John Flood, Bill Schreck, and Code Enforcement.....

This story just keeps getting better.

According to research, after being provided a tip by an anonymous reader, IPL Chief Code Enforcement Officer John Flood is the inspector who cited Alan and Nancy Morris on Newburg Rd for having weddings on their property.

Flood has also changed his signature on email from Chief Code Enforcement Officer to Executive Administrator. Funny huh?

As you know the Morrises story is one I have been following since January and continue to follow daily. Read my prior posts for background information.

On to the topic at hand. Proof of John Flood's citation notice can be seen here:

http://ipldata.msdlouky.org/IPLCISConditional2.aspx?APNO= 281005

2
Regular Occupied Structure
10/31/2007 1:14:00 PM
JFLOOD
ZONING NOTICES

Chris Poynter, Mayor Abramson's spokesman, has stated that John Flood does not issue citations etc.

AS YOU CAN SEE this is not the case.

So this begs the question for the Morrises, and anyone who has received a citation from Code Enforcement's John Flood, one I stated previously.

Is there a legal challenge for these folks based on an illegal citation?

I am no lawyer but it would appear that most definitely in the Morrises case, since John Flood acted as an illegal "special officer," that their problems started with his illegal citation and therefore they should be entitled to redress from the City for their expenses defending themselves.

Since Jim King is surely aware of this problem what is his motive for continuing the fight?

Check out my previous article and comments associated with it. Blogger: Louisville News and Politics - Post a Comment Interesting.

There will be more on this to come I am sure.

On another note concerning Code Enforcement it has been told to me by an anonymous reader that Bill Schreck, the man who runs Code Enforcement, retired officially sometime ago and Mayor Abramson rehired him.

This, if proven true, would mean that Bill Schreck is "double dipping." While this may be a common practice for State employees, and one I disagree with totally, it is NOT acceptable for Metro government. This is an issue I am investigating today.

Additionally, the State lists Bill Schreck as the ABC administrator in the City of Louisville, and on a separate County list the ABC administrator for Jefferson County.

http://abc.ky.gov/NR/rdonlyres/EA7D227B-C45D-414F-90E7-43E1FF19C35E/0/CityABCadministrators.pdf
http://abc.ky.gov/NR/rdonlyres/8E768DD6-3EF3-4DBF-BFEB-052AB11FBBA5/0/CountyABCadministrators.pdf

Would this mean quadruple dipping?

Seriously, how many paychecks are we feeding this guy? Not to mention the numerous Schreck's on the payroll. http://datacenter.courier-journal.com/government/salaries/search-results.php?last=schreck

Family members?

Regardless this would appear to be a major conflict of interest for Mr. Schreck to be ABC administrator and Code Enforcement Director at the same time wouldn't it?

I will research these items and update as I get info.

We need to seriously start questioning our spending and our leadership.

John Flood indicted

Anyone remember Mel Ignatow?

He got away with murder but went to jail for perjury. He lied under oath.

Perjury is a serious thing and brings me to this.

Thanks to a tip from an anonymous reader an open records request was submitted for case 08-M-018507 concerning John Flood. As you know I have pointed out that John Flood is a code enforcement officer and went public stating that indeed HE requires HIS inspectors to write 15-18 citations a day through IPL.

As part of the ongoing research I also publicized that John Flood was a convicted felon who falsely endorsed others checks for deposit into his account and got caught.

Of course John is also a political insider as is his wife Metro Councilwoman MaDonna Flood.

Well thanks to diligence on the part of the LMPD integrity unit and our anonymous reader we now have the indictment of John Flood in hand.

Originally the case was sent through circuit court and a special prosecutor was to deal with it. All of a sudden the case remanded to District Court and is now handled by the County attorney's office. Of course we all know how impartial that office is with the City right?

In January I tried to get the media involved from the statements of John Flood himself (in front of approximately 40 witnesses no less) to investigate the Code Enforcement Division or at least report on the illegal quotas. Miraculously of course no media has ever followed this story or asked questions.

Of course they were not interested. It would require showing the link to the party politics and leadership that may include Abramson. So no go.

Surprise, surprise.

Flood signed a written oath declaring he possessed the qualifications prescribed by law for the position of Code Enforcement Officer, knowing that he was a convicted felon and therefore NOT QUALIFIED under law for the position, against the peace and dignity of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

Perjury.

Why would I mention Abramson here? Simply this. Rick Redding at www.theVilleVoice.com got a bit involved with this issue in April while researching the District 14 Metro Council candidates and quoted me on the Flood statements. To date he is the only media type to even address it.

Here is the link: Springston Shaking Things Up on Dixie.

Included was this quote: Chris Poynter, a spokesman for the Mayor, called Springston’s accusations about IPL “ludicrous.”

Funny with 40 witnesses my accusations were ludicrous. A letter was even sent to Rick Redding verifying my information from a couple of people who were in attendance. The Mayor and his pet spokesman never went on record other than that comment.

I also pointed out during that discussion with Mr. Redding that John Flood was a convicted felon and could not hold that office. The Mayor's office even said they knew about that and that it was "old news."

Abramson and his staff admitted this knowledge which is why he is involved in these charges.

Of course get him on the record. Plausible deniability at its finest.

He knew it was against the law for a convicted felon to have a job as an enforcement OFFICER yet did it anyway for political payback maybe?

Now there are several questions to be asked. One that comes to mind is a simple one.

Is there evidence to suggest a class action lawsuit against the City on behalf of those who have been fined or cited for violations by an illegal enforcement officer?

This could be a serious problem for the Code Enforcement division and this Mayor as it should be for knowingly violating the law.

Flood's trial is currently scheduled for September 30. Make plans to attend unless of course they change it to hide it as they have kept it out of the limelight so far.

Of course he will probably be reassigned to a different job by then.

Stay tuned for more to come......

Another Code enforcement debacle

Friday was a slow day so a couple of my real estate friends went to listen in on the Code enforcement meetings. It did not stay slow long.

One of these friends, a real estate broker since 1987, was standing in the back of the room so he could hear better. Anyone who has attended these meetings knows how hard it is to hear on occasion especially when you have a hard time hearing anyway.

After the start of the meeting the Chairperson, Carolyn Taylor Anthony, told my friend to sit down. He explained that he had a hearing problem and it was easier to hear standing up based on the acoustics of the room. She dropped it after that. For a few minutes anyway.

A few minutes later a staffer on the Board told my friend to sit down. He explained the same thing again about the hearing problems and no further comment was made.

Once again a short time later Carolyn Taylor Anthony decided to order a Deputy Sheriff to escort my friend out.

Why?

Who knows.

The Sheriff was aware of my friend standing there and apparently did not see a threat problem until he was ordered to escort him out for no reason.

These meetings are open to the public and are subject to strict oversight accordingly.

What harm was my friend causing by standing there and keeping quiet? Was she concerned he may actually hear what they were saying in a public meeting and she didn't want witnesses?

OK far fetched I admit but he was doing nothing more than listening , or trying to, to the proceedings. He created no problems at all.

In fact the proceedings were disrupted by the Chairperson, Carolyn Taylor Anthony, and she should have known better.

So what was the intent by Carolyn Taylor Anthony?

Simply one more way to go on a power trip I guess. What other motive could she have for disrupting a meeting she chaired for no apparent reason.

This is yet one more example of the stupidity of these people on these politically appointed boards.

I believe this is a violation of the open meetings laws in KRS. Research done so far does not show where anyone is barred from standing at an open meeting. In fact at quite a few open meetings (the bomb shelter meeting at the Southwest Government Center comes to mind) there is standing room only and nothing is ever said.

We have a Deputy Sheriff there for protection and he apparently perceived no threat at all. As a trained Sheriff would he not have the experience to make that judgement versus the Chairperson Carolyn Taylor Anthony? I would certainly hope so.

To forcefully remove someone who has a hard time hearing because they were standing to get a better listen to proceedings is pathetic.

I recommend he checks on whether there has been a civil rights violation in this regard.

One more abuse of power.

Abramson and his Field of Dreams......

Much is being made of the recent announcement by the Cordish Group who developed 4th street live and their newest venture of developing the old Water Co. site. While many look at these projects and say they are great for the City, one question remains:

What gives?

Mayor Abramson is always quick for a positive photo and news op and based on my observations Abramson could sell ice to an eskimo. Problem is anyone can sell but delivery is tough. If it takes to long to deliver the ice starts melting and is actually worth less by the time it is delivered. Delivery problems, scheduling problems, these are things that I continue to challenge the Mayor on.

Let's recap some of the events around his photo and news ops and look at the facts with the 3 biggest developments.

ARENA:

In 2006 I was the only Mayor candidate against an arena deal because quite frankly I believed it would not live up to the hype it would cost too much money and they could not deliver it. All at our expense. I advocated that the arena project should be set aside until we had a firm grasp of the details and a guarantee on site construction. I preferred investing in new small business and existing business retention.

As usual the "Field of Dreams" mentality of Mayor Abramson took over and we are still seemingly no closer to achieving the goals as outlined by Abramson and the Louisville Arena Authority. Notice how quick the LAA gets to do all the talking when there are problems?

Here is the latest from the CJ:

Arena's new financing package to be ready by Aug. 28, Host says courier-journal The Courier-Journal

I love some of the comments in the article, for example:

"The Louisville Arena Authority will have a new financing plan in place for the downtown arena when it next meets Aug. 28, its chairman, Jim Host, predicted yesterday."

How many promises have been made to date on financing? Good thing Host is not a psychic or something. He would go broke with bad predictions. He declined to state publicly what the new financing plan might contain, but a line of credit with banks has been discussed. Host said talks with financial companies and consultants are continuing in earnest, and he may go to New York in the next few days to discuss arena-related matters.

Want to bet Deputy Mayor Will Sommers IV son, Will Sommers V bank will be involved? He is a VP at a Bank.

We are still discussing financing that should have been in place prior to starting this project.

Field of Dreams indeed.

MUSEUM PLAZA:

Another great photo and "breaking" news op by Abramson concerns Museum Plaza.

Museum Plaza partners paying to move utilities courier-journal The Courier-Journal

The futuristic skyscraper is meant to reshape Louisville's skyline when completed in 2011. It is the vision of arts patron Laura Lee Brown and her husband, Steve Wilson; developer Steve Poe; and attorney Craig Greenberg. Greenberg said the four developers still haven't secured the $300 million construction loan necessary to complete the project because of instability in the financial markets.

Another project announced that was to be great for Louisville yet one problem still persists.

There is no financing in place.

But hey we have committed to some money haven't we?

Louisville will issue $47 million in bonds to help pay for a flood wall at the building and new streets, lighting and other infrastructure improvements.

The state of Kentucky has agreed to help the project with a 30-year taxing district that allows 80 percent of the taxes generated by the development to pay for infrastructure improvements. The state also will rebate sales taxes on construction materials used at the site.

Field of Dreams.

See the pattern yet?

And one other recent example.

CORDISH GROUP:

The developers of Fourth Street Live, the Cordish Group, gave Abramson one more opportunity at a "breaking" news photo op.

Seems Cordish is now going to develop the old Water Co. site and spend at least $200 million minimum.

Sounds great right?

But here we go again.

From Business First:

City, Cordish reach agreement on Center City project - Business First of Louisville:

The agreement doesn’t establish a firm start time for the project.

It allows Cordish until September 2010 to secure financing, in light of the current difficulties in the national credit markets, according to Chris Poynter, communications coordinator for Louisville Metro Mayor Jerry Abramson.

That date could be pushed back if needed, according to city officials.

Poynter also acknowledged that attracting major retailers is difficult now, as many have scaled back or canceled expansion plans because of economic conditions.

So they admit they will have a hard time attracting business for this space, which really considering the Red Cheetah debacle who would be surprised, and once again have no FINANCING in place for this project.

Field of Dreams.

The pattern is a simple one. Call the press get some coverage showing all these "positive" projects being built and people will forget about the real things like the hemorrhaging of dependable jobs from our community.

Here is some more on Cordish Group for your review.

Martin: Cordish Is Drunk on Power - News - The Pitchpage 1 - The Pitch

Cordish: “All your party are belong to us” : BlogKC

Field of Dreams mantra? If you build it they will come.

Unfortunately this is not a TV movie this is real life. We should be spending money retaining existing business and growing new business based on reality not dreams.

Mayor Abramson and cronies just do not seem to be able to grasp that concept.

Tell you what maybe I should announce I will invest $1 billion dollars into Downtown Louisville and get the commitment from you the taxpayers for at least 10% of that back.

I have no financing in place but hey the Mayor could get another great photo op with no substance to offer.

Sounds like a plan huh?

Feedback suggestions

First let me say thanks to each of you for visiting this website. I am greatly humbled at how many of you take an interest in what I report and what is going on in Louisville.

Over the last 30 days we have had over 1700 visitors. To say this site is growing quickly is an understatement. I hope to continue earning your trust and viewership with even more reports in the near future.

Which brings me to this.

Many have asked to help them contact me easier via email instead of through the comments portion of this blog. As always the email address is myviewmatters@aol.com.

Many have sent comments as anonymous with no facts in them. Opinions will always be allowed, however, there have been one or two cases where I have received "anonymous" comments alleging things against others with no facts or email address or any other way to contact to confirm the allegations.

Integrity is a key thing for me and as much as I would like to allow a "no holds barred" approach to some degree with this blog I cannot in good conscience do that. I pride myself not to be a sellout like mainstream news.

If anyone has any information they would like to share about a story I have done (or a story you want me to do) please let me know by emailing me direct or phone 742-8519.

You will remain anonymous but crucial info is still needed in most cases to verify information.

A good case in point is the free for all concerning Katie King for example. A 911 call was exposed on local media, WHAS TV news and the Courier Journal, and all of a sudden the CJ site had so many allegations against her concerning a variety of issues it would be and was very tempting to go with some sort of story solely on the allegations.

As tempting as it was, and still is, it just wasn't right to report on unproven allegations. Are the allegations true? Could be but if they are someone needs to help verify with facts. Dates, times, witnesses etc. This type of information is necessary. You can contact me with information on this or any other thing you would like investigated.

Anonymously of course.

Anyone can write allegations but without facts they are meaningless. I am a fact kind of guy.

Help me help us all with any issues and help me make it factual.

Unlike a lot of other blog site "reports," in this blog facts do matter.

Again, thanks for helping make this blog a success so far. I hope to continue helping be a voice for us all.

Ed

City giving away land?

I caught a report by Mark Hebert Tuesday on WHAS11, http://www.whas11.com/video/political-index.html?nvid=271788&shu=1 , concerning the City's plan to give the alley known as Reed Alley, (or for most familiar with this alley it is known as "piss" alley), to the owners abutting it. Rick Redding also carried a quickie on this here: Time to Learn Something

Funnily enough the business owners apparently do not want the "free" property.

Why you may ask? Simple.

The City owned property has not been taken care of by the City and is obviously violating just about any code with Code enforcement you can think of.

The alley even comes complete with it's own sinkhole that has not been filled in. Never mind the severe safety hazards for anyone going through there or the liability Abramson has let us be stuck with if anyone does get hurt.

Welcome to Abramson's version of Louisville Metro government. One in which no buck cannot be passed! When it is broke make somebody else fix what he didn't.

While Code enforcement continues to harass homeowners and small business they conveniently let the City off the hook and ignore the problems it has with property ownership.

Pot meet kettle.

As is typical with the Abramson administration the City does anything it wants to in order to avoid accountability at the expense of we the people.

By "giving" the alley to the adjoining businesses this in effect takes Abramson off the hook for repairing the alleyway and puts the OBLIGATION OF RESPONSIBILITY on the small business owners. When they do not fix this area by Abramson's timetable they will then be fined heavily for failure to comply. You know the drill by now.

In this particular case I decided to research further to see if this was even legal and uncovered a few details along the way.

For example, according to KRS382.135:

382.135 Statement of consideration or market value and mailing and in-care-of addresses required in deed to real property -- Exceptions -- Clerk prohibited from filing noncompliant deed. - http://www.lrc.ky.gov/KRS/382-00/135.PDF

(1) In addition to any other requirement imposed by law, a deed to real property shall contain the following:

(a) The mailing addresses of the grantor and grantee;
(b) A statement of the full consideration;
(c) A statement indicating the in-care-of address to which the property tax bill for the year in which the property is transferred may be sent; and
(d) 1. In the case of a transfer other than by gift, or with nominal or no consideration a sworn, notarized certificate signed by the grantor or his agent and the grantee or his agent, or the parent or guardian of a person under eighteen (18) years old, that the consideration reflected in the deed is the full consideration paid for the property; or

2. In the case of a transfer either by gift or with nominal or no consideration, a sworn, notarized certificate signed by the grantor or his agent and the grantee or his agent, or the parent or guardian of a person under eighteen (18) years old, stating that the transfer is by gift and setting forth the estimated fair cash value of the property.

(2) The deed filing requirements listed in subsection (1)(b) and (d)* of this section shall not apply to:

(c) Deeds which convey rights-of-way that involve governmental agencies;

Prior to August 1, according to law, NO ONE could transfer property to anyone without both agreeing to it and getting signed notarized documents as such. I mean really, why then could I not just deed over a certain piece of property to anyone if it was decrepit and was going to cost a bundle to fix.

Well, interestingly enough the law has now been "tweaked" a bit and the new changes went into effect guess when?

August 1, 2008. Less than 2 weeks ago. Interesting to say the least huh?

According to (2) above, that went into effect August 1, 2008, we can conclude one thing.

Yes indeed Abramson, on behalf of the City of course, can do this huge favor and dump the interest to the alley onto the adjacent owners, or anyone else he sees fit too really, and voila!

Like it or not Abramson is off the hook again!

Mere coincidence that the effective date was less than 2 weeks ago? You be the judge.

Instead of taking responsibility for this situation, and rehabbing the alleyway he is responsible for, Abramson has once again found a way to force his problems onto someone else.

Just one more way he will stick it to someone to get money in the future through fines and harassment for his mess. A mess he didn't take care of when he was obligated to.

Is this legal or ethical? There are lots of questions to be asked.

Once again selective enforcement by Code enforcement. Kind of makes you wonder where diligent hard working inspectors such as John Flood or Michael Baugh are doesn't it?

Time to say enough is enough.

Code Enforcement: First in a series

I will be doing a series of articles concerning Code Enforcement, IPL, and BOZA. This series will expose everything I can find and will focus on the officers of each of these organizations. Time to get the ball rolling..........

First up is John Flood.

John Flood came to a Neighborhood group meeting at Catfish Haven incognito a few months ago in November 2007. Of course he did not tell anyone who he was yet he was identified easily.

One of the problems addressed at this meeting was IPL and code enforcement harassment.

During the course of the meeting Mr. Flood was on the spot for the perceived injustices of his office. Well from my standpoint there was nothing perceived about it.

When John was pushed on the issues concerning residents, and asked about quotas, his response was simple:

"I require my inspectors to write up 15-18 inspections per day."

This is a record that yes there are indeed quotas by Metro government employees and yes Mr. Flood is aware and "requires" them. Is this legal or ethical?

Nope.

Having known John Flood was a Democrat insider for many years I decided to retrace my facts on Mr. Flood and see what was out there.

I will begin with a question.

If any of you out there knowingly falsely endorsed someone else's check that did not belong to you and put it in your personal account for personal use what would happen?

You would be in jail for theft. That's a no brainer.

John Flood was convicted of 9 FELONIES for doing just that. As a Democrat Party official in 1995 John Flood was in charge of a get out the vote effort in Newburg area. More than 20 people showed up to pass out literature for the Democratic Party.

They were each paid $25 or $50 for their efforts. The State Democratic Party issued checks in advance made out to people who did the work.

Some didn't show up so what happened?

The checks were falsely endorsed by John Flood and deposited in John Flood's bank account.

The Judge overseeing the case Judge James Shake, who today is seeking the Supreme Court of Kentucky, decided that John Flood did not have to go to prison for his theft, even though John Flood's attorney and the prosecuting attorney had agreed on an 18 month prison term, because John was such a solid citizen and community leader.

Judge Shake decided against prison. Gee I feel so much better by leaders like this who are caught.

Such an outstanding citizen like this certainly warrants a good City government job given to him right?

*Well Darryl Owens himself in 1998 apparently thought so and hired John Flood as an administrative assistant for $28,000 a year. You have to wonder how many convicted felons get this kind of special treatment don't you?

Some of John Flood's duties included screening applications for County Boards and commissions (this was pre merger), reviewing fiscal court documents ( I love this a felon reviewing Court documents for accuracy), and attending neighborhood meetings.

And of course since merger he continues to be taken care of as a convicted felon with a good paying Government job as one of the Chiefs in Code enforcement.

Oh and of course his wife is MaDonna Flood current Council woman. More on her in other articles to come.

Folks this is political patronage pure and simple. No other felon committing acts like this would be allowed to skip jail with a small $300 fine and a probation. Nor should they be.

When you steal checks made out to others and use them as your own money this is not an accident. Endorsing someone's else's check requires a thought process.

But I guess one thing has changed.

Instead of stealing money for his use from the party coffers, he now sets up illegal quotas and stealing from the pockets of all of us so he can get a good raise or another appointment in essence putting more money in his pocket.

It is time we called these people out.

Never for ordinary people convicted of felonies do they get special treatment and cushy government jobs.

There is more to come in future articles stay tuned.



Next Up: IPL inspector Michael Baugh exposed..............

*Source Courier Journal, Sheldon S. Shafer, January 14, 1998

Jim King vs. the Morrises: Power run amok

As most are aware by now the case against Allen and Nancy Morris continues. After being abused by BOZA in January as I noted on January 27 (http://www.myviewmatters.org/) and a more recent article here on Louisville News I must say this thing is just getting more incredible each and everyday.

The Morrises are even required to get signed affidavits as to the relationship to them of those who get married there. This is a serious civil rights issue as well in my opinion but we will get into that in future articles.

The Morrises have done everything they were told to do by BOZA in January and yet continue to have to fight to use their carriage house for family and friend weddings.

They have already been vilified in court in regards to one wedding and won another victory today at the appeals hearing, requested by none other than Metro Council President Jim King, ruled in her favor as well.

I would think that the Morrises have spent enough money and time trying to comply to finally let this case rest.

According to Mrs. Morris Jim King's attorney today said not.

In fact now Metro Council President Jim King has decided to send his paid attorney to BOZA next week to make them define what constitutes an "event."

How many more obstacles will Jim King put in their way?

How much more must the Morrises endure for Metro Council President Jim King to continue wielding his own personal power play?

Who knows.

It is easy to define the word event.

In fact Wikipedia states that the word event can have several meanings:

In culture and social life:

Festival, for example a musical event
Ceremony, for example a marriage
Competition, for example a sports competition
Party, for example a birthday party
Convention (meeting), for example a gaming convention

Clearly a wedding ceremony fits this description and Metro Council President Jim King continues to harass the Morrises for his own gain.

So here is a question for Metro Council President Jim King. Do political fundraising "events" qualify as an event per se?

Since the answer is a resounding YES, based on advertising it as an event, and since the people primarily involved are "friends" or family, HOW MANY TEMPORARY ACTIVITY PERMITS has he applied for while raising over $150,000 for his daughter Katie's ( see other posts for more info on her) Judge race?

Is Metro Council President Jim King in effect violating the same issues he is trying to handicap the Morrises with?

It should be an insult to each and everyone of us that an elected representative can continue to abuse the power of his office to try to wear constituents down so he can have his way.
It is time Metro Council President Jim King said enough is enough and let this go.

For someone like Metro Council President Jim King, who wants even more power such as a Mayor race in the coming years, this is a sure sign of someone who believes he can do what he wants when he wants and abuse his power in doing so.

We already have a Mayor like that.

We do not need another setting himself as "heir apparent."

Let's hope we the people are smarter than that and remember this come election for him.

Reformulated Gas (RFG)

Councilman Doug Hawkins has been pushing for citizens to get involved in asking Governor Steve Beshear to absolve Louisville from having to use Reformulated Gas (RFG). He has even circulated a petition for our signatures and has taken some heat for his stance. I signed it happily.

There have been many stories lately some asking the critical question:

"Is RFG necessary?"

I am with Hawkins on this issue. I believe it is not necessary.

There have been some fear mongers who say that if we discontinue RFG we will get the VET back.

That is false. There have been major strides in recent years such as the reduction in sulfur content in all gas in 2004. This virtually eliminated the difference in nitrogen oxide emissions in reformulated and conventional gas.

Conventional gas is cleaner today then it was a few years ago. Even the auto manufacturers since the 2004 regulations were required to begin selling vehicles with better pollution-fighting technology. Vehicles meeting these standards are 77% to 95% cleaner, depending on the size of the vehicle, compared with 2003 models, according to the EPA.

A good source of information and questions comes from here:

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=767584

It outlines some specific problems in Milwaukee Wisconsin (who was mandated by the EPA to use RFG not volunteered like we are).

It explains some studies and why they are not accurate and even states that with all the changes, the EPA can't say exactly how beneficial reformulated gas is anymore.

It also goes on to lay a good portion of the pollution problems on outside forces they cannot control. Such as pollution floating in from Indiana and Chicago.

This is one area that I have challenged publicly in many regards. With Louisville being in the Ohio Valley we essentially are a dumping ground for air borne pollutants from Indiana and just about anywhere else that a nice breeze decides to blow into here.

So is there any benefit to RFG? Not if you cannot control the pollutants it is a band aid on a mortal wound. It just does not stick.

If there is no benefit there can be no justified costs or reason to voluntarily continue with this program.

Like him or not Doug Hawkins has this one right.

Code Enforcement again

I have been following the plight of Allan and Nancy Morris and their property on Newburg Road for some time now. I got involved in this story totally by accident on January 8, 2008. I was at a Board of Zoning meeting (BOZA) on behalf of Norman Pepper and his struggle against the City in regards to his "fish" at his business Pepper Bait and Tackle on Dixie Hwy.

Little did I know then what an eye opener it would be to see the incompetency and blatant harassment by this board particularly Judith Francis.

I was so angry over her display in regards to this issue that I volunteered to be a witness should the Morrises decide to sue this Board over the treatment. For more check out www.myviewmatters.org in the Ed's Rants section. I "ranted" about it on January 27.

Why do I bring this up now?

According to a CJ article today http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/200807300430/ZONE01/807300676 the Morrises are now being sued for a permanent injunction to stop allowing weddings at their residence. Some say what they are doing is illegal the Morrises contend they are following the rules as outlined by only allowing friends and family to use the carriage house in this regard.

Some of the feedback I have already received has been interesting to say the least. In short the question of legality is one that cannot be ignored and I readily agree with that. However, how many businesses are run out of a home? Yard sales are "businesses" should they not be shut down without a business license?

In fact, quite a few online businesses are run from home, though admittedly probably not with a lot of cars using their driveway but it is still illegal without a conditional use permit is it not?

To quote the definition of business from wikipedia:

"A business (also called firm or an enterprise) is a legally recognized organizational entity designed to provide goods and/or services to consumers or corporate entities such as governments, charities or other businesses. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, most being privately owned and formed to earn profit to increase the wealth of owners. The owners and operators of a business have as one of their main objectives the receipt or generation of a financial return in exchange for work and acceptance of risk."

If you are working from home and working towards profit you are considered a business. Generally speaking of course. I can think of a few illegal businesses being run out of the home of at least one Metro Council member and some neighbors.

Mrs. Morris has been doing this almost 14 years which predates merger and the City laws that are now in effect. This had never been an issue nor had their been any complaints until Metro Council President Jim King moved in next door. Mr. King bought the next door property in 2006, with the plan to build several houses on it, and now professes that he is acting on behalf of neighbor complaints.

The Morrises were given a way to legally remedy their situation in regards to allowing weddings on their property. The BOZA suggested they apply for a conditional use permit since they were accused of running an illegal business by renting a carriage house on their acreage that makes a nice place to have weddings. Mrs. Morris decided to delve into that with a passion because it is something she loves to do.

The obvious question for me is where were the complaints prior to Mr. King acquiring the property next door?

There are no records anyone has shown as evidence to date.

The Morrises have already won one case against the Department of Code enforcement when a restraining order was filed against them to stop a wedding on July 11. Circuit Court Judge Barry Willett ruled in their favor and allowed the Morrises to continue with the wedding.

The Morrises are not criminals, in fact, they are a loving older couple with good intentions based on my first hand knowledge of them. After being told what to do to be in compliance the Morrises have spent countless money on legal advice and representation to ensure they comply.

In fact the second loss to the City is when the Planning Commission's Development Review Committee granted them a waiver last month to allow them to proceed with their application to subdivide the property in two thus making separate addresses for the carriage house and the main house.

Reference the CJ.

And yet who comes to the rescue of the neighborhood? None other than Jim King again who is appealing the ruling by the Planning Commission.

There may be other neighbors who are complaining or put up to it who knows.

One thing is certain with no known records prior to 2006 of any complaints against the Morrises in this regard, which coincides with Jim King buying the adjacent property, and Jim King leading the appeal one has to wonder.

Is this a question of ethical behavior?

If there are indeed neighbors complaining it would make sense to have them appeal NOT Metro Council President Jim King.

Your thoughts?