Who us paying for 1sI endorsements?

This week in MY FRIDAY COLUMN I take a look at the plan for One Southern Indiana, our local chamber of commerce and their plan to make endorsements in this year's municipal election.

WHO IS PAYING FOR 1sI ENDORSEMENTS?

Each week I sit down at my laptop computer and type out my opinions for you to read. Some weeks many people agree with my opinion, some weeks, many people don't. I often wonder why some people that disagree with me every week, continue to read, I am just glad that they do. It is clear that I am not going to change some people's opinions and I doubt that they can change mine

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That is what is great about this country, everyone is allowed to have a different opinion about a subject, and everyone is allowed to express that opinion any way that they feel. As a person that believes wholeheartedly in the “Freedom of Speech” that is guaranteed in the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, I would never stand in the way of someone's right to express themselves.

Last week in an announcement that was published in The News and Tribune, One Southern Indiana the local chamber of commerce group, declared that they would once again make endorsements in this year's election. They will endorse candidates for mayor in New Albany, Jeffersonville and Charlestown. This is something they started last year when they took sides in the local statehouse races and the United States House of Representatives. I spoke out about it last year, and my opinion has not changed.

My problem with One Southern Indiana endorsing candidates is based on their desire to have local municipalities partially fund their programs. They were asking the city of New Albany for $70,000 last year about the same time that they announced who they planned on endorsing for the General Election. Will how those members voted for or against funding affect the pending endorsements this year? While they insist that the money they use as part of their political action committee is separate from their economic development money, there is always going to be a perception of shenanigans.

I decided to write this opinions column before the announcement is made on who they plan to endorse. Last year when I wrote about the 1sI endorsements I was criticized by some who said my opinion would be different if they had chosen to endorse candidates that I supported. I would have been critical of their decision no matter what candidates they chose. If they are going to continue to ask municipal governments for funds then they should probably get out of the election business.

My problems actually started with One Southern Indiana a few weeks prior to their plan to endorse candidates was announced last year. It was their endorsement of the Ohio River Bridges project and their unwavering support for the Bridges Authority that changed my mind. The New Albany city council was the first government body to publicly denounce the use of tolls, and then 1sI turned around and asked them for money few weeks later. It seemed counter productive to me for the city council to denounce the use of tolls and then turn around and give money to a group that trumpeted the Ohio River Bridges Project, whatever the cost.


Last year I wrote this column concerning One Southern Indiana's funding request that had come before the city council at same meeting it was voting on its "NO TOLLS" resolution.

CITY COUNCIL CAN SEND A CLEAR MESSAGE

I was at the New Albany City Council meeting last year when One Southern Indiana made their case for funding. They were asking for $70,000 at a time when New Albany had not seen a balanced budget in several years. Many of the council members were worried about how it would look to give money to a group who was now in the political action committee game. In the end a compromise was made and the group was given $30,000. I just wonder if members of the city council were looking ahead to this year's election when they were considering the funding request? I am sure that it was at least in the back of their minds.

I encourage everyone to get involved with the election process. I think it is important for everyone to learn as much as they can about the people that we will be going to the polls to elect. I cannot stop One Southern Indiana from making whatever endorsements that they see fit. I believe it is unethical for them to ask local governments for money, if this is the path that they have chosen.   

1sI Endorsements: A look back

With the announcement this week that One Southern Indiana will once again make political endorsements, I am curious how the vote that the New Albany City Council took last year will affect their decisions.

1sI to endorse Mayoral Hopefuls by Daniel Suddeath

Here is my column from October 8, 2010 where I reflect on the council meeting where the funding request was discussed

This week in My Friday Column I discuss my journey to a strange world:

WHAT A BIZARRE CITY COUNCIL MEETING

Dan Coffey was making sense to me, and I agreed with him.  Steve Price, sporting a new clean cut look was in control of his emotions and was remaining logical.   

Monday night's city council meeting was one for the ages.  It was interesting to see 1sI member Bob Caesar pitching slow-pitch softballs to Mike Dalby.  Even better was the nasty "Knuckler" that city council president John Gonder threw, while Mr. Dalby just swung.

 Mr. Gonder related of how he ran into someone from a company that was listed in some of the literature that was presented.  Basically the person denied that Mr. Dalby’s group had any involvement in the company’s growth, contrary to 1sI’s claims. 

Some One Southern Indiana members were on hand for the public comments portion of the meeting.  Everyone basically said the same thing.  They never could have grown or expanded their company in New Albany without the help of 1sI.  The only specific thing that they could say that the group actually did for them was helped them to get tax abatements and other incentives.

So as I am listening, what it sounds like to me is that Mr. Dalby and 1sI are asking for $70,000 in Economic Development Income Tax money so they can teach their members to come before the council and ask for more tax money

It was clear that most of the council members were upset that 1sI decided to endorse candidates in the upcoming election.  As a private organization they are allowed to do whatever they want.  I am the last person in the world that would get in the way of anyone's freedom of speech, just don't ask me to pay for it.

I agree with his assessment that their organization has every right to get involved to advance their political agenda but I do not think that the city of New Albany should be asked to subsidize them.

TOLERANCE AND UNDERSTANDING IS COMMON SENSE

This week MY FRIDAY COLUMN takes a look at the Amy Gesenues column from July 20, 2010:
BEING GAY ISN'T WRONG 

While I believe that Amy wrote a good column and I would not try to speak for her, I thought it was important to point out some of the hypocrisy in the comments from that column:

TOLERANCE AND UNDERSTANDING IS COMMON SENSE

In 1977 the ABC television network introduced us to the television show “Soap” as part of their prime time lineup. The show, which was a parody of daytime dramas, featured comedian Billy Crystal as Jodie Dallas who was one of the first gay characters on television. Right wing and religious groups mounted a letter writing campaign to complain about the character, reportedly generating up to 30,000 pieces of mail before the show even aired.

A few weeks ago one of my fellow guest columnist wrote a column entitled “Being gay isn't wrong”. Amy Gesenhues wrote a sincere and honest story of love for her friends and family that happen to be homosexual. Almost immediately after the column was published online, she began being attacked by those with different opinions. I believe that a dialogue between the opinions columnist that appear on this page and the reader is important but after reading some of the comments they were anything but constructive.

The first comment from “Randy” which was timestamped at 12:33 am said “Being gay is not flowers and sunshine...In fact it's disgusting and goes against nature.” From there they didn't get much better. While some of the comments were supportive and simply thanked her for writing the column, many were judgmental and cited their moral and religious beliefs as their reasoning for speaking out against homosexuality.

While I am not a biblical scholar I do consider myself a fairly religious person. I went to Sunday School as a child, and I am pretty familiar with the teachings of Jesus Christ. If a bible category comes up on Jeopardy I can usually answer four out of the five questions correctly.

Many people invoke the name of Jesus when they use religion as their justification against homosexual behavior. If you ask them sometimes they use the always popular “God created Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve”. Many times they site Leviticus 20:13 “If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination” these two examples are from the Old Testament. Christianity is a religion that is rooted in the New Testament. Jesus spoke often of tolerance and acceptance and I am pretty sure there was something in there about judging others.

It is interesting to point out that over the years we have become more accepting of what exactly is considered a sin. I would venture that adultery is more prevalent in our society than homosexual behavior but it is tolerated much more readily. I think that heterosexual promiscuity is more of an attack on our family and values than homosexual behavior, why has no one come forward to ban that?

The Indiana legislature is working on having a ban on gay marriage added to the Indiana Constitution. Most of the Republican presidential candidates have signed a pledge to amend the US Constitution to include a ban on gay marriage. Why are our leaders spending their time trying to deny citizens rights that others are guaranteed? I believe that there are far more important thing to deal with.

Not only were there many comments posted on the online version of two people took the time to write an actual letter to the editor. I do respect someone who would take the time to actually send a letter to the editor and at least they have a little more conviction than those who post anonymously on the internet. I just feel that they missed the point of Amy's column. Betty Robertson of Jeffersonville stated that “the simple facts are man and woman are made for one reason-to have sex and produce children”. Personally I believe that life is a little more complex than that. She went on to say “...in the way that you are teaching your children, you are almost telling them to be gay.” Teaching children that being gay isn't wrong is not telling them to be gay, just that they will be loved without judgment, whatever they choose.

It took great courage for Amy Gesenhues to write her column. I applaud her for telling the world her opinion that she believed that “Being Gay isn't wrong”. It is that type of unconditional love that will keep us moving forward as a society. Keeping a closed mind and judging others will only hold us back. If more people had the tolerance and understanding that Amy discussed, our world would be a better place.

Matthew Nash can be reached at dmatthewnash@gmail.com