BRAND X

In the halcyon days of television, when the shows were offered in any color you chose, so long as your choice was black and white, people's faces would disappear to reveal the contents of their skulls. This peeling back was necessary to see the anvils being hammered, thus revealing the source of their headaches. Anacin to the rescue. In another diagnostic viewing, the abdominal skin was pulled back, we could see acid dripping into the stomach by way of something akin to a moonshiner's still. No problem. Rolaids consumes forty-seven times its weight in excess stomach acid.

Those images were meant to put a brand name on relief. That was selling at a gut level, so to speak. Its subtlety or lack thereof was its charm. It is, from our sophisticated perch in the age of color television, quaint; kind of like the Geneva Conventions, a relic of a simpler time.

So, last Friday after I got home from work I figured I'd better turn on the T.V. and see what had happened to cause the stock market to drop 250 or so points. In my day as a stockbroker, a 250 point drop was significant. Relatively speaking, 250 points now is no big deal. Still, the numbers have a pull. At 5:30 on a Friday afternoon it seems, Jim Cramer's Mad Money is the go-to for an immediate reading of the day's entrails. He was speaking, apparently live, from the campus of USC to an audience of business majors. In case you've not caught Cramer, his schtick is to accentuate the MAD in Mad Money (not an expression of anger but, the British sense of daft nuttiness). The audience was tuned in to Cramer in a strange way that seemed to foretell a capitalist bacchanal after the show. He actually got wild applause for recommending Northrop-Grumman.

Perhaps because he was in Southern California, Cramer brought on a guest from Anaheim, I can't verify precisely his position but the guest was a high officer of Disney (for the purposes of this writing let's call him Walt). After the over-the-top cheering subsided Walt began to expound on the unbelievable value inherent in the Disney Brand, and you thought it was a place or a cartoon. You would be wrong; it's almost a lifestyle to hear Walt tell it. The Disney Brand sells and the sky's the limit. Not just movies and visits to the parks but hotels, clothing, greeting cards, cell phones you name it, Mickey can sell it. A Disney coffin? Well, who's up to here with time on their hands?

Awareness dawns slowly but awareness dawns surely.

The New Albany Brand has lost its punch. It's down there on the list with Lux Soap and Mail Pouch tobacco. It's probably still on the shelves somewhere but have you bought any lately?

Of course I think branding is so much malarkey. A sleight of hand engaged in by dessicated hucksters and people lacking in vision. The lack of a shared vision of New Albany is, however, probably the single highest hurdle to our success. One of my huckster friends may even say it is a re-branding opportunity. Are we a bedroom community for Louisville? Are we a regional education hub, (so long as the region stops at the river)? Are we an example of New Urbanist design preserved in a bell-jar of apathy, simply waiting for someone to lift off the cover which holds us back? New Albany, and probably any city, is like the elephant described by the five blind men; different things to different people depending on their given perspective.

The city races this year are critical. I believe Mayor Garner has set the table for us to enjoy a fine meal, if not a feast. He clearly set the direction he hopes this city will follow. His efforts and successes are significant but not yet fully realized. I'm not convinced, and I certainly have no reason to know of any behind-the-scenes work, that the inevitable rifts which developed during the primary between Garner and England camps has been set aside for the good of the city. Do we want the New Albany brand to be "New Albany-home of the false start"?

As a candidate for City Council I run with a party that I hope puts forth a unified vision of what this city can be. That overarching vision must come from the mayoral candidate. I'm certain that Doug England has the vision and the drive to help this city realize more of its potential. The word "more" is critical because, like the horizon, potential is always out there, always beckoning, yet never quite attainable. I hope, as a councilman to also be a counselman with the mayor. If you read my words during the primary you know basically what I favor. I want local prosperity to build from local businesses. I want New Albany to always reach for its potential. I want environmental concern to define that potential. I want young people to see a future in New Albany and worth in remaining here. I want us to leave aside petty differences that prevent us from living together as a community.

I will write about specific issues as the campaign unfolds. I will again attempt to walk the entire city and meet as many people as possible. I would encourage anyone to submit questions here to find my views on any relevant issue wheter I have written about it or not. I would also ask anyone who is so inclined to let me know about placing a yard sign in their yard at a later date. The ground is too dry now and the signs wear out their welcome if they are placed too early.

I hope to serve as a councilman who cares about the fiscal elements of city government but also as a conduit of innovative ideas. Such ideas will more often than not be rendered into policy by the Mayor but I plan to have a hand in their formulation.

Another image of our city I don't want to portray in our rebranding effort is---Dream Lean--It's New Albany.