WILL THE DEMOCRATS BE IN CHARGE OF OLDHAM COUNTY?

Recently I had the opportunity to read a “White Paper” authored by Doug Wampler of Oldham Ahead. Oldham Ahead is an organization whose focus is the preservation of a “rural legacy” for Oldham County. The paper gave an overview of the funding provided to political candidates during the 2006 elections. The funding was provided primarily by people with ties to the development industry. The paper can be viewed at oldhamahead.org.

The paper was a bitter reminder to me that the development industry has taken control of Oldham County. The development industry and those people with close ties to it were the major financial backers of County Judge-Executive Duane Murner. Frankly the developers should have the title of County Judge Executive and Murner should have the title of Deputy Judge. Since Murner’s election it has been clear that nothing has happened that was adverse to the financial status of developers. It is apparent that developers get every possible break on fees, zoning issues and even stormwater.

Just as sad is the fact that some of the Magistrates even received funding from developers. Of course, without the votes of the Magistrates Murner could not have done what he did. When it comes to funding the infrastructure of Oldham County the developers have been given very generous consideration.

Now that the elections of 2010 are upon us we are seeing the same pattern develop again but it appears to be worse. In the upcoming race for County Judge-Executive the developers have already begun to fund Paula Gish. Whether the Magistrates take money from the development and real estate industry remains to be seen.

A review of Paula Gish’s fundraising to this point is disgusting. Gish has scheduled a Women’s Fundraising Reception for September 17, 2009. The invitation for the fundraiser contained the names of twenty-two female sponsors. A review and analysis of that list is quite revealing.

Of the twenty-two women, thirteen have close ties to developer Bob Jones who is a democrat and former state representative. This is a clear indication that developers, especially Bob Jones, will likely have more influence in county government than is healthy for good government should Gish be elected. People simply don’t support candidates to that extent without expecting something in return. To believe that Bob Jones does not expect to have considerable influence on the government would be naïve in my opinion.

Further review of the list of sponsors reveals that fourteen of the twenty-two are Democrats, i.e., the majority of her support is coming from people who cannot even vote for her in the primary election as Gish is a Republican. Well, at least she is running as a Republican. Personally, I believe you are measured by the company that you keep. That would make her a democrat loyal to development. If she were to be elected, would the Democrats be in charge in Oldham County? Is that what the people of Oldham County want?

If Paula Gish wants to be Democrat, she should change her party registration and run as a Democrat. However, there are more registered Republicans in Oldham County than there are Democrats. That would present a problem for her in the general election.

It is my understanding that the only other announced candidate, Stan Clark, has decided to withdraw from the race. If someone else does not come forward to run, it is certain that the Democrats will, by default, be in charge in Oldham County. How can anyone deny that? Let us hope that some other Republican opposes Paula Gish in order that Republicans will have a choice in May 2009.