still, Trump somehow garnered 30% of total minority votes which was enough to
put him over the edge while performing 1 point less than Romney did among white voters in 2012.

Now we see protests of the election (we would have either way). The peaceful protests we see today as a result of Trump’s victory could have very well been supplemented with violent protests, killings, possibly even lynchings if he had lost. In fact, the Trump advocates’ response to these protests are for the protesters to get over it. Some have even called them cry babies and they just need to get a job. This total hypocrisy is absolutely astonishing (though not unexpected) and shows the blinding effects Trump’s divisive rhetoric have had on people throughout this election cycle. Former Mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani even got in on the absurd bashing of protests claiming that these protesters are “professional protestors” that were hired by the DNC to cause riots after the election results.

While Trump has toned down his rhetoric since winning, his advocates and supporters are still in campaign mode. This type of rhetoric Trump used to glide into victory has caused more destruction than even his lack of discipline and discernment could as Commander-in-Chief. Sure, a President Trump could be a hot head and lack the proper judgement that would cause us to fall head first into war, however, I would argue he has done something far worse. Donald Trump has caused people to hate each other. People who are separated only by meaningless things like party identification or race or ethnicity. We have made a complete about face from Martin Luther King Jr.’s wise words of “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”

So, I would ask you to take action over the next four years. Not obstructionist action but instead a objective support/check and balance combo as Trump ascends to the Oval Office. What’s done is done and there isn’t any going back. While I wholeheartedly understand the “He is not my president" sentiments, however, he has to be your president. For the sake of stability he must be our president. Donald Trump has already begun to tone down his rhetoric and his outlandish policies are no longer on the forefront of his agenda. Let’s be hopeful. By the way, next week I plan to dive into our local results. Until then, here is the quote of the day: “If we cannot now end our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity.” - John F. Kennedy

"Dufrene said low pay is tied to lower rates of educational attainment."

Lower wages are tied to lower rates of educational attainment, and yet in general terms, one needs money to be educated. A bit of a conundrum, though $87 million in bricks and mortar should ... help?

I really need to attend one of these, some day. How much of the forecasting deal with grassroots indie business development, as opposed to the boilerplate public subsidy erotica that lulls One Southern Indiana to a restful sleep each night?

IUS Economic Outlook 2017 panel talks uncertainties of Trump ... regionally, economy expected to grow, by Elizabeth DePompei (News and Tribune)

... The labor force is expected to grow too. But anecdotal evidence shows employers are having a hard time finding skilled, educated workers, which (Uric) Dufrene tied to the region’s lower pay averages.

Southern Indiana ranks toward the bottom for weekly pay averages compared to other metro areas in the state, Dufrene said. Average weekly pay in Southern Indiana is $709, as opposed to the $853 national average.

Dufrene said low pay is tied to lower rates of educational attainment. According to 2010-2014 U.S. Census data, less than 20 percent of people 25 years and older had a bachelor’s degree or higher in Clark County. That number comes in at just over 24 percent for Floyd County.

“We will not be able to attract and grow higher paying jobs if we don’t grow or attract a more skilled and educated work force,” Dufrene said. “It has to be a key piece to the long-term economic development strategy of the region” ...

When CM Caesar begins praising walkability downtown, you know a space alien has occupied his body.

As indicated by the minutes from the city council meeting of Monday, November 7, something's happened to Bob Caesar, strident opponent of street grid rationality. Perhaps we should call an ambulance ... or an exorcist.

All of which should make the coming Tuesday morning far less Boring than usual.

As of Tuesday's epic Democratic fail, Gahan's a bigger fish in a smaller pond -- and Dickey's looking for a food taster.

I devoted precious coffee time on Sunday morning to surveying the social media feeds of local political officeholders of the Democratic persuasion. Most are on holiday, communications-wise, and have been for a while, but you never know.

While respectful of their positions as inhabitants of a severely listing ship, one that probably needs scuttling to qualify for salvage, it remains that hard times like these are those most in need of something approximating leadership from what we've always been taught is one of two major political parties in America.

So far, not much of this quality is on display, although maybe conditions will change once the shock wears off, assuming it ever does.

Happily, 3rd district councilman Greg Phipps has been quite prominent on social media since Tuesday's reeking debacle. However, much of what I've seen emanating from him is long on bombastic agitprop and short on road maps toward a coping mechanism, as with this meme:

However, perhaps this rumination begs a larger question: If the Democratic Party is to be considered the "legitimate" local political opposition to Trumpism, loyal or otherwise, then whose hand is on the damned wheel?

At times like this, aren't we supposed to look to the calm, measured wisdom of elder statesmen-and-women?

Wait, there's a statement coming through from the down-low ether ...

Never mind.

Are there any elder states-persons still aboard the wreck? Politically, Chuck Freiberger is damaged goods, having now lost three of his past four campaigns (the most recent for County Commissioner, and twice previously to Ron Grooms for State Senate).

Freiberger might have been considering another race for state office, but preferably from a position of electoral strength, and to say the least, this no longer is the case.

In a post at Fb, Freiberger thanked those who've supported him during 28 years in elected office, and there's the rub. He'd have commenced a career in politics at the age of 26 or 27; today, party chairman Adam Dickey's bench is thin and the farm system barren.

It has long been rumored that Jeff Gahan also is desirous of the State Senate seat held by Grooms, who persistently has been rumored to favor retirement, with former Floyd County Commissioner Steve Bush waiting in the wings as a formidable candidate with power bases in both Clark and Floyd Counties.

And Gahan?

Megalomania aside, the mayor's in a bit of a pickle. With C. Pralle Erni excepted, New Albany usually doesn't reward those seeking three consecutive mayoral terms, though Bob Real and Doug England managed it non-consecutively. I still think Gahan will go for Grooms' seat in 2018, because if he loses, there'd still be time for Plan B in terms of the mayor's office in 2019, though he'll likely receive a stiff primary challenge in the spring as well as a stronger Republican opponent than ever before if he makes it through to fall.

Given its steady hemorrhaging in the city, what's to come for the Floyd County Democratic Party without major surgery beginning right now?

In lieu of Dickey's ongoing unfitness to keep his job, are we to consider Gahan as the de facto "leader" of the FCDP? After all, Gahan is the highest-ranking local office holder in the party, and with Freiberger's imminent departure and Dan Coffey's declaration of independence earlier this year, he's now the one with the most experience (two city council terms preceding his tenure as mayor).

Will Gahan take this opportunity to cashier Dickey, whose status has been downgraded to junk bond, and seize the levers for his own Anchor the Mud Flats Movement?

Perhaps the reason why we're hearing nothing but dead air from the Democrats is their seclusion deep in the bunker, behind those perennially favored closed backroom doors, sharpening stilettos for prospective duty.

Bernie Sanders: It looks as if an Independent is the current leader of a rudderless Democratic Party.

ON THE AVENUES: Kind-a full-a you know what, but now we're going to find out whether Jeff Gahan has any cattle under his hat.

ON THE AVENUES: Don't be a Dickey, local Democrats. The verdict is in, and it's time for a change.

One Southern Indiana seeks roadside assistance as "Indianapolis Voters Overwhelmingly Pass Nation's First Income Tax for Transit."

Think back to One Southern Indiana's epochal masterwork, the plan to leverage potential Regional Cities Initiative (RCI) monies by diverting the vast bulk of them to River Ridge, already the beneficiary of largess on a colossal and game-changing scale, rather than seeking to answer the most obvious prevailing question:

If all the jobs are to be in River Ridge, and if the aim of the RCI is regional cooperation, then is there a way to get workers back and forth between their region-wide homes and their jobs by public transit?

1Si's plan sank like the proverbial stone, although it surely would have amply wetted beaks among the organization's targeted corporate enrichment classes.

Now read the following, and contemplate Indy's chamber of commerce actually helping in this mass transit taxation initiative.

Imperfect? Of course it is, but it's a convenient way of illustrating yet again that when it comes to greater goods and modern ways of thinking, Wendy Dant Chesser's 1Si isn't just behind the curve.

It has nailed a deer, thrown a rod, blown two tires and currently awaits a tow truck, circa 1986.

Might as well break out the Champale while you're waiting, guys.

Indianapolis Voters Overwhelmingly Pass Nation's First Income Tax for Transit, by Irvin Dawid (Planetizen)

 ... Marion County may soon have the nation's most progressive tax dedicated to public transit, and only bus transit at that. In addition to the faith and business communities that backed the measure, Gov. (now V.P.-elect) Mike Pence deserves credit.
November 13, 2016, 7am PST |

"Proponents of a public transit ballot referendum to increase bus service in Indianapolis declared victory Tuesday night, hailing the income tax hike approved by voters as a long-term solution for the city's transportation woes and a benefit to workers and employers, alike," writes John Tuohy, Indystar transportation reporter.

"With 99 percent of precincts in the county reporting, voters favored the measure 59 percent to 41 percent," reports Susan Orr for The Indianapolis Business Journal (IBJ).

The transit question, which was included on all Marion County ballots, asked voters whether they wanted to give the City-County Council the authority to impose an income tax of up to 0.25 percent—25 cents per $100 of income—to help fund the Marion County Transit Plan. For a resident earning $50,000 a year, that 0.25 percent equals an additional $125 in annual income taxes.

The plan calls for $390 million in improvements aimed at strengthening IndyGo’s bus service—extending hours of operation, increasing the number of bus routes that run at 15-minute frequencies, and running every route seven days a week. The transit tax also would fund the operational costs of three rapid-transit lines, which feature buses that run more often and make fewer stops

As Planetizen editor James Brasuell detailed in August 2016, the public transit referendum, Public Question 2 on the November Marion County ballot was backed by the "ministers, priests and pastors in the Indianapolis Congregation Action Network (IndyCAN), who view "public transit [as] a social justice issue for low-income residents," writes Tuohy. But they also had powerful allies in the effort.

"We've spent 10 years working on this. I think its time has come," Mark Fisher, Indy Chamber's vice president of government relations and policy development, told IBJ.

Mike Rowe's election analysis: We're trying to lick a cat without actually putting our tongues on it.

These past few days, I've been browsing for election perspectives from across the spectrum, and not the places I usually alight.

This one comes from Mike Rowe, the actor and television personality to whom I'd otherwise be completely indifferent (I watch almost no TV), except for his emphasis on boosting vocational education as a means of addressing America's skilled trade gap.

Rowe's thoughts strike me as sensible. You?

Mike Rowe

Last Friday, my dog posted a video that featured a man licking a cat with the aid of a device that’s designed for the specific purpose of making it easier for people to lick their cats. I’ve been silent ever since, because frankly, I couldn’t think of a better way – metaphorical or otherwise – to express my feelings about this election cycle. The entire country it seems, has been preoccupied with finding a way to lick a cat without actually putting their tongue on it.

Too oblique? Too weird? Ok, how about this analysis ...

If you cannot access it via Fb, try here: Mike Rowe weighs in (Tribunist).

Georgetown, look not to NA's Bicentennial Park as a harbinger of revitalization. Beak-wetting? That's another matter entirely.

A fitting and genuine national landmark in Georgetown.

When I was a kid, Georgetown was a place that had an identity of its own. Perhaps more importantly, until 1967 Georgetown had a high school, which was folded into Floyd Central amid the consolidation trends of the 1960s.

If you ask me, Georgetown's identity crisis began just then, and has proceeded apace during the subsequent half-century.

I'm supportive of any plausible suggestion to restore the "there" to there, but if hopes for renewal hinge on the creation of a boondoggle akin to New Albany's Bicentennial Park, I'd recommend overt and continuing skepticism.

In short, as we discussed exhaustively in 2012, Bicentennial Park's design makes little sense according to any coherent criteria, apart from being an excellent way to spend more than $800,000 on flawed symbolism.

Bicentennial Park, Part One: "Whom Does Design Really Serve?"

Bicentennial Park, Part Two: "When did the public input process into this park's location, imagined functions, design, and construction occur?"

Park comparisons get worse: Breaking ground on an overpriced copy.

Legacy Square? Nah, pie are round, cornbread are square.

Yes, folks certainly enjoy Bicentennial Park when summertime concerts are staged there, but these spectacles cannot take place without an ongoing weekly subsidy from City Hall -- thousands of dollars per event, spent over and over again just to make the park functional for a use that apparently no one bothered anticipating.

Good luck, Georgetown. The single best question residents might be asking themselves is how one restores vibrancy to a bedroom community primarily maintained as a component of a pervasive culture of auto-centrism. Just imagine if residents of Georgetown and places like it could make the suburban/regional transit station a centerpiece of its renewal.

One thing's for sure: If a single New Albany city official appears at your gates to offer advice, you'd be wise to send him or her packing.

Georgetown Downtown Revitalization Plan presented to the public; Plan includes economic, building and community design recommendations, by Danielle Grady (News and Tribune)

 ... That space could be a park, like Bicentennial Park in New Albany, possibly with temporary stages, playgrounds and a splash pad. A “far out” future plan, for after the town square is finished is what McCllelan's dubbed “Georgetown Village.”

"Political cartoonists around the world are sharpening their pencils to illustrate something that can’t be explained in words: President-elect Donald Trump."

A picture's worth ... yeah, you know.

FUNNY, NOT FUNNY: This is how the world’s best cartoonists are reacting to Trump’s victory, by Manuel Rueda (Fusion)

With a mix of angry humor, barbed irony, and total disbelief, political cartoonists around the world are sharpening their pencils to illustrate something that can’t be explained in words: President-elect Donald Trump.

While some cartoonists are focusing on Trump’s misogyny, others are using their skills to highlight the racism and nativism that ran through his campaign. In most cases, the cartoonists are challenged to make the U.S. look more cartoonish than it’s become.

Many of today’s cartoons reflect a deep concern about the immediate future of a country that for centuries has been a beacon of democracy and freedom for those fleeing authoritarian regimes and economic chaos.