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.