I have learned that Judge Executive Duane Murner has recently returned from his trip to France. I hope that he did not go there to get a vision for his protégé, Paula Gish. The last time that he had a vision while in France prior to his election as Judge-Executive, the people of Oldham County paid dearly for it in the form of higher taxes and fees. The people cannot afford another of Murner’s clouded visions.
As you probably remember when Murner was running for Judge-Executive he visited France and later recalled that he had a vision while there. The vision allegedly revealed to him what Oldham County should be and led to his formation of the miserable failure known as the Vision Council. If you remember, Murner used the “Vision Council” as a way to sell the people of Oldham County on his plans for higher taxes and fees. Murner is not running for Judge-Executive at the present time, but has come out in support of his deputy, Paula Gish. That may be our best hope yet for seeing her defeated. Is it possible for a Harvard graduate to interpret his vision for a person not in possession of a four-year degree nor any relevant executive experience? Then there is our other ace in the hole, that being, can Gish convince the electorate to vote for someone lacking in leadership experience outside of a PTA position where she would have been directing volunteers?
I do not believe that the people of Oldham County need to push the panic button yet. Even though Gish has already begun to raise funds for her campaign, she is not the only candidate. County Treasurer Stan Clark has announced that he is also running and I feel certain that there will be at least one or more additional candidates to soon enter the race.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
WILL OLDHAM COUNTY BE THE NEXT HOBOKEN, NEW JERSEY
I recently read stories in the newspaper about political corruption in Hoboken, New Jersey and the surrounding area. The story that most piqued my interest was the one regarding Mayor Peter Cammarano of Hoboken. Cammarano is alleged to have accepted bribes from an undercover federal agent who was posing as a real estate developer. Allegedly, Cammarano needed cash to support his campaign for Mayor in a runoff election.
When I review the list of donors in the last race for County Judge-Executive and some of Magisterial districts, I cannot help but wonder if some of them were buying influence. Moreover, many of them were also tied directly to the development and real estate industries. Still further, it appears that the development industry has been given more than due consideration by the current Murner administration. One only needs to review many of Murner’s pro-development appointees to boards and commissions which have carried out his mission of repaying developers for their support.
As we enter another round of elections for county offices I cannot help but wonder if the developers will once again pour an extraordinary amount of money into the campaigns of those they believe will be obedient to them. I have already heard that people associated with development do intend to raise large amounts of cash for certain candidates, particularly Paula Gish. Let us hope that Oldham County does not continue down the path blazed by Judge-Executive Murner of becoming another Hoboken, New Jersey.
When I review the list of donors in the last race for County Judge-Executive and some of Magisterial districts, I cannot help but wonder if some of them were buying influence. Moreover, many of them were also tied directly to the development and real estate industries. Still further, it appears that the development industry has been given more than due consideration by the current Murner administration. One only needs to review many of Murner’s pro-development appointees to boards and commissions which have carried out his mission of repaying developers for their support.
As we enter another round of elections for county offices I cannot help but wonder if the developers will once again pour an extraordinary amount of money into the campaigns of those they believe will be obedient to them. I have already heard that people associated with development do intend to raise large amounts of cash for certain candidates, particularly Paula Gish. Let us hope that Oldham County does not continue down the path blazed by Judge-Executive Murner of becoming another Hoboken, New Jersey.
Monday, July 13, 2009
GISH MEANS FOUR MORE YEARS OF UNCONTROLLED DEVELOPMENT
Apparently Paula Gish will be supported by the many of the same people who supported Duane Murner for Judge-Executive, that being those heavily involved in the building and real estate industry in Oldham County. Simply put, this would mean four more years of higher taxes, higher fees, and poor management of county government. After all, Murner has been her mentor. If the people want the same failed leadership that Murner has provided, then they should vote for Gish. She will undoubtedly follow Murner's ideals of asking Oldham County residents to subsidize the building and real estate industries with higher taxes and fees. Just look at the storm water fee and sewer rates to start with.
If Gish were to be elected, that would obviously mean that the developers would continue to control the county. That translates to even higher sewer rates and mandatory sewer connections for existing residents in order that the sewer district could provide more sewer connections for the developers at as low of a cost as possible. Why else is the sewer district over $10 million in debt - uncontrolled development and subsidizing developers at the direction of Murner and Gish during their numerous years on the Oldham County Fiscal Court. People need to ask themselves one question, what will more housing development do for me? Isn't there clearly already a glut of housing available in Oldham County now? Won't more development just continue to erode property values?
Simply put, Gish will have to defend Murner’s record of higher taxes, larger fees, deficit spending by Planning and Zoning, his won/loss record in the courts, and his determination to leave the Oldham Reserve debacle for the next administration. She will have to do this while trying to convince people that her lack of education is offset by four years in the appointed position of Deputy County Judge. That will be a difficult task to accomplish. Judge Murner has proven time and time again that he thinks the majority of people in Oldham County are ignorant and cannot see what he is up to.
Finally, Gish will have to show that she won’t wilt under the pressure of a tough campaign. As far as I know she has never been in a stressful position where the focus is on her – certainly not at a county-wide level. Without question she is going to face a very tough and challenging race, likely from at least two other strong candidates - both with much stronger resumes and accomplishments. However, it is not very difficult to have a stronger resume than Gish - one year of part-time secretarial work repeated twenty-five times.
If Gish were to be elected, that would obviously mean that the developers would continue to control the county. That translates to even higher sewer rates and mandatory sewer connections for existing residents in order that the sewer district could provide more sewer connections for the developers at as low of a cost as possible. Why else is the sewer district over $10 million in debt - uncontrolled development and subsidizing developers at the direction of Murner and Gish during their numerous years on the Oldham County Fiscal Court. People need to ask themselves one question, what will more housing development do for me? Isn't there clearly already a glut of housing available in Oldham County now? Won't more development just continue to erode property values?
Simply put, Gish will have to defend Murner’s record of higher taxes, larger fees, deficit spending by Planning and Zoning, his won/loss record in the courts, and his determination to leave the Oldham Reserve debacle for the next administration. She will have to do this while trying to convince people that her lack of education is offset by four years in the appointed position of Deputy County Judge. That will be a difficult task to accomplish. Judge Murner has proven time and time again that he thinks the majority of people in Oldham County are ignorant and cannot see what he is up to.
Finally, Gish will have to show that she won’t wilt under the pressure of a tough campaign. As far as I know she has never been in a stressful position where the focus is on her – certainly not at a county-wide level. Without question she is going to face a very tough and challenging race, likely from at least two other strong candidates - both with much stronger resumes and accomplishments. However, it is not very difficult to have a stronger resume than Gish - one year of part-time secretarial work repeated twenty-five times.
Friday, July 10, 2009
MURNER NOT A GOOD SPORT
After losing the battle to keep the name of the anonymous donor from becoming public Judge Murner still refused to obey the order of the court and hand over the name of the donor. Moreover, he continued to refuse to state the correct name of the donor. This all points to the fact that Murner is a sore loser. As a matter of fact, it must eat his stomach out to lose, especially to a young person like Magistrate Scott Davis.
Judge Murner told the Louisville Courier-Journal that he did not give up the name of the donor because county officials wanted approval from the Judge to give Davis a copy of the check. To me that is an outright lie. The Judge ordered Murner - not "county officials"- to give up the information on February 6, 2009. Murner just couldn't stand the thought of losing-he is a sore loser in the world of sports. Kids are taught to not be sore losers. Was Judge Murner ever a kid or is he still one that has not learned that lesson?
It took the filing of a "Motion for Contempt" for Judge Murner to get the message that Magistrate Scott Davis was serious. Murner has now lost. Perhaps the "kids" will start helping him get over this thing of being a sore loser.
As for there being no difference in George Rawlings being the donor or the Rawlings Foundation being the donor, that just just doesn't wash. Anybody who pays taxes to the government and discusses those taxes with their accountant knows better. A reading of the Rawlings Foundation Articles of Incorporation reflects that the foundation was allegedly set up to help build christian churches, and to help prevent cruelty to children and animals. Their articles make no mention of helping cities and counties. But that is another story for another time.
In the response County Attorney John Fendley submitted to the court he stated that "It is obvious that (Davis) is more interested in publicity of this dispute with Judge Murner than with communicating the identity of the donor". How absurd can Fendley be? As a lawyer, Fendley was well aware of what the order of the court said and he knew that to satisfy the order and put the entire issue to bed, all that he had to do was have his client comply with that order in February. If Fendley didn't give the proper advice to Murner, then shame on John Fendley. It seems like Judge Murner has gotten a lot of bad legal advice in the past year. Just remember the discrimination lawsuit that has been filed against the county by Bruce Gentry. When the county is forced to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to settle that case, let's see if they accuse him of just seeking publicity or accept responsibility for poor legal advice and poor decision making.
Judge Murner told the Louisville Courier-Journal that he did not give up the name of the donor because county officials wanted approval from the Judge to give Davis a copy of the check. To me that is an outright lie. The Judge ordered Murner - not "county officials"- to give up the information on February 6, 2009. Murner just couldn't stand the thought of losing-he is a sore loser in the world of sports. Kids are taught to not be sore losers. Was Judge Murner ever a kid or is he still one that has not learned that lesson?
It took the filing of a "Motion for Contempt" for Judge Murner to get the message that Magistrate Scott Davis was serious. Murner has now lost. Perhaps the "kids" will start helping him get over this thing of being a sore loser.
As for there being no difference in George Rawlings being the donor or the Rawlings Foundation being the donor, that just just doesn't wash. Anybody who pays taxes to the government and discusses those taxes with their accountant knows better. A reading of the Rawlings Foundation Articles of Incorporation reflects that the foundation was allegedly set up to help build christian churches, and to help prevent cruelty to children and animals. Their articles make no mention of helping cities and counties. But that is another story for another time.
In the response County Attorney John Fendley submitted to the court he stated that "It is obvious that (Davis) is more interested in publicity of this dispute with Judge Murner than with communicating the identity of the donor". How absurd can Fendley be? As a lawyer, Fendley was well aware of what the order of the court said and he knew that to satisfy the order and put the entire issue to bed, all that he had to do was have his client comply with that order in February. If Fendley didn't give the proper advice to Murner, then shame on John Fendley. It seems like Judge Murner has gotten a lot of bad legal advice in the past year. Just remember the discrimination lawsuit that has been filed against the county by Bruce Gentry. When the county is forced to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to settle that case, let's see if they accuse him of just seeking publicity or accept responsibility for poor legal advice and poor decision making.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
JUDGE DUANE MURNER'S JUDGMENT CONTINUES TO BE QUESTIONABLE
In a recent Louisville Courier-Journal article Judge Murner was quoted as saying that Paula Gish is without question the most qualified person in Oldham County for the office of County Judge. Admittedly, the qualifications for any political office are usually very abstract other than the statutory requirements to hold the office such as age, place of birth, and place of residence. With that in mind Murner's comment means very little.
A close look at Paula Gish's background is revealing. When she first ran for magistrate an article in the Oldham Era stated that she had worked part-time as a secretary for twenty-five years. Thus, she had one year of part-time secretarial experience twenty-five times. You just don't gain executive management experience as a secretary. She had a secretarial degree from Sullivan College - more non-executive training. She also supposedly attended Georgetown College. I don't know if that was for classes or someones graduation. I am not putting Mrs. Gish down for being a secretary (My wife was a secretary for a few years). But the fact is, secretarial experience does not prepare a person for an executive position.
I attended many fiscal court meetings when Gish was a magistrate and I cannot remember any positive input by her although she was always very cordial to everyone. As Deputy Judge-Executive she led the Vision Council which essentially produced nothing and she reports to the fiscal court each month on stimulus money. It will be interesting to hear her describe what she has accomplished.
When Murner was running for office he constantly reminded the people that he had a degree from Harvard and that he had many years of executive experience. Why is it that he no longer places any importance on those qualities? The fact is that he only cares about how well the person will continue his ill advised actions such as raising fees and taxes while continuing to coddle the developers.
If there is not a better qualified candidate than Paula Gish for the office of County Judge in Oldham
County, then this county will need for President Obama to have several stimulus packages. It doesn't matter what the people see as the qualifications necessary for the office.
Yes, Judge Murner's rating of Ms. Gish is just another example of poor judgment. I believe that the people of Oldham County will demonstrate much better judgement.
A close look at Paula Gish's background is revealing. When she first ran for magistrate an article in the Oldham Era stated that she had worked part-time as a secretary for twenty-five years. Thus, she had one year of part-time secretarial experience twenty-five times. You just don't gain executive management experience as a secretary. She had a secretarial degree from Sullivan College - more non-executive training. She also supposedly attended Georgetown College. I don't know if that was for classes or someones graduation. I am not putting Mrs. Gish down for being a secretary (My wife was a secretary for a few years). But the fact is, secretarial experience does not prepare a person for an executive position.
I attended many fiscal court meetings when Gish was a magistrate and I cannot remember any positive input by her although she was always very cordial to everyone. As Deputy Judge-Executive she led the Vision Council which essentially produced nothing and she reports to the fiscal court each month on stimulus money. It will be interesting to hear her describe what she has accomplished.
When Murner was running for office he constantly reminded the people that he had a degree from Harvard and that he had many years of executive experience. Why is it that he no longer places any importance on those qualities? The fact is that he only cares about how well the person will continue his ill advised actions such as raising fees and taxes while continuing to coddle the developers.
If there is not a better qualified candidate than Paula Gish for the office of County Judge in Oldham
County, then this county will need for President Obama to have several stimulus packages. It doesn't matter what the people see as the qualifications necessary for the office.
Yes, Judge Murner's rating of Ms. Gish is just another example of poor judgment. I believe that the people of Oldham County will demonstrate much better judgement.
WHAT PRICE WILL LAGRANGE PAY FOR SILENCE
At the July 6, 2009 LaGrange City Council meeting, the hot topic was the "quiet zones" in the city. At the present time the CSX trains that pass through the city do not blow their whistles However, all of that could change on June3, 2010 unless the city meets certain requirements set forth by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). There are as many as thirty-five trains that go through the city each day.
At issue at the present time is the zone that is in the area between Walnut Street and Second Street. This issue has been in progress since 2003 and many people thought that it had already been resolved. However, according to Councilwoman Melanie Woosley, the issue is anything but resolved. Sinced being assigned to chair the committee charged with making recommendations to the other Council members about the issue, Councilwoman Woosley has met with representatives of the FRA.
Woosley reported that the FRA stated that in order to keep the "quiet zone", which is now in jeopardy, the city has two choices. The first involves placing medians on First Street, both on the north and south side of the tracks, to prevent vehicles from attempting to go around the crossing gates when they are down. Additionally, the city must close Second Street at the tracks. The second option would also require the medians but instead of closing Second Street the city would have to pay to have crossing gates installed and make Second Street one way. The problem with the second option is that the gates would have to be installed by June 3, 2010 and CSX has said that it will take eighteen months to install the crossing gates which would put the city beyond the June 3, 2009 deadline. The FRA has recommended that the city install the medians on First Street and close Second Street.
On Monday night the Council unanimously passed a resolution requiring that the medians be installed and that Second Street be closed by November 1, 2009. However, there is a lot of concern among some members and many of the people in attendance about the impact that closing Second Street will have on traffic in a city that already has severe traffic problems.
Mayor Carter continues to believe that there may be a possibility of getting the crossing gates installed on Second Street before the June 2010 deadline.
There was some discussion about why the crossing gates had not already been installed and Tom Cox, a local realtor with an office in LaGrange, placed the blame on Mayor Carter. The Mayor denied that she was to blame and stated that the city had been in compliance but due to the manner that some traffic accidents had been reported the city had gone out of compliance. The finger pointing soon ended as everyone agreed that the important issue now is the salvation of the quiet zone at any cost.
The next deadline on the issue will be November 1, 2009 when Second Street is slated to be closed. However, according to the City Attorney, Graham Whatley, the closing must be done by ordinance rather than by resolution. The purpose of passing the resolution now instead of an ordinace was the fact that a resolution was needed to demonstrate to the FRA that the City was doing something. An ordinance would have required two readings which precluded the immediate passage of an ordinance.
At issue at the present time is the zone that is in the area between Walnut Street and Second Street. This issue has been in progress since 2003 and many people thought that it had already been resolved. However, according to Councilwoman Melanie Woosley, the issue is anything but resolved. Sinced being assigned to chair the committee charged with making recommendations to the other Council members about the issue, Councilwoman Woosley has met with representatives of the FRA.
Woosley reported that the FRA stated that in order to keep the "quiet zone", which is now in jeopardy, the city has two choices. The first involves placing medians on First Street, both on the north and south side of the tracks, to prevent vehicles from attempting to go around the crossing gates when they are down. Additionally, the city must close Second Street at the tracks. The second option would also require the medians but instead of closing Second Street the city would have to pay to have crossing gates installed and make Second Street one way. The problem with the second option is that the gates would have to be installed by June 3, 2010 and CSX has said that it will take eighteen months to install the crossing gates which would put the city beyond the June 3, 2009 deadline. The FRA has recommended that the city install the medians on First Street and close Second Street.
On Monday night the Council unanimously passed a resolution requiring that the medians be installed and that Second Street be closed by November 1, 2009. However, there is a lot of concern among some members and many of the people in attendance about the impact that closing Second Street will have on traffic in a city that already has severe traffic problems.
Mayor Carter continues to believe that there may be a possibility of getting the crossing gates installed on Second Street before the June 2010 deadline.
There was some discussion about why the crossing gates had not already been installed and Tom Cox, a local realtor with an office in LaGrange, placed the blame on Mayor Carter. The Mayor denied that she was to blame and stated that the city had been in compliance but due to the manner that some traffic accidents had been reported the city had gone out of compliance. The finger pointing soon ended as everyone agreed that the important issue now is the salvation of the quiet zone at any cost.
The next deadline on the issue will be November 1, 2009 when Second Street is slated to be closed. However, according to the City Attorney, Graham Whatley, the closing must be done by ordinance rather than by resolution. The purpose of passing the resolution now instead of an ordinace was the fact that a resolution was needed to demonstrate to the FRA that the City was doing something. An ordinance would have required two readings which precluded the immediate passage of an ordinance.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)