It is an interesting fact that has not had much discussion, so here it goes: Floyd County is the second-smallest land area in the state of Indiana, with 148 square miles of land. And yet Floyd County, Indiana has a total of five (5) storm debris drop-off sites, two (2) more than Louisville-Jefferson County proper, which covers 400 square miles. There are also ten (10) times as many people living in Louisville than live in Floyd County, but it is obvious they in Southern Indiana are getting ten (10) times the government, and at a bargain price. To Wit:
From
Fox41:
In southern Indiana, New Albany residents can drop off debris at 1706 State Road 111, near the intersection of St. Rd. 111 and Jackson Street. The site will be open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. The New Albany Police Department Traffic Division will be there to check driver's licenses or other forms of identification.
And Floyd County residents can also drop off storm debris at any of the following locations:
# Letty Walter Park on St. Mary's Road in Floyds Knobs
# Galena Lamb Park on Highway 150 in Galena
# Gary Cavin Park (Edwardsville Park) in Edwardsville
# Greenville Park on Button Town Road in Greenville
Louisville Metro has three (3) drop-off sites:
# Hubbards Lane Public Works Facility, 595 Hubbards Lane
# Meriwether Public Works Facility, 600 Meriwether Ave.
# Behind the Southwest Government Center, 7219 Dixie Highway
Maybe this is a good question to ask Mayor Abramson
when you see him Wednesday at the Metro Dem Club meeting. Why is it that a "World Class" city like Louisville cannot clean up after a storm as efficiently as our neighbors in Floyd County? Do we lack the infrastructure? Or do we lack the leadership?
I spent some time at the Southwest drop-off site today. The entrance has finally been reconfigured as to not block traffic on Dixie Highway, with people instead entering from St. Andrews Church Road. The mood among those in line was, to say the least, sour. Especially when they learned their government was being upstaged by those "
hapless rubes" in Floyd County. I shot some video, but none of those in line wanted to be interviewed on camera. They were angry, tired, dirty and, once again, ashamed of their city. They used words like "
pathetic" and "
clueless" to describe cleanup efforts organized by city managers and used even stronger language for the city's Executive Branch. It was even mentioned that our brothers and sisters in the East End were getting poor treatment as well.
As one man put it, "
Things are tough all over. There was no plan. It's time for a change in City Hall, I think."
There is a furious discussion going on among activists right now in Louisville about the foreign-owned, for-profit electric utility that operates LG&E, known as E.ON (E.OFF to activists). The prevailing idea among the group is to bury the power lines to protect them as well as protect the public from the damage and stupidity that comes with major weather events like Windstorm 2008, Ice Storm 2009 and last night's February Thunderstorm. These storms rip down power lines and leave "customers" with no recourse but to flock to shelters or sit and wait for the lines to be strung up again. The victims of the storm are then required to pay handsomely to protect the profits for the shareholders of E.ON. That is an idea that is losing favor quickly around here, and rightly so.
Do you want to know where your money goes when it leaves your paycheck and goes into the dark, black, bottomless hole of Louisville Metro Government? Are you at all curious as to why the Louisville Metro Council seems as though it has relatively no power when it comes to the city's budget priorities? Do you mutter to yourself, how did we get ourselves into this $20 million dollar mess? If so, you will be pleased to know that a bipartisan bill has been crafted tentatively titled the "Metro Louisville Budget Transparency Act". The legislation is set to be introduced soon in the Kentucky Legislature. HERE is a link to the text.
