Happy Friday everyone.
Since my sinus infection still persists, I was not able to attend the special council meeting last night. Thanks to the "Tribune" though I was able to read the results. As you probably know, the annexation vote was defeated by one vote.
Again according to the "Tribune" annexing part of the Charlestown Rd. area will net the city $700,000 a year, sounds good to me. Since there will be another special meeting Tuesday I hope it does pass, providing all of the council members take the time to read the 21 page report and show up for the meeting.
Personally, I believe that if people are elected to an office they should show up for "work" and do their homework. Even if they do not support the item(s) on the agenda they should do their job. I'm not a speed reader but I think I can read 21 pages in less than 48 hours even with a full time job. This is why we voters elect people to office, not to skip meetings or complain about the lack of time to do research. If the council members think annexation will be good for the city they should vote yes, if they don't then they should explain why they voted no. I don't believe in voting no as a protest. If a person wants to protest about the lack of transparency they should do so in other ways, such as telling the administration members directly.
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29 comments:
Since my computer problems still exist, I have removed comment moderation for a couple of days to allow comments to appear as they are made.
I am asking everyone PLEASE do not use this opportunity to trash other people. Presumably the readers of this blog are at least 18 years of age. Even if it is for only a day or two, act like adults.
I heard about this plan months ago. If Coffey didn't have the facts, it's because he didn't ask. He's using this as an opportunity to get a sound bite in, attack the Mayor, and further his own mayoral ambitions.
I echo your thoughts on this matter.
Mark
Doug England didn't even attend the special meeting that he called, so please nip the sarcasm about people doing their jobs. If England was doing his job, this issue would have been voted on during a regular scheduled City Council meeting. At that time, the public and the council would have the time to properly vet the issue.
Also, why would the city council be asked to approve a fiscal plan worth millions with only 48 hours notice during a special meeting?
England has to pass this so he can explain his overspending to the DLGF and head off a miserable audit.
How come Northside Christian Church is not a part of the proposed annexation? The city stands to gain a much needed boost for their storm water runoff fees?
Do you think England doesn't want to loose the potential votes for the the churches membership?
Another example of the England putting politics ahead of policy. Everything the guy touches is shady.
If annexation is so simple, why was it a 6-month process to bring the plans together?
Shirley, are you sure you could read a 21-page financial plan document and understand what it is saying in just 48 hours? Can you also read between the lines and know what it is NOT saying? Need to ask anyone else for advice – City Council Attorney, or any County Officials, etc.?
Tribune quote: “This will help the city cure some of its financial woes,” said England who was not present for the meeting.”
Just how, exactly, will it help the city financially? Is that laid out clearly in the plan? Will additional police and fire personnel need to be hired? If not, then police and fire protection will go down through out the city. Do any of those propose annexed businesses pay any extra, right now, for city fire protection that it will stop paying when annexed? If so, how much? (Maybe that is also why Northside Christian Church isn’t included in this annexation). Who will pay to build a new firehouse in the district? Yes, I know there is supposed to be land dedicated for that purpose, but how much to build the building? (Will it be built like the fire station on Spring St?) What about additional police and fire equipment and vehicles, radios, etc.?
Also, isn’t that area in a TIF? Being in the county now, the county probably controls that TIF. What will happen when the city controls it? (You know what happens with TIF money and the city). How will that annexation affect sewer finances? Raise the user fees for city ratepayers? If so, how much? What about sanitation and stormwater? Need to build any additional sidewalks, etc?
If Northside Christian Church is being exempted from this annexation plan, then, why aren't all churches being exempted from city fees ?
Northside Christian Church gets a bye from City Storm water fees?
Doug England cannot be trusted.
We need a new mayor and a few more council members that are not corrupt.
Ceasar, Bennedetti, Zurschmiede, and Gonder all helped themselves to full time benefits and a sprawling health care package at the tax payers expense. Now, they are going to allow an annexation that costs the city more money, while granting exemptions and pardons to political patrons like members of North Side Church!
They should be voted out of office, along with their crooked Mayor-Doug England.
How can our council be voting on a Review Draft and then after the vote they will share their plan with the council.
Sounds like the healthcare debacle.
HOLD IT- We have two meetings a month, there is no emergency,agendas have been very light lately. Councilmen cannot be expected to respond to every whim of the mayor-Once again the administration trying to push something through with the " it has to be done right now excuse". Yes I heard about annexation a long time ago. But the council did not get the info details until two days before the meeting. THIS IS BY DESIGN--THEY DO IT ALL OF THE TIME.
REMEMBER--THE LAST MEETING--The shortest meeting in eight years--nothing on the agenda--yet
WE NEED A SPECIAL MEETING--to consider this, what a bunch of crap.
THERE are things to consider. THERE is the wind fall of storm water fees. Just Northside church alone will generate 30-35 k, and what about meijers and the rest.
THEN what about the lost revenue to the sewer utility as all of these businesses no longer have to pay the 50% surcharge??
THE TRUTH IS THAT THERE ARE MANY THINGS TO CONSIDER AND THE MAYOR DOES NOT WANT THIS DEBATED. LIKE EVERYTHING ELSE THE LESS THE PUBLIC KNOWS THE BETTER.
Shirley did you take too much sinus medicine before writing your column? If you consider 48 hours of review sufficient time to vote on such a large and complicated issue, you should reconsider whether your planned run for council is really suited for you and the citizens of this community. Too many of our City's problems are from rush decisions in hopes of obtaining instant benefits NOW without any consideration or planning for the long term effects.
Do you know that sinus medicine is made with the stuff that drug dealers make meth with? Get off that wicked sinus medicine and back to clearer thinking.
Wow! One poster says England has cut a deal with Northside exempting them from drainage fees and another says they pay $30-35 thou alone.
Which can it be????
They would pay about that much. They will not under the current proposal----which is why it should be looked at closely.
I have a suggestion. Everyone needs to read this scam England is trying to pull. I got a copy from the clerks office and Shirley before you continue to spout off about things you know nothing about you need to take a couple hours and read it then talk to your county council friends and ask them why this is such a scam. And believe me once you check it out you'll see this is the biggest scam England has ever tried to pull.
Thanks for the report.
The second comment moderation is turned off the immaturity begins, with the crosshairs on shirley.whats the matter, not enough chairs around the kitchen table for the BS buffet?
Why is there always a smart a** anonymous comment after The New Albanian post? Why, because he's the one who tries to stir things up.
Maybe if Proassive Baylor would once read things instead of assuming everything outta England's mouth is the whole truth nothing but the truth, he might see things in a different light.
But hey, the only thing they're interested in is what's in it for them and him.
That's my opinion and I stand by it.
When I comment, I do so with my own name. All I've done so far in this thread is thank Shirley for her thoughts. I don't view that as a provocative gesture. Then again, I'm not psychotic.
why include northside?
the point of annexation is to get increased property tax revenue.
per state law, churches don't pay property taxes.
by annexing northside, we have to provide a few more services to them for nothing.
coffey and price amaze me.
they bitch and moan about having too little money.
now the mayor proposes a pain free way to get in an extra $700,000 a year. you'd think coffey and price would be all over it.
the annexation has been an open secret for months and months. if coffey and price didn't get "the information" it's because they weren't listening or they didn't do their d*mn jobs and didn't ask the right questions.
You are full of crap. Nothing is pain free when Doug is involved. Give us a break. Churches don't pay taxes and Bar owners don't pay EDIT but they sure want a chunk of EDIT for FREE too.
Shirley, if you only had two days to read the report that still wouldn’t provide enough time to ask individuals questions that you might have after reading the document for the first time.
What if the people you needed to talk to were unavailable in that short time.
As you know the council position is not full time and every one of them has to work.
Also, many of the council meetings that we have attended, we have heard from Mr. Coffey that he feels that the council doesn't receive enough time to review things of this nature. It would then be imperative for the Mayor to give the council, and public, enough time.
If Mr. Coffey voted no out of principle I can’t fault him. I would probably have done the same, if I felt as he did.
I would agree with others, the annexation vote should take place during a regularly scheduled meeting.
Thanks for the opportunity to share my point of view.
Anonymous - whichever you are
John Gonder has a full time job in Louisville with health benefits. He/we do NOT receive health care from the City of New Albany (Although, there is nothing wrong with elected officils accepting benefits that are offered with the job.) You can have your opinions, but you can't have your own facts. Furthermore, being elected to office does not require that a person may never be sick, never have an an emergency, or never take a vacation, especially if vacations are planned so they don't conflict with regularly scheduled council meetings. Special meetings come up with very short notice and absences can be unavoidable. No doubt you've been absent once or twice in your work life.
It is so easy to criticize from outside looking in - especially when you can do so anonymously. But you would do well to verify your charges before you send them out to the blogosphere.
Let's hope England the crook shows up for his second special meeting. He did not attend the first one he called about the annexation.
Churches pay storm water fees based on the size of their non-permeable surfaces. Northside is larger than Wal-mart, so they would add a few dollars to the storm water department.
Why would you not include them? Everyone else is going in and paying storm water fees.
Why the effort to dodge the questions in an open meeting. England is one shady dude.
Sorry Ruthanne--City Council members were not offered benefits with the job. John Gonder voted to give the the part time City Council Members full time health care benefits . These benefits were not offered with the job, so you need to get your facts straight.
Just so you know this added $190,000.00 per year to the city budget. Who do you think is paying for this? It is not John Gonder, or any other council memebers.
The tax payers are picking up the tab.
That's why we need to throw England, Gonder, Zurschmede, Bennediti, and Ceasar out as soon as possible.
When I posted that the prospect of annexation sounded good to me I was referring to the remark in the "Tribune" that the city would net $700,000 per year.
I have read everyone's comments and talked to several people on both sides of the issue. I now have questions which will be presented in a new article which I will have to post at work since my computer is still giving me fits. No I will not be "blogging" on company time. It will either be before work or during my lunch break.
Stay tuned.
Oh and just in case anyone cares, I am feeling much better.
thanks
The mayor's too busy hiding the crooked stuff his boy Shane is doing. That's why he don't show up. I'm sick of being told I'll be fired if I don't keep Shane's stupid crap a secret. Sick, sick, sick of it! And, I'm about this close to joining the republicans, i'm so sick of it!
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