Sunday, December 11, 2005

CITIZEN SPEAKS

There was a letter on the Editorial Page of The Tribune Wednesday 12/7/05. We wish to thank Mr. Joe Tanksley for allowing Freedom of Speech to post his comments on our forum. Some people do not have a subscription to The Tribune and he makes some very valid points.

"New Albany resident not happy at midterm"

"We are approaching January 2006 which marks the midway point for the current administration. This is my opinion. Coming into the office the Mayor knew about drainage, sewers, sanitation and other problems facing our city. It seems his priority was the Scribner Place which due to contamination of the land is costing the city thousands of extra dollars a day. Then there is Budd Road Park which I hear they want a bond issue for.

As we approach Christmas we now will have a drainage fee, possible sewer rate increase and sanitation workers will lose their jobs. Along with continued shortfalls in the budget such as continued cell phone abuse and take-home cars, which the Mayor has a nice one. Mr. Mayor please tell me where the priorties are. I only have a high school education, but even I know if you don't have it, you don't have it. I welcome your comments"

Joe Tanksley
New Albany

We do not know if Mayor Garner has answered Mr. Tanksley's questions. But his questions are shared by many citizens of New Albany. We hope the Mayor does respond to Mr. Tanksley and the rest of us.

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

AN OPEN LETTER TO MAYOR JAMES GARNER

Dear Mayor Garner,

Okay, I admit I am always slow on proclaiming such things, but the City of New Albany is splintering. Now for those wiping the coffee from their computer screens and exclaiming, "Duh, where have you been?", let me explain.

In all fairness to you, Mayor Garner, let's go back to September 2003 and make every effort to follow the promises you made to the citizens of New Albany.

"A government that is responsible to the citizens of our great city." "As your Mayor I pledge to you. I will lead with hard work, respect, honesty and integrity."
This was your promise as a candidate.


CITY EMPLOYEES:

"I will eliminate the Chief of Staff position and I will be the spokesperson for our city. I will stop the current practice of delegating important decisions to others that impact each of us."

(Mr. Toran was hired as the Chief Operations Officer)


GARBAGE AND RECYCLING:

"I will fix the city garbage and Recycling programs. Due to poor planning we have not given our employees the tools to do their job correctly."

(You have now planned to privatize Sanitation)


SEWERS:

"I am committed to fixing our sewers. This sewer renovation needs to be completed under the guidance of a revised sewer board that restores checks and balances and eliminates undue political influence."

(We still have the same sewer board members, under your guidance. We need to focus on checks and balances and eliminate political influence)


Now we have a question for you, Mr. Mayor. Why did Assistant Fire Chief Gream resign? Does it have anything to do with the missuse of the City credit card? Could this be one of the reasons you do not want an audit? (We will discuss this further in detail in a future posting.)

It is our opinion that after two years you are still not listening to us and our concerns. Your administration uses filtering, and your own spin to provide us with misinformation.

We, the citizens, do not see competence in your administration. Yet you continue to dismiss your critics as misguided and/or pessimistic. Contrary to your remarks, we number far more than six or seven citizens.

We feel your decisions have been based on assumptions and insufficient figures, inaccurate facts, and unrealistic reasoning. We the public and citizens of New Albany no longer have confidence in your decisions and feel that you should resign.