LET ME INTRODUCE MYSELF
Last week my column appeared for the first time in the combined News and Tribune. That meant that people that live in Clark County that read the print version only, got their first taste of my column. I am sure that some people were wondering who I was and how I came to end up in their newspapers. This week I am going to take some time to introduce myself to those who have not had the opportunity to read my column.
I grew up in New Albany and have lived here nearly my entire life (so far). My father was the mayor when I was a young child and more recently was chairman of the Democratic Party here in Floyd County. Both of my parents instilled in me the need to stay informed and pay attention to what was going on in the world around me. I started reading the newspaper at a very young age, starting with the comics and working my way from sports to features to hard news.
I come from a family of people that have been in the newspaper business for many years. My grandfather started working for the Courier Journal in the mid 1920’s and stayed there until he retired. His three sons followed in his footsteps each of them putting in some time in some capacity. My brothers and I all had paper routes when we were younger for both of the local papers, I guess the newspaper business is in my blood.
My column has appeared in the Friday edition of the paper formerly known as The Tribune, since July of 2009. My column has focused mainly on politics in New Albany, and the things that may affect our lives. I have hit on such topics as our dysfunctional city council, unchecked development and its effect on our environment and over the last few months I have tried to better understand the Ohio River Bridges Project. Now that my coverage area has been increased to include Clark County, I look forward to delving into the world of canals, adult bookstores and baseball park tree clearing.
You might wonder why someone from Floyd County would have any opinions about what goes on in Clark County. My oldest son graduated from Charlestown High School in 2008 and was a member of the Pirate’s undefeated regular season The first job that I had was in Clarksville. For the last seven years I have worked in Jeffersonville and Clarksville. My local income taxes are collected by Clark County, so I do have an opinion about what goes on there too.
Clark and Floyd Counties have more in common than you might think. We both have had issues with an adult entertainment business in recent years. We both have had some major funding issues with local governments and our school systems, and with the budget cutting at the state level I am sure we will have more in the future. We also have had local politicians and public officials who have had trouble with the law, with a few in court for corruption, some having incidents involving alcohol with several DWIs between the communities not to mention, the garbage can incident.
We also have several things that are great about each of our communities. After years of decline downtown life in Jeffersonville and New Albany have both experienced somewhat of a renaissance lately. Jeffersonville’s RiverStage and New Albany’s Riverfront Amphitheater both bring people to downtown for great music once the weather turns nicer. Soon, New Albany, Clarksville and Jeffersonville will all be connected via the Ohio River Greenway which will only bring us all closer together.
I also value the opinions of my readers. My email address appears each week under my picture and I try to answer everyone who writes to me. I also have a “Blog” that to all of my columns are linked to and I try to add some bonus material including pictures or links to more information on each of my topics.
It may not always seem like it but my main goal as an opinions columnist is to make my community a better place to live. Now my community has enlarged to include Clark County also. I really hope that you enjoy reading my column as much as I enjoy writing it each week. I know that you will not always agree with everything that I say but at least I hope my column helps you to understand another point of view.
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