In this instance I do not believe that the developers made the decision. However, it isn't because they didn't try.
Monday, May 31, 2010
WHO CHOOSES COUNTY JUDGE
In this instance I do not believe that the developers made the decision. However, it isn't because they didn't try.
OLDHAM COUNTY MYSTERY MAN ON THE PEOPLE OF OLDHAM COUNTY
After seeing the election results this may not be considered a true statement.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
SEWER RATES TO INCREASE BY 23.9% AND WILL CONTINUE TO ESCALATE
On May 21, 2010 The Oldham County Sewer District held a meeting to discuss their proposed budget for the upcoming year as well as a proposed rate increase for all customers. Also present at the meeting was Scott Davis, Bob Diebel, and Rick Rash, members of the Fiscal Court Utilities Committee.
A brief history of sewers in Oldham County is necessary to have a better understanding of the situation. Several years ago the Planning and Zoning Commission passed rules that were approved by the Fiscal Court which required that homes built on smaller lots had to be on sewers. Since there was no county-wide sewer system this meant that developers wishing to develop subdivisions had to build individual treatment plants for their subdivisions. These are referred to as “package plants.” There were and still are several of these plants around Oldham County. Many of these plants began to have problems as they were operating without sufficient capacity to serve all of the homes that they were forced to service. Further, some of them were not properly maintained for many years.
The county, for a variety of reasons, decided to form a sewer district. The sewer district purchased these small package plants and brought them into their system. In reality, some of the plants should have been given to the district or the district should have been paid to take them because they had so many problems and were a financial burden to operate. In addition to the package plants, the sewer district constructed plants at Buckner and most recently a plant known as the Ohio River plant. The district is also operating a plant at the reformatory in LaGrange.
The state Division of Water monitors these plants and determines how many customers each plant is capable of servicing. At the present time only the plant at the reformatory and the Ohio River plant are not running at capacity. Also, LaGrange has a plant located near the Oldham Reserve on New Moody Lane that is not a part of the OCSD. It was disclosed at this latest meeting that the LaGrange plant is also operating at capacity. This makes me wonder what they are going to do to address the needs of businesses and the additional housing at the Oldham Reserve if it ever starts to develop. It looks to me like someone will have to build another plant. I am sure that it will be the taxpayers. This is just another example of poor planning by the people who thought that the Oldham reserve was a great idea. Small minds with big eyes will cause problems.
A few years ago the City of Crestwood put in sewers and they were initially serviced by the Metropolitan Sewer District. Subsequently, Crestwood decided to merge its district with the OCSD, however MSD continued treatment for an agreed upon cost and surcharge to the customers.
Over the years the management of the OCSD has been below par and according to Stan Clark, the current chief financial officer of Oldham County, the books are in such disarray that an audit cannot be performed in a timely manner as is required by state law. Clark and County Judge/Executive Duane Murner claim that the books had to be reconstructed for periods dating back all the way to 1998. The audit is still not complete and is months overdue.
Over the years the OCSD sold future “tap-ons” (taps) to developers that they did not have sufficient capacity to service. According to the current board of the OCSD, the developers knew that the capacity was not available but they purchased the taps because the fee was going to increase significantly in some instances and in other instances the developers just wanted to get a place in line. However, the sewer district used the money received from the taps for daily operational expenses, not to retire debt on the plants. The district used about 1.8 million dollars of those fees for operational expenses.
In 2008, it became obvious that the OCSD had serious management problems. Judge-Executive Duane Murner then forced the sewer district to get rid of all of its employees and enter into a contract with Veolia Water Company to operate the district. At the time Dennis Deibel, the mayor of Crestwood, was the chairman of the district. When it became obvious that Veolia Water was going to manage the district, Deibel resigned from the district board and took the City of Crestwood out of the district. He also took $61,000 with him that he claimed belonged to the City of Crestwood. In any event, when the dust settled the sewer district had outstanding debt exceeding ten million dollars and no credit.
Then the OCSD asked the Fiscal Court to assume responsibility of over seven million dollars of that debt. Their stated basis for the request was that the county could get a better rate on the outstanding bonds that would result in a savings to the district. (The sewer district is supposed to repay the county the seven million dollars.) The Fiscal Court, knowing that the sewer district books were a mess, and without knowing the real financial condition of the district, assumed the responsibility for the debt. Stan Clark, said at the meeting yesterday that the district is insolvent – nobody will loan it money. I am on record as having said at the time the Fiscal Court assumed the responsibility for the debt, another reason the sewer district wanted the county to assume the debt was so that it would then be debt free and would be able to borrow even more money. They denied this. Well, guess what. The sewer district has applied for a 2.5 million dollar loan. However, to get the loan the district must show that it has enough income to repay the loan. Thus the district wants to increase the sewer rates by 23.9% now. The present chairman of the sewer district, Horace Harrod, said that people can expect rate increases of at least 5% per year in the future due to the management contract that the sewer district has with Veolia Water Company. Over the next five years, they anticipate rate increases of over 40% in total.
The district claims that their income is down 12% due to people using less water. (I guess the moral of the story is; try to conserve and you will have to pay more for using less.) Stan Clark said that part of the reason that water consumption is down is because throughout the county 3% of the homes have their water turned off which means that they have no water bill and therefore no sewer bill. He said that figure was 5% for the Glen Oaks subdivision. He said that he believed that the discontinued water service was due to homes being in foreclosure.
The district claims that the only way that they can make more money is to have more customers. They seem to be specifically targeting two proposed subdivisions, Buckner Crossings and Quail Creek. Both of these developments would be serviced by the Buckner plant. However, that plant is already operating at capacity and the state will not allow them to take on any more customers. The district’s solution is to put in a new pipeline to the plant at the Kentucky State Reformatory and take the Buckner plant offline. There are two problems here. First and foremost is that the district is gambling that the economy will pick up as well as the housing market. They are willing to make this gamble after stating that many homes are already in foreclosure. Further, everybody knows that the housing market is in the tank. The other problem is that the sewer district wants to promote more development in a county that just indicated that it doesn’t want uncontrolled development by rejecting the candidates who have been supported by developers. Also, the district does not seem to be concerned about the affect of the additional development on the remaining parts of the infrastructure.
We can expect to see the sewer district push for additional development in the future to solve a problem that was caused by development and bad management. I am not convinced that the management is any better today than it ever was. The Fiscal Court has some control over the district by having the final say on the rate increases. However, the Fiscal Court certainly has not been up to the task of having sufficient oversight over the district in the past. Remember, Judge Murner has been telling us for several months that the required audit of the sewer district was coming shortly. Now we are being told that it will be done in June. Seeing is believing.
The sewer district came to the meeting hoping to get their proposed rate increase approved by the utilities committee. However, Magistrate Scott Davis brought up the matter of the audit and it became apparent that he would not vote for the increase without seeing the audit. Hopefully, that pressure will drive the district to have the audit by June. The people should be glad that Scott Davis is around to step up for them. Other magistrates will question a few things to make it look as though they know what they are doing, even though in most cases they have no clue. Perhaps they do know something but when all is said and done they vote for whatever the Murner administration wants. Scott Davis remains firm in his beliefs. Scott Davis’ absence from the next court will certainly result in a void for all of the people in the county.
The sewer district, like the Oldham Reserve, is a ticking time bomb. Incoming Judge-Executive Voegele will have a lot on his plate. Judge-Executive Murner and the current Fiscal Court have pushed out interest and principal payments that were due in order to balance the budget. They have always touted a balanced budget. Not paying your bills makes it easier to give a false impression that you have balanced the budget.
Management of the sewer district reminds me of the Obama administration in that both believe that you get out of debt by borrowing more and spending more. Hang on folks! We are in for a long ride.
A brief history of sewers in Oldham County is necessary to have a better understanding of the situation. Several years ago the Planning and Zoning Commission passed rules that were approved by the Fiscal Court which required that homes built on smaller lots had to be on sewers. Since there was no county-wide sewer system this meant that developers wishing to develop subdivisions had to build individual treatment plants for their subdivisions. These are referred to as “package plants.” There were and still are several of these plants around Oldham County. Many of these plants began to have problems as they were operating without sufficient capacity to serve all of the homes that they were forced to service. Further, some of them were not properly maintained for many years.
The county, for a variety of reasons, decided to form a sewer district. The sewer district purchased these small package plants and brought them into their system. In reality, some of the plants should have been given to the district or the district should have been paid to take them because they had so many problems and were a financial burden to operate. In addition to the package plants, the sewer district constructed plants at Buckner and most recently a plant known as the Ohio River plant. The district is also operating a plant at the reformatory in LaGrange.
The state Division of Water monitors these plants and determines how many customers each plant is capable of servicing. At the present time only the plant at the reformatory and the Ohio River plant are not running at capacity. Also, LaGrange has a plant located near the Oldham Reserve on New Moody Lane that is not a part of the OCSD. It was disclosed at this latest meeting that the LaGrange plant is also operating at capacity. This makes me wonder what they are going to do to address the needs of businesses and the additional housing at the Oldham Reserve if it ever starts to develop. It looks to me like someone will have to build another plant. I am sure that it will be the taxpayers. This is just another example of poor planning by the people who thought that the Oldham reserve was a great idea. Small minds with big eyes will cause problems.
A few years ago the City of Crestwood put in sewers and they were initially serviced by the Metropolitan Sewer District. Subsequently, Crestwood decided to merge its district with the OCSD, however MSD continued treatment for an agreed upon cost and surcharge to the customers.
Over the years the management of the OCSD has been below par and according to Stan Clark, the current chief financial officer of Oldham County, the books are in such disarray that an audit cannot be performed in a timely manner as is required by state law. Clark and County Judge/Executive Duane Murner claim that the books had to be reconstructed for periods dating back all the way to 1998. The audit is still not complete and is months overdue.
Over the years the OCSD sold future “tap-ons” (taps) to developers that they did not have sufficient capacity to service. According to the current board of the OCSD, the developers knew that the capacity was not available but they purchased the taps because the fee was going to increase significantly in some instances and in other instances the developers just wanted to get a place in line. However, the sewer district used the money received from the taps for daily operational expenses, not to retire debt on the plants. The district used about 1.8 million dollars of those fees for operational expenses.
In 2008, it became obvious that the OCSD had serious management problems. Judge-Executive Duane Murner then forced the sewer district to get rid of all of its employees and enter into a contract with Veolia Water Company to operate the district. At the time Dennis Deibel, the mayor of Crestwood, was the chairman of the district. When it became obvious that Veolia Water was going to manage the district, Deibel resigned from the district board and took the City of Crestwood out of the district. He also took $61,000 with him that he claimed belonged to the City of Crestwood. In any event, when the dust settled the sewer district had outstanding debt exceeding ten million dollars and no credit.
Then the OCSD asked the Fiscal Court to assume responsibility of over seven million dollars of that debt. Their stated basis for the request was that the county could get a better rate on the outstanding bonds that would result in a savings to the district. (The sewer district is supposed to repay the county the seven million dollars.) The Fiscal Court, knowing that the sewer district books were a mess, and without knowing the real financial condition of the district, assumed the responsibility for the debt. Stan Clark, said at the meeting yesterday that the district is insolvent – nobody will loan it money. I am on record as having said at the time the Fiscal Court assumed the responsibility for the debt, another reason the sewer district wanted the county to assume the debt was so that it would then be debt free and would be able to borrow even more money. They denied this. Well, guess what. The sewer district has applied for a 2.5 million dollar loan. However, to get the loan the district must show that it has enough income to repay the loan. Thus the district wants to increase the sewer rates by 23.9% now. The present chairman of the sewer district, Horace Harrod, said that people can expect rate increases of at least 5% per year in the future due to the management contract that the sewer district has with Veolia Water Company. Over the next five years, they anticipate rate increases of over 40% in total.
The district claims that their income is down 12% due to people using less water. (I guess the moral of the story is; try to conserve and you will have to pay more for using less.) Stan Clark said that part of the reason that water consumption is down is because throughout the county 3% of the homes have their water turned off which means that they have no water bill and therefore no sewer bill. He said that figure was 5% for the Glen Oaks subdivision. He said that he believed that the discontinued water service was due to homes being in foreclosure.
The district claims that the only way that they can make more money is to have more customers. They seem to be specifically targeting two proposed subdivisions, Buckner Crossings and Quail Creek. Both of these developments would be serviced by the Buckner plant. However, that plant is already operating at capacity and the state will not allow them to take on any more customers. The district’s solution is to put in a new pipeline to the plant at the Kentucky State Reformatory and take the Buckner plant offline. There are two problems here. First and foremost is that the district is gambling that the economy will pick up as well as the housing market. They are willing to make this gamble after stating that many homes are already in foreclosure. Further, everybody knows that the housing market is in the tank. The other problem is that the sewer district wants to promote more development in a county that just indicated that it doesn’t want uncontrolled development by rejecting the candidates who have been supported by developers. Also, the district does not seem to be concerned about the affect of the additional development on the remaining parts of the infrastructure.
We can expect to see the sewer district push for additional development in the future to solve a problem that was caused by development and bad management. I am not convinced that the management is any better today than it ever was. The Fiscal Court has some control over the district by having the final say on the rate increases. However, the Fiscal Court certainly has not been up to the task of having sufficient oversight over the district in the past. Remember, Judge Murner has been telling us for several months that the required audit of the sewer district was coming shortly. Now we are being told that it will be done in June. Seeing is believing.
The sewer district came to the meeting hoping to get their proposed rate increase approved by the utilities committee. However, Magistrate Scott Davis brought up the matter of the audit and it became apparent that he would not vote for the increase without seeing the audit. Hopefully, that pressure will drive the district to have the audit by June. The people should be glad that Scott Davis is around to step up for them. Other magistrates will question a few things to make it look as though they know what they are doing, even though in most cases they have no clue. Perhaps they do know something but when all is said and done they vote for whatever the Murner administration wants. Scott Davis remains firm in his beliefs. Scott Davis’ absence from the next court will certainly result in a void for all of the people in the county.
The sewer district, like the Oldham Reserve, is a ticking time bomb. Incoming Judge-Executive Voegele will have a lot on his plate. Judge-Executive Murner and the current Fiscal Court have pushed out interest and principal payments that were due in order to balance the budget. They have always touted a balanced budget. Not paying your bills makes it easier to give a false impression that you have balanced the budget.
Management of the sewer district reminds me of the Obama administration in that both believe that you get out of debt by borrowing more and spending more. Hang on folks! We are in for a long ride.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
STEVE CHURCH WILL NO LONGER HAVE TO DO THE PEOPLE OF OLDHAM COUNTY A FAVOR
Magistrate Steve Church once stated that he did not ask to be a magistrate and insinuated that he was doing the people of Oldham County a favor by serving as a magistrate. Well, after being defeated on Tuesday by former magistrate Brent Likens, Mr. Church can return to his normal routine. I believe that the people of Oldham County will survive. Everybody can be replaced.
Steve Church was appointed to the position of magistrate in 2007 after the incumbent, Paula Gish, resigned to take the position of Deputy County Judge/Executive. Subsequently, he ran for the unexpired term and was elected. It was after that he said that he never asked for the job. I always thought that when you asked the public for their vote you were asking for the job.
Steve Church was appointed to the position of magistrate in 2007 after the incumbent, Paula Gish, resigned to take the position of Deputy County Judge/Executive. Subsequently, he ran for the unexpired term and was elected. It was after that he said that he never asked for the job. I always thought that when you asked the public for their vote you were asking for the job.
VOEGELE DROPS NUCLEAR BOMB ON ESTABLISHMENT
David took on Goliath on May 18, 2010 and slew him! Yes, David Voegele beat the establishment and will be the next county judge/executive of Oldham County. Voegele demonstrated that hard work still pays off sometimes.
I coined the name “Murnish” because I thought that Paula Gish actually represented the Murner/Gish administration. Three months ago few people thought that David Voegele had a chance of beating Paula Murnish, yet he did it by 23%. That is not a narrow margin. This was a huge blow to Duane Murner and his administration as he too was defeated in this race as though he were running. He endorsed Gish and supported her financially. He took every opportunity that he could to put her in front of the public. Hopefully he realizes that this was a rejection of his administration and him personally.
Paula Gish was backed by the establishment that included the development industry and those associated with it. She had over four times the amount of money for her campaign that David Voegele had. However, she did not have the work ethic that Voegele had. Voegele worked as hard as any candidate that I have seen in years. He could be found on street corners, in the middle of intersections, or talking to anyone that would listen. David Voegele had a message that included ideas while Gish had shallow statements that said nothing. She repeated the same statements over and over. Perhaps people tired of her reminding them that she was second in command and that she had served so long in the PTA. I also believe that there was a certain amount of “vote against the incumbent” attitude that hurt Gish. The overall results in the election reflected that as well as what we have seen happening across the nation.
Voegele’s victory, coupled with the drastic change of the makeup of fiscal court should give us a huge change in the way Oldham County government conducts business. If this election did not reflect a mandate for change there never will be a mandate. I believe that David Voegele realizes that.
The Oldham County Watchdog congratulates David Voegele. It is his time to bask in the sun.
I coined the name “Murnish” because I thought that Paula Gish actually represented the Murner/Gish administration. Three months ago few people thought that David Voegele had a chance of beating Paula Murnish, yet he did it by 23%. That is not a narrow margin. This was a huge blow to Duane Murner and his administration as he too was defeated in this race as though he were running. He endorsed Gish and supported her financially. He took every opportunity that he could to put her in front of the public. Hopefully he realizes that this was a rejection of his administration and him personally.
Paula Gish was backed by the establishment that included the development industry and those associated with it. She had over four times the amount of money for her campaign that David Voegele had. However, she did not have the work ethic that Voegele had. Voegele worked as hard as any candidate that I have seen in years. He could be found on street corners, in the middle of intersections, or talking to anyone that would listen. David Voegele had a message that included ideas while Gish had shallow statements that said nothing. She repeated the same statements over and over. Perhaps people tired of her reminding them that she was second in command and that she had served so long in the PTA. I also believe that there was a certain amount of “vote against the incumbent” attitude that hurt Gish. The overall results in the election reflected that as well as what we have seen happening across the nation.
Voegele’s victory, coupled with the drastic change of the makeup of fiscal court should give us a huge change in the way Oldham County government conducts business. If this election did not reflect a mandate for change there never will be a mandate. I believe that David Voegele realizes that.
The Oldham County Watchdog congratulates David Voegele. It is his time to bask in the sun.
DRASTIC CHANGE IN MAKEUP OF OLDHAM COUNTY FISCAL COURT
Five incumbents lost their position on the Oldham County fiscal court on Tuesday, May 18, 2010. That, along with the defeat of Paula Gish by David Voegele will surely change the way the county government is run and hopefully it is the end of “politics as usual” in the county.
Magistrate Iva Davis was defeated by JD Sparks in her attempt to serve a second term. Magistrate Scott Davis was also defeated in his bid for a second term. He was defeated by Kevin Eldridge. Long time incumbent Robert "Bob" Deibel, Jr. was defeated by Mike Logsdon. Incumbent Steve Church was defeated by former magistrate Brent Likens and another long time magistrate, Rick Rash was defeated by Bob Dye. Dye had narrowly lost to Rash in 2006. Therefore, his defeat of Rash was predicted by many people. Rash had essentially followed the establishment and had voted for all fee and tax increases. Further, he supported the unpopular attempt to construct an airpor in the county.
Could it be that the people are in the mood to vote against any incumbent? Since only two incumbents were re-elected one might easily come to that conclusion. However, I believe that most of the people that were defeated in Oldham county had ties to the development industry and the people in Oldham County want to take back control of their county. Certainly the people were not happy with Murner/development administration. With the economic times being what they are the people were also tired of higher taxes and fees.
Only one of the magistrates that lost did not have ties to development. That was Scott Davis and the Oldham Era did a lot to unseat him. They wrote an article about his recent business problems and committed many “sins of omission” by not telling the entire story as they knew it. Scott Davis did more to open up the government of Oldham County than any other magistrate in my thirty-three years of residence in this county. The Oldham Era even chastised him for trying to bring about transparency regarding the anonymous donation to the county while admitting that the newspaper should have been pursuing the issue but did not do so. He followed his campaign promises of four years ago and kept in touch with his constituency while also voting against all fee and tax increases. Someday the people will realize what they have lost. I suppose that the people decided that he was guilty without giving him an opportunity to prove his innocence.
From what I know of the people who were elected on Tuesday, I believe that Oldham County will have a better government. I believe that the newly elected officials will be inquisitive and that will be a welcome change over most of the people they will be replacing who seemed to be happy to blindly follow the leadership of Duane Murner. On the other hand, I believe that they will be working with the best interests of the county in their hearts. January 1, 2011 will the dawning of a new day!
Magistrate Iva Davis was defeated by JD Sparks in her attempt to serve a second term. Magistrate Scott Davis was also defeated in his bid for a second term. He was defeated by Kevin Eldridge. Long time incumbent Robert "Bob" Deibel, Jr. was defeated by Mike Logsdon. Incumbent Steve Church was defeated by former magistrate Brent Likens and another long time magistrate, Rick Rash was defeated by Bob Dye. Dye had narrowly lost to Rash in 2006. Therefore, his defeat of Rash was predicted by many people. Rash had essentially followed the establishment and had voted for all fee and tax increases. Further, he supported the unpopular attempt to construct an airpor in the county.
Could it be that the people are in the mood to vote against any incumbent? Since only two incumbents were re-elected one might easily come to that conclusion. However, I believe that most of the people that were defeated in Oldham county had ties to the development industry and the people in Oldham County want to take back control of their county. Certainly the people were not happy with Murner/development administration. With the economic times being what they are the people were also tired of higher taxes and fees.
Only one of the magistrates that lost did not have ties to development. That was Scott Davis and the Oldham Era did a lot to unseat him. They wrote an article about his recent business problems and committed many “sins of omission” by not telling the entire story as they knew it. Scott Davis did more to open up the government of Oldham County than any other magistrate in my thirty-three years of residence in this county. The Oldham Era even chastised him for trying to bring about transparency regarding the anonymous donation to the county while admitting that the newspaper should have been pursuing the issue but did not do so. He followed his campaign promises of four years ago and kept in touch with his constituency while also voting against all fee and tax increases. Someday the people will realize what they have lost. I suppose that the people decided that he was guilty without giving him an opportunity to prove his innocence.
From what I know of the people who were elected on Tuesday, I believe that Oldham County will have a better government. I believe that the newly elected officials will be inquisitive and that will be a welcome change over most of the people they will be replacing who seemed to be happy to blindly follow the leadership of Duane Murner. On the other hand, I believe that they will be working with the best interests of the county in their hearts. January 1, 2011 will the dawning of a new day!
Monday, May 17, 2010
NO SURPRISE: SCOTT DAVIS FOR SIXTH DISTRICT MAGISTRATE
This endorsement probably comes as a surprise to nobody. Many people will immediately say that I am biased. Well, how does a person become biased? Sometimes it is because of family relationship, sometimes due to school affiliations, sometimes due to mutual acquaintances. And the list goes on. In this case, I am biased because Scott Davis represents my philosophy in government. That is, he is a fiscal conservative who believes in an open and transparent government. Moreover, he told his constituents what he would do for them and he has delivered what he promised. I would think that a lot of people would be biased toward Scott Davis for the same reasons that I am.
I know that the local media has made a big issue over his recent private business problem. However, that is just what it is - private. The local media has not presented the entire story as they know it. Rather they portrayed it, as they obviously wanted it to be seen. Mr. Davis has not been charged with anything. That cannot be said about his opponent in the Republican primary. However, in fairness to Kevin Eldridge, he has not been convicted of anything either.
On the other hand, there is one candidate that has been determined to have been in violation of a federal law for several months. By doing that the candidate, Paula Gish, has placed the county in the position of possibly having to forfeit federal funds. Yet, she continues to be a candidate. Additionally, the sitting County Judge has been found guilty twice of violating laws relating to an open government and he continues to serve. I have not heard the local press call for him to resign nor to beat up on him. Where is the equity in this county?
Meanwhile, Magistrate Scott Davis has done more to bring about an open government in Oldham County than any other politician that I can remember in the thirty-three years that I have resided in this county. Moreover, he has kept his promise to his constituents to be fiscally conservative and to communicate with them. The number of communication forums that he conducted during this term in office is more than triple the number that any other politician that I know of in Oldham County. Why should I not endorse him. The people of the sixth district would be well served by re-electing him for another term.
I know that the local media has made a big issue over his recent private business problem. However, that is just what it is - private. The local media has not presented the entire story as they know it. Rather they portrayed it, as they obviously wanted it to be seen. Mr. Davis has not been charged with anything. That cannot be said about his opponent in the Republican primary. However, in fairness to Kevin Eldridge, he has not been convicted of anything either.
On the other hand, there is one candidate that has been determined to have been in violation of a federal law for several months. By doing that the candidate, Paula Gish, has placed the county in the position of possibly having to forfeit federal funds. Yet, she continues to be a candidate. Additionally, the sitting County Judge has been found guilty twice of violating laws relating to an open government and he continues to serve. I have not heard the local press call for him to resign nor to beat up on him. Where is the equity in this county?
Meanwhile, Magistrate Scott Davis has done more to bring about an open government in Oldham County than any other politician that I can remember in the thirty-three years that I have resided in this county. Moreover, he has kept his promise to his constituents to be fiscally conservative and to communicate with them. The number of communication forums that he conducted during this term in office is more than triple the number that any other politician that I know of in Oldham County. Why should I not endorse him. The people of the sixth district would be well served by re-electing him for another term.
FENDLEY ALLEGATIONS DO NOT DISCLOSE EVERYTHING
John Fendley stated in an ad that he placed in a newspaper that his opponent, Galen Clark, was the only candidate to be sued in recent years in Oldham Circuit Court. He claims that Clark had been sued twice for failing to pay his Homeowner Association dues.
There are two things wrong with this statement. First, Clark is not the only candidate to be sued. Kevin Eldridge, a candidate for magistrate in the sixth district, is currently a defendant in Oldham Circuit Court. It has been alleged that he failed to provide records when requested to do so under the Open Records Act. Perhaps Fendley was referring only to candidates for the office of County Attorney. However, he should have clarified that.
Additionally, Fendley should have clarified that the lawsuits against Clark were dropped. As a matter of fact the Homeowners’ Association that brought the charges issued an apology for having brought the charges. I have posted a copy of that apology. It can be viewed by clicking here. Does Mr. Fendley prosecute his cases without getting all of the facts or does he get the facts and just not disclose them?
There are two things wrong with this statement. First, Clark is not the only candidate to be sued. Kevin Eldridge, a candidate for magistrate in the sixth district, is currently a defendant in Oldham Circuit Court. It has been alleged that he failed to provide records when requested to do so under the Open Records Act. Perhaps Fendley was referring only to candidates for the office of County Attorney. However, he should have clarified that.
Additionally, Fendley should have clarified that the lawsuits against Clark were dropped. As a matter of fact the Homeowners’ Association that brought the charges issued an apology for having brought the charges. I have posted a copy of that apology. It can be viewed by clicking here. Does Mr. Fendley prosecute his cases without getting all of the facts or does he get the facts and just not disclose them?
Saturday, May 15, 2010
HARPER FOR OLDHAM COUNTY JAILER
My endorsement of David Harper for the office of county jailer may come as a surprise for many readers. David Harper has admitted that he has no experience running a jail. He has said that from the beginning. Frankly, he has been honest about that. Mr. Harper does have business experience and I know that he is a hard worker. I have spoken to his some of his customers and they seem to be satisfied with his product.
As for Mike Simpson, he is a nice man. However, Mr. Simpson favors the construction of a new jail and he feels that the jail should be a profit making venture although that certainly is not the objective of prison institutions. The only prison institutions that I know of that are for profit are privately operated prisons. They can make a profit because they work on a contract basis. It is easy for private institutions to adapt to the change in the flow of prisoners through an institution.
Trying to construct a new jail that would be operated by government with the idea in mind that it will be a profit making venture is risky business. It is something that the government should not attempt to do. Government should not be operating to try to make a profit.
The primary purpose of the Oldham County jail should be to house prisoners that pass through the court system in Oldham County. We should try to do that as economically as possible.
I know that some people believe that we should consider not incarcerating Oldham County residents if we can place federal, state, or other prisoners in our jail because we make money by housing them while it costs us money to house our own violators. That is absolutely absurd. I have heard one magistrate make that comment. I do not believe that David advocates the construction of a new jail. By the way, Paula Gish has said that she would consider the construction of a new jail. Considering the amount of debt that this county has at the present time that is simply not conceivable. The residents of Oldham County are already facing enough financial risk.
As for Mike Simpson, he is a nice man. However, Mr. Simpson favors the construction of a new jail and he feels that the jail should be a profit making venture although that certainly is not the objective of prison institutions. The only prison institutions that I know of that are for profit are privately operated prisons. They can make a profit because they work on a contract basis. It is easy for private institutions to adapt to the change in the flow of prisoners through an institution.
Trying to construct a new jail that would be operated by government with the idea in mind that it will be a profit making venture is risky business. It is something that the government should not attempt to do. Government should not be operating to try to make a profit.
The primary purpose of the Oldham County jail should be to house prisoners that pass through the court system in Oldham County. We should try to do that as economically as possible.
I know that some people believe that we should consider not incarcerating Oldham County residents if we can place federal, state, or other prisoners in our jail because we make money by housing them while it costs us money to house our own violators. That is absolutely absurd. I have heard one magistrate make that comment. I do not believe that David advocates the construction of a new jail. By the way, Paula Gish has said that she would consider the construction of a new jail. Considering the amount of debt that this county has at the present time that is simply not conceivable. The residents of Oldham County are already facing enough financial risk.
LESLIE ENDORSSED IN DISTRICT THREE MAGISTRATE RACE
Although Tim Smith made a good impression on me at the Westport debates, I am endorsing Bob Leslie for magistrate for the third district. Bob has kept his word to his constituents by opposing all tax increases. He has made that pledge again and I believe that he will again keep his word.
Bob Leslie is a gentleman and was one of the first magistrates to oppose the construction of an airport in Oldham County even though the majority of the other magistrates and the Judge/Executive favored the construction of the airport.
Certainly the competition presented by Tim Smith will keep Leslie aware that his constituents would have a choice if Leslie were to abandon them. District three is fortunate to have two people interested in serving them.
I will not be making an endorsement for the second district, as Wayne Theiss is the only person seeking that office. I know that he is pleased to be in that position. The fact that no other person chose to oppose him says one of two things. Either there is a lot of apathy in the district or the people were of the belief that Mr. Theiss would serve them well. Mr. Theiss previously has held the office of magistrate.
As for the fourth district, I will not make an endorsement. The incumbent, Steve Greenwell is a gentleman. However, I have not been happy with his support of the Murner Administration, including his support of all of the tax and fee increases. He certainly could act more independently. One plus for Greenwell is that he decided that he would oppose the construction of an airport after learning that his constituents were opposed to the airport. However, before he reached that decision his failure to recognize reality caused many people a lot of extra work and strife.
Although it obvious that I do not believe that Mr. Greenwell is the best that district four could do, I cannot endorse his opponent, Lambert Franklin, as I know nothing about him. Thus, he may well have the same approach to issues, to include taxes, that Mr. Greenwell has. There has to be some reason for me to endorse a candidate and I do not have a specific reason to endorse Mr. Franklin.
Bob Leslie is a gentleman and was one of the first magistrates to oppose the construction of an airport in Oldham County even though the majority of the other magistrates and the Judge/Executive favored the construction of the airport.
Certainly the competition presented by Tim Smith will keep Leslie aware that his constituents would have a choice if Leslie were to abandon them. District three is fortunate to have two people interested in serving them.
I will not be making an endorsement for the second district, as Wayne Theiss is the only person seeking that office. I know that he is pleased to be in that position. The fact that no other person chose to oppose him says one of two things. Either there is a lot of apathy in the district or the people were of the belief that Mr. Theiss would serve them well. Mr. Theiss previously has held the office of magistrate.
As for the fourth district, I will not make an endorsement. The incumbent, Steve Greenwell is a gentleman. However, I have not been happy with his support of the Murner Administration, including his support of all of the tax and fee increases. He certainly could act more independently. One plus for Greenwell is that he decided that he would oppose the construction of an airport after learning that his constituents were opposed to the airport. However, before he reached that decision his failure to recognize reality caused many people a lot of extra work and strife.
Although it obvious that I do not believe that Mr. Greenwell is the best that district four could do, I cannot endorse his opponent, Lambert Franklin, as I know nothing about him. Thus, he may well have the same approach to issues, to include taxes, that Mr. Greenwell has. There has to be some reason for me to endorse a candidate and I do not have a specific reason to endorse Mr. Franklin.
HARRISON ENDORSED FOR COUNTY CLERK: LIKENS FOR MAGISTRATE
On my endorsement of Galen Clark I have received some negative feedback from readers of the Watchdog . I am not surprised at this as John Fendley has been a resident of Oldham County for many years and has been the County Attorney for several years. Some of the comments were valid. I expect this race to be much closer than the last race between Fendley and Clark. Also, my endorsement of a candidate does not mean that I do, or do not believe, the candidate that I endorsed will win.
On to my next endorsement, I have decided to endorse Gena Harrison for the office of County Clerk. I have listened to the debates between these two ladies and I have attended the forums where they spoke. Additionally, I have interviewed both of the candidates. Moreover, I have received information about both candidates that was positive and negative. After considering everything that I have heard, I have decided that a change in the management of the office of the County Clerk would be the best thing for the people of Oldham County.
I understand that the incumbent Julie Barr now charges $3 if a person comes to the office to renew their registration and does not bring a copy of their old registration with them even though the old copy is not necessary for the issuance of a new registration. The copy of the registration that they present is shredded. I could understand this fee if a person were there solely for the purpose of obtaining a new registration because he/she had lost there original registration and it was not time for them to renew their license. However, to charge someone $3 for something that is not required, is nothing more than a method of getting into the taxpayer’s pocket. This, I cannot condone. I have heard Ms. Barr brag about returning fees to the Fiscal Court. Using these methods makes me understand how she does it. For her to be able to brag about returning fees to the Court at the taxpayers’ expense is just not the right thing to do. To add insult to injury she had a huge check printed at the taxpayers' expense to show that she was returning funds to the court. Did she not remember that the money that she was returning was the taxpayers' money. This was nothing more than grandstanding and was unnecessary.
As many people are aware, many offices now have what is known as a “dress down” day and it is usually Friday. Ms. Barr has instituted this in her office. However, she has added another twist to it. She charges the employees a fee for wearing jeans to work. I also have a problem with that and if I were an employee, I would not stand for it. Also, you may have noticed that Ms. Barr now requires all of her employees to wear uniform shirts. I believe that it is tacky. After all, these are not school children or members of the military. Further, the employees are required to pay for the shirts. If wearing a uniform shirt is so important to the image of the office, why do you have a “dress down” day?
I say get rid of the uniforms and if you are going to continue to have the “dress down” day, do not charge the employees. Please understand that this fee does not go to Ms. Barr, nor does it go to the office. I understand that it goes to some type of charity. The practice is tantamount to forcing someone to donate to a charity and it isn’t right. Keep the business out of my private affairs!
One more issue, in February I made an “open records request” for the names and salaries of all employees of the Clerk’s office. Ms. Barr delayed giving me the requested information for more than two weeks when the law required her to furnish the information within three days. Let me add that this was information that should have been readily available and only consisted of one page of information. When I received the information it was not on any stationery that identified it as having come from the Clerk’s office and it only contained the first initial of each employee. It appeared to me, and I still believe, that Ms. Barr was trying to keep the information as vague as possible and also make it difficult to link the information to her office.
It is true that Gena Harrison may not have the experience that Ms. Barr has. However, running the office of the County Clerk is not rocket science and Harrison did work in the office for eight years. Vote for Ms. Harrison.
Let us move on to the first magisterial district. There I am forced to endorse Brent Likens for a couple of reasons. First, the incumbent, Steve Church, said publicly in a Fiscal Court meeting that he did not want the job of magistrate and that he took it only because he was asked to. Further, Mr. Church has voted for every fee and tax increase brought before the court during his term in office. Additionally, he has accepted campaign contributions from people with ties to the development industry. As a matter of fact, he has openly stated that he favors development.
Mr. Likens has been a magistrate previously. Thus, both candidates have experience in the position. Generally speaking, I favor a sweep of the incumbents. In my opinion their leadership has been seriously flawed. The people of Oldham County deserve better and have the opportunity to do better this election.
On to my next endorsement, I have decided to endorse Gena Harrison for the office of County Clerk. I have listened to the debates between these two ladies and I have attended the forums where they spoke. Additionally, I have interviewed both of the candidates. Moreover, I have received information about both candidates that was positive and negative. After considering everything that I have heard, I have decided that a change in the management of the office of the County Clerk would be the best thing for the people of Oldham County.
I understand that the incumbent Julie Barr now charges $3 if a person comes to the office to renew their registration and does not bring a copy of their old registration with them even though the old copy is not necessary for the issuance of a new registration. The copy of the registration that they present is shredded. I could understand this fee if a person were there solely for the purpose of obtaining a new registration because he/she had lost there original registration and it was not time for them to renew their license. However, to charge someone $3 for something that is not required, is nothing more than a method of getting into the taxpayer’s pocket. This, I cannot condone. I have heard Ms. Barr brag about returning fees to the Fiscal Court. Using these methods makes me understand how she does it. For her to be able to brag about returning fees to the Court at the taxpayers’ expense is just not the right thing to do. To add insult to injury she had a huge check printed at the taxpayers' expense to show that she was returning funds to the court. Did she not remember that the money that she was returning was the taxpayers' money. This was nothing more than grandstanding and was unnecessary.
As many people are aware, many offices now have what is known as a “dress down” day and it is usually Friday. Ms. Barr has instituted this in her office. However, she has added another twist to it. She charges the employees a fee for wearing jeans to work. I also have a problem with that and if I were an employee, I would not stand for it. Also, you may have noticed that Ms. Barr now requires all of her employees to wear uniform shirts. I believe that it is tacky. After all, these are not school children or members of the military. Further, the employees are required to pay for the shirts. If wearing a uniform shirt is so important to the image of the office, why do you have a “dress down” day?
I say get rid of the uniforms and if you are going to continue to have the “dress down” day, do not charge the employees. Please understand that this fee does not go to Ms. Barr, nor does it go to the office. I understand that it goes to some type of charity. The practice is tantamount to forcing someone to donate to a charity and it isn’t right. Keep the business out of my private affairs!
One more issue, in February I made an “open records request” for the names and salaries of all employees of the Clerk’s office. Ms. Barr delayed giving me the requested information for more than two weeks when the law required her to furnish the information within three days. Let me add that this was information that should have been readily available and only consisted of one page of information. When I received the information it was not on any stationery that identified it as having come from the Clerk’s office and it only contained the first initial of each employee. It appeared to me, and I still believe, that Ms. Barr was trying to keep the information as vague as possible and also make it difficult to link the information to her office.
It is true that Gena Harrison may not have the experience that Ms. Barr has. However, running the office of the County Clerk is not rocket science and Harrison did work in the office for eight years. Vote for Ms. Harrison.
Let us move on to the first magisterial district. There I am forced to endorse Brent Likens for a couple of reasons. First, the incumbent, Steve Church, said publicly in a Fiscal Court meeting that he did not want the job of magistrate and that he took it only because he was asked to. Further, Mr. Church has voted for every fee and tax increase brought before the court during his term in office. Additionally, he has accepted campaign contributions from people with ties to the development industry. As a matter of fact, he has openly stated that he favors development.
Mr. Likens has been a magistrate previously. Thus, both candidates have experience in the position. Generally speaking, I favor a sweep of the incumbents. In my opinion their leadership has been seriously flawed. The people of Oldham County deserve better and have the opportunity to do better this election.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
COUNTY ATTORNEY AND 7TH DISTRICT ENDORSEMENTS
It is getting close to election-day so it is time to speed up a little if I am going to get all of these endorsements done before the elections.
After a lot of thinking and talking to a lot of people I have decided to endorse Galen Clark for County Attorney. Yes, John Fendley has a lot of experience as a County Attorney and Galen Clark has none. However, the time has come for Oldham County to get some fresh ideas and that requires changes. Therefore, people should vote for Galen Clark.
In my opinion Fendley has given some bad advice to other county officials in the past. The decision that affected me, and many other residents of Oldham County, the most was his advice to the County Clerk a few years ago to disqualify 2200 names on a petition that I helped circulate regarding the increase in the property tax rate levied by the Oldham County Board of Education. As a result of that decision the people of Oldham County were not allowed to vote on the issue. Thus, a class action lawsuit was filed and is still pending. If the citizens are successful in the lawsuit, the Oldham County Board of Education may be forced to return over 20 million dollars to the property owners of Oldham County. That will place a huge burden on the Board that could have been avoided.
Moreover, there was the incident of “Roscoe the Pig.” In that instance Fendley advised the animal control officer to kill a pet pig that was frozen to the ground. The owners of the pig sued the county in federal court and they were awarded thousands of dollars in damages. Also, during the current administration it seems to me that the administration has received very poor counsel on a few occasions. I do not know if the advice came from Fendley but that is part of his job.
Meanwhile, Clark is making his second attempt to be elected and I believe that he would serve the county well. He certainly has some fresh ideas about helping the youth of this county and the youth is an important part of the future of not only the county, but the nation. Vote for Galen Clark!
The easiest endorsement to make in all of the races is in the 7th magisterial district. Bob Dye is the clear choice for voters. The incumbent, Rick Rash, wore out his welcome long ago. He has been very demeaning to many people who have come before the court. For that reason alone he is not deserving of one vote.
Rash has continually inferred that he has “hung the moon” in Oldham County by taking credit for everything that he believes the people like. He has voted for every tax and fee increase that has been before Fiscal Court this past term. He has consistently voted with Judge Murner on issues that were detrimental to the people of Oldham County such as the creation of a Stormwater District and the assumption of the Sewer District Debt. And, let us not forget that he voted to double your insurance premium tax.
When Stan Clark first announced that he was running for County Judge Rash was in his corner. I suspect that he was hoping for a job in the administration if Clark were elected. Rash would like to get a government job that would increase his retirement as he has no other employment other than being a magistrate. Rash told me how “dumb” Paula Gish was. He stated that he knew that because she had sat beside him on Fiscal Court for eleven years. However, as soon as Clark announced that he would not be running for judge Rash immediately jumped on Gish’s bandwagon. He is always looking for a way to “feather” his own nest. I guess that I sound critical of Mr. Rash but I have heard him demean so many people and for that I believe the time has come for him to be denied another term in office.
Let us not forget that he also voted for an airport that almost 90% of the people in Oldham County did not want. He continued to voice support for the airport while his brother owned the property that had a very good chance of being the location for the airport. He finally stopped voting on the airport issues at my insistence before the court. I thought that there was a conflict of interest then and I still believe that the conflict was there.
If you only cast one vote on May 18, 2010, cast if for Bob Dye!
After a lot of thinking and talking to a lot of people I have decided to endorse Galen Clark for County Attorney. Yes, John Fendley has a lot of experience as a County Attorney and Galen Clark has none. However, the time has come for Oldham County to get some fresh ideas and that requires changes. Therefore, people should vote for Galen Clark.
In my opinion Fendley has given some bad advice to other county officials in the past. The decision that affected me, and many other residents of Oldham County, the most was his advice to the County Clerk a few years ago to disqualify 2200 names on a petition that I helped circulate regarding the increase in the property tax rate levied by the Oldham County Board of Education. As a result of that decision the people of Oldham County were not allowed to vote on the issue. Thus, a class action lawsuit was filed and is still pending. If the citizens are successful in the lawsuit, the Oldham County Board of Education may be forced to return over 20 million dollars to the property owners of Oldham County. That will place a huge burden on the Board that could have been avoided.
Moreover, there was the incident of “Roscoe the Pig.” In that instance Fendley advised the animal control officer to kill a pet pig that was frozen to the ground. The owners of the pig sued the county in federal court and they were awarded thousands of dollars in damages. Also, during the current administration it seems to me that the administration has received very poor counsel on a few occasions. I do not know if the advice came from Fendley but that is part of his job.
Meanwhile, Clark is making his second attempt to be elected and I believe that he would serve the county well. He certainly has some fresh ideas about helping the youth of this county and the youth is an important part of the future of not only the county, but the nation. Vote for Galen Clark!
The easiest endorsement to make in all of the races is in the 7th magisterial district. Bob Dye is the clear choice for voters. The incumbent, Rick Rash, wore out his welcome long ago. He has been very demeaning to many people who have come before the court. For that reason alone he is not deserving of one vote.
Rash has continually inferred that he has “hung the moon” in Oldham County by taking credit for everything that he believes the people like. He has voted for every tax and fee increase that has been before Fiscal Court this past term. He has consistently voted with Judge Murner on issues that were detrimental to the people of Oldham County such as the creation of a Stormwater District and the assumption of the Sewer District Debt. And, let us not forget that he voted to double your insurance premium tax.
When Stan Clark first announced that he was running for County Judge Rash was in his corner. I suspect that he was hoping for a job in the administration if Clark were elected. Rash would like to get a government job that would increase his retirement as he has no other employment other than being a magistrate. Rash told me how “dumb” Paula Gish was. He stated that he knew that because she had sat beside him on Fiscal Court for eleven years. However, as soon as Clark announced that he would not be running for judge Rash immediately jumped on Gish’s bandwagon. He is always looking for a way to “feather” his own nest. I guess that I sound critical of Mr. Rash but I have heard him demean so many people and for that I believe the time has come for him to be denied another term in office.
Let us not forget that he also voted for an airport that almost 90% of the people in Oldham County did not want. He continued to voice support for the airport while his brother owned the property that had a very good chance of being the location for the airport. He finally stopped voting on the airport issues at my insistence before the court. I thought that there was a conflict of interest then and I still believe that the conflict was there.
If you only cast one vote on May 18, 2010, cast if for Bob Dye!
OLDHAM ERA FALLS SHORT AGAIN
The May 12, 2010 issue of the Oldham Era once again gave two examples of why the people of Oldham County should quit buying the Era as I did a long time ago. They consistently leave out important parts of stories and their reporters don’t have the skills to investigate a story even when someone dumps the story in their laps.
First look at the story regarding the resignation on Paula Gish. If you read that story, you would be left believing that the only reason that the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) considered the issue of Gish having violated the Hatch Act is that Paula Gish and Duane Murner wanted to do the right thing. The fact is that I filed a complaint with the OSC regarding Gish and it was a matter of public record as I told the entire Fiscal Court that I had filed the complaint. The Era never contacted me regarding the matter. I furnished a lot of evidence to the OSC and filed an Open Records Request in order to gain some of that evidence.
If Gish and Murner were as intelligent as they claim to be, they would have known that Gish was in violation of the Hatch Act from the beginning. However, Gish wanted to remain on the job as long as possible for the exposure to the public and to continue to claim that she was “second in command” as though she were some military general.
Also in the May 12th issue, the Era wrote another article about Magistrate Scott Davis. Once again the Era did not tell half of the story. The Era failed to mention that Scott Davis has filed a lawsuit against Steve Masiello, assistant basketball coach for the men’s basketball program at the University of Louisville. They also failed to mention that Steve Netherton was involved in the issue. Netherton is a convicted felon. I know that they were aware of this information because I made them aware of the information as did Thomas Clay, the attorney for Scott Davis. Further, there is a link on this site to the entire lawsuit. The lawsuit refers to Masiello and another person named “Steve” who now appears to be Steve Netherton. Clearly, the Era knew that Masiello was involved. However, it appears that mentioning his name would have given credence to Magistrate Scott Davis’ story. Apparently that was not part of the Era plan.
Why did the Era leave out all of this information? To me they did it because they wanted it to appear that Scott Davis was the culprit, and that he alone, failed to deliver tickets to people. If Jackie Stoess Hack ever tried to contact anyone else involved in the story, she never mentioned it. As I have said before, if the Oldham Era does not have the resources or ability to write a complete story it needs to get out of the fast lane and use their paper to report obits, the school lunch programs and the honor roll. That information is provided to them and it doesn’t take much skill to print.
This is not the first time that Jackie Stoess Hack has tried to make Scott Davis look bad. Remember her column titled “Thumbs Up?” It chastised Scott Davis for having filed an Open Records request and for having sued the County Judge when he refused to provide the requested material. However, in the same column the Era admitted that it should have been pursuing the issue.
If the people want to see how a real story should be written, they need look no further than the front page of today’s issue of the Louisville Courier-Journal where they will find an article written about the Scott Davis issue. Then you can see how much information the Era conveniently left out of their story. The timing of these two stories is perfect to demonstrate the difference in the quality of journalism between the two papers. This example should make people drop their subscription to the Oldham Era immediately.
Just to give a little more credence to the Courier story let me add that I also have pictures of three text messages that Steve Masiello sent to Davis regarding this issue.
First look at the story regarding the resignation on Paula Gish. If you read that story, you would be left believing that the only reason that the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) considered the issue of Gish having violated the Hatch Act is that Paula Gish and Duane Murner wanted to do the right thing. The fact is that I filed a complaint with the OSC regarding Gish and it was a matter of public record as I told the entire Fiscal Court that I had filed the complaint. The Era never contacted me regarding the matter. I furnished a lot of evidence to the OSC and filed an Open Records Request in order to gain some of that evidence.
If Gish and Murner were as intelligent as they claim to be, they would have known that Gish was in violation of the Hatch Act from the beginning. However, Gish wanted to remain on the job as long as possible for the exposure to the public and to continue to claim that she was “second in command” as though she were some military general.
Also in the May 12th issue, the Era wrote another article about Magistrate Scott Davis. Once again the Era did not tell half of the story. The Era failed to mention that Scott Davis has filed a lawsuit against Steve Masiello, assistant basketball coach for the men’s basketball program at the University of Louisville. They also failed to mention that Steve Netherton was involved in the issue. Netherton is a convicted felon. I know that they were aware of this information because I made them aware of the information as did Thomas Clay, the attorney for Scott Davis. Further, there is a link on this site to the entire lawsuit. The lawsuit refers to Masiello and another person named “Steve” who now appears to be Steve Netherton. Clearly, the Era knew that Masiello was involved. However, it appears that mentioning his name would have given credence to Magistrate Scott Davis’ story. Apparently that was not part of the Era plan.
Why did the Era leave out all of this information? To me they did it because they wanted it to appear that Scott Davis was the culprit, and that he alone, failed to deliver tickets to people. If Jackie Stoess Hack ever tried to contact anyone else involved in the story, she never mentioned it. As I have said before, if the Oldham Era does not have the resources or ability to write a complete story it needs to get out of the fast lane and use their paper to report obits, the school lunch programs and the honor roll. That information is provided to them and it doesn’t take much skill to print.
This is not the first time that Jackie Stoess Hack has tried to make Scott Davis look bad. Remember her column titled “Thumbs Up?” It chastised Scott Davis for having filed an Open Records request and for having sued the County Judge when he refused to provide the requested material. However, in the same column the Era admitted that it should have been pursuing the issue.
If the people want to see how a real story should be written, they need look no further than the front page of today’s issue of the Louisville Courier-Journal where they will find an article written about the Scott Davis issue. Then you can see how much information the Era conveniently left out of their story. The timing of these two stories is perfect to demonstrate the difference in the quality of journalism between the two papers. This example should make people drop their subscription to the Oldham Era immediately.
Just to give a little more credence to the Courier story let me add that I also have pictures of three text messages that Steve Masiello sent to Davis regarding this issue.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
WINTERS FOR PVA: LOGSDON FOR MAGISTRATE
The watchdog endorses Ron Winters for the position of Property Valuation Administrator (PVA). Winters’ opponent, Albert Harrison, has served his country valiantly, however, he simply does not have the experience that Ron Winters has. When someone attempts to unseat an incumbent my first question is: Why should I vote for you? In this case Harrison has not given any reason that I believe is worthy of firing Winters from his job.
Winters had the courage to stand by his convictions when a few developers tried to get the other residents of Oldham County to shoulder part of their tax burden. He has appealed the decision of the Appeals Tax Board in an effort to defend and protect the citizens of Oldham County. For that he deserves another term.
On the other hand, Harrison has no experience as an appraiser and no experience in real estate to the best of my knowledge. He does have a lot of experience as a surveyor but I do not believe that surveying experience is as valuable as having been the PVA and having been an appraiser.
If Harrison could show that Winters had violated the law or that there was some other egregious reason that he should not be re-elected, my decision might be different but he has not been able to do that. He has attempted to make an issue of the fact that Winters has hired his wife. While nepotism may offend some people the court has said that Winters did not violate the law by hiring his wife. Further, the experience that I have had with the office of the PVA reflects that she does a good job and that the taxpayers are getting their money’s worth with her.
In the race for magistrate in the eighth district Mike Logsdon is challenging incumbent Bob Deibel. Mr. Deibel is a gentleman but he has little to offer the court now. He has been around for a long time but he does not have any new ideas. Rather, he seems to find it easier to vote as Judge Duane Murner votes. The people need someone who will vote independently of the county judge and someone who does not want to raise our taxes to balance the budget. Raising taxes is not the answer to every crisis. Bob Deibel has voted for every tax and fee increase during the present administration.
Thus, I have chosen to endorse Mike Logsdon. I have spoken with him and I believe that he is a conservative. Can you believe that I am actually endorsing a realtor? I have no problem with that. I believe that Mike will bring fresh ideas to the court and I believe that he has a feel for the needs of the people and business. He is in touch with both.
Vote for Ron Winters and Mike Logsdon on May 18, 2010.
Winters had the courage to stand by his convictions when a few developers tried to get the other residents of Oldham County to shoulder part of their tax burden. He has appealed the decision of the Appeals Tax Board in an effort to defend and protect the citizens of Oldham County. For that he deserves another term.
On the other hand, Harrison has no experience as an appraiser and no experience in real estate to the best of my knowledge. He does have a lot of experience as a surveyor but I do not believe that surveying experience is as valuable as having been the PVA and having been an appraiser.
If Harrison could show that Winters had violated the law or that there was some other egregious reason that he should not be re-elected, my decision might be different but he has not been able to do that. He has attempted to make an issue of the fact that Winters has hired his wife. While nepotism may offend some people the court has said that Winters did not violate the law by hiring his wife. Further, the experience that I have had with the office of the PVA reflects that she does a good job and that the taxpayers are getting their money’s worth with her.
In the race for magistrate in the eighth district Mike Logsdon is challenging incumbent Bob Deibel. Mr. Deibel is a gentleman but he has little to offer the court now. He has been around for a long time but he does not have any new ideas. Rather, he seems to find it easier to vote as Judge Duane Murner votes. The people need someone who will vote independently of the county judge and someone who does not want to raise our taxes to balance the budget. Raising taxes is not the answer to every crisis. Bob Deibel has voted for every tax and fee increase during the present administration.
Thus, I have chosen to endorse Mike Logsdon. I have spoken with him and I believe that he is a conservative. Can you believe that I am actually endorsing a realtor? I have no problem with that. I believe that Mike will bring fresh ideas to the court and I believe that he has a feel for the needs of the people and business. He is in touch with both.
Vote for Ron Winters and Mike Logsdon on May 18, 2010.
BREAKING NEWS ABOUT SCOTT DAVIS, STEVE MASIElLO AND DERBY TICKETS
According to an article just posted on the Louisville Courier-Journal web site another person has surfaced in the Kentucky Derby ticket sales. His name is Steve Netherton. For the entire story click here.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
WATCHDOG ENDORSEMENTS
The time has come to announce my endorsements for the May 18, 2010 primary election. I will start today by making a couple of those endorsements and they probably will not be a surprise to you.
First, the race for the county judge/executive office, this is a very easy call for me to make. After having listened to the candidates discuss issues on three different occasions, after reviewing David Voegele’s background, and after reviewing the background of Paula Gish, I recommend that the voters of Oldham County vote for David Voegele.
David Voegele has considerable management experience, has a college degree, and has an excellent background in communications. Meanwhile, Paula Gish has only part-time experience as a secretary in the business world. True, she has been involved in parent teacher associations as has Voegele and she has been a magistrate as has Voegele. The only government experience that she has that David Voegele does not have is that of having been a Deputy County Judge/Executive for three years. And, in that position she was determined to be unqualified to supervise the payroll clerk. The Kentucky State Auditor made this determination during an audit of Oldham County. Simply put, if she is not qualified to supervise a payroll clerk, she certainly is not qualified to run Oldham County. She has sent out several mailings and obviously has more money to spend than David Voegele. However, she has yet to state any goals and has not stated how she would move the county forward. Again, there’s only one real choice in this race and that is David Voegele.
In the race for magistrate of the fifth district the people have a choice between a true Republican and a Democrat who claims she is Republican. The incumbent, Iva Davis, claimed in a recent newspaper article that she switched to the Republican Party in order to vote for Tim Wakefield when he was running for sheriff. However, I believe she told people attending a Republican Party meeting that she switched to the Republican Party because she knew she could not be elected as a Democrat. But it doesn’t matter which of the reasons she changed her party affiliation for, or for that matter if she changed for both reasons. Neither reason is a good reason to change parties. One should only change his/her political affiliation because he/she has had a change of political philosophy or a party that he/she is a member of no longer represents his or her views.
Additionally, I have watched Iva Davis for the past three years on fiscal court. During that entire time I can only recall her making one meaningful contribution to the court. That occurred when she vigorously questioned Joe Schoenbachler, who was the leader of the Oldham County Economic Development agency at that time, regarding efforts that the agency had made to bring new businesses to Oldham County. Other than that I would challenge anyone to show me something she has contributed to the court. Additionally, Iva Davis has voted in lockstep with Judge Murner on every issue that I can remember to include all tax and fee increases. She is a very nice lady and pleasant to talk with but she is not the right person to represent the people of the fifth magisterial district. Therefore, I endorse JD Sparks for magistrate for the fifth district. He is a young person who has fresh ideas, is not afraid to raise issues, and will bring a change to Fiscal Court.
Tomorrow I will have another countywide race endorsement and an endorsement for one magisterial district.
First, the race for the county judge/executive office, this is a very easy call for me to make. After having listened to the candidates discuss issues on three different occasions, after reviewing David Voegele’s background, and after reviewing the background of Paula Gish, I recommend that the voters of Oldham County vote for David Voegele.
David Voegele has considerable management experience, has a college degree, and has an excellent background in communications. Meanwhile, Paula Gish has only part-time experience as a secretary in the business world. True, she has been involved in parent teacher associations as has Voegele and she has been a magistrate as has Voegele. The only government experience that she has that David Voegele does not have is that of having been a Deputy County Judge/Executive for three years. And, in that position she was determined to be unqualified to supervise the payroll clerk. The Kentucky State Auditor made this determination during an audit of Oldham County. Simply put, if she is not qualified to supervise a payroll clerk, she certainly is not qualified to run Oldham County. She has sent out several mailings and obviously has more money to spend than David Voegele. However, she has yet to state any goals and has not stated how she would move the county forward. Again, there’s only one real choice in this race and that is David Voegele.
In the race for magistrate of the fifth district the people have a choice between a true Republican and a Democrat who claims she is Republican. The incumbent, Iva Davis, claimed in a recent newspaper article that she switched to the Republican Party in order to vote for Tim Wakefield when he was running for sheriff. However, I believe she told people attending a Republican Party meeting that she switched to the Republican Party because she knew she could not be elected as a Democrat. But it doesn’t matter which of the reasons she changed her party affiliation for, or for that matter if she changed for both reasons. Neither reason is a good reason to change parties. One should only change his/her political affiliation because he/she has had a change of political philosophy or a party that he/she is a member of no longer represents his or her views.
Additionally, I have watched Iva Davis for the past three years on fiscal court. During that entire time I can only recall her making one meaningful contribution to the court. That occurred when she vigorously questioned Joe Schoenbachler, who was the leader of the Oldham County Economic Development agency at that time, regarding efforts that the agency had made to bring new businesses to Oldham County. Other than that I would challenge anyone to show me something she has contributed to the court. Additionally, Iva Davis has voted in lockstep with Judge Murner on every issue that I can remember to include all tax and fee increases. She is a very nice lady and pleasant to talk with but she is not the right person to represent the people of the fifth magisterial district. Therefore, I endorse JD Sparks for magistrate for the fifth district. He is a young person who has fresh ideas, is not afraid to raise issues, and will bring a change to Fiscal Court.
Tomorrow I will have another countywide race endorsement and an endorsement for one magisterial district.
Monday, May 10, 2010
PAULA GISH FOUND TO BE IN VIOLATION OF THE HATCH ACT
Today Paula Gish tendered her resignation from the position of Deputy County Judge/Executive to Judge Executive Duane Murner. She tendered her resignation as a result of the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) having found that she had been in violation of the Hatch Act since she filed to run for the office of County Judge/Executive. Gish has been in violation for several months.
I brought the issue of Gish being in violation of the Hatch Act before the Oldham County Fiscal Court months ago and at that time I notified the court that I had filed a complaint with the OSC regarding the matter. At that same time Judge Murner indicated that he had also asked the OSC for an opinion on Gish’s position. It had been well known throughout county government circles that I had planned to file a complaint.
Gish indicated in her letter of resignation that she would be interested in serving as a consultant or in a part-time position until after the election. Considering the fact that she has been in violation for such a long period of time, I don’t believe that she should be considered for any position. To give her a job of any type would be a “slap in the face” to the residents of Oldham County. However, I fully expect her to be offered some type of position after the election on May 18, 2010. If she loses, she will be offered the position of Deputy Judge again. If she wins, she will be offered a part-time position or a consultant’s contract. Murner will find a way for her to receive a salary at the expense of the public. Ethics don’t seem to be a concern for this administration.
Just what is Gish qualified to do? The state auditor stated that she was not qualified to supervise the payroll clerk and the county doesn’t have any PTA positions. However, Murner is known to take care of his cronies. Remember, Bill Tucker, after losing in the primary election in 2006 and again in the November election in 2006 landed a job in county government after Murner laid off several other employees. Remember when Murner sued former Judge Mary Ellen Kinser over the appointment and subsequent attempt by Judge Kinser to remove Kevin Jeffries from the Planning and Zoning Commission, Murner was taking care of a friend there also. And don’t forget that Murner broke the law to keep from revealing that the Rawlings Foundation was the anonymous donor of $100,000 to the county. He even indicated that he would go to jail before he would reveal the name. However, when the time came for him to produce the name of the donor or go to jail, he chose not to go to jail. He had made a joint statement to the press that the donor was George Rawlings but when the cancelled check was produced it was revealed that the donor was the Rawlings Foundation instead of George Rawlings.
I brought the issue of Gish being in violation of the Hatch Act before the Oldham County Fiscal Court months ago and at that time I notified the court that I had filed a complaint with the OSC regarding the matter. At that same time Judge Murner indicated that he had also asked the OSC for an opinion on Gish’s position. It had been well known throughout county government circles that I had planned to file a complaint.
Gish indicated in her letter of resignation that she would be interested in serving as a consultant or in a part-time position until after the election. Considering the fact that she has been in violation for such a long period of time, I don’t believe that she should be considered for any position. To give her a job of any type would be a “slap in the face” to the residents of Oldham County. However, I fully expect her to be offered some type of position after the election on May 18, 2010. If she loses, she will be offered the position of Deputy Judge again. If she wins, she will be offered a part-time position or a consultant’s contract. Murner will find a way for her to receive a salary at the expense of the public. Ethics don’t seem to be a concern for this administration.
Just what is Gish qualified to do? The state auditor stated that she was not qualified to supervise the payroll clerk and the county doesn’t have any PTA positions. However, Murner is known to take care of his cronies. Remember, Bill Tucker, after losing in the primary election in 2006 and again in the November election in 2006 landed a job in county government after Murner laid off several other employees. Remember when Murner sued former Judge Mary Ellen Kinser over the appointment and subsequent attempt by Judge Kinser to remove Kevin Jeffries from the Planning and Zoning Commission, Murner was taking care of a friend there also. And don’t forget that Murner broke the law to keep from revealing that the Rawlings Foundation was the anonymous donor of $100,000 to the county. He even indicated that he would go to jail before he would reveal the name. However, when the time came for him to produce the name of the donor or go to jail, he chose not to go to jail. He had made a joint statement to the press that the donor was George Rawlings but when the cancelled check was produced it was revealed that the donor was the Rawlings Foundation instead of George Rawlings.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE SCOTT DAVIS STORY
There are two sides to every story. Today Magistrate Scott Davis, of Oldham County, Kentucky, took the opportunity to tell his side of a story. As most you know Davis has been accused of failing to deliver Kentucky Derby tickets to people who purchased them from his company, Derby Deals.com. Actually, several news reports have stated that what he did was a “scam.” It has been stated that Davis’ company delivered over 800 tickets to customers – he did not take their money. If Davis were running a scam why would he have delivered tickets to any of his customers? Not one reporter has asked that question. Davis nor his company have had any charges, criminal or civil filed against them.
On Friday, May 7, 2010, DerbyDeals.com filed a lawsuit in Jefferson Circuit Court in Louisville, KY alleging that Steve Masiello, an assistant basketball coach with the University of Louisville men’s basketball program had agreed to purchase Kentucky Derby tickets for Davis’ company. Davis alleges that he gave Masiello $70,000 to purchase tickets for him but that Masiello did not supply him with all of the tickets that he was supposed to and only returned $10,000 of his money. In the complaint Davis alleges that Masiello claimed to him that he could use connections that he had, including Coach Rick Pitino, to obtain Derby tickets for him.
Davis has stated that he has refunded most of the money to the people that did not receive the tickets that they were supposed to receive and that he is in the process of returning the remainder of the funds.
In the lawsuit Davis is seeking compensatory and punitive damages from Masiello. Davis also alleges that Masiello had an accomplice known to him also by the name “Steve.” However, Davis does not appear to be seeking any damages from him as he alleges that he was dealing with Masiello. The entire lawsuit can be viewed by clicking here.
I attempted to contact Steve Masiello on May 5, 2010 regarding this entire incident. However, he did not return my calls but Attorney Larry Wilder did call me and stated that he represented Masiello. He stated that the allegations made by Davis were not true. However, when I tried to ask Wilder other questions he hung up the phone. For the record, Wilder is the attorney who was found asleep in a trash can after police had been called by neighbors when a man was seen asleep in a trash can. The incident took place in Jeffersonville, IN. At the time of that incident Wilder was a city attorney for the city of Jeffersonville, IN. He was not cited for the incident.
The timing of this entire incident is not good for any of the parties involved. Scott Davis is seeking re-election to his Magistrate seat in Oldham County, Kentucky and as the world knows, the University of Louisville basketball program has already received enough bad publicity due to Coach Rick Pitino’s involvement with Karen Sypher. In addition to all of that Samardo Samuels’ mother has stated that he will not return for his junior year and that he will enter the NBA draft. What else could happen?
On Friday, May 7, 2010, DerbyDeals.com filed a lawsuit in Jefferson Circuit Court in Louisville, KY alleging that Steve Masiello, an assistant basketball coach with the University of Louisville men’s basketball program had agreed to purchase Kentucky Derby tickets for Davis’ company. Davis alleges that he gave Masiello $70,000 to purchase tickets for him but that Masiello did not supply him with all of the tickets that he was supposed to and only returned $10,000 of his money. In the complaint Davis alleges that Masiello claimed to him that he could use connections that he had, including Coach Rick Pitino, to obtain Derby tickets for him.
Davis has stated that he has refunded most of the money to the people that did not receive the tickets that they were supposed to receive and that he is in the process of returning the remainder of the funds.
In the lawsuit Davis is seeking compensatory and punitive damages from Masiello. Davis also alleges that Masiello had an accomplice known to him also by the name “Steve.” However, Davis does not appear to be seeking any damages from him as he alleges that he was dealing with Masiello. The entire lawsuit can be viewed by clicking here.
I attempted to contact Steve Masiello on May 5, 2010 regarding this entire incident. However, he did not return my calls but Attorney Larry Wilder did call me and stated that he represented Masiello. He stated that the allegations made by Davis were not true. However, when I tried to ask Wilder other questions he hung up the phone. For the record, Wilder is the attorney who was found asleep in a trash can after police had been called by neighbors when a man was seen asleep in a trash can. The incident took place in Jeffersonville, IN. At the time of that incident Wilder was a city attorney for the city of Jeffersonville, IN. He was not cited for the incident.
The timing of this entire incident is not good for any of the parties involved. Scott Davis is seeking re-election to his Magistrate seat in Oldham County, Kentucky and as the world knows, the University of Louisville basketball program has already received enough bad publicity due to Coach Rick Pitino’s involvement with Karen Sypher. In addition to all of that Samardo Samuels’ mother has stated that he will not return for his junior year and that he will enter the NBA draft. What else could happen?
DOES THE OLDHAM ERA GIVE FAIR AND BALANCED COVERAGE
In the May 5, 2010 issue of the Oldham Era a huge story was written about Magistrate Scott Davis. The story was centered on an allegation, made by a woman from Texas, that Davis had taken money from her for Kentucky Derby tickets and then failed to deliver the tickets to her. However, he did deliver tickets to her for the Kentucky Oaks.
It appeared to me that the Oldham Era completely took the word of the woman although no charges had been filed against Davis. The management at the newspaper stated that they did try to contact Magistrate Davis but was unable to reach him. Therefore, the Era ran the story without any input from Davis. After all, a deadline had to be met and that was more important than getting both sides of the story.
It is true that the Era did try to contact Davis – at least the Era left a message for me stating that they wanted to talk to him. I relayed their message to Magistrate Scott Davis and his attorney, Thomas Clay, later spoke with the Oldham Era.
I spoke with Clay on Wednesday evening regarding the allegations. At that time he advised me that Steve Masiello, an assistant basketball coach with the University of Louisville men’s basketball program, had failed to deliver derby tickets to Magistrate Scott Davis after he had paid Masiello $70,000 for tickets that he was to deliver to his clients, including the woman from Texas. Clay also advised me that he had given this information to the Oldham Era earlier in the day and that the Era had told him that since their paper had already gone to press their web site would have an updated article regarding the incident.
I checked the Era web site on Wednesday night and no story regarding the incident was there. However, during a call Thursday night with Clarissa Williams, Managing Editor of the Era and Jackie Stoess Hack, the Editor of the Era, I was told that the site was updated with another story at 11:30am on Thursday. However, Masiello’s name was not mentioned. I asked why his name was not in the issue and I was told that no charges had been filed against him and that they were concerned because of liability.
Let’s take a look at this. Scott Davis had not been charged with anything, and still hasn’t, but yet the Era was willing to take the word of a person from Texas that she had been the victim of a scam and print a story. On the other hand, they were not willing to take the word of a local well known attorney and write a story about Steve Masiello. I believe that you get the picture.
I asked the Era if they had tried to contact Steve Masiello and they told me that they had not. I told them that I had called him so they obviously knew that I had his phone number but they didn’t bother to ask me for it. Could it be that they did not want to hear anything else or were they afraid to call him? I’ll let you be the judge of that.
One more issue to be considered is that Magistrate Scott Davis has not been accused of any crime by the police. On the other hand, Paula Gish, candidate for Oldham County Judge/Executive is being investigated for possibly having violated federal laws. Further, Kevin Eldridge has been sued for failing to comply with Kentucky’s open record laws and Judge Duane Murner has been found guilty of having violated those same open records laws. I doubt if as much was written by the Oldham Era about all of those cases combined as they wrote about Magistrate Davis.
Does it sound like I am trying to defend Davis? Well, I am. There is just an inequity here that bothers me. If Davis is charged with something and found guilty I believe that he should pay the penalty. However, until that happens he should be given the same consideration as other officials in the county.
Let us not forget that if it were not for this site, it is doubtful that anyone would have reported that Oldham County had been alleged to have violated the civil rights of a Shelby County police officer. There was a federal lawsuit filed and neither the Oldham Era nor the Courier-Journal reported about it until I reported it on this web site. Surely, if a tiny web site with nobody but me to report can find out these things you would think that a county-wide newspaper would know what is happening
Thus, does the Oldham Era give fair and balanced coverage? That is your call.
It appeared to me that the Oldham Era completely took the word of the woman although no charges had been filed against Davis. The management at the newspaper stated that they did try to contact Magistrate Davis but was unable to reach him. Therefore, the Era ran the story without any input from Davis. After all, a deadline had to be met and that was more important than getting both sides of the story.
It is true that the Era did try to contact Davis – at least the Era left a message for me stating that they wanted to talk to him. I relayed their message to Magistrate Scott Davis and his attorney, Thomas Clay, later spoke with the Oldham Era.
I spoke with Clay on Wednesday evening regarding the allegations. At that time he advised me that Steve Masiello, an assistant basketball coach with the University of Louisville men’s basketball program, had failed to deliver derby tickets to Magistrate Scott Davis after he had paid Masiello $70,000 for tickets that he was to deliver to his clients, including the woman from Texas. Clay also advised me that he had given this information to the Oldham Era earlier in the day and that the Era had told him that since their paper had already gone to press their web site would have an updated article regarding the incident.
I checked the Era web site on Wednesday night and no story regarding the incident was there. However, during a call Thursday night with Clarissa Williams, Managing Editor of the Era and Jackie Stoess Hack, the Editor of the Era, I was told that the site was updated with another story at 11:30am on Thursday. However, Masiello’s name was not mentioned. I asked why his name was not in the issue and I was told that no charges had been filed against him and that they were concerned because of liability.
Let’s take a look at this. Scott Davis had not been charged with anything, and still hasn’t, but yet the Era was willing to take the word of a person from Texas that she had been the victim of a scam and print a story. On the other hand, they were not willing to take the word of a local well known attorney and write a story about Steve Masiello. I believe that you get the picture.
I asked the Era if they had tried to contact Steve Masiello and they told me that they had not. I told them that I had called him so they obviously knew that I had his phone number but they didn’t bother to ask me for it. Could it be that they did not want to hear anything else or were they afraid to call him? I’ll let you be the judge of that.
One more issue to be considered is that Magistrate Scott Davis has not been accused of any crime by the police. On the other hand, Paula Gish, candidate for Oldham County Judge/Executive is being investigated for possibly having violated federal laws. Further, Kevin Eldridge has been sued for failing to comply with Kentucky’s open record laws and Judge Duane Murner has been found guilty of having violated those same open records laws. I doubt if as much was written by the Oldham Era about all of those cases combined as they wrote about Magistrate Davis.
Does it sound like I am trying to defend Davis? Well, I am. There is just an inequity here that bothers me. If Davis is charged with something and found guilty I believe that he should pay the penalty. However, until that happens he should be given the same consideration as other officials in the county.
Let us not forget that if it were not for this site, it is doubtful that anyone would have reported that Oldham County had been alleged to have violated the civil rights of a Shelby County police officer. There was a federal lawsuit filed and neither the Oldham Era nor the Courier-Journal reported about it until I reported it on this web site. Surely, if a tiny web site with nobody but me to report can find out these things you would think that a county-wide newspaper would know what is happening
Thus, does the Oldham Era give fair and balanced coverage? That is your call.
Friday, May 7, 2010
COMING SOON: BREAKING NEWS ABOUT MAGISTRATE SCOTT DAVIS
Please visit this site later today for more news about Magistrate Scott Davis and the alleged ticket scam regarding Kentucky Derby tickets.
It is expected that a lawsuit will be filed regarding this matter this afternoon. If it is, I hope to have the lawsuit posted on this site.
It is expected that a lawsuit will be filed regarding this matter this afternoon. If it is, I hope to have the lawsuit posted on this site.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
OLDHAM RESERVE CONTRACT APPROVED
Oldham County Judge Executive Duane Murner announced in fiscal court on Tuesday, May 4, 2010 that a deal had been reached between the Oldham Lagrange Development Authority (OLDA) and the Hocker Group regarding the Oldham Reserve. No specifics of the contract were revealed. The Oldham Reserve consists of over 900 acres that the county purchased several years ago for the purpose of having commercial businesses and residential housing in the same area. The county has not been successful with the venture and it has become a financial drain on the county coffers. The county has been trying for a long time to obtain a partner to assume some of the financial and managerial responsibility for the land. As of now Oldham Reserve has one tenant, the Rawlings Group.
I had predicted several weeks before this announcement that the announcement would be made close to election time in order to enhance the position of the incumbents. Now the question is, will the contract be available for review by the public and all candidates for public office in sufficient time prior to the election for the issue to be discussed?
I listened as many of the magistrates praised OLDA for its work in achieving this contract. I would dare say that none of the magistrates have seen the contract. This is a very typical response of many of the magistrates on this court. They have frequently voted for things about which they knew nothing and then complained later that they were misled by the County Judge or some other person. Frankly, I see most of the magistrates believing that the responsibility for the Oldham Reserve has been lifted from their shoulders. However, the fact is that those magistrates on the court who originally voted to purchase the Oldham Reserve will always be responsible for that action. It will be very interesting to see just what concessions the county had to make in order to get someone to sign a contract.
There will be more to follow on this issue.
I had predicted several weeks before this announcement that the announcement would be made close to election time in order to enhance the position of the incumbents. Now the question is, will the contract be available for review by the public and all candidates for public office in sufficient time prior to the election for the issue to be discussed?
I listened as many of the magistrates praised OLDA for its work in achieving this contract. I would dare say that none of the magistrates have seen the contract. This is a very typical response of many of the magistrates on this court. They have frequently voted for things about which they knew nothing and then complained later that they were misled by the County Judge or some other person. Frankly, I see most of the magistrates believing that the responsibility for the Oldham Reserve has been lifted from their shoulders. However, the fact is that those magistrates on the court who originally voted to purchase the Oldham Reserve will always be responsible for that action. It will be very interesting to see just what concessions the county had to make in order to get someone to sign a contract.
There will be more to follow on this issue.
WESTPORT DEBATES
Monday night I had a choice, go to the Lagrange City Council meeting or attend the debate/forum in Westport. Knowing that there would be more City Council meetings throughout the year and that this would be the last debate between most of the officials running for elective office, I decided to attend the debates in Westport. Keep in mind that this was the third set of debates that I had attended. I don't know what happened at the City Council meeting but I do know that I did not learn anything new at Westport.
Most things do not change. Paula Gish still needed her note cards to say the same thing that she said on several previous occasions and the candidates' opening and closing remarks were the same as they had given at prior debates/forums. The questions were very general and for the most part did not relate to the candidate or the office that the candidate was seeking. This made for a very boring event. I would like to see a debate between candidates seeking just one or two offices and I would like to see each candidate given an opportunity to ask his or her opponent three to five questions with each person having a rebuttal period. I believe that might lead to different topics being discussed at each debate. The way these debates have been handled essentially allows each candidate an opportunity to tell a story and leave out the unpleasant parts.
Much of the time was spent by candidates telling what they thought about Westport and what they thought should be done for Westport. It was refreshing to see Bob Leslie, who now represents the Westport area, to be simply honest with people. He stated that the people do not want more taxes and therefore they're just simply is not enough money to do everything that everyone wants. Leslie listed several of the accomplishments that he had achieved for the Westport area. Among those accomplishments were the resurfacing of several roads and the rehabilitation of the park in Westport.
All that said, I would be remiss if I did not give the folks of Westport recognition for their hospitality. Without question the atmosphere was extremely pleasant. Attendees were given the choice of several different cookies and tea or lemonade. The Westport people showed some old-fashioned hospitality and I, for one, certainly appreciated that hospitality.
Most things do not change. Paula Gish still needed her note cards to say the same thing that she said on several previous occasions and the candidates' opening and closing remarks were the same as they had given at prior debates/forums. The questions were very general and for the most part did not relate to the candidate or the office that the candidate was seeking. This made for a very boring event. I would like to see a debate between candidates seeking just one or two offices and I would like to see each candidate given an opportunity to ask his or her opponent three to five questions with each person having a rebuttal period. I believe that might lead to different topics being discussed at each debate. The way these debates have been handled essentially allows each candidate an opportunity to tell a story and leave out the unpleasant parts.
Much of the time was spent by candidates telling what they thought about Westport and what they thought should be done for Westport. It was refreshing to see Bob Leslie, who now represents the Westport area, to be simply honest with people. He stated that the people do not want more taxes and therefore they're just simply is not enough money to do everything that everyone wants. Leslie listed several of the accomplishments that he had achieved for the Westport area. Among those accomplishments were the resurfacing of several roads and the rehabilitation of the park in Westport.
All that said, I would be remiss if I did not give the folks of Westport recognition for their hospitality. Without question the atmosphere was extremely pleasant. Attendees were given the choice of several different cookies and tea or lemonade. The Westport people showed some old-fashioned hospitality and I, for one, certainly appreciated that hospitality.
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