Just in case you missed it during last week’s predictable Thanksgiving rush, the senior editor contributed a Tribune guest column culled from a posting here at NAC:
BAYLOR: 1SI’s involvement with ROCK is sticky
Having concluded a revealing week during which One Southern Indiana unabashedly promoted a partisan Republican campaign stop for Mike Sodrel conducted by sitting and failed president, the regional “economic development” agency has inched further down a very slippery slope by aligning itself publicly with an anti-pornography lobby group, Reclaim Our Culture Kentuckiana.
1SI’s president, Michael Dalby, has been sent all pertinent links to recent NAC articles on the topic of his organization’s newfound affiliation with an evangelical lobby group that opposes abortion, stem cell research and gay marriage, to name just three ROCK planks that have nothing whatsoever to do with economic development.
Here is Dalby’s only response to date:
Thanks for the link, though I’m not certain what actions or goals of the organization you are referring to. We are a regional economic development organization, and our actions and goals seek to expand the economy, raise the per capita income and expand the tax base, thereby lessening the burden of government on individual tax payers. If there are efficiencies that can be gained by consolidating public service delivery systems (for instance, multiple 911 systems which today’s technology can consolidate), we do encourage those efforts as a means of getting the most from taxpayer dollars.
The dictionary provides this handy definition for assistance in interpreting Dalby’s sidestep:
dis·in·gen·u·ous adj.
1. Not straightforward or candid; insincere or calculating: "an ambitious, disingenuous, philistine, and hypocritical operator, who ... exemplified ... the most disagreeable traits of his time" (David Cannadine).
2. Pretending to be unaware or unsophisticated; faux-naïf.
3. Unaware or uninformed; naive.
We await Dalby’s and 1SI chairman Kerry Stemler’s clarifications, and gently suggest to them that any response take the form of addressing the actual question and specific issue rather than insult the intelligence of the reading public by reciting mission statements by rote.
---
Meanwhile, our local bookseller cooly and capably called our local political charlatan’s latest bluff:
Let’s examine those crime statistics from Coffey, by Randy Smith (guest column in the Tribune).
I read, first with amusement, then with genuine concern, the deceptive letter to The Tribune from District 1 Council Member Dan J. Coffey …
... With help from my bride, I quickly found the Department of Justice’s Web statistics page, managed by DOJ’s Bureau of Justice Statistics. As Mr. Coffey was brazen enough to try (yet again) to pose as an expert and to (yet again) mislead the public and especially The Tribune’s readership, we both thought it might be instructive to report to you the actual and official numbers on crime in New Albany.
Yet again, it looks like the Wizard of Westside has no clothes. It's a telling commentary on the times that 1SI joins Coffey in the act of conceptual disrobing.
10 comments:
Dalby's disingenuous response is just the latest in a precedent setting history.
Again, it will be interesting to see which, if any, of the community and business "leaders" who've aligned their and their institutions' reputations with 1SI will have the fortitude to address the dishonesty ingrained in much of what the group says and does.
With their noted silence on matters thus far, could the establishment be acting anymore like the Establishment?
Give all the readers some concrete examples of the dishonesty ingrained in much of what the group says and does.
I for one would like to see what you are referring to.
I'll not answer for Bluegill, but while "dishonesty" may or may not be the proper word to describe 1SI's wagon-circling reluctance to publicly address the issues that we're raising, certainly "disappointing" and "ominous" aren't far off the mark.
Anyone else have a "good" word for use here?
we need to lobby the new city council asap to not cough up that $90,000 that 1si wants from the city but dont get your hopes up too much some who were elected will likely fall right into their camp.
Also dont forget the mayor-elect is a member of the board
HB said: Give all the readers some concrete examples of the dishonesty ingrained in much of what the group says and does.
This request is somewhat amusing given Dalby's response to Roger. To accept what he says as true, you'd have to believe that, even with links to NAC posts that both quote and provide additional links to original source material, Dalby's reading comprehension is so poor that he legitimately doesn't know what Roger's talking about. If Dalby wants to really claim that and then try to justify why someone with such poor skills should lead economic development in the region, it'd be interesting.
Quotes from 1SI's web site about our current interstate/transportation situation:
Clark and Floyd Counties offer a complete intermodal transportation system. The converging of three major interstates (I-65, I-64 and I-71) provides the area with the best access to markets across the country.
Many companies have located here to enjoy the outstanding transportation system. See how you can enjoy the "Best of Both Worlds" by continuing through our site.
For business, the Southern Indiana/Louisville area is rated as having one of the best interstate highway systems in the country. Interstate highways running through the Southern Indiana/Louisville region include: I-65, I-64, I-71, I-265 and I-264.
A quote from 1SI's One Weekly newsletter in June:
We need to make the argument that the current bridges situation has gotten progressively worse in recent years and is clogging up the movement of goods, services, and employees.
We are seeking to collect information on how the congestion is negatively impacting your business. If you have an example of the problem, please take a moment and reply to this email (or give us a call at 945-0266 and we'll transcribe it) so that it can become a part of our public relations campaign.
The strongest argument will be situations that impact "just in time" deliveries (especially where you get product from or supply products to Kentucky) and that have forced you to change processes (timing, etc.) or that have negatively impacted a decision for growth or made you (or your owners) consider moving.
Anyone care to explain how "the best access to markets across the country" via "one of the best interstate highway systems in the country" is driving businesses away?
Be careful, though. If you follow the logical path that suggests the "best interstates" don't necessarily lead to the best business opportunities, Michael Dalby might tell you that you could be right but we're funded (which also isn't true) for interstate expansion anyway. That's what he told me when he couldn't answer questions about how 1SI's transportation plan provided more long-term benefits to the region than alternatives.
There are other examples but this is as good a place to start as any.
I remember what it felt like moving here two years ago from the ends of the earth, ie outer Cape Cod. The amount of air, train, and plane traffic criss-crossing Kentuckian is quite impressive, although I suspect that has more to do with location than the relative strength of our transportation infrastructure. What I also noticed right away was the relative lack of people transportation infrastructure, like passenger rail service, street-cars, bike lanes, pedestrian green-ways, etc. Forget you never see people walking anywhere here. I worry 1SI's emphasis on building more high-ways etc. will end up costing us big-time in increasing pollution and all that means for quality-of-life issues. Having said that, chambers of commerce only real agenda has always been business - more business. Having more bridges would undoubtedly move more stuff for business. No surprise 1SI would bang the drum for more bridges. I agree with NAC's earlier posts on ROCK, seems like a major veering away from mission to join an anti-pornography campaign though.
With all of those interstates, you'd think Indiana, the "Crossroads of America" would be the economic engine of the nation. Sadly, it's not true.
The statements listed by Bluegill are neither false nor misleading.
We do have an interstate system that is very attractive to businesses.
We also have a bridge system that has problems. Although this is a negative, it does not dismiss the fact that we still have an attractive interstate system overall.
We need to address the Bridge situation to prevent it from further diminishing the positive interstate system.
Nothing that has been stated by Dalby is dishonest.
You just don't like the answers.
I've moved the discussion to the marquee. Pleas resume there, if in fact you care to resume.
Post a Comment