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.