A SWITCH IN TOPICS, FOR A MOMENT...

Yes, let's have a switch in topics and typeface. Monday's night City Council meeting is toooooo important not to. Boy, does it feel good to have a new outlet to voice my little 'ole opinions, whether anyone cares or not.

Hopefully, Mr. Gahan and the others will sticks to their guns requiring more financial information and technical information before they proceed. As a person who has attended numerous meetings, I can already tell you what they will do (unless they regroup and figure something else out, before tomorrow night).

This may be one time the agenda being carried out in the wrong order against Council's very laws may work in the taxpayers' favor. The Council will be told by the public officials, when their time comes to speak, "please go ahead and just do the first reading", "we'll have the information you need by the next meeting" and if you don't -- well, you are going to ruin any "savings" we may received at the State meeting on August 8th. Mark my words, we have heard them OVER AND OVER AND OVER again.

Please Council, I beg of you. Let the investigation proceed that is underway and let taxpayers know what is going on before you jump on this sinking boat. I was under the impression Mr. Seabrook wasn't going to vote on ANYTHING because of legal advice. Mr. Blevins has promised ratepayers a NO vote. Mr. Gahan is leery of the financials, and well he should be. Mr. Kochert, well, I'm not really sure which way he's going to come down. He truly feels we need the monies, but he does understand we have some serious questions, before ANYTHING happens.

Unless they can tell me what happened with the monies, I really don't care how much they want, need, etc. The clock stopped ticking last August and the Plan failed. Pull in those surety bonds, whatever you have to do, but leave us -- the ratepayers alone. Some of us have done your jobs. Some of us have followed the monies, the meetings, played in the sewage, and had Federal Investigators enter our private dwellings because of the inaptitude of this Administration.

EMC is going to prove to be a moot point. Their contract runs until 2007, and we believe they have figured out what we have said all along is true -- this City entered into negotiations with the Federal government in bad faith. The documents submitted to the EPA were bogus, the Engineers weren't given all of the data to do the correct "modeling" for the Plan, and the monies were misapplied that were mandated by Council for inner-City sewer repairs (alias Appendix D of the Amended Consent Decree). Do you think EMC won't use this defense also, if they are ordered to pay the fines for the overflows we are still experiencing? I don't think so. They have a little bit more money than we do; they trade on the stock exchange under the name of BOC. This isn't a "little" outfit we are dealing with here. I feel they have already figured out they were negotiated with in bad faith, and plan to use it against us. It is amazing when you see the light bulbs go off on people's faces at meetings, hey?

My views were made public in the Tribune today on the Editorial page, and I still stand by them. I do feel the question was framed for a certain response, but to me -- I don't care if it's a penny. WHERE'S ALL THE MONEY? How do I know, as a ratepayer, the Board of Works reimbursed the Sewer Board? I asked Mr. Kochert that question, and he couldn't answer me. He said we couldn't.

If we, the citizens, actually had time to go through all of the claims the Board of Works and the Sewer Board approve, we may find the monies. EDIT claims need checked (we've found business suits bought out of that fund before). It's simply another day, the same old thing is going to happen tonight -- PLEASE JUST DO ONE READING OR .........

Please don't misconstrue what I am saying here as vindictive or punitive against anyone. What this Administration doesn't understand is -- IT'S NOT PERSONAL, IT'S JUST BUSINESS.

Now, I feel better. Yes, I will be at the Council and yes, I will reiterate these words. For those of you who disagree, we'll just have to beg to disagree so we may keep it civil. Thanks. Be safe and take good care, New Albany. Monday night, I'd get there at 7:15 and sign up if I wanted to speak, and there may be a severe shortage of chairs.

MORE REASONS TO VOTE FOR BARON HILL

I want a congressman who will spend my tax dollars wisely, and not abuse them for personal gain. That's why I'm voting for Baron Hill in November. Baron is one of us, and he'll fight for Southern Indiana in Washington.

This week, I received a bright, glossy mailing touting Congressman Mike Sodrel's work to supposedly meet our energy needs. It was a bad vote then and still is -- yet mailed at my expense. The piece noted that it was "prepared, published, and mailed at taxpayer expense." But the mailing highlights votes Sodrel made over a year ago, when he supported the Energy Policy Act of 2005 that gave tax breaks to Big Oil and did little to lessen our dependence on foreign oil. Not only was this a bad vote, but Sodrel made it over a year ago! How convenient he rolls this out at taxpayer expense as he heads into a tough election in the fall.

Mike Sodrel is out of touch with the 9th District. He's fiscally irresponsible, and not the kind of leader I want representing my interests in Congress.
And oo little, too late. That's what I call Mike Sodrel's attempts to paint himself as pro-energy independence.

According to Sodrel's latest mailing – paid for entirely with hard-earned taxpayer money – "in the long run, we need to become independent of oil altogether." Well, Mike, I couldn't agree more. But it's too bad you've voted time and again to give tax breaks to Big Oil. The same Big Oil companies that continue to report record profits. ExxonMobil – from whom you've taken campaign contributions – earns $1,318 a second. Meanwhile, here in Indiana we're paying over $3 a gallon at the pump.

That's out of touch, Mike Sodrel. Hoosiers need a representative who will fight for their interests, not the special interests.

It's time to restore fiscal responsibility to Washington. Since the current administration took office, we have watched a surplus turn into a deficit. Balanced budgets have been thrown out the window. And pork barrel spending has gotten so out of control that we are using taxpayer money to build bridges to nowhere in Alaska.

And Mike Sodrel? He's nothing but a rubber stamp for the Bush administration, voting with them well over 90% of the time. That's why I wasn't surprised to receive a mailing from him that looked suspiciously like a piece of campaign literature. Big picture, bright colors, boastful information
about his record. And all of this was paid for by hard-earned taxpayer dollars, proving yet again the need to restore fiscal responsibility to Washington. I want my tax dollars to go toward educating our children, improving access to quality healthcare for working families, and providing our seniors with affordable prescription drugs. I do not want my tax dollars going toward campaign literature promoting Mike Sodrel.

It's about time we got our fiscal house in order.

I am GLAD to see Mike Sodrel has agreed to debate Baron Hill on gasoline prices. Baron Hill began issuing the challenge way back on Primary Night, and it is about time Sodrel responded. I thank Mr. Sodrel for going before his constituents and allowing us to hold him accountable for his work while in Congress.

In fact, I'm curious to hear Sodrel's justification for some of his actions. Last year, he voted for the Energy Bill that gave massive tax breaks to BIG OIL companies and failed to address our nation's long-term energy needs. While we are all paying over $3.00 at the pump, Big Oil companies are seeing and enjoying their largest profits ever. Earlier this year, Sodrel claimed gas prices may not even be an issue in November, and that costs can fall as quickly as they rose. I'm very interested to know how he reached that conclusion!

Thank you to Baron Hill for demanding a debate. It is time we moved beyond all the muck and start talking about real issues in this 9th District race!

Come November, I'm voting for Baron Hill. He'll always put Southern Indiana first. That's why I'm voting for Baron Hill, a proven leader who will spend my tax dollars wisely and always act in the best interests of Southern Indiana's 9th District.

HOW DOES SODREL CARE ABOUT NEW ALBANY'S SEWERS?

Have been out fishing again (hasn't the weather been perfect for boating, swimming and fishing). This weekend a 10 pound channel catfish from Patoka Lake found its way back to New Albany. Good looking fish, too! For some reason, it helps to know where the Patoka River comes into Patoka Lake -- nail a big 'un there every time!

To go off camping, (not being a happy camper at the time) really helped with the frustration I was feeling over the political football which landed at two private citizens' feet Thursday night at a PUBLIC meeting by the Mayor of New Albany because of Mr. Mike Sodrel's actions.

There are two citizens in New Albany who have TRIED TO KEEP up with the pollution, all of New Albany's sewage overflows, all of the monies, and the Clean Water Act. New Albany has been in violation, gee, I forget the years now involved. We signed our "second Amended Consent Decree" under our last Mayor -- Overton, and got a $34 million plus state revolving loan which is monies from the EPA administered by the State of Indiana to ONCE again fix our pollution and stop the raw sewage from running down our streets and across our properties. The citizens' involvement would add up, together, to 22 years of experience. The sewer board meeting is held at 3:30 in the afternoon, and there doesn't seem to be any public that attends unless they have a problem, except for two citizens. Yea, one of them is me.

Mr. Sodrel, we did not need political influence after spending nearly $80 million dollars fixing an infrastructure for approximately 38,000 people. We sent e-mails to all of our representatives asking them to stay out of it. We felt, as citizens trying to support the Clean Water Act (which Bush has almost gutted), we are helping (in our small way) to fix the mess with the dead zone down in the Gulf of Mexico.

Now, because you went to the head of the EPA (even though taxpayers were assured this City would have its' feet held to the fire this time if they didn't fix it), the Mayor of this town has laid this ENTIRE MESS at our feet. What? If these two citizens hadn't attended the meetings no one would have found out? Found out what? What? Do you think we enjoyed tracking these monies and the projects and all the other inter-twined events? Do you really believe, Mr. Sodrel, we in this inner-City don't need an infrastructure that works and that raw sewage is acceptable in your OWN HOME TOWN? Ah, come on.

Sorry, but I do not appreciate having to become involved in a criminal investigation because of this and other Administrations not being held accountable for doing their jobs. We, the citizens of New Albany, do not feel like paying any more monies for work that was to be performed WAY BACK in 1997. Check our facts out. There is an Agreed Order with the State of Indiana dated 1997 promising the Robert E Lift had and would be fixed at that point in time. It is now on the table again with no monies to fix it (because for some strange reason now it absolutely HAS TO BE); we the citizens have paid FIVE (5) times over for this particular project; yet, this Mayor has the nerve to blame it on two citizen activists off the street (guess they didn't believe him).

There must be some agreement between you and Bush with the way Bush gutted the Clean Water Act. But, Mr. Sodrel, it's YOUR OWN HOMETOWN. Gee. Thanks for getting this Mayor (Garner) to blame me publicly for the problems. Maybe I should be honored? Who knows. BRING BACK BARON is all that is left for me to say at this point in time.

Please remember, if you wish to disagree (even anonymously), you are more than welcome to comment. Please though, I will not publish any comments if a civil discourse can not take place. Thanks.