Words of Wisdom

I have decided to post a previous contribution to this blog that captured the precise problems and situational circumstances that plague our City today.
I believe that this interpretation of what is happening within the Political Administration of New Albany, and the inner workings of the decision making processes, is worth its words in gold.
To whoever wrote this, One Voice, you have hit many nails right on the head, and you have my admiration and thanks as you are a voice of reason and intelligence.

For the Speak Out Loud NA readers:
To those who value knowledge, truth, freedom, and the sanctity of life as their guiding ideas I hope I can help each of us decipher through the lying, deceit, and struggle that is New Albany politics.

I hope I can inform you about the biggest problems facing our city and my solutions to solve them.

First of all I doubt that Randy has yet to write a single column that has not been manipulated in some detail in order to help Mayor Garner communicate his message.

And you would think that by now the Baylor crowd would have learned some lessons about twisting facts to suit his ideology and punishing those who seek answers and to tell the truth. But he continues to behave like Cinderella's evil stepsisters who cut their feet in order to fit them into the glass slipper, while he is butchering reality to make the fairy tale come out his way.

I come from a very political family so I would like to start with Politics 101.

Why would a successful business person with a Masters Degree raise over $100,000.00 to campaign and get elected to a job that only pays $50,000.00 per year? Does this person have a hidden agenda? I question the additional amount of money
that a politician can earn in a four year term.

It seems that the first rule of thumb in politics is this. You say and do whatever it takes to get elected. You make campaign promises that are impossible to keep and you promise political favors and jobs to those who help you attain your goal.

For example, Shane Gibson, he was his treasurer and now is the City Attorney and stands to make several thousands of dollars connected to the Scribner bonds. Tony Toran worked on the campaign and is now the City Operations Manager, this position was one that Mayor Garner promised to eliminate in as one of his campaign promises, even though Mr. Toran lacks the education, experience, and knowledge for such a position.
I am sure there are many others that we could all name.

The first rule of Politics 101 is this. You need an "inner circle" of friends. These are the people who work behind the scenes and their identities are protected.

Secondly, you have your "money people". These are the bankers, attorneys, realtors and developers.
This is one of the more serious problems that I see.

For example:

Greg Fifer, New Albany Sewer Board Attorney who is also the attorney for the rural developers. And he also represents:

David Ruckman
Robert Lynn
David Blankenbaker
Kent Witten

Now my question is this. Which other developers does Mr. Fifer represent? Second question. Is this not a conflict of interest for us? Why should Mr. Fifer have it both ways?

My solution to the problem would be this. He should be the Sewer Board Attorney and not represent the developers. Or quit the Sewer Board, choose one.

I also want to raise awareness about these other issues, and give solutions.

I totally agree with what $$$$$$$$ said. But let's go a one step further. As I have always been taught, you start at the beginning. In my opinion this is the first thing that needs to be done. Have all accounts frozen. There should be no raises or additional spending. There should be a complete audit in order to discover exactly what we have to work with. We should demand a full investigation into the previous audits. We should focus in ensuring the police and fire department have all their necessities, everything we need to keep our city safe. No police cars should be allowed to be taken home outside of the City of New Albany. To help cut costs, the fire dept. should not go on ambulance runs. There should be no new hiring. All cellphones should be left in the offices after 4:00PM. All personal calls should be charged back to each employee. All city elected officials who are furnished vehicles and gas should park their cars at 4:00PM, including the Mayor. We need to start at the top with each department to sacrifice for all of us.

In my opinion, Scribner Place should be between the YMCA and Caesars. I agree that Scribner Place should be built but the city and the taxpayers should be left out of it. Look at how the $400,000.00 could benefit the city as a whole. So both sides win.

In my opinion, the Stormwater fee should be put, (even though it has been mandated), on the backs of the developers, and not the taxpayers of New Albany. i support the county plan. My question is this. If the Stormwater Project is so urgent, where has the Mayor and the Sewer Board been in the past two years?

In my opinion, each account should be used for it's designated purpose. The sewer account funds should not be used to cover sanitation or used as an emergency fund.

In my opinion, Mayor Garner has already made up his mind to privatize Sanitation. I do not agree with him. I would much rather see my water and sewer bill raised to keep these employees on the city payroll. Without the proper equipment it is impossible for anyone to do their job properly. This is a costly mistake made by the previous administration.

In my opinion, one of the major issues of which I have a serious problem, like many citizens of New Albany, is the same people sitting on the Council who are paid to be on other boards of which their votes can affect the decisions of the City Council.

Solution, an Ordinance stating that a City Council Member cannot sit on any board which could cause a conflict of interest.

In my opinion, one of the biggest problems I see is everyone not paying their fair share of sewer bills with over $170.000.00 of uncollected sewer bills that also means, even if collected, sanitation and recycling are not recovered.

I personally have been told that the Mayor's intention is to bring the billing and collection of sewer bills back in house. I think this is a waste of taxpayers dollars to spend at least $40,000.00 for software, not counting the additional expense to the taxpayer. The Administration should be honest and tell the taxpayers what the $800,000.00 is to be used for. What do they have to hide?

I am only one person with one opinion but I think that I have given the taxpayers a solution to some of our problems. The Administration needs to show a need for all of these expenditures.

We need to stop being so divided, no more labels. No more "haves and have not's", or progressives and little people, etc. We all have a stake in the future of our city.

I read this on this blog a few months ago, "Common sense is seeing things as they are and doing things as they ought to be".

Mr. Mayor, listen to voice of reason.


Come on, hit me with your best shot.

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Posted by ONEVOICE to Speak Out Loud NA at 10/18/2005 08:43:15 PM