The Skater

Here on the eve of a momentous vote for the state of Indiana, amid hope for certain candidates fueled by precious little reality, I see a figure of effortless movement, on the periphery of sight, urging us onward to his vision for the future. He likes it there, outside the harsh light of responsibility and blame for the tightening belts and dashed plans of local governments and schools.

He wishes that we local politicians work with limited means to achieve limited goals. He hopes that we can place local government on a regimen of discipline and reduction, so to heed his soul mate's desire of fitting that, and any, government into a bathtub where it might meet its deserved fate (and it's not a bath).

He brags about his conservative saving ways and the budget he placed in surplus. He fails to see the help he got from Washington led to his claim.

He pushes local government to the breaking point by limiting its income from taxes. He forces local governments to cut services to fit the budget and he rides high with 65% approval ratings while others clean up after him.

As racketeers beat the rap they are said to skate. I just wonder how and why My Man gets away with it.

The constitutional amendment to enshrine property tax caps will hobble local government in Indiana for a very long time.

And yet, he skates.

War die Debatte gestern in Lexington oder Frankfurt?

Is the truth of the Tea Baggers' real identity becoming clearer?

Room to Clarify

It’s still a common misunderstanding that all local chambers are connected to the national group in some way.

Robin Comstock, president and CEO of the Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, had to clarify that to the audience at a 1st Congressional District debate on Tuesday at Saint Anselm College.

“We are not accredited by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; we are not a member,” she said. “The only similarity is that we share a name."

Source: The Telegraph, October 17, 2010, Nashua New Hampshire (emphasis added)

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Congratulations to One Southern Indiana Chamber and Economic Development for recently earning the coveted US Chamber of Commerce Accreditation. This places 1SI in the top 4% of chambers nation wide and demonstrates the ability for “suburb chambers” to achieve excellence in the areas of membership, economic development, and general business practices. Michael Dalby, staff, and members of the board should be proud of this accomplishment.

Source: Kyle Morey, The Diary of a Chamber Exec, March 9, 2010 (emphasis added)

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Follow this link for video.

Qs & As

Among some of the questions not asked at last night's City Council meeting is, "what is the relationship of local Chambers of Commerce to the national organization?"

Some answers?

Some more answers?

Reading between the lines.

Two Roads...

CONTENTS · BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

Robert Frost (1874–1963). Mountain Interval. 1920.

1. The Road Not Taken


TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth; 5

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same, 10

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back. 15

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference. 20



I had a pleasant lunch and discussion, Friday, with a supporter of the Bridges Project. Though pleasant, we were on different sides of the table in more ways than one. As most of our local residents know, the New Albany City Council recently passed a resolution condemning tolling as the financing arrangement of the Bridges Project. Out of character, regionally, this was the first such official governmental address of that issue to come down on the opposite side of the table from the assumed status quo.

To question the tolls is to question the need for a downtown bridge and the attendant rejiggering of Spaghetti Junction. To question tolls is to lean toward construction of the eastern bridge first and assess the need for a downtown bridge later. To question tolls is to hope that something miraculous may come into being to save us from a slavish addiction to automobile commuting, oh that's right, they're called buses and trains and they're in use in vibrant functioning cities around the world. To question the tolls is to ask for a reassessment of the staus quo.

While I have the utmost respect for my "lunch date", and feel that he is genuinely concerned for the future of our city, region and planet, the Bridges issue, we just saw it from a different point of view, as Dylan might say.

Both of us question what would be the long term results if our position were to prevail. On the pro-two bridge-side one sees the saving in time for morning commuters, a safer and more efficient Kennedy bridge, less danger at Spaghetti Junction, and less pollution as people run their cars' motors at idle.

On the anti-two bridge-side one sees less accommodation to a wasteful transportation system. Such a system undergirds sprawl and its weakening of communities across the land. City budgets are stretched to, and in some cases beyond, the limit to provide services for wider areas. Safety is compromised as personal automobiles fight for a place on highways which more and more resemble freightways for tractor trailers, such a freight system focuses resources away from the efficient transportation of goods along well established rail lines and places this vital piece of our infrastructure needlessly in the background. Intercity travel is limited to highway and air for far too many of our U.S. citizens, including those who live in New Albany and the Metro area. Rail travel has been shut out of the debate for years as the lure of personal transportation has been seen as the American Way.

The main thing I got from my lunch conversation was that we stand here in our time making decisions for those who must follow us. If we look around at what has been handed to us, what we have stumbled into ourselves, can we honestly say that the best we can do is simply offer more of the same? If we would hope to leave our descendants a more livable world, a more responsible stewardship of the environment, a better transportation system; is the best we can do simply adding more lanes to Spaghetti Junction, and cutting a gash through the downtown of our neighboring city of Jeffersonville? Is this what future generations will thank us for?

Or will they, perhaps not thank us, but at least breathe a sigh of relief that we did not drive deeper into the ditch? An article in Sunday's Courier-Journal points out that Louisville is funding the largest initiative for urban parks in North America. Would that have been possible without the amazing, futuristic steps taken in the Nineteenth Century to put into place Frederick Olmsted's park plans? Is there one among us who believes we would or could undertake such a fantastic scheme today as the one Olmsted proposed over a hundred years ago?

And yet, here we stand, in our time, with over $4,000,000,000 and a decision to make. Do we do more of the same, or do we set a different course?

If we build the one east end bridge now and find that traffic problems have been diminished, and we still have over two billion dollars of funds we seem willing to spend, why do we not commit that same amount of money to a truly region-building, economy-boosting, energy-saving, job-producing, neighborhood-preserving, project like light rail and enhanced freight rail reliance?

Take Home Squad Cars

Some discussion at a recent work session of the City Council touched on various ways to trim over budget expenditures within the Police Department. One suggestion was to rein in the use of take-home squad cars. On the surface it just seems logical that such use has a cost and that cost may be a worthwhile place to look for savings. Police representatives counter that it takes more time and money to unload one officer's gear from the squad car getting it ready for the next user, and more importantly, it wastes valuable time in case of an emergency.

Another value in police take-home cars is the deterrent effect of a police car parked in neighborhoods around the city. To some extent, a cop is never off-duty and even if he's in his basement lair watching old episodes of Dragnet, the car is still holding hooligans at bay.

Any and all of the above may be true. One issue involving the use of take-home cars that does not get sufficient consideration is limiting take-home cars to those who actually live in the City of New Albany. If such a car is a perk, give that perk to those officers who live in this city. If take home cars are a deterrent, focus that deterrent in the City they are sworn to protect and defend. If there is a tactical benefit in keeping cars equipped, thereby increasing response time, how better to increase response time than ensuring that those officers with take-home cars live within the City, in close proximity to the area they serve?

State law dictates that residency requirements are not allowed. The Police Department cannot limit employment to city residents. But a policy based on the efficient use of scarce resources could allow officers to make their own choices of where they wish to live if they see value in a take-home squad car. If the City is paying for the car it should derive the benefits of that car. By limiting the use of take-home cars to residents of the City, the Police Department can help to incentivize well-paid officers to contribute more than their employment time to the City's well-being, building stronger safer neighborhoods within the City they are sworn to serve and protect.

Hands Across the Water

A RESOLUTION IN OPPOSITION TO TOLLS ON THE KENNEDY,
CLARK MEMORIAL, AND SHERMAN MINTON BRIDGES AND/OR THE
INTERSTATE CONNECTORS (I-64, I-65, AND I-71) A/K/A “SPAGHETTI
JUNCTION,” AND SUPPORTING MORE CROSS - RIVER
CONNECTIONS.



Sponsored By: Council Members Tina Ward-Pugh, Jim King, Tom Owen,

Hal Heiner, Vicki Welch, Brent Ackerson, Deonte Hollowell, Barbara Shanklin,

Rick Blackwell, Marianne Butler, Bob Henderson, Robin Engel, Stuart Benson,
Kenneth C. Fleming, Mary Woolridge, Kelly Downard, Cheri Bryant Hamilton



WHEREAS, the issues surrounding the Ohio River Bridges Project (ORBP) have
a real and direct impact on the citizens, economy and cultural well-being of our
community; and

WHEREAS, a financing plan that could result in the imposition of tolls on new
and existing Ohio River bridges and/ or tolls on the Interstate connectors (I-64, I-65, and
I-71) a/k/a “Spaghetti Junction” is currently under consideration, and has raised valid
concerns from the citizens of this community; and

WHEREAS, the Ohio River should serve as the center of unity and commerce,
not as a barrier dividing the metropolitan area; and

WHEREAS, the three bridges (Sherman Minton, Clark Memorial and Kennedy)
connecting Kentucky and Indiana are essential links in the growth and economic
development of the community; and

WHEREAS, the ORBP is essential to interstate commerce in the Eastern United
States and should include sufficient Federal funding to avoid shifting the burden of its
cost to local daily commuters; and




WHEREAS, it is fundamentally wrong to begin tolling the existing transportation
infrastructure currently used by hard-working citizens whose livelihood depends on
their daily commute to their jobs in Kentucky and Indiana; and

WHEREAS, the imposition of tolls on existing transportation infrastructure may
threaten businesses and working families of this community.

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL OF THE
LOUISVILLE/JEFFERSON COUNTY METRO GOVERNMENT (THE COUNCIL) AS
FOLLOWS:



SECTION I: The Louisville Metro Council, by this Resolution, states that it is opposed
to tolls on the Kennedy Bridge, Clark Memorial Bridge, Sherman Minton Bridge and/or
“Spaghetti Junction,” while still supporting more cross - river connections; and
further states that the best policy for the economic well-being of the region is for the
ORBP to be built without tolls on existing facilities and in affordable phases
commencing with the connection of I-265 between Jefferson County, Kentucky and
Clark County, Indiana..

SECTION II: Notwithstanding the Council’s belief that existing transportation



infrastructure should not be tolled to pay the cost of construction of the ORBP, it is



recognized that circumstances related to the orientation of the new downtown bridge



relative to the existing downtown Kennedy Bridge, e.g., the functional pairing of the two



bridges, could require the tolling of the existing Kennedy Bridge to provide appropriate



parity between the use of the two bridges. In that case, the Council believes any tolls



applied to the Kennedy Bridge should only be implemented when that phase is built and



then only in an amount necessary to recover the cost of the new downtown bridge, less



available federal funding.




SECTION III: This Resolution shall take effect upon its passage and approval.





_______________________________

Kathleen J. Herron

Metro Council Clerk

_____________________________

Thomas L. Owen

President of the Council









_______________________________

Jerry E. Abramson

Mayor



_____________________________

Approval Date





APPROVED AS TO FORM AND LEGALITY:



Michael J. O’Connell

Jefferson County Attorney







BY: ____________________________

G:ResOpposingTollsonOhioRiverBridgesTW-P/ROC/acb09.01.10

G:ResOpposingTolls on ORBP Dr-2 TW-P/ROC/acb09.03.10