May the Road Come Up to Meet You

And top 'o the mornin' to you Mr. O' Bama; sure'n you'll have my vote in May, and with fate's gentle kiss, in November too. Always happy to root for a lad o' the old sod.

Good Job, Carl

The City of New Albany is the new owner of the Baptist Tabernacle building on Fourth Street.

The City, ably represented by Carl Malysz, was the successful bidder for the building in a sheriff's sale held at 10:00 AM today.

As stated earlier and shown below, I think this is an excellent move by and for the City. It may or may nor be used for the purpose I suggested, but it is now safe from potential misuse had it fallen into certain parties' hands. I am not referring to the main other bidder, a valuable and venerable local business.

There will now be ample time to consider the many possible uses for this wonderful structure.

Good job, Carl.

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Tuesday, April 3, 2007

Worth a Look
Anyone who has attended City Council meetings can attest to the fact that the council chamber is an inadequate venue for those meetings. The City-County Building itself is overcrowded. In order to insure the satisfactory delivery of services the public expects, it is time to look for additional space for both a meeting room, and as a means of relieving the general space constraints at the City-County Building. Some have even suggested that an entirely new government center be built.While the construction of a new government center would be a costly project, there is a more modest step which could go a long way toward solving the space problem at the City-County Building. This more modest step has the added virtues of preserving a historically significant building, while also consolidating government buildings into a campus.The Baptist Tabernacle on Fourth Street between Spring and Market Streets is currently for sale by a motivated seller. I visited with him briefly today. He said he has heard various proposals for alternate uses of the old church constructed in 1879. Most of these have been for restaurants or other entertainment uses. A better use would be as the main meeting room for official gatherings.The structure has a striking facade that would make an impressive governmental building. It has the added benefit of facing into the large parking lot of the new fire house (the fire house faces Spring Street) which would create a kind of a governmental complex. The interior of the church has been drastically altered; the old floor was removed and a new floor installed, cutting roughly in half, the air space of the church's congregational room. The installation of the new floor caused three-quarters of the window area to be bricked in. Reclaiming this building for governent use would be a strong statement in favor of historic preservation. It could also help lend support to revitalization efforts along Market and Spring streets.The most daring reclamation effort would remove the existing floor, and replace it with a floor at the original elevation. This would provide truly impressive space with a ceiling height of about 32 feet. Less daring, but perhaps more practical, would be reclamation within the current layout of the building. That scheme would provide twice the floor space with a still impressive upper floor and a ceiling height of about 16-18 feet.In either case the public would be able to attend meetings in a commodious setting. They would be able to use existing city-owned parking spaces in the lot behind the fire house. And some of the overcrowding of the City-County Building could be alleviated as the current City Council room could be converted to office space.
Posted by John Gonder at 12:06 AM 4 comments Links to this post
Sunday

Time's a Wastin

Television pundits have passed through the giddy stage contemplating a brokered convention for the Democrats and have now entered the second round of Hillary-Inevitability. The first round ended when Obama began to cash in on the palpable hunger for change which the sane feel as a natural reaction to the Bush regime. This hunger pushed Obama ahead of Clinton as a more plausible bearer of the change banner.

I came late to the Obama party. I held out hope for a hat tossed in the ring, or at least a wink or a nod form Al Gore. When it became apparent that he would, in fact, sit this one out, I decided to go with Obama, and said so here.

I was resigned to the fact that Clinton was the likely winner even though I was troubled by the primogeniture-ish feel of a continuation of the Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton power sharing arrangement in place now since 1981, and promised to continue to 2017 if Clinton were victorious; that's 36 years for those scoring at home. Obama showed some surprising strength and this seemed to spook the Clinton camp and throw it off stride. The result was not a recognition of the need for real change but rather a reveal of low down tactics that could prove to be a scorched earth policy.

Victory in the Fall is still even-money. But it is quite possible that Clinton's tactics will drive down Democratic participation making it less likely that a tidal wave of Democratic House and Senate seats will result from a Presidential win. The result would be more gridlock and more capitulation to a radical minority.

Mrs. Clinton needs to remember that even though she greatly admires John McCain and thinks he's more qualified to be President than Barack Obama, in the event that she is nominated but dosen't win, a lot of things she supposedly values are on the line. The game of chicken she is playing with Obama now threatens not only a continuation of rule through minority maneuvering but more importantly, it threatens to place Supreme Court appointments in the hands of a so-called moderate with something to pay back or prove to conservatives. The effect of those appointments, likely between two and four, could make the mangling of the Constitution under Bush look absolutely Bush league.

My advice to Obama:
the best way to get this thing nailed down NOW is to call Al Gore and plead with him to join Obama as his running mate. That is a recipe for a landslide of epic proportion. Gore can go on about his business trying to save the planet from Global Warming and still remain a heartbeat away from the presidency. After all, look what Cheney was able to do for the military industrial complex from his second row seat.
My advice to Gore:
put your pride in a lockbox and call Barack. Your country needs you, both.

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What follows is not original. It points out the fact that Clinton is playing with fire and someone responsible needs her put down the kerosine.

Breaking the Final Rule By Gary Hart The Huffington Post

Friday 07 March 2008
It will come as a surprise to many people that there are rules in politics. Most of those rules are unwritten and are based on common understandings, acceptable practices, and the best interest of the political party a candidate seeks to lead. One of those rules is this: Do not provide ammunition to the opposition party that can be used to destroy your party's nominee. This is a hyper-truth where the presidential contest is concerned.

By saying that only she and John McCain are qualified to lead the country, particularly in times of crisis, Hillary Clinton has broken that rule, severely damaged the Democratic candidate who may well be the party's nominee, and, perhaps most ominously, revealed the unlimited lengths to which she will go to achieve power. She has essentially said that the Democratic party deserves to lose unless it nominates her.
(emphasis added)

As a veteran of red telephone ads and "where's the beef" cleverness, I am keenly aware that sharp elbows get thrown by those trailing in the fourth quarter (and sometimes even earlier). "Politics ain't beanbag," is the old slogan. But that does not mean that it must also be rule-or-ruin, me-first-and-only-me, my way or the highway. That is not politics. That is raw, unrestrained ambition for power that cannot accept the will of the voters.

Senator Obama is right to say the issue is judgment not years in Washington. If Mrs. Clinton loses the nomination, her failure will be traced to the date she voted to empower George W. Bush to invade Iraq. That is not the kind of judgment, or wisdom, required by the leader answering the phone in the night. For her now to claim that Senator Obama is not qualified to answer the crisis phone is the height of irony if not chutzpah, and calls into question whether her primary loyalty is to the Democratic party and the nation or to her own ambition.
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Twitch and Shout

In the old Pink Panther movies Inspector Jacques Clouseau, played by Peter Sellers, had the uncanny knack of bumbling to a successful resolution of whatever case he was on. His farcical approach stood in contrast to his antagonist, Inspector Dreyfus, who was more or less a by-the-book crimefighter. Throughout the movie, Inspector Dreyfus, succumbing to Clouseau's manic assault would begin to crack. It started with a twitch and often ended in an insane asylum.

Fidel Castro gave his two week notice today. He's spent and is turning the revolution over to his younger brother Raul. Rumor has it he's got his eye on a nice piece of beachfront property in Miami.

I've thought the embargo against Cuba a national disgrace for a long time. It's an indefensible relic of the Cold War if not the Monroe Doctrine. The news of Castro's retirement made me think of Inspector Dreyfus. I believe I even twitched. Not because Fidel threw in the towel,(incidentally, it was not too long ago that one of Castro's doctors had pronounced him such a fine physical specimen that he would probably survive to the age of 144, likely something to do with the sea air) but rather, because our own Commandant Bush said, now Cuba might enjoy "free and fair elections". Cuba, as we all know, lays a mere 90 miles from the scene of the crime where the Arsenal of Freedom abandoned the concept of "free and fair elections". This is the place where ancient Jews, including many Holocaust survivors, passed up the opportunity to vote for then-Democrat Joe Liebermann and instead cast their butterfly ballot for Pat Buchanan. This is the place where paid Republican Thugs rushed the county clerk's office to show "outrage" at a possible recount of votes. This is the place where Bush flew in his pajamas (I saw it on TV) to inveigh against the heathens who would allow Terri Schiavo to die. I'm reminded of the line from the movie Chinatown and think the Bush version might be, "Forget about it Jake. It's Florida". Bush invokes virtue. I twitch.

Another twitch-inducer is the orgiastic pursuit of property tax avoidance by certain elements of our community.

News Flash....No one likes to pay taxes.

But...
No one likes to live in a city saddled with rising costs and shrinking services
No one wants to give up essential services like police and fire
No one wants to live in a city where the first question is often the last question as well ,"how much does it cost?"
No one wants the future of their children circumscribed by the fearfulness and penury of our day
No one should enjoy the harvest of savings in our day, while salting the fields of their day.

The anti-taxers seem unable to grasp the concept of the Civic Compact which states that we will provide a City that meets not only our needs and broadens our horizons but builds the infrastructure to pass that on to future generations.

It is only by happenstance that we live now. We are like pebbles dropped into a river. The anti taxers don't seem to care if the stream dries up after they hit the surface. The only way we can truly value the now is to build for the future, which we won't see. That is the only way we have what we have today. We owe no less to the future. Some see running the city as a business, some see it as tending our small corner of civilization.

Two more twitchers from the day's news:
1) A fevered group of Hoosiers worries that we must quickly move toward a Constitutional amendment classifying same-sex marriage as illegal. If quick action is not taken, the amendment may have to languish until 2012. What element of privacy escapes these people's purview?
2) From the Courier-Journal headlines: Smoking Ban Shows Dramatic Results...in the level of unhealthy particulate matter in the air of selected venues. I spoke to my cousin in Minneapolis the other day, she was nonplussed that smoking is still allowed in restaurants and bars here. New Albany will get there some day. Until then, Smoke Gets in My Eyes, and I twitch.

Finally, driving is becoming more hazardous around here. I'm driven to twitching as I see the numerous billboards featuring those creepy androgynes with the doe eyes.

February 21, City Council Meeting

Prior to the February 21, 2008 City Council meeting an informational presentation on Tax Increment Financing will be offered. The meeting will also offer some time to discuss some of the changes in tax abatements.

The meeting is for the benefit of the City Council members. It is open to the public, however, it is not intended to feature public participation.

The meeting will be held in the third floor Assembly Room. It begins at 6:00 PM.

Johnny We Hardly Knew Ye

John Wilcox has resigned from Mayor England's administration. He says he is simply tired and wants to enjoy the retirement he set aside to join England's team. He was the campaign manager during the primary and general election. The proof of his effectiveness is shown by the results of the election. Although he didn't say it directly, I believe John was somewhat reluctant to enter the fray full time. I think the England team has lost a valuable member.

Mayor England is now presented with an opportunity to reshape his team and continue to move forward with an active agenda for the city. Should he replace John Wilcox with another person with the title of Deputy Mayor? Or, should he let that title reside exclusively with Carl Malysz? My opinion is that John's share of the title should be retired and not be re-filled.

Regardless of who comes in to fill Wilcox's position, it should be someone with a wealth of experience in city government. If that is not the direction the Mayor wishes to go, perhaps he'd like someone from outside government, the person should, at least, have the ability to function on an equal basis with the heads of various departments in the City, and that means he or she will need to have experience.

Mayor Garner was rightly faulted for some of his early appointments. Now that events have opened the way for Mayor England to again add defininition to his administration it is my hope that he makes the most of that opportunity.

Ask Not For the Bridge Tolls

Sunday's Courier-Journal featured an editorial titled "Bridges aren't free". The editorial's final paragraph said it all: "No one likes tolls, but no one likes other financing options, either. And the fact is you can't get a $4.1 billion project for free. Kentucky needs that project." (italics added)

What caught my attention is the fact that even though tolls are as popular as a skunk at a _______(fill in your social event of choice), the editorial board couldn't bring itself to even consider the elegant alternative to bridge tolls offered by the 8664 plan.

As most everyone knows, the Ohio River Bridges Project (ORBP) is expected to cost over four billion dollars. On the other hand, the East End Only Bridge Option To Which We First Agreed So Many Years Ago Before River Fields Extorted An Uneeded Second Bridge Into And Through The Downtown Area Of Jeffersonville Just For Spite And As A Gambit To Block The Bridge They Didn't Want In The First Place Because They Are NIMBYS (EEOBOTWWFASMYABRFEAUSBIATTDAOJJFSAAAGTBTBTDWITFPBTAN) or EEO for short, would cost just over two billion dollars. For some reason the Courier has decided to pattern its intransigence on the ORBP after Jerry Abramson's intransigence on the Arena project, which means, essentially: My Way or My Way, take your pick.

New Albany could truly gain from the 8664 plan because the elimination of the section of I-64 between Portland and I-65 would be morphed into surface streets. This alteration could tie both sides of the river along that stretch together. Some of the large population of the Portland area could find it more convenient to shop in downtown New Albany rather than going to downtown Louisville or to shopping malls in the east end. The prospect of the historic Portland neighborhood minus the hideous scar of I-64 separating it from the river, could lead to a revival of that oldest section of Louisville. That revival could lead to improvement in mass transit options which would affect both sides of the river and more closely unite us regionally.

The primary environmental benefits of 8664 would at first seem to be aesthetic, as the barrier separating people from our greatest natural feature, the river, came down. But those benefits would fall in prominence as the revivified neighborhoods returned to a more people-oriented scale. Like New Albany, the Portland section of Louisville has a wonderful inventory of historic homes and an infrastructure built with people in mind rather the car. If the leaders on our side of the river could recognize the benefit of aligning our city more closely with our near-neighbors just across the Sherman Minton bridge, they would embrace 8664 and do their part to avoid the need for bridge tolls.