ABRAMSON: IS THE CRITICISM JUSTIFIED?

My apologies to you readers. I have been extremely ill for the last week and have not updated like I would prefer over this time. During this time period much has happened and we will have reports on the issues soon.

With that being said, I noticed a story today by Dan Klepal at the CJ concerning Abramson and criticism. Abramson faces rising tide of criticism courier-journal The Courier-Journal. Admittedly I love the title of the article but it did make me ask myself overall is all the criticism justified?

I spend a great amount of time laying out the hypocrisies, lies, and deception of this Mayor and receive a lot of backlash for it. So as someone who consistently says you must look within, and be willing to be critical of yourself as well, now seems as good a time as any to ponder this question.

I come up with an answer most will not be surprised by. Yes it is justified.

I like Dan Klepal usually really I do. His past work in Cincinnati, a lot of his work here at the CJ, has been dead on target and he has seemed to not care about backlash for doing the hard work and calling people out in government. In this particular case I think he falls short in some ways. It seems this article, in comparison to other articles by Dan, has been fluffed a bit and does not seem to have the same bite as what I have become accustomed to.

Perhaps the CJ editors have put some clamps on him? That is speculation of course but in these trying times with cutbacks at CJ and other media outlets I would suspect that most will do what they are told to preserve their jobs. I am not a CJ insider, nor do I want to be, so I will leave this at speculation. This article however does leave much to be desired and the comments section are humorous in many ways as well.

Let's break down some of the info Dan is crediting Abramson with.

A lot of people believe the only reason Abramson is under the gun is because of a bad economy overall. That may be true in some people's thoughts but for many of us this oversight of Abramson started long ago not due to a weak economy. Take for example the firehouse situation mentioned in the article.

For those who have read the CJ article, and are reading this as well, look at the big picture. In late 2005 into the Mayoral race in 2006 Abramson was touting the Tri-data study. A study designed to restructure fire response times and affect public safety. As most were able to prove, and myself and Kelly Downard, both Mayoral candidates that discounted the study during the Mayoral race, the tri data study would have saved money but lost response times and jeopardized public safety.

For someone who says public safety is the number 1 priority Abramson has fallen short in what he says. The closing of the engine 7 firehouse will lead to increased response times including EMS services to neighbors. Increased response times cost lives. This is just an extension of the tri data study that most discounted but Abramson wanted. He didn't like to lose then and now believes he can start getting what he wants accordingly. Not a way to prove public safety is number 1 is it?

Or perhaps the list of "accomplishments" in the article like helping shape Clinton's crime bill by putting 100,000 officers on the street? How many were actually put on the street? Not 100,000. As a matter of fact here in Louisville the new officers we put on the street are generally replacement officers for retirees etc. No net gain of new officers. Again a poor display and deception by someone who purports that public safety is number 1 right?

Abramson is touted in the article of making the great "international" airport expansion a reality creating thousands of jobs blah blah blah blah. What it doesn't state is that there are still dozens and hundreds of people who are still stuck in "expansion" neighborhoods for years and no funding has been approved to help them get out. Seems it was easy to force some jobs out of here but leave the residents stuck in a declining neighborhood with no way out. You cannot sell your house who would buy?

The facts are that this is another bait and switch by the Abramson administration touting something that just does not tell the whole story. Backed up by the CJ without any pertinent facts. An international airport? They have what 1 flight that goes to Canada per day so that qualifies? Great money spent.

Look at UPS.

I was one of the original group of employees hired at UPS to begin the whole show of UPS air here in Louisville back in 1981. Abramson did not bring UPS here. That is taking credit for someone else's work which he is very good at. Some would think that is a lie and at the very least would question the integrity of this Mayor. I am one of them.

The lies and deceptions (which essentially to me are lies through misdirection) go to character in anyone. This discounts the great "character" mystique of Abramson.

Others continue drinking the kool aid because they remember a little kid working at daddy's market delivering groceries on his bike. What a nice young man huh?

Sadly this type of "memory" helps get some elected but hurts the citizenry because of the blinders. But hey to each their own. Some comments for example brag about some trees Abramson supposedly planted that have grown and now make downtown streets look great.

Problem is that was Harvey Sloane not Abramson.

Abramson purports himself to be a supporter of organized labor. It doesn't add up again. Internal memos on the site http://www.abramsonuncovered.com/ show how they really did not want a union and were trying to figure out how to keep it from getting voted in.

How much money has he spent defending lawsuits because of his mistakes? Lawsuits that unions such as the IAFF had to file to be treated fairly? How many of those lawsuits has he won? As a supposed attorney you would think he would know how to interpret the law wouldn't you? Thus saving OUR tax dollars from being wasted? Or perhaps look at how much of the money defending these suits is paid to private attorneys that are "friends of Jerry's" instead of the County Attorney's office as set forth through statute.

Surely he knows this right?

If so then there is yet another example of Abramson not passing the smell test. If he doesn't know then there is obviously a severe problem in leadership after all these years.

Then of course there are the quotes in the article from Patty Deleure, er Pat Chervenak of St. Matthews.

Chervenak said she has noticed that spike and said it is "regrettable."

"It's sad, because the incredible rise in Louisville's livability and national reputation has made history under his leadership and deserved civic pride and loyal support," Chervenak said. "I find him an honorable man."

I find this hard to imagine that anyone still believes this rhetoric. Louisville once was "possibility city" and has faltered under the misguided self grandiose straight ahead my way or the highway mentality of Abramson and his "honorable" leadership.

Loyal support goes to those who earn it through their honesty, openness, and sincere efforts to do the right thing when no one is looking. This Mayor has had a free reign for way too long thanks to a media intent on looking the other way by not doing the research or the work required for accountability.

Our National economic struggles are not the sudden cause of the microscope being enlarged to include Abramson. It is because of the way he has misused, misdirected, and flat out lied for his own gain, arrogance, and power.

Look at Center City for example.

He crammed the deal through the Council with his great rubberstamp Dem majority and then announced that we had a $20 million budget "crisis." did he not know this a couple of days earlier before he forced us to spend money we did not have?

Of course he did. That makes the arguments justifiable in my estimation.

OUR economy is in shambles because of the hemorrhaging of good paying jobs throughout our City in favor of an economic plan that rewards Abramson with an ill fated arena, a complete sellout to Cordish Group, and a lack of willingness to be forthright in regards to a supposed budget "crisis" that would prove his case if there was one.

I have written many times throughout this blog about the economy and could write for hours about it on a daily basis. The facts are that Abramson's economic policy falls short of accountability through transparency and an opennes with the citizenry and the Metro Council. I believe the most recent excuse of no CAFR yet that he used like " we have to wait for the State auditor to sign off on it" is yet one more example of misdirection.

Every year since merger the State auditor, Crit LuAllen, has been able to do her job in a timely manner what makes this year so different?

Is the criticism justified?

After all the years of a free ride.

Yes definitely.........