Tuesday, June 17, 2008

A June Week of Consequence

Almost no one will take notice of it, but the June and July convocations (canonical prayer and religious pledge included) of the Common Council for the City of New Albany are destined to be determinative ones.

Tomorrow, we hope to bring you our very best arguments for a progressive future (and one that seems doomed, based on today's report by Daniel Suddeath in The Tribune).

But today, we want to merely set the stage.

Stealing from a book promotion, we found this snippet:

Global warming.
50 million Americans uninsured.
Massive budget deficits.
Failing public schools.
A tarnished national image.

These are not policy failures.

Actually, these crises are the inevitable result of the policies we've chosen. Today's policies were designed to treat our dependence on oil as a given, our basic health as a luxury, an inadequate education as a privilege, and our children's wealth as our own.

A "donut" economy with regard to downtown commerce.
Streets that exact an enormous financial toll on New Albany drivers.
A confusing array of nonsensical traffic patterns that encourage speedway behavior and that discourage commercial traffic.
A diminishing commitment to community and, in particular, community schools.
A dependent and debilitated sewer utility inadequate to meet the community's needs and unable to support itself from its own revenues.
Policies that encourage criminal enterprises to migrate into New Albany.
Policies that discourage home ownership and allow irresponsible absentee house owners to prosper.
A defensive, insular, survival response on the part of residents whereby they "hunker down" and try to survive all of the above.

We know it's a revolutionary proposition, but we would propose that ALL of the above abominable results are the inevitable result of the policies we've chosen.

This IS the challenge we face. This IS our defining moment.

When 2011 rolls around, we must be ready to replace those who endorse the policies that are designed to destroy our common weal. When 2011 rolls around, we must have rallied a majority who reject both the policies and the inevitable results those policies have created.

One thing we do know. D5 is not part of the solution.

Check back tomorrow.

Our illustrious Sewer Board, purportedly not under the direction of our current chief executive, is prepared to continue a policy designed to further degrade New Albany, and by extension, the prosperity of all New Albanians. Quelle horror!

1 comment:

Jeff Gillenwater said...

Nicely put. I'm waiting on new numbers but the calculations already seem destined for sameness. With a remaining EDIT pledge to the sewers, the inner city will continue to bear a disproportionate share of the financial burden for outwardly aimed infrastructure.

Unfortunately, the same is true of many situations as a direct result of the policy choices you mention.

I think the first step may be to help people realize that we actually have choices as well as the consequences that go along with them. Spreading that notion alone would be a great step forward.