GET OUT AND VOTE

JUST A REMINDER, TODAY IS ELECTION DAY.

I'LL NOT LIST THE CANDIDATES DUE TO TIME RESTRAINTS BUT THEY ARE LISTED ON THE FLOYD COUNTY WEBSITE.

PLEASE GO VOTE TODAY. REMEMBER, IF YOU DON'T VOTE YOU CANT COMPLAIN ABOUT YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS. :)

SEWER LOAN AND AN ATTORNEY/GRANT WRITER

Due to other obligations I did not attend the special city council meeting last night (4/27). But I did read Daniel Suddeath's columns regarding the sewer loan and the hiring of Mr. Lorch as a full time council attorney and grant writer.

I agree with both decisions.

Please add your comments which agree or disagree.

NO FREE TAP-INS FOR LINDEAN MEADOWS

First of all I want to say that I am in total support of the development of Linden Meadows. There was an article in the "Tribune" on 4/22/10 which explained that the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority (IHCDA) will partner with a developer, Captains View LLC, to purchase and rehab 11 homes to resell.

This all sounded great until I read the part about the Sewer Board considering waiving the tap-in fees for these homes. The Sewer Board just received a large fee increase with another increase in two years. It is not fair to us, the citizens, to have an increase in our bills and watch a wealthy developer receive a free pass on the hook up fees.

The "Tribune" article also said that, "...the city will look to upgrade paving and drainage, as well as expand street lighting along Linden Meadows Court." The city will also "...implement a concentrated code enforcement sweep along Olive and Linden streets leading into Linden Meadows, and expedite the building permits and inspections for the development." This is a great gift to the developer in my eyes, this area needs better lighting and drainage and these steps will benefit the entire area around Linden Meadows. Enough is enough.

EQUAL PAY DAY

This past Tuesday, April 20, was Equal Pay Day. This means that women must work 16 months to make the same as men make in 12 months. So on April 20, we women finally made up the 22 cents of the dollar that we were short in 2009.

The New Albany Business and Professional Women Board of Directors (Kim Martin-Dawkins, Sarah Ring, Rosalie Dowell, Connie Enlow, Terri Tock, Suellen Wilkinson, Ann Windell and Suzy Higdon) had an excellent article in the Tribune this Tuesday and everyone should check it out.

COUNCIL MEETING 4/15/10

Hello everybody. I missed the first part of the council meeting last night so I did not get to hear the mayor speak. I heard that he told there were death threats. That is deplorable. I hope these people get arrested and convicted of terroristic threatening.

The bill that no one really wanted to pass did pass. Of course I'm talking about the sewer rate increase. Even the council members who voted for it said they did not like it but it was the lesser of two evils. Mr. Skomp said again how antsy the SRL is getting. He said their emails are getting pretty curt. He also admitted that if the city went into receivership our sewer rates could double. I don't like it either but we taxpayers paid this company to research and find the best solution for us. From what I understand they still need to pass G-10-10 which determines from which TIF districts the money will be taken. This meeting will take place on April 27. Since I have a prior commitment I will not be able to attend.

In other news, the position of full time attorney/grant writer passed the first two readings with 5 aye's (Ceasar,Benedetti, Messer, Zurschmeide, and Gonder), 3 nay's (Price,McLaughlin, & Gahan), and one abstention (Coffey).

Finally the whole council came together and voted unanimously to appropriate $100,000 from the Riverboat funds to demolish those 14 unsafe houses and buildings. All of us in attendance held our breath but thankfully the building did not fall on our heads.

MEET THE CANDIDATES DINNER

Did you attend the "Meet the Candidates" dinner at the Knights of Columbus last night? I thought it went very well.

What are your thoughts? Suggestions?

WHO IS PAUL ETHERIDGE?

That question was asked on this blog a few weeks ago. So I sent Mr. Etheridge an email with several questions regarding his bid for Mayor of New Albany. He replied with answers to all of my questions so I have posted them here.

1. Why are you running for Mayor? "I am running for Mayor of New Albany because I care and love this community and I want to get the city back on the right track for the future. Our city must move forward, no backward to achieve goals like fixing our sewers, revitalizing our downtown area and cleaning up our streets and neighborhoods. I am a common person with a common cause who has visions and goals for New Albany and is not in the race for just a paycheck."
2. What special qualifications do you bring to the position? "I bring 27+ years of Supervisory experience with the maintenance department of the Indiana Department of Highways. I have experience with the maintenance of our sewers and drainage on our roads. I am also a small business owner with management and budgeting skills."
3. How will you balance the budget? Or at least reduce the deficit? "Our city has a "control/spending problem" that needs to be solved to balance our budget. We need to eliminate non-essential positions within the city, reduce spending and find ways through grants and other sources to bring in more revenue to our city."
4. What will you do to improve code enforcement? "There should be a Code enforcement Office with a qualified code enforcement officer will deal with all code violations within our city. This person must be able to work hand in hand with the public and be experienced and knowledgeable of Indiana Law, city codes and ordinances. This person will also be assessable to neighborhood associations for their problems and concerns. Public outreach programs will also be established to help educate the public on codes and ordinances. The Code Enforcement office will work as a team with other departments to fix and solve the problems that are presented."
5. How do you feel about our sewer situation? What can be done to improve them? "As Mayor, I will look to revamp the current sewer situation. The 2009 flooding proved that our infrastructure needs to be looked at and examined closely. Preventive maintenance of all pipes, which has not been done by previous administrations, needs to be implemented. I feel that the Sewer Department which is currently outsourced to EMC, needs to be brought back inhouse and work closely with our Stormwater department as a team effort to handle issues such as preventive maintenance for all pipes in our city. I also feel that we need to look at a possible expansion of the Sewer plant by placing another plant on the wast end of our city to accommodate the flow."
6. Do you think the victims of the Aug. 09 flood are being adequately helped? What would you do? "I feel the flood victims have not been adequately helped. The management of maintenance of the pipe and ditches in our community were neglected throughout of the years. This needs to be done as a preventive measure daily, allocate money to fix the problems, and not just put a band-aid on the situation pacify the ones who were affected."
7. Do you think we have too many T.I.F.'s? "Yes, that statistics show that New Albany has more TIF's than any other city in Indiana."
8. What are your thoughts on revitalizing downtown? Do you think we need the 12 million dollar parking garage? "We need to revitalize our downtown before it becomes a ghost town. As Mayor, I plan to use the floodwall to attract restaurants and businesses, like our sister city Jeffersonville has done. Once this is established, people will utilize our downtown area, revenue will increase, businesses will flourish and downtown will once be what it was, a town that is alive. This city does not need another 12 million dollar parking garage at this time. We need to look at parking in the downtown area and work on other solutions instead of using our tax money."
9. How do you feel about changing Spring St., Elm St., and Market St. to 2 way? "Changing Spring St., Elm Street, and Market Street to two-ways would be a great idea for the flow of traffic into New Albany. The downside of this would be that these streets have been one way for so many years and changing these could cause more accidents. I feel that the city needs to look to see if it would be feasible to create this change."
10. What is your position on the Police and Fire Depts? Do you think 85% is too large a portion of the budget to be allotted to these departments? "85% of the city's budget is too large of an appropriation for public safety. Our Fire and Police Departments are crucial to our city and public safety, but as Mayor, I will look t the contracts, meet with the unions and see if an agreement can be made between the city and union on a feasible appropriation without hindering these very important city services. I will also look at each department so see if cost efficient measures can be implemented to reduce their budget. It is very important that the Mayor and the Unions work together as a team for the city of New Albany."