Rumor Central....Galligan Out of Air Board ???

  The BatBlog has heard a rumor (not yet confirmed) that Clark County Commissioners will not return Tom "Bulldozer" Galligan as president of the Clark Co. Air board. If true one can believe that this isn't a unanimous decision. Connie "Rino" (republican in name only) Sellers is a long time Galligan crony and one would believe would be none to happy with this rumored change at the top of the aviation board.

This precludes the rumor that  Sellers may take on current Jeffersonville mayor Mike Moore in the next mayoral election GOP primary (2019) ...Sellers never a big fan of Mayor Moore (one remembers the long faces of Sellers and Ed "Moe" Z when Moore won in 2011) now even more (no pun intended) Sellers may want to show local Republicans who's the Queen of local politics...

Rumors for now but if true remember where you heard it first....

Handicapping The Democratic Party Chair Race...

 Clark Co. Democrats will caucus in a new party chairman on Mar. 4. This is a long overdue move to replace Tom "Bulldozer" Galligan. Reportedly three names have come forward as possible candidates to lead county Democrats into the future. Josh Rodriquez, Dustin White, and Diane Swank are people most commonly heard as a possible successor to Galligan...

 The BatBlog handicapping expertise rates these named candidates in this order...



Josh Rodriquez (Even money favorite) ...Reportedly Rodriquez a Jeffersonville City councilman is endorsed by Galligan. This makes Rodriquez as the odds on favorite because the caucus is stacked with Galligan friends and supporters much like Jamey Noel stacked his GOP caucus with friends , co-workers and relatives.

 Dustin White (3-1)...  White local attorney and also on the Jeff city council has been involved in Democratic politics for a long time and The BatBlog feels would be a good choice moving forward to lead local Democrats, but his non ties and rumored feud with Galligan make him the second choice in our handicapping the race...

Diane Swank (25-1).... Nothing against Ms. Swank but her ties to "Toxic" John Perkins make her a long shot. Her odds would be much higher but this same democratic caucus did caucus in "Toxic" John to the Clark Co. commissioners position several years ago even after "Toxic" John finished a poor dead last in the public election...So who knows...

Whoever wins The BatBlog gives their full support as this will be a challenging job and position. Republicans have dominated lately locally, nationally and in the state, and unless Trump's presidency is a complete disaster The BatBlog doesn't see any quick move back to democratic domination.

Whoever wins has to be energetic, dedicated and resolved  to recruit new, young, blood and candidates into the democratic fold and help change policy and the ideology that has caused the erosion away from the Dem. party...Good Luck to the winner...he or she will need it....

Clarksville's New Leader Kevin Jong-Baity...A BatBlog Profile

The town of Clarksville has a new leader and much like his counterpart in North Korea, Kevin Jong-Baity is throwing threats toward his neighbors. As reported in Friday's BatBlog Jong-Baity has threatened to flood out Jeffersonville residents unless Jeff ponies up 1.5 million dollars to help finance a drainage and flooding problem in southern C'ville.

It appears that Clarksville without even an election (much like North Korea) has handed over the reins of their town to a dictator that manages with threats and coercion just like his apparent idol Kim Jong-un. Similar to the mutual admiration of Trump/Putin,  Jong-Baity and Jong-un need to be dealt with appropriately, Mayor/ General Moore bravely rejected Jong -Baity's attempt of extorting 1.5 million dollars from the taxpayers of Jeffersonville. The BatBlog is calling for sanctions to be put in place to discourage further threats from the tyranny of their evil neighbor to the north.

The ball is in your court Jong-Baity...the next move is yours !!!

Back To War ??? Clarksville Threatens To Flood Jeffersonville....

 

Generals Moore and Orem

It appears the town of Clarksville didn't learn their lesson after being defeated  in last year's war over the extension of Court Ave. Clarksville  in what The BatBlog sees as a case of extortion boasts that they will flood out 10th St. and downtown Jeff residents if the Jeffersonville Sewer board doesn't hand over 1.5 million dollars for a Clarksville drainage and flooding project.CLICK HERE

  To their credit mayor ((generals) Moore and Orem rejected Clarksville's "extortion threat" down flat in the town's attempt to steal the 1.5 million. The BatBlog sees this threat as an act of aggression and another attempt at war by Clarksville. The BatBlog and HT as during the "Court Ave incident" pledges it loyalty and service if needed in these potential hostilities.

  If Clarksville floods out Jeff residents as they have threatened, HT is prepared to retaliate and take out Clarksville's only  historical landmark and institution Theatair X... this will bring C'ville to it's knees. Instead of extorting surrounding cities Clarksville needs to learn to pay for it's own projects. Clarksville might be able to extort smaller municipalities like Sellersburg or Borden but we in Jeffersonville will stand strong against tyranny of any hostile neighbors....Semper Fi

Bridge Tolls Revisited...RiverLink's Incompetency...

The BatBlog knows everyone is tired of us complaining about tolls but a recent story in the News/Tribune rang a bell and we thought we would revisit it. The story was about Black Diamond Pest Control and how the business was being overcharged on multiple occasions by Riverlink the company in charge of the tolling on the local bridges. Black Diamond had over 1000 trips across the various bridges during the last billing period by Riverlink and was overcharged many times and dollars.

 Something  readers might not realize is that businesses will spend tens of thousands of dollars traversing the new bridges. You can bet your ass they aren't going to eat these added costs. The consumers you and I will be paying more for good and services to compensate for the tolling expenses added on to companies that serve Kentuckiana. The tolls that keep on taking money out of our pockets.

Also Riverlink is off to a poor start collecting these tolls and users of the new bridges are being warned to check their accounts for mistakes that appear to be quite common. So now we have to double check... wasting our precious time for the apparent incompetency of the company hired to do a job that they are apparently doing quite poorly. River Link's motto is "Now We're Moving" yeah...moving money out of our pockets into Theirs...

 The BatBlog promises not to cry over tolls for at least another month or until RiverLink screws The BatBlog out of their hard earned money...Remain Vigilant and check your Riverlink bill !!!

The Healing of the Local Democratic Party ???

On Mar. 4. Clark Co. Dem chairman Tom Galligan will step aside and turn the reins over to a new chairman at the Democrat caucus. The BatBlog has been highly critical of T.G. in the past and rightfully so on most occasions, but this is a step in the right direction and way over due.

 It's time for a fresh start for local Democrats who have been beaten down time after time in recent elections. Hopefully whoever is elected will breathe new life and energy to the party that used to dominate the Clark Co. political scene in years past. Whoever succeeds Galligan has their work cut out for them as many former, fair weather Democrats have jumped ship to the GOP  lately .These trends run in cycles but Republicans are dominating elections right now, county and state wide

 As a lifelong Democrat here's hoping the party caucus takes their duty seriously in choosing someone dedicated, energetic and with the personality to attract new member and candidates , so that once again Democrats can be prominent here in Clark Co.

Some of the names thrown around as possibly interested are current Jeffersonville city council members Dustin White and Josh Rodriquez both viable candidates in The BatBlog's opinion. Also mentioned has been Diane Swank. The BatBlog won't make a choice in this race we just hope whoever wins will dedicate themselves to working hard to bring the local Democratic party success once again....

R.I.P. ...Clark County Chatter

It appears the local internet forum the CCC has bit the dust. The once lively cyber place to discuss politics (local and national), community happenings/events and general conversation has been in serious decline for the last several years. The final kiss of death apparently was when Google started blocking it as a "unsafe site." The last week or so The Chatter appears frozen in time if you go to the trouble of accessing it. No updates or any information on the CCC Facebook page so it may be finally  put to rest.

Many fine people and cyber friends have followed us over to Jeffersonville/Clark Co. Blog -The BatBlog from the CCC and we hope you will continue to follow the issues of the day ...where Everyone is welcome and ALL opinions can be voiced.

It's sorry to see the CCC end like this may it Rest in Peace ...

Did Noel and Wilder Try to Pull One Over on Clark Co. ???

 In the aftermath of the Bennett/ Co. Council fiasco one has to wonder if Jamey Noel and Larry Wilder were trying to "pull one over" on Clark Co. voters/residents ???  It's hard to believe neither Noel or Wilder didn't know or bother to research the residency requirements required for serving on the council. Residency which has been an issue in other local elections ("Toxic" John Perkins") and eligibility you would think would be the first thing checked especially for a candidate that has just recently moved into this area...

 Kudos to the News/Tribune that reportedly brought to attention that Bennett wasn't eligible under Indiana law. Bennett immediately withdrew from his appointment claiming ignorance of the law, but The BatBlog wonders why a man with Bennett's education and political experience didn't know or research the law as well ??? Peculiar...

Other questions have arisen as well of the whole process of Bennett being caucused into the county council seat. How did Bennett know that Brian Lenfert's 2nd Dist. seat would even be open ??? As far as we know Lenfert NEVER "publicly" announced he was a candidate for the open "at large" position. It was rumored (on The BatBlog) but just rumored no announcement.

 Question 2. Why didn't Lenfert publicly announce he would be attempting to switch positions and give other potential candidates a heads up to his possible vacant seat ??? Bennett was the only one interested and considered for Lenfert's vacated council seat...Was it because he was the only one who knew there would be an opening ??? Also it has been reported to the BatBlog that curiously Bennett only registered to vote in Clark Co.a week before the GOP caucus ...

 Maybe this was all coincidental and this wasn't a concerted effort by Noel, Bennett and Wilder to slide Bennett on to the Clark Co.Council. Without proof of intent we will have to assume that Noel and Wilder aren't a pair of "Snake oil " salesmen trying to dupe the voters of Clark Co....but what's the old saying ??? If it walks like a duck , talks like a duck ????

BatBlog Exclusive....Moore being Considered for U.S. Senate Seat

   *********************BATBLOG EXCLUSIVE REPORT*******************

Sources have exclusively reported to The BatBlog that Jeffersonville mayor Mike Moore is being considered for a run at the U.S. Senate seat in 2018. According to the report, state and national GOP leaders flew in for a meeting at a prominent local business leader's home to discuss the matter.
The seat currently held by Joe Donnelly (D) is considered to be a vulnerable and targeted by high GOP leaders as a great opportunity to increase the Republican  majority now held in the Senate.

 Moore currently serving his 2nd term as Jeffersonville mayor is reportedly mulling over the decision and conferring with family and friends before deciding whether to run or not. Jeffersonville has had unprecedented growth under Moore's leadership the past 6 years and if he does decide to run for the Senate seat would leave Jeff in a great position for the future.

 Moore a lifetime Jeffersonville resident has a tough decision to make and The BatBlog wishes him Good Luck whatever he decides  and whatever path the future leads him...

Bennett Caucused Into Clark Co.Council ....

******************BREAKING UPDATE***************************
Tony Bennett caucused in to the Clark Co. Council Wednesday night has stepped aside when it was determined he hadn't met the residency requirements of residing in Clark Co. for 1 year as required by Indiana law....

*************************************************************************
In a move nobody saw coming except for possibly Jamey Noel, the Clark Co. GOP caucused in Tony Bennett as a member of the Clark Co. council wed. night. Bennett the former Ind. Superintendent of Public Instruction brings baggage of his own to the council. An Indiana internal investigation found more than 100 instances of possible wire fraud charges against Bennett during his 2012 state re-election bid , which he lost. Bennett curiously was never criminally charged, though he did pay $5000.00 for ethics violations.

  Bennett was caucused into Brian Lenfert's 2nd Dist. slot as predicted earlier by The BatBlog. Lenfert will slide into disgraced Mike Popplewell's at large council seat which Popplewell resigned from after theft charges were filed against him...Bennett will  fill Lenfert's 2nd district position on the  county council.

 The Clark Co. Rep.s caucus have every right to put who ever they want in these open positions and we guess maneuver them as they see fit, but these moves have the smell of some back, smoke filled room politics. The obvious, fair and some say wise choice would have been Doug Reiter.  Mr. Reiter won a primary slot by the people's vote and finished next in line on the GOP side in the general election for the at large seat...but  as The BatBlog has stated before there is nothing fair and honorable or wise for that matter... in politics Clark Co. style.It appears to us Mr. Reiter and Clark Co. Rep. mainstream party voters just got screwed over by their own party caucus to put in place someone with a questionable ethics background. The more things change the more they just stay the same... (SMH)