Jefferson County Republican Party: What Went Wrong?

Nationally, the Republican Party (well, actually the Tea Party Republicans) nearly destroyed the Democrats in the November elections. They previously eliminated most of the remaining moderates in the Grand Ole Party (which was the backbone of the party), leaving more than a few Establishment backed candidates and  their incumbents. In Kentucky, the GOP did pretty well too, except in Louisville. Here, the local Republican Party got their usual butt kicking, which really shouldn’t have happened this time out. It was in many respects a clown show.

The mood in Jefferson County was strongly in favor of change away from Obama and his political misadventures. People were just as tired of "His Excellency", Mayor Jerry Abramson who served three terms as Louisville Mayor and two terms as Metro Mayor. The GOP had an outstanding candidate in the person of businessman and Metro Councilman, Hal Heiner. The GOP managed to field some good, but not spectacular candidates for Metro Council, but as usual, provided no help. The same goes for a lot of the other races such as for State Representative and State Senator.

The failure began about a year ago when interim party chairman, J T Miller, resigned in order to run for Metro Council District 19, which was being vacated by Hal Heiner to run for mayor (Miller, by the way is a classy guy, won). Party bylaws (antiquated though they be) states that opposite genders must occupy the alternating seats, that is, since there was a male party chairman and as the vice chairperson was female, only a male candidate could be nominated (the vice chairperson was not elected as part as a slate, but as a stand alone candidate). Through some backroom lobbying, Shelly May, who has little political experience, was nominated over a male candidate with significantly more experience and thus apparently violated the party bylaws. The nomination had the weight of a defacto appointment since discussion before the membership wasn’t permitted. Shelly seems nice enough I guess, although she’s never actually spoken to me. She’s married to the former PVA John May who was appointed by then Governor Fletcher and lost his election bid to Tony Lindauer.

After her election, it was necessary to remove the female vice chairperson and key fundraiser (as I said violation of party bylaws appeared to be in play here, though apparently not a lot of common sense was)in favor of a male vice chairperson. The Operations Director, who could have challenged her over the bylaws, had his nominal salary first cut, then eliminated and was finally removed from office. As it turned out, it was all a big mistake, especially during an election cycle. The local GOP did not implement any of desperately needed reform which been proposed. Another insider was selected a vice chairman. It was more (actually less) of the same. There was virtually no fundraising; no vetting of candidates; no training or oversight of candidates; no recruitment of LD chairpersons, precinct captains, volunteers or poll workers. 

In short, the leadership failed, or to be more accurate, the usual backroom wheelers and dealers failed the party; its members; the candidates; and the voters. One bright spot from the party insider’s perspective was, I suppose, that 25th Metro Councilman Doug Hawkins lost his race for reelection. Hawkins was a perennial thorn in the side of the Executive Board and only Republican west of I-65 as well as an advocate for the Southend. Don’t misconstrue my comments. I’m not picking on Ms. May and no one is blaming her for the local Republican Party’s failures. She was just not adequately prepared for the job in my opinion (as well as others) and the backroom dealmakers deprived the party of the type of leadership it needed.

I think what success there was resulted from the efforts of some Southend conservatives, of which I was one. A friend of mine, Paul Holliger and I had been talking for awhile about the need to turn around the declining Southend. We’re both tired of countless politicians of both stripes promising much and delivering little. We hit upon the idea of political training seminars for Southend conservative candidates (this was strictly non-partisan, but other than one Indie, everyone who showed up were Republican). We recruited two former Indies and current Republicans, Ray Pierce and Ed Springston to help with the training. No one knows drainage and flood issues like Ray. Ed, also a former Labor oriented Democrat, ran for mayor as an Indie, has a pretty popular local radio show called, “My View Matters”.

The format was candidate intensive”. We focused on just about everything and did pretty well too. Mike Nemes won the 38th House seat. Wade Hurt won his 37th State Representative seat, though through the disqualification of his opponent (Apparently Wade’s opponent, Jeff Donahue had an ineligible signature on his candidate application form. The matter went to court and Judge Fred Cowan disqualified Donahue from the race (interestingly, I didn’t learn of this until after the fact when I was told that I was accused of somehow “engineering” the disqualification. I didn’t, but I appreciated the laugh!). Although Renay Davis (whose house we used) lost, she did a spectacular job and came within 183 votes of winning her race in Metro Council District 13. Gail Powers didn’t fare so well in her race for the 44th House seat, and was disqualified, but she picked up some valuable tools for her next race. 46th House candidate Brian Simpson also lost, but put on a pretty good race.

So, there you have it. Locally, the GOP now only controls a small handful of Metro Council seats east of I-65. The Jefferson County Republican Party has done better in the past. It can do better in the future, but the elitism has to go. However, I will say this from a personal perspective, I don’t think backroom lobbying has any business in a political party. It should be looking to bring out the best in its leadership; its candidates; its elected officials; and its membership. After all, isn’t that what they’re always accusing the Democrats of failing to do?

Let me conclude with one final set of predictions from this election cycle. After the appropriate period has passed, I look for a change of party chairperson. I expect the “backroomers” to try and shore up their mistakes and transfer as much of blame as possible elsewhere while retightening their control on the local party structure. They will try to keep out and/or purge any reformers, who also just so happen to be their brightest and most capable.

I think Wade Hurt will have to “double down” to keep his 37th House seat, and that means acting more openly and honestly with Southwest activists. Mike Nemus, who won a close race for the 38th House has all the promise in the world. His next race will be tough. Rumor has it that retired police captain Denver Butler Jr (son of long time 38th State Representative Denver Butler) will run in 2012. 38th State Senator Dan Seum, who’s 70 years old, will likely face an aggressive primary challenge in four years, and if he survives that, an equally hard general election (and the scuttlebutt is that if Senator Seum tries to run any more family members---Dana Seum Stephenson and David Toborowsky come to mind---the same level of challenge can be expected). Lastly, look for yours truly to be calling it as is, but then, you already knew that didn’t you?

Louisville Metro Soviet

The Russian word “soviet” actually means “council” or “committee” and was originally intended to be just that. However, during the late 1940’s and through to the fall of Communism under Reagan, the name can to mean an entrenched bureaucratic system of government which knew best what’s good for you. The Louisville Metro Council is fast becoming the Louisville Metro Soviet. This issue is some of the reasons I think why.

The Metro Council’s original Animal Ordinance was intended to restrict dangerous animals, most notably Pit Bulls and Dobermans, but effectively punished all dog owners in general. Apparently there had been little interest from Animal Control to step up to the plate and accept responsibility for enforcement of existing laws. The outcry from pet owners and animal associations across the country such as the American Kennel Club, the National Animal Interest Alliance, as well as the Louisville Kennel Club was almost deafening. A boycott of Louisville by dog shows was promoted until a fairer ordinance was enacted. With some of the language changed, an amended ordinance was passed. However, it still contained language which penalized responsible pet owners, dog fanciers, and breeders. The end result was that the Metro Council attempted a blanket approach to a problem of which only a few individuals were guilty, and no doubt could have been better handled using existing laws available to Animal Control. This approach also cost the City of Louisville hundreds of thousands of dollars in convention money the dog shows brought in as well as gave Louisville a black eye nationally among pet owners and kennel associations. Bad Council. Sit. Stay.

Next, Metro Council decided to ban smoking in public places including bars and restaurants. Several hearings were held, and despite the pleas of tavern and restaurateurs that such an ordinance would negatively impact their businesses, it seemed pretty obvious that the Metro Council (pushed by Mayor Jerry Abramson) was going to play the role of Mother Hen and decided what’s good for us. Don’t get me wrong about smoking. I think it’s stupid and nothing more than a slow form of suicide, but I also think it’s a matter of personal choice, even if that choice isn’t an intelligent one.

Metro Council paraded in employees complaining about working in smoke filled establishments, and heard how they smelled of tobacco smoke, and all the damage it was doing to their lungs. They also heard complaints from patrons about having to inhale second hand smoke, despite the fact that most restaurants (and a few taverns) have smoking and non smoking sections. They also heard from business owners in other cities which had enacted similar laws and how little effect the change was on their businesses in the long run (and owners whose businesses didn’t survive “the long run”).

Ok, fair enough. However, most restaurants owners had previously invested thousands of dollars in separate ventilation systems (after obtaining a legal opinion) to minimize any second hand smoke. Secondly, the last I heard, we have employment at will in this Commonwealth. This means that if individuals know that the place where they’re seeking employment allows smoking and if that’s a problem, they can and should look elsewhere. Finally, patrons understand that certain establishments may have more smoking than others (like bars and taverns). If that’s an issue, you might want to try patronizing another establishment.

Should this be the role of government? In my opinion, no. It should be up to the owners to decide if they want their establishment to be smoke free or not. After all, it’s their business not the Metro council’s and it’s them who will suffer (or not) financially, not Metro Council. Who knows, there may be a niche for smoke free bars and restaurants and that could open up the door for some savvy entrepreneurs. People should be free to patronize the place of their choice. If you want to go to an establishment that permits smoking, that’s your choice. If you want to work at a smoke free business, that again is your choice. Should business owners be allowed to sue the City for lost income as a result of the ordinance? I don’t know. But I do know Metro Council took another step in becoming "Big Brother".

Another issue which arose out of this ordinance was that Churchill Downs would be exempt from the smoking ban. How could every other public establishment be forced to comply and take a financial hit while Churchill Downs could get by with it? Well, just recently Circuit Court Judge Denise Clayton asked the same question and found the ordinance unconstitutional because it exempted one business while discriminating against others. Senior Circuit Judge Stephen Ryan found the ordinance itself unconstitutional because of the Churchill Downs exemption. Mayor Abramson immediately pleaded with business owners to enforce the ordinance and is moving quickly to get a restraining order on the ruling to allow time for an appeal to be mounted. However, the result seems to have been just the opposite as many restaurant, tavern and bar owners gleefully put out their ashtrays. Such was the fresh air of personal choice. Of course, if people don’t contact their Metro Council representative ask that they vote against a revised ordinance, personal choice and responsibility will go up in smoke.

Lastly, Metro Council has embarked on deciding what’s good for us when it comes to our diet. Metro Council is attempting to pass an ordinance that would outlaw all Trans fats because it’s considered unhealthy and may contribute to various health problems. That issue is still under discussion at the moment, but frankly it’s none of their business what I eat, when I eat, or where I eat. I am an adult and I will take personal responsibly for my actions, even if those actions aren’t necessary in my best interest. Besides, have you ever looked at the counsel members? I think they need to worry more about what they put in their mouths and less about I put in mine. If they want to do something, allocate some money to the Health Department so they can mount some sort of media campaign about Trans fats, but leave me and my French fries alone.

The Louisville Metro Council has devolved from a group of civic minded individuals interested in doing what’s best for the community at large into a lockstep bureaucratic perfunctory organization determined to manage our lives, and often at the behest of the "Mayor-for-Life". Instead of addressing a specific issue about certain dogs and their owners, it chose to punish all pet owners with a blanket ordinance. Instead of allowing businesses the option of being smoking or nonsmoking, and individuals the choice to work at or patronize these businesses, they made the blanket decision for everyone for our collective good. Instead of allowing individuals the choice of what they eat, Metro Council has decided they will pick our foods for us. If this isn’t the definition of the word “soviet”, I don’t know what is.

Juicy Political Gossip!

I’ve recently heard some political rumors that I think you may find interesting. In District 14, it looks like incumbent Bob Henderson (D) may have some company. One candidate, Michael Bowman (D) has made his intentions known. Bowman, a political novice, already has his website up and running. You can check it out at http://www.electbowman.com/index.html. Another familiar name will be announcing his candidacy on the Democratic side in early January. But for now, he wants to keep that mum.

On the Republican side, Chris Thieneman could be facing off against Gordon Richie. Chris previously ran for Jefferson County Clerk, first as a Democrat and then, after losing to Steve Magre, switching to Republican and supporting the eventual winner, Bobbie Holsclaw. Chris also spearheaded the successful “Support the Library Not the Tax” initiative which opposed a tax increase being pushed by Jerry Abramson (and giving the Mayor-for-Life a big hit to his ego to boot). Gordon Ritchie is a resident of Valley Station, and whose family has lived in the area since 1863 which should give him some local notoriety. Ritchie owns a small farm off Dixie Highway near Kosmosdale. For those who keep track of such things, Ritchie’s farm has received $16,985.65 in federal subsidies from 1995 through 2005 according to the Environmental Working Group’s Farm Subsidies Database (http://farm.ewg.org/farm/persondetail.php?custnumber=004253039). Of more immediate interest is that Ritchie serves on Henderson’s District Advisory board and has been touted by Henderson as a candidate for the seat. Odd to say the least. Sounds like an attempt at a spoiler to me.

Speaking of the Library Tax, District 16 Metro Councilwoman Ellen Call has decided to hang it up to spend more time with her family rather than seek reelection. That’s probably a pretty good idea. Call, a Republican, spent her political capital by supporting Abramson’s efforts to pass the library tax, and even appeared in one of the Mayor’s commercials encouraging voters to vote for the tax. Former radio talk show host, Joe Elliott appears to be interested in the seat as does Paul Grisanti. Should be a good race.

Not so secret was Doug Hawkins’ attempt to bring illegal immigration to the Metro Council’s attention. Hawkins failed in his efforts, which really didn’t surprise me due to his lack of preparation. Doug needed more specific proposals than he brought to the table such as making English the official language of Metro Government and its agencies or imposing stiff penalties on any business or agency that harbors or employs illegal aliens. Despite federal laws to the contrary, there are local businesses and groups who defy existing laws on aiding illegals.

Derby City Clock

Our occasional guest writer, “Moderate Man”, has an interesting suggestion. See what you think:

The Derby Clock built by Barney Bright in 1976, is located outside at Bowman field near the Drivers License office. You ought to see it. Although it hasn’t worked in 18 years, it is almost restored and ready for placement. Barney's son, Jep Bright, and Adam Burkle, the owner of Adam Matthews, Inc. are working to get the clock working again. As designed, the clock is 40 feet high and has figures representing George Rogers Clark, the Belle of Louisville, King Louis XVI, Thomas Jefferson and Daniel Boone racing around an oval track. No location has been selected yet. But by placing it at the Louisville International Airport, it would give visitors a classy look at our town, even if they were passing thru. They would return home talking about the Derby Clock and might spark an interest with their friends to come visit our town, even if it wasn’t Derby time. Who knows, maybe a company president might even remember the clock, when deciding to relocate his company here in Louisville, Ky.

Speaking of the Airport

Ok, this brings up a question I’ve wanted to ask for a long time. So, just why our local airport, known simply for decades as “Stanford Field”, now called “Louisville International Airport”? For that matter, how did we end up with a “Louisville International Convention Center”? We have one or two honorary consulates, but I don’t think constitutes a mini UN. Does any one know? My understanding of the word “international” is that it means transnational or more encompassing more than more country To be sure I was correct, I decided to consult my handy dandy Webster Dictionary.

According to Webster, the word “international” means “1. between or among nations (an international treaty) 2. concerned with relations between nations (an international court) 3. for the use of all nations 4. of, for, or by people of various nations”. Now, let’s apply some critical thinking skills. Does “Louisville International Airport” have any direct flights to any foreign country (Indiana doesn’t count)? Well, no. The best you can do is catch a flight in order to catch a connecting flight which may leave US airspace. Odds are you’ll have to make at least two connecting flights to get to Europe and three connectors to fly to the Pacific. Does “Louisville International” service any foreign aircraft? Again, the answer is no. How about act actual international hub? Nope. The best the airport can claim is the “White Ghost”, which is the all white 747 UPS cargo transport which flies into areas where a US presence is frown upon. So, there you have it. One lone airplane that neither you nor I can ride unless we’re in a box—perish the thought!

Let’s try the “Louisville International Convention Center”. How many international associations, conventions, or gathering of an international nature has taken place at the convention center (not including the occasional Star Trek Convention)? I believe that answer is zero. How many major international events or shows are held there? Nada. What about international visitors? Now that’s a different story! Louisville does have a world presence, but mainly around Derby time. But if we use that criterion, then the St. James Art Festival should rank up there with the Louve.

Of course, if we want to apply the same apparent logic used in naming these two local establishments, then I guess we can say we have an international riverfront since the Ohio connects us to the international sea traffic which flows from New Orleans at the Gulf of Mexico through the Mississippi River and back down the Ohio. Then of course, we have the great international highway, I-65. Heck, just jump on to I-65 North to I-465 East then to I-69 North over to US 72 North and then straight on to I-75 North to Ontario, Canada. Heck, we’re practically there eh?

Just because they call it “international” doesn’t make it so. Care for the definition of “wishful thinking”?

Kentucky State Auditor

I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Linda Greenwell. We had a pretty far encompassing conversation, from personal and political histories to thoughts about strategies. Linda, a Republican, is making another run against the Democrat, Crit Luallen for Auditor. This is the second time the two women will face off against each other. The last time was in 2003 when Luallen won by only 15,370 votes out of approximately 1,011,538 cast. That’s a close race, especially considering that Luallen raised almost $402,000.00 to Greenwell’s $44,000.00 (as an aside, the Democrats usually do better than the Republicans when it comes to fundraising, so that’s quite a statement about Linda’s efforts).

Linda knows this race will be more difficult than before. This time she’s facing not only the commanding monetary lead Luallan currently enjoys, but all the advantages that come with being the incumbent. And to be frank, Crit hasn’t ruffled too many feathers during her tenure thus far though she does have the reputation of being a “Frankfort insider”. Of course too, there is Bush and Fletcher factor to consider. Bush has turned into a lame albatross that everyone is trying to distance themselves from and local Republican efforts have focused on putting out the fires that spontaneously flare up everywhere Ernie goes. That pretty much leaves the down ticket to fend for themselves. I can’t imagine the second tier candidates, the current Secretary of State Trey Grayson (R) or Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer (R) having any trouble winning re-election.

With all that said, I was impressed with Linda (and few politicians impress me). She has a strong conviction about what she wants to accomplish, namely bringing more accountability to the office of Auditor. Linda is a very dedicated and hardworking individual (her itinerary was mind-boggling). She sincerely cares about people, which is a rare commodity when it comes to politicians of any party. And notwithstanding the fact she’s a Republican, Linda is also a member of Teamster Local 89 (she even showed me her union card to prove it). That’s a big plus in my book. She has the commitment and drive to do a great job as Auditor, but it’s going to take more than that to win in November. It’s going to take volunteers and money…and lots of both. If you’d like to know more about Linda, you can reach her at: http://www.lindagreenwell.com.

The Fire Department Discriminates!

I couldn’t believe my ears while listening to local news Monday evening. It seems our local “bullhorn activist”, the Rev. Louis Coleman is now accusing the Louisville Metro Fire Department of discrimination. According to Rev. Coleman, the Metro Fire Department discriminates against minorities by only hiring those who score the highest on the entrance tests (yes, you read that right). He seems to want the test scores waived for what he terms as “minorities” which he said (almost as an afterthought) would include women. Well, I don’t know about anyone else, but I actually want our firefighters to be smart enough to pass the entrance test, especially if they’re coming to my house! When I went to follow this up, I found no mention of it in the Courier Journal. Guess it too bizarre even for them.

Sick and Tired

Saturday night saw the first meeting of several ticked off political and community activists, who gathered together to discuss the current political situation in Louisville’s Southend. The gist of the evening’s conversation centered on the failure of either party to take seriously the concerns facing the Southend. First on the agenda was the local Republican Party, which continues to show little more than a passing interest in anything west of I-65. Personally, I wonder if there’s some unwritten pact with their Democratic counterparts to stay out of the Blue-collar Southend in exchange for the Democrats keeping out of the White-collar Eastend.

Two key Republicans praised for their commitment to the folks in the Southend was State Senator Dan Seum and Metro Councilman Doug Hawkins—neither of whom are exactly the darlings of the GOP ruling clique, or the Courier Journal for that matter. For those not familiar with the GOP and Southend, no serious steps to build any inroads have been attempted in years, despite poor opposition from the Democrats (more on that in a moment). Focus instead has remained east of I-65. The Republicans shot themselves in their...er...foot with their abandonment of key Southend candidates in the 2004 races, resulting in many leaving the party. They recently repeated a similar scenario in 2006. This left many of the Republicans in the group feeling like the proverbial red headed stepchild. But before the Democrats start to gloat, things aren’t any better on their side of the fence; Different cows. Same bull.

As an aside, when I ran for Metro Council in 2002, I brought up the idea of forming a “Southend Caucus”, regardless of party or office, for the purpose on working on the Southend’s diverse and serious problems together. The Courier Journal accused me of wanting to “Balkanize” local politics. Folks, it was “Balkanized” long before I got here. I was just trying to find a way to sidestep party politics and work together base on common ground. Well, you can call me “Tito” if you want, but I still think it’s a good idea.

Despite controlling the overwhelming majority of seats, the Democrats have shown little in the way of leadership. It was pointed out that the Democrats are poorly organized and poorly lead at every level, with their chief interest laying in playing the “status quo” game of politics of promising change while doing nothing. Everyone in attendance agreed that with the failure of the Republicans and of the Democrats to bring more police officers, economic redevelopment, job opportunities, businesses, and a non-partisan commitment to neighborhoods to the Southend. The time has come whereby the residents need to be encouraged to start voting in their own economic self-interest irrespective of party registration.

Could this affect the Democrats? Hopefully so. Since they control the majority of the seats in the Southend, they’ll want to protect those seats. Perhaps by working more closely with area residents in addressing their concerns, they may actually want to keep junkyards, trailer parks and meth labs out, and bring in more upscale developments and businesses (did you know the Southend has no bookstore? Nope. Not a one). As for the Republicans, perhaps they will use this opportunity to capitalize on the leadership vacuum by investing in its small (and declining) voter base (is it any wonder that the Southend has one of highest number of registered Independents anywhere in the county?). Perhaps too it may actually induce them to start working with instead of against its best know elected representatives, Seum, Hawkins (and let’s not forget Kevin Bratcher either). The meeting adjourned with a mutual agreement to continue with these discussions, and develop specific steps to bring the issues of the Southend to the forefront.


A Musical Note

I thought you all might enjoy this. A friend of mine recently wrote and produced a neat little ditty about our favorite terrorist group, the Hezbollah (we all know what a fun group they are). Click onto Rob’s site and check out his song (yelp, that’s him singing too) at: http://myspace.com/bobbyludwig. I hope you’ll pass it along to everyone red blooded American you know! And Rob, great job!

Decline & Taxes

They say there's only two things that are certain, death and taxes. This edition looks at the slow decline of a city and rise of taxes. A few months ago one of our regular readers, an individual who goes by the name of “Moderate Man” wrote a terrific article on the need for taxing districts. He followed up with another compelling article a short little while later. Well, Moderate Man is back, and this time he’s talking about the decline of the Louisville’s population and businesses. I thought it was an article you’d enjoy reading and commenting about.

I also received a “public service” advertisement from community activist and real estate broker, Paul Holliger. Paul has been active for years in Louisville’s Southend as a public watchdog. Another experienced community activist in the Southend is Ray Pierce. Ray has been more than just a watchdog; he’s been a bulldog when it comes to MSD. Paul and Ray have teamed up over a recent proposal by MSD to raise our rates. There’s an open meeting to public on Monday, June 11th to discuss the rate hike. If you’re concerned about your water bill, I urge you to read Mr. Holliger’s notice and attend the meeting at the Government Center on Dixie Highway on Monday, June 11th starting at 6:00 PM. After you’ve done so, come back to Another Opinion and let everyone know what you think!

Finally, as before, the perquisite disclaimer: The opinions expressed in these two articles are solely those of their respective authors and not necessarily those of the Another Opinion and/or its editor. So without further adieu, enjoy!

Where Have The People Gone?

Metro Louisville has lots of needs for a 227 year old town, the 16th largest in the country. It takes money and people to fulfill those needs, keep the citizens here to raise families, grow old and enjoy a good quality of life. According to the census, from 1970-2000 the Jefferson County population has decreased .2% from 695,055 in 1970 to 693,604 by 2000. By 2005 it grew to 699,827. That’s a net increase of only .7% in over a quarter of a century. Where have the people gone? Why are they not moving here? Why are citizens moving away? There are lots of reasons and explanations. Aging population, conversion from manufacturing base to service industries, busing, labor disputes, no right to work status, Fortune 500 headquarters lost, tax rates, political duplication, education, etc. The voters took a gamble with merger to try to break out of the population stagnation. It wouldn’t do for Lexington to have the largest population in the state. Louisville’s pride was on the line. It remains to be seen just how successful merger will become. It may take 50 years to find out. After decades of under funding roads, infrastructure, education, parks, etc., the voters now have full elected representation. But not the money needed to make up for the lack of capitalization of those deferred items. Metro Louisville now has to think outside the box to attract and keep citizens. They have to be exciting and different. And I’m not talking about casino gaming. Sure that money is nice, but if State government wants to balance its books, it needs to do it the old fashion way. Cut spending and raise taxes. No, I’m talking more about the perception of being a “hot” city destination with a quality of life unsurpassed anywhere else. It’s kind of like build it and they will come philosophy. Some ideas that come to mind are: a pro basketball team and arena, grand prix auto racing on the downtown streets, huge signature metal sculpture like the St. Louis arch or the New York Statue of Liberty, 3 new bridges over the Ohio River (includes the 2 under planning), a water taxi to Southern Indiana, dedicated taxing districts for the library, parks and arts, a true international airport, light rail, horse races on Main Street, more Fortune 500 headquarter relocations, Golden Gloves tournaments, a Submarine docked on the Ohio for museum tours, modern Hydroelectric city owned power plants, the largest factory outlet mall in America, all city vehicles electric powered, fully fund surveillance cameras throughout the city for anti crime uses, passenger train service to Chicago Il., factory plant public tours of General Electric and Ford plant. I’m sure you can add a few ideas, but you get the point. Our politicians are counting on their old “successful” methods for greatly increasing the population of Metro Louisville. There might not be enough citizens left to vote them out of office if they fail.

MSD Rate Increase

MSD RATE INCREASE proposed
PUBLIC MEETING
SOUTHWEST GOVERNMENT CENTER
Dixie Highway
Louisville, KY
Monday JUNE 11, 2007
6 - 8 PM


MSD director Bud Schardein will be leading this meeting, and he makes it very, very clear that he wants to RAISE YOUR RATES by over 65% over 4 years!

This additional SW Meeting was scheduled at the request of Councilman DOUG HAWKINS,
who believes that the Southwest area was not given proper notice by MSD in April.

MSD contracted with the Courier-Journal to create an 8 page full color insert in the Sunday newspaper on April 29, 2007. In that insert the PUBLIC MEETING SCHEDULE was printed. The first meeting shown scheduled was on TUES April 24, 2007 at the Southwest Government Center. That FIRST MSD meeting was HELD 6 days before the public-at-large was notified through the Courier-Journal insert! As you can see, MSD failed to inform the Southwest community in a timely fashion.

A total of 4 persons (who were not MSD employees or contractors) showed up at that April 24 meeting, with an additional 2 persons from Councilman Doug Hawkins office in attendance.

MSD is NOT a city agency.
MSD is NOT controlled nor regulated by the Metro Council.
MSD does NOT answer to the Mayor.
MSD is NOT regulated by the Kentucky Public Service Commission.
MSD does NOT have to get anyone's approval to raise your rates 7% per year.
MSD answers ONLY to its own Board of Directors (who are all appointed by the metro mayor).
MSD currently has $2.7 BILLION in debt service (debt service is similar to a mortgage) (see note 2 below).
And MSD, under Bud Schardein, wants to add as much as $1.6 BILLION to that debt service/mortgage.
MSD pays $1.07 in interest for every $1.00 it borrows, which means it takes $2.07 to repay $1.00.
MSD repays TWICE as much as it borrows!So we, the ratepayers, actually receive only HALF as much in actual benefits as MSD announces.

And if that's not enough ...

MSD's drainage service area covers only about 67% of Jefferson County:
this means that only about 67% of the land might ... might be paying the MSD Drainage Fee/Tax.
MSD also does NOT provide sewer service to about 30% of the land in Jefferson County.
All of this means that MSD is collecting their fees from only a portion of Jefferson County residents.
Some Jefferson County residents DO NOT PAY MSD anything at all!
ONLY those who NOW PAY MSD FEES are the ones that will be FORCED to pay for all this MSD debt, both current and PROPOSED.

MSD has spent less than $123 million on drainage projects COUNTY-WIDE under a program called Project DRI. The Southwest has received only a modest part of that amount. (http://www.louisvilleky.gov/Mayor/News/2005/Project+DRI+Improving+Neighborhood+Drainage.htm)

Yet virtually ALL of this PROPOSED NEW debt will be spent within the OLD CITY LIMITS.
Virtually NONE of this PROPOSED NEW DEBT will be spent out in our areas, THE FORMER SUBURBAN COUNTY area.

PLEASE ... consider attending this ADDED meeting on Monday June 11, 2007.

Thanks.

Paul Holliger
South End Supporter &
Member of STOP I.T. (Invisible Taxes)

(STOP I.T. (formed in 2005) has been working to identify taxes being "sold" by various agencies as "fees". Since 2005. The MSD "drainage fee" is a prime example of such a hidden tax. In fact, we call that "fee" the "rain tax".

STOP I.T. has extensively studied MSD and has determined that MSD NEEDS greater oversight and accountibility. In 2007, STOP I.T. was successful in getting legislation introduced in the Ky. General Assembly to bring greater oversight and accountibility to MSD.)

(Note 1:
(http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/b1ab9f485b098972852562e7004dc686/d099dfec771c4cc785256fee00750c86!OpenDocument)

(Note 2:
On page 37 of MSD's 2006 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report
the TOTAL DEBT SERVICE is listed. It EXCEEDS $2,700,000,000.00.
Only MSD rate payers will be forced to pay this enourmous debt. http://www.msdlouky.org/aboutmsd/pdfs/cafr2006.pdf .
So, Just how large is this number?
Louisville could build SEVEN (7) ARENAS for this amount of money!)
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Big Steps

As pretty much everyone knows, I enjoy reading the comments from you, the reader. One such individual, who goes by the moniker of "Moderate Man" recently submitted an article he wrote which I would like to share with you. Of course, I'm obligated to include the usual disclaimer that the guest writer's opinions are not necessarily those of this blog. With that said, sit back and enjoy Moderate Man's article, called "Big Steps". I'm sure you'll find it most interesting:

Where is the leadership? Why do you vote for candidates without vision? How about the ones who will promise you anything to get elected and part you from your money? Why aren't the major parties redesigning their methods? If the parties are failing to serve the population, then why don’t the cities and some regions become self sufficient to a greater extent than presently? Let me give an example. The Kentucky State legislature considers Louisville Metro and Jefferson County a donor county towards their budget. We consistently give more tax dollars to Frankfort than we receive. As we are the largest city in the state, it probably is justified to assist the other parts of the state with our taxes. However, the other parts of the state have an obligation also to be frugal with the states money. 120 counties for a state this size are too many. Too many county seats with patronage employees and political potentates. I recommend reducing the number of Kentucky counties by one third. But I am a realist. I know this will never happen as the people we vote for would not vote themselves out of a job and will gladly splurge at the taxpayer feeding trough. So the other parts of the state thumb their nose at their responsibility to be guardians of the budget money. And they resent Louisville Metro for being so successful. Its time for our City leaders to realize that if we want anything done, we will have to start pulling us up by our bootstraps. Frankfort won’t help us unless they think that without their help our town’s revenue machine may dry up and they will receive less funds. Our town needs additional tax monies to expand a stagnant population, develop a robust economy, attract high wage employers and more corporate headquarters. We need a small City sales tax added, increased property tax not capped at 4 %, increased occupational tax and less user fees for city services. We also need a separate taxing district for the parks, another one for the arts, and another one for the library. We already give special districts for sporting facilities. The medical community for the most part is a for-profit business and only a select group of non profit facilities should be subsidized, like additional medical care for indigents and the poor. Our town could use the extra revenue for tax abatement to lure corporate headquarters, develop light rail, rebuild our aging infrastructure, keep the arts groups intact, enhance the parks for generations to come, provide an educational Mecca in our libraries. The funds could be even used to give 60% partial college scholarships to every one who wanted to go and who attended a 4 year local public high school, have good grades and will then attend their hometown college like Kalamazoo, Michigan does. This town had the will. Do we?

Employee Free Choice Act

Here's a piece of good legislation for change. This gives employees the right to decide for themselves whether or not they want a union with out harassment from management or pressure from union officials. The US House votes on this today (March 1, 2007). Let's hope it passes. Of course, if companies want to avoid unions, it's a simple matter of treating employees with respect, providing for a clean and safe work environment, ensuring a decent living wage and benefits. Companies who don't have no one to blame except themselves. For additional information, here's a link to the AFL-CIO site and the article written by James Parks: http://blog.aflcio.org/2007/02/22/employee-free-choice-act-sticks-to-values-we-care-about/

Weighty Concerns

Several folks recently asked me about whether or not the governor should weigh in when it came to the renaming a street, as in my last blog. My comment was essentially that I didn’t think the governor had a dog in that fight. So, the question became, when should a governor get involved in local issues? Rather than give a brief answer in the comment section of my blog, I thought I’d like to give more expanded response.

Basically, the governor is elected as the state’s Chief Executive Officer. It is therefore their job to respond to any issue which would have a direct or possibly indirect bearing on the state’s business. This generally includes, but isn’t exclusive to projects requiring state funding, impact tourism, attracting or keeping businesses, or environmental issues. Outside of that, I see few instances where a governor has any business in local issues.

Let’s take for example the dog ordinance. A really bad piece of local legislation to be sure; but, does it impact the Commonwealth in any way? At first blush, one would say no. After all, we’re talking about “dangerous” pets running amuck in Metro Louisville, right? But let’s look at the larger picture here. Whether the rest of the state likes to admit it or not, Louisville is the economic engine which runs Kentucky. Our tax dollars fund projects in Paducah, Bowling Green, Pikeville, Harlan, and all points in between (and yes, including Lexington).

One of Louisville’s biggest draws is our central location for conventions. This bad legislation has already drawn national criticisms from dog, horse, and other animal associations. Many, if not most of these organizations have voted to move their conventions and shows elsewhere, which impacts not only Louisville, but the surrounding areas as well. So, not only does Louisville get a black eye, so do vendors, hotels, businesses and others in and around Louisville who make their living off tourism. Now, given the broad economic impact of this ordinance, wouldn’t you think the governor would want to at least comment? I would.

On the other hand, renaming a street after Martin Luther King really has no direct economic impact on the state. After all, it’s not like there are no memorials in Kentucky named after this great civil rights leader. The only costs to be incurred are by the residents of Metro Louisville in paying for new street and highway signs. But I think perhaps what’s a more important issue was how the whole matter was handled by the two Metro Councilwomen, Shanklin and Woolridge. They basically decided they were going to rename the street and the public be damned. That’s not how you do it folks.

Metro Council, as well as every other elected official, is there at our leisure. They take their marching orders from us, not the other way around. If they had a sincere interest in renaming a street, they should have first asked for the public’s input on whether there was an interest, and if so, where. Perhaps what was most telling of all was when the two walked out of the meeting half way through, and both allegedly said they would rename the street regardless of what the resident’s wanted. I truly hope this is remembered come election time.

So, to summarize, the governor needs to decide whether there is any direct or indirect impact on the state at large, such as use of state funds before deciding to poke his nose into a local issue, including I might add, a local Primary race. The fewer levels of decision making in government, the better.

Blogging by the Numbers

A couple of readers asked why I thought campaigns courted political blogs so aggressively. They also mentioned seeing Pro-Fletcher supporters posting comments under “anonymous” and asked me to comment.

I’ve spent almost 30 years in politics. I’ve done everything from dialing for dollars, GOTV, putting out yard signs to managing campaigns and running for office a couple of times. Politics is a full contact sport and not for the timid (it’s a lousy place to be if you’re the paranoid type because believe me, they really are out to get you). Running campaigns is a tough business. The goal is to define yourself and your message first and then define your opponent and their message. You want to control the agenda and flow of the election. To do this you need a great candidate with a great message. But even the best candidate is useless unless you can reach voters.

Campaigns are organized media events. They are about reaching a specific audience. How successful you are at this depends on how much money you can raise to order to get their name and message out. Everyone uses pretty much the same tools like TV, newspaper, radio, mailers, etc. Blogs brought a whole new wrinkle into the mix. Here’s a new medium which “pre-targeted” base. Blogs tend to be huddled into specific categories, such a cooking, SciFi, gardening, music, and of course, politics.

Political blogs, like most blogs, are incredibly specialized. They tend to already be broken down not only into right, center, left spectrums, but also into specific pro/con issues like gun control, abortion, and so forth. As a candidate or campaign manager, they’re almost a Godsend. All one has to do is identify their respective target base (i.e.: female pro-gun supporters for instance), and with the click of a button, they have excess to thousands, if not millions, of potential voters and perhaps more importantly, financial donors. Best of all, it usually doesn’t cost anything to ask for a link to a campaign homepage or perhaps an occasional mention in a column. From a campaign manager’s perspective, what could be better than that?

Naturally, any old political blog won’t cut it in the same way one needs to be audience specific about which radio stations to advertise on, and on which days and times (biggest bang for the buck). The trick is to find an established blog with a strong readership, which caters to your candidate’s message. That takes experience. But if you’re successful, the payoffs are tremendous and very cost effective. One of the best examples is former Governor Jesse Ventura who credited his win over two much better known and funded politicians to the use of the Interest and Minnesota political blogs, which were mainly run by local college students. As an Independent, Jesse was able to bypass much of the established political routes he simply didn’t have access to because of the two party’s control over funding sources, which of course translates to exposure. Blogs are changing the political landscape, and who knows, may in time spell the doom of the two party’s monopoly over elections.

Now, here’s where I get a little miffed. I really enjoy a good open political discussion. Just keep it civil and keep it honest. What I don’t like are campaign’s trying to link to their sites without permission using the comment sections of blogs. If you like a particular blog and want to link to it, ask. If you work for or support a particular candidate and want to put in a plug for them, ask. Of course, if you just want to add your personal two cents worth, then by all means! After all, that’s what the comment sections are for. Most bloggers I’ve come across are pretty agreeable people. It’s really not more than common courtesy.

Hey Kettle, this is the Pot calling…

Speaking of political bloggers, Mark Nickolas, publisher and editor of the liberal BluegrassReport.org, was recently indicted for willfully failing to file his state tax returns for the years 2004, 2005, and 2006 according to a January 17th article in the Courier Journal. Nickolas claims through counsel that he filed his tax returns and has provided proof. The Department of Revenue said they scheduled two meetings to discuss the matter with Nickolas. He rescheduled one and failed to show up at the other. As many of you know, Nickolas has been a vocal critic of Fletcher’s administration for alleged unethical behavior. The investigation is currently ongoing.

The Metro Council of Nannies

When I was a kid growing up in the late 60’s and early 70’s, I often heard people remark that Democrats never meet a tax or social program they didn’t like. In fact, it’s what led to the Democratic Party being referred to in those days as the “Nanny Party”. The Republicans then were a different breed than they are today. Back then, the GOP was about maximum independence from government. They revered self reliance, a small government, financial accountability, and personal independence. It’s perhaps an irony that most of the environmental protection initiatives were Republican in origin. This brings me to the subject of this edition, that is, the “Metro Council of Nannies”.

The Louisville Metro Council is dominated by Democrats, and though well meaning as they are, have decided they know what’s good for us. Like any good nanny should, we’re going to take our medicine and like it. Let’s look at the “No Smoking” Ordinance first, and then on to a couple other recent issues. As a disclaimer, I’m no fan of smoking. I consider it nothing more than a coward’s version of suicide. Still, it's an individual's choice, which I can respect. Just a little common courtesy please and you keep your smoke out of my space.

Metro Council has decided that employees of bars, restaurants, etc are being forced into working in unhealthy environments. Somehow, these otherwise intelligent individuals are being held captive by their employers in smoke clogged establishments and required to endure hours upon hours of toxic secondhand smoke. As if that’s not bad enough, patrons were being dragged in off the streets into these dens of sin to set in smoke choking taverns and restraurants. Let’s not forget that Metro Council had earlier approved separate smoking and non smoking sections, provided that the owners spend thousands of dollars on new ventilations systems. Interestingly however, employees of Churchill Downs are somehow different from the other serfs…er…employees since Churchill Downs is exempt. Must be all those bucks that fan the air I suppose.

So, what did we learn from this? Well, evidently employees do not have the free choice to seek other employment, perhaps even in non-smoking establishments. Who knows, maybe some enterprising owners may have created their own little niche with completely smoke free bars or restaurants. We also learned that the public was incapable of deciding on whether to patronize a business based on full knowledge of its smoking policy. In short, we—you and I—weren’t capable of making our own decisions, and thus enter the nannies to save us from ourselves.

Next, we have the “Dog Ordinance”. I’m still trying to figure that one out. Apparently Metro Council has decided for us what’s a vicious animal (all of them it would seem), and the solution is simply to penalize everyone. Good going geniuses. If your dog or other pet attacks someone, you’re going to get sued. It’s called taking personal responsibility folks. If you have a dog, keep it fenced in or on a leach…period. How about a warning sign on the fence? Second, let’s have Animal Control actually enforce existing laws on the books. We don’t need the Metro Nannies telling us what we already know. On a side note, I would like to see owners fined for not keeping track of their pets. How many times have you seen some dog or cat out wondering the streets, especially in the mornings, only to later get hit by a car or truck? This lack of care ticks me off like few things can. We bring them into our world. They depend on us to take care and look after them, and in return offer us unconditional love, companionship, and protection. If you can’t take responsibility for your dog or cat, don’t get one! Go buy yourself a hamster or goldfish instead.

Finally, Metro Council wants to restrict what we eat. It would seem that our elected nannies are going to try and remove Trans-fat from our collective diets. Listen, if I want to eat some grease soaked hamburger and bag of fries, it’s none of their business. Frankly, what I do to or with my body is of no one’s concern but mine. There’s an old saying which goes like this, “Do as you will but harm none”. It means it’s your life. So long as no one is harmed or injured, do what makes you happiest. We elected these folks to fix potholes, pick up trash, and make sure we have adequate police, fire, and EMS. Other than that, they can get out of my life and stop telling me what to do, unless, as my grandmother used to say, they want to pay my bills in which case we can discuss a possible curfew time.


A Street by any other Name isn’t as Sweet

Metro Councilwomen Barbara Shanklin and Mary Woolridge, along with everyone’s favorite jester of street theater, the Rev. Louis Coleman, came into Portland hell bent on renaming 22nd Street after Martin Luther King Jr. There was just one problem however, no one bothered to ask the folks who lived in Portland what they thought of the proposal…until then. About halfway through the meeting, after getting an earful from angry residents, Shanklin and Woolridge walked out, still vowing to have their way.

Our renowned city historian, and fellow Metro Councilman, Tom Owens proclaimed that even though Portland’s history was primarily Irish, German, and Catholic, there was throughout Portland's history small enclaves of black residents. After the collective “duh” subsided, many are still wondering why we need another street named after the fallen civil rights leader. As most residents know, Rev. King did visit Louisville once, and marched downtown along Broadway. In the 1980’s, the small street in front of the Federal Building, along with park, were named in his honor.

Louisville has the John F. Kennedy Bridge, named after the slain president, who also visited our fair city. Then there is the Ron Mazzolli Federal Building, named after the popular congressman. Of course, we have the both the Gene Snyder Expressway and the Gene Snyder Post Office Building which houses, among other things, the federal courts. Gene too was a long serving and quite popular congressman.

Despite his public disavow of Louisville on several occasions, Louisville renamed Walnut Street after boxer Muhammad Ali in the 1970’s. In fact, we now have the Muhammad Ali Center, which seems to have suffered from late construction, overruns, inadequate funding, poor attendance, and may soon find its way to being publicly supported by taxpayer dollars. But what about Louisville’s other unsung heroes? We have a stadium and two bridges being built, plus several large new office and apartment buildings being built downtown. Will one of them find a place of honor there?

Keeping with the boxing theme for a moment, what about legendary heavyweight Jimmy Ellis? Ellis is a born and bred Louisville boxer who was always proud to say he was from the River City. Jimmy fought 50 professional bouts, and won 40 of those with 24 by knockout. From 1968 until 1970, he was the world heavyweight champion, after beating another boxing great, Jerry Quarry for the WBA Heavyweight Championship title. Ellis fought and beat the super Floyd Patterson and kept his title until losing it another one of boxing legends, “Smokin” Joe Frazier. Ellis, who never left Louisville and still makes his home here, was truly a giant among giants and yet this world recognized legend remains virtually unknown in Louisville (and let’s not forget Greg Page, another one of our boxing greats who remains in the shadows).

Speaking of legends, none were greater than the Green Bay Packers during the 1960’s under Coach Vince Lombardi. This was time when football was played by tough men for the mere love of the game. No over inflated egos allowed. In this era of Joe Namath of the New York Jets, Tex Schramm and Tom Landry of the Dallas Cowboys, Roman Gabriele of the Los Angles Rams, Gale Sayers of the Chicago Bears, Jim Brown of the Cleveland Browns, and Johnny Unitas of the Baltimore Colts (who attended UofL by the way), none eclipsed Green Bay’s Bart Starr (still my personal favorite of all time), Ray Nitschke, Jim Taylor, and Louisville’s own, Paul Hornung.

Paul “The Golden Boy” Hornung dominated the 1960 football season with 176 points and followed it up in 1961 with 146 points, He continued his breakneck pace throughout most of the 1960’s. Even some of footballs greatest running backs like Emmitt Smith, Priest Holms, Marshall Faulk, Gary Anderson, and Shaun Alexander failed to beat Paul’s 1960 record. It wasn’t until 2006 that LaDainian Thomlinson finally broke the record.

Today, Paul Hornung is a successful businessman here in Louisville, but despite his status among football’s greatest of all time, there are no streets, buildings, or bridges named after this former great running back. And speaking of football players, let’s talk briefly about another Louisville great, Phil Simms.

Phil Simms was born in Lebanon, Kentucky but grew up in Louisville. He went on to attend Morehead State. The New York Giant Quarterback won three MVP awards, not to mention Super Bowl XXI, and set more records than I have space for. Today he is a sports commenter and analysis as well as a successful businessman. Sadly, he too remains virtually ignored by his hometown while still adored by football fans everywhere.

Finally, how about TV Anchor, Diane Sawyer? Here’s a woman who was born in Glasgow Kentucky, but grew up in Louisville and cut her journalistic teeth right here at WLKY-TV. She went on to serve in two White House administrations, Richard Nixon’s and Gerald Ford’s. Diane has won just about every journalistic award there is, including two Peabody’s, the IRTS Lifetime Achievement Award, the Broadcasting Magazine’s Hall of Fame, and induction into the Television Academy’s Hall of Fame.

These are just a few people who deserve to be honored by the citizens of Louisville, but there are many more. They were born here. They grew up here. Finally, then went on to greatness while doing making us proud of their accomplishments. If anyone deserves having a street, or bridge, or anything else named after them, it’s these folks.

Election Analysis

Well, the November elections are over…finally. That means no more annoying recorded phone calls, junk mail, or spite filled TV commercials, at least for awhile. First, congratulations to all the winners. Good work…now go do your jobs! And for Pete’s sakes, please try to avoid all that partisan bickering nonsense. You’re not school children. You’re there to represent the people…all of them, not just Democrats or Republicans, and certainly not just the ones you like. For those that didn’t win, take a hard look at your race. Evaluate what went well, and what didn’t go so well. Then start planning your next race accordingly. In this issue, we take a look back at some of the various races, and try to guess where we go from here.

In the 3rd US House District, we witnessed history. We saw the GOP try to frame challenger John Yarmuth as “too liberal” for Louisville. We saw repeated attempts to hang him with words he wrote years, sometimes decades ago, as editor of LEO Magazine. We saw a worried incumbent go on the attack with negative campaigns. A sure sign of trouble. I predicted a close race, with incumbent Anne Northup (R) winning with 51% in her usual fashion. I was wrong.

It turns out Yarmuth won by the 51%, in what some media pundits were billing as an “all nighter”. In fact, the race was over rather early. Many things contributed to Anne’s loss; including her lock step voting record with the GOP (oddly, she tried to distance herself from her own record by claiming she was actually “independent”). Her commercials of just two years ago advertising her “close” working relationship with “Dubya” also helped to seal her political doom. With Bush’s numbers in the tank, any tie to him was like a bull’s eye. In fact, Bush can be credited with giving the Democrats control of both the House and Senate. Every Democrat should send Bush, Rumsfeld, Chaney, Abramoff, and Rove a “thank you” card for their early Christmas presents. We shouldn’t forget other factors of course such as immigration, the wars, or the environment. Finally, it seems that Yarmuth wasn’t too liberal for Louisville after all. Perhaps Anne was too conservative, and out of touch with her constituents.

38th State Senator Dan Seum won over newbie and former priest, Robert Valenza by 57.2% of the vote. Given Dan’s challenger was an unknown, under funded, and a political rookie, it’s interesting he was still able to garner 16,603 votes.

Republican Elizabeth Tori beat Dave Goodman in 10th State Senate District, as did David Williams (R) in his race to keep his seat in the 16th State Senate District. Williams defeated Shelton 70% to 30%.

The 38th House seat was no big surprise. Former Jefferson County Democrat Chairman Tim Firkins beat Dana Seum Stephenson with 56% of the vote. The 38th is approximately 2 1/2:1 Democrat. Dana received only 4626 votes to Tim’s 5844 votes. It’s of interest to note that when I ran two years ago, I lost with as many votes as Tim won by. In fact, voter turnout for the 38th was rather low, which tells me the voters weren’t thrilled with their choices this go around (maybe I should have run again ). Once strategic mistake Tim made was linking himself to outgoing 38th Representative, Denver Butler. Some of you may recall that we exposed Denver’s poor district voting record, and apparently the voters still remembered. Whenever you link yourself with a politician, you may pick up some of their friends, but usually all their enemies.

In the 37th House, newly elected Ron Weston went unopposed in his first outing. Weston won a special election earlier in the year to fill Perry Clark’s term while Perry ran for the 38th State Senate seat, declared vacant after Dana Seum Stephenson was disqualified. Why the local GOP leadership would allow a seat like this to go unchallenged is beyond me. Weston will never be as vulnerable again as he was this past Election Day. A lucky break for the Democrats, and another blunder for the local Republican leadership. Speaking of Weston, who some people are jokingly referring to as the “four year wonder boy” because of his recent affiliation with the Democratic Party just prior to running for Metro Council and remarkable rise in local politics is being rumored as a possible candidate for 38th State Senate when Dan Seum retires. Allegedly Weston is being groomed for the seat since no candidate has yet to appear on the Republican horizon and because of the anticipated redistricting expected in 2010.

Charlie Miller (D) gave a baptismal of fire to minister and political newbie John Brewer in his bid for the 28th House in Southwest Louisville. No surprise there. Miller captured 64% of the vote to Brewer’s 36%.

Other House races went pretty much as expected. Tom Burch (D-30) handily beat David Newmann, while Tom Riner (D-41) defeated Corley Everett with 78% of the vote. Larry Belcher (D-49) beat Mary Harper with 53%. Mike Czerwonka lost his third race for the 43rd House seat to Darryl Owens 72% to 28%. Republican Bob DeWeese kept his seat in the 48th District by defeating Amy Shir with 57%. Lastly, Brad Montell (R-58) won over Bill Young with 55%.

There were no real surprises in the Louisville’s mayoral race. “King” Jerry Abramson (D) trounced his former friend 67% to Kelly Downard’s 31%. Only two things struck me as a little unusual. First was how quickly the race for mayor was over. Virtually no contest. Secondly, I thought Independent Ed Springston would break the 5% mark. Instead, Ed received 1% of the vote. I guess the voters aren’t quite ready to pitch in yet and help break up deadlock partisan politics they so often complain about. Wouldn’t the Founding Fathers be amazed since most were opposed to political parties to begin with?

The PVA race was a shocker. Governor Fletcher appointee, John May, lost to Tony Lindauer (D). May, who came into the office and proceeded to “clean house” lost with only 45% of the vote. In case no one has noticed, just about everything Fletcher has touched has crumbled. I hope those on the GOP side do whatever they can to convince Fletcher not to run again in ’08 in order to have any chance whatsoever of keeping the governorship. There was one bright spot on the Republican side though. Bobbie Holsclaw retained her seat as County Clerk.

The Metro Council races proved to be rather interesting. In Metro Council District 13, Vicki Welch (D) overcame a strong challenge from Renay Davis in what some consider a “dirty” race. Welch claims her victory was the result of bipartisan support, while Davis points to the wave of disasters affecting most of the Republican races as having the most impact. Welch has promised to represent the entire district, which was something her predecessor failed to do.

Republican Glen Stuckel kept his seat in District 17, defeating Bill Cohen. Dan Johnson (D) easily took out Betty Drexler in District 21. In District 25, Doug Hawkins (R), the Courier Journal’s whipping boy, barely beat politically rookie, Erin Ryan with 53%. Hawkins should have easily mopped up Ryan. Maybe Doug didn’t take Erin quite as serious as he should have. No doubt he won’t make that same mistake next time, and because the race wasn’t decisive, I look for Ryan to be back in four years.

Lastly, a little history was made with Judge William McAulty become the first black Kentuckian to win a seat on the Kentucky Supreme Court. McAulty defeated Ann O’Malley Shake.

Predictions of 2008 and Some Friendly Suggestions

As things now stand, look for the Democrats to take the White House in 2008. Democrats are already lining up for a run; including Kerry, Edwards, Obama, and Hillary Clinton just to name a few. On the Republican side, only John McCain looks to have a realistic shot.

This election wasn’t just a shot in the arm for the beleaguered Democrats. It was a shot of B-12 for Moderate and Centre Right Republicans too. The election was a rejection of the ultra conservatives’ agenda. The Religious Right, which has long dominated the GOP, has also started questioning their relationship with the Republican Party, which is interesting since the Moderates and Centre Right has been asking the same questions!

This election was a disaster for the Republicans, especially here in Jefferson County. The Republican Part continues to lose election cycle after election cycle due to bad campaign planning. While many factors can and should be included, the responsibility ultimately lies at the top. For the Democrats, it was a decisive victory that depended more on the mood of the country than on organized planning. The trick will be to do it again in two years.

Media Fairness & My Crystal Ball

November 7th is almost upon us, and finally all those annoying recorded phone calls from those political sorts will stop. Gone to will be all that campaign “literature” which seems to pile up in our mailboxes, and with a single flick of the wrist, disappears just a quickly into the trash can, often without so much as a glance.

The Courier Journal too is announcing their endorsements, as if anyone really cares. 38th State Senator Dan Seum (R) was recently endorsed by the C/J, said it wasn’t anything he was proud to tell voters. Several other candidates who received the once coveted endorsement of the “once great newspaper” echoed the same words. The Courier even ran a piece trying to explain how careful and considerate their endorsement process was. Having gone through it personally twice and knowing numerous other candidates over the last 30 years that have appeared before the C/J Editorial Board, I’ve found them to be less than fair—or informed.

In my last race in 2003, I was “summoned” (and I use that word intentionally) to appear on a particular date for my interview. As it happened, I had a prior commitment. I politely requested the interview be rescheduled for any other time of their choosing (which, I was assured by the young sounding lady who called, would be fine). After not hearing anything for a couple of days, I made repeated calls to find out the new date. I was informed rather matter-of-factly that there would be no interview, but an endorsement would be made. Based on what I inquired? No answer. Despite further calls by me, and on my behalf, a new date was ever scheduled.

Well, the Courier’s Editorial Board made their decision, in favor of my Democrat opponent based on no interview of either of us. No survey or questionnaire. No review of campaign material. Nada. Somehow, I don’t just don’t see the fairness or consideration here, do you? It reminded me of my first race for Metro Council in 2001. My opponent was an allegedly a convert Democrat and genuine political novice (there was a third person at the interview. He was a friend of my opponent. Played in his brother’s band, but that’s another story). He was on the opposite side of the C/J’s stated positions on several issues, and didn’t have a clue when it came to some of the other questions. But because I made the comment that, as Metro Councilman in the newly created Metro Government, I planned to work closely with other Southwest councilmen on related issues; the C/J said I would “balkanize” the Metro Council.

The Editorial Board touted his community experience, but failed to do their research. Had they done so, they would have found that the experience was (at the time) 15 years prior and nothing since, while I had built quite a community resume starting from 1980. Another bungled decision? Perhaps, but I could spend pages relating similar stories that others have experienced. The point I am driving at is everyone has their own agenda, including those that made decisions regarding endorsements, regardless of whether it’s some PAC, or a newspaper. The difference is that we expect business, unions, or other single issue groups to have an agenda, but we count on the media for the unbiased balanced truth. So, how can the media expect us to believe them, when at the same time, they’re trying to manipulate the outcome of elections? Should the media be in the business of trying to influence elections by telling us who to vote for?

What if ABC, NBC, FOX, CNN and all the other media outlets started endorsing candidates? What then? Heck, the media has a hard enough time trying play down accusations of being too “liberal” or too “conservative”! Where do we, as concerned citizens, go for the simple facts, especially in a one newspaper town? The media, and this especially includes newspapers, should, in my opinion, simply publish each candidate’s opinions on the issues and let the voters make their own decisions. We don’t need them playing “big brother” and telling us who and who not to vote for thank you very much.


MY CRYSTAL BALL

Well, I guess I can’t resist making my predictions about some of the upcoming races. It been a long campaign season, and it’s starting to show on the some of the candidates. Tempers are getting short, and dirty deeds are being done…for free! So, here we go:

For 3rd District Congress, I predict “Ms 51%”, incumbent Republican Anne Northup will win reelection by beating John Yarmuth by her usual 51%. The Democrats don’t seem to be able to grasp the concept that you can’t run a liberal in a generally conservative district and expect to win. If the Democrats are serious about reclaiming the 3rd District (and they have a huge voting majority county wide), they need to run a genuine moderate. Someone with some military experience would be a great addition too.

For the 38th State Senate, it’s going to be Republican Dan Seum over former priest, Robert Valenza. In fact, I almost expect Dan to get arrested, because he’s “goin’ to murder the bum”.

28th State Representative, Charlie Miller (D) will walk over the Republican newbie, John Brewer. Brewer, a minister, is so new that even his campaign material is green.

In the 38th House, Dan’s daughter, Dana Seum Stephenson is running against former PVA and Louisville Democrat Party boss Tim Firkins. Denver Butler, the current holder of the 38th is hanging it up after taking a beating from yours truly in 2003. Tim should win based on name recognition…Dana’s. Everyone in the Southend is still reeling over the 2003 race and subsequent court case concerning Dana’s failure to meet residency requirements in her run for 37th State Senate. The court refused to seat Dana, a Republican, which led to a special election in which Democrat, and former 37th State Representative, Perry Clark, was elected.

For Metro Mayor, I expect “King” Jerry Abramson to win another term. Kelly just doesn’t seem to have the charisma. I’ve heard too many people say he comes off as “bland”. Kelly has all the right credentials, but just lacks the excitement you’d expect of a winner. As an aside, look for Independent Ed Springston to break the “5%” barrier. For whatever reason, most independents can’t seem to make it past 2% or 3%. I think there are enough people who are tired of the status quo to give Ed a go.

For PVA, Tony Lindauer (D) will have a steep mountain to climb in taking out Republican Appointee John May. Look for May to keep his seat in what may be an uncomfortably close race. There won’t be any change in Jefferson County Clerk. Republican Bobbie Holsclaw wins hands down against Paul Shaughnessy (D).

In Metro Council District 13, Republican Renay Davis is up against Democrat Appointee Vicki Welch. Vicki is a very personable individual, with a lot of drive to help the community, but she lacks experience. Renay, on the other hand, has considerable “hands on” political experience, and the desire to do something for all the residents of the 13th, many of whom have been all but ignored for the last four years by Vicki’s predecessor. This race has already gotten down and dirty with the usual immature tactics such as stealing signs, rumors, smear letters, etc. (usually a sure sign that you think you’re losing). In what I expect will come down to the wire, Renay Davis will be the new Metro 13 Councilwoman.

District 21 will see the return of favorite son, and “Sidewalk King”, Dan Johnson (D) as he defeats Republican Betty Drexler and Independent John Witt.

Incumbent Metro 25 Councilman Doug Hawkins (R) will win easily win political rookie Erin Ryan, a Democrat. Erin hasn’t mounted much of race, relying on her famous name for much of her support (Erin is the daughter of Judge Ryan). Unfortunately for her, it’s going to take a lot more than that to beat Hawkins.

So, there you have it. Wherever you live, show the special interest groups that the people still have the ultimate power—the vote. Power to the People.

A Word From Our Sponsors

Well, endorsements are for the most part in. Candidates are either giddy with their new found friends, or ticked off to the max at “those lyin’, back stabbin’ SOBs”. Let me tell you a few things about endorsements. First, they aren’t always what they seem. Typically, around August or so, various groups send out questionnaires designed to get the candidate to support their issues. Some of the questions are rather generic, sort of luring into a false sense of ease. But as you go along, the wording become rather tricky, with little wiggle room for the candidate to respond. Of course, the candidate is usually trying to answer the questions without committing too much.

After this little dance, those candidates who seem worth talking to will be invited to a brief meeting before a small group representing the organization, where they will play a verbal cat and mouse game called “You ask the questions and I’ll try to give you the answers you want to hear without locking myself in to much”. It’s really quite an art form if you think about it. Candidates can become rather adapt at the “non-committal commitment” as they move along in politics. We’ve all seen members of Congress and the President perform masterfully the “two-step-side-step” on a regular basis. Once the interview is completed, the board votes on who gets the nod, which not only includes the endorsement, but usually a nice fat campaign donation to go with it. If you’re a Republican, you hope for endorsements from the business community. If you’re an ultra conservative, your probably hoping for the support of Right to Life and Moral Majority crowd, and of course, Pro 2nd Amendment groups. If you’re a Democrat, you cater mainly to organized labor, pro environment, and other progressive groups.

The least important endorsement is from the Courier Journal. Once upon a time (B.G.—Before Gannett), the Courier Journal was all powerful. If you received their endorsement, you were almost guaranteed a win. Nowadays, an endorsement from them is just as likely to cost you an election as not. It’s was my experience with the C/J that they were not as informed or unbiased as they should be. In my first race several years ago, my opponent differed with the C/J on a number of issues, and didn’t have a clue about others. They also failed to take note of his credentials, or lack thereof when they endorsed him. In my second race, they never even bothered to interview any of us, or look at our campaign material. I can only assume their endorsement was solely on party affiliation. I admit to being guilty of complaining about their editorial slant in the past and what I consider to be one writer’s occasional inappropriate racial remarks, which I have written about (this may explain why they don’t print any of my letters to the editor anymore). But I believe the media should be in the business of reporting the news, not trying to create it.

The funny thing about endorsements is that not everyone fits neatly into categories. I’ve known a number of Republicans who were pro-union. Some were former shop stewards. They used union print shops to buy their campaign material (with the ever important union “bug” label). Some even had pretty good Pro-Labor voting records. I’ve also known several Democrats who were just the opposite. They’ve never belonged to a union. They didn’t use a union “bug” on their campaign material, and even privately scoffed at Labor. Yet, they got Labor’s endorsement simply because they were Democrats. Supposedly there had been instances where endorsements were agreed to privately before any of the candidates walked into the room. I find something very wrong with that don’t you? Personally, I would like to see the rank and file vote on each endorsement rather than allowing one or two individuals making the decision for them.

As everyone knows, I’m Pro-Labor big time. But I think Labor has been used and abused by the Democratic Party for far too long. It’s the same for some minority groups. Their support and money is simply taken for granted. If the Democrats were good for working Americans, Republicans would never get elected. The trouble is that neither the Republicans nor Democrats really care for working America. Both parties are bought and paid for by their corporate masters. Labor, in my opinion, needs to climb out of the Democratic Party’s pocket and take a look around. It needs to support pro-union candidates regardless of party.

In today’s anti-Labor environment, unions need support wherever they can find it, and it only makes sense that they seek friends on both sides of aisles when possible. After all, business groups seek the best politician to promote their interests, and party is completely irrelevant. So, why shouldn’t Labor? Granted, most of its supporters are on the Democratic side, but why automatically turn down potential allies just because they happen to have an “R” or “I” behind their names? I know unions up North have started supporting the individual, not the party. They know it’s better to make friends than create enemies. I wish we would do the same thing here in Kentucky. As an aside, I’ve recently learned that Ed Springston, an independent and pro-union candidate for Louisville’s mayor, will be picking up the endorsements of several local unions while the incumbent mayor, “King” Jerry Abramson, failed to receive the endorsement of the Greater Louisville Central Labor Council. Building and Trades even withdrew their endorsement of the Democratic Mayor. Now, that’s what I call progress!

Given that both major parties have done a pretty lousy job when it comes to protecting jobs from being exported, worker’s rights, job safety, job creation, etc, I would like to see unions put aside their differences and put together a union party. Did you know that the United States is the only Western nation without a Labor Party? I understand that there is a small third party comprised of unions which is showing some promise. The Green Party, which is huge everywhere in the world, except the US, is gaining strength as well. Wow, can you imagine what a Pro-Labor/Pro-Environment political party could do? With a little over 1/3 of voters registered as independents, and both Democrats and Republicans continuing to lose numbers, this type of political alliance could be awesome, especially in light of the number of people who vote "none of the above" by staying home. I bet they'd have something to vote for then!

Klan-destine

The KKK attempted to march in the Fairdale Parade on Septmeber 23, but was rebuffed by the festival officials, as well as by Metro Council candidates Renay Davis (R) and Vicki Welch (D). The following week, a letter was circulated in Fairdale, allegedly from the Klan, endorsing Vicki Welch. The Klan is said to have members living in and around Fairdale, and according to Tolerance.Org, is based in Fairdale (there are 10 Klan groups throughout Kentucky according to Tolerance.Org). What’s interesting is the letter supposedly came from Ms. Davis as part of a smear campaign against Ms. Welch. The letter seems to have been limited in scope and directed at specific Fairdale residents. Fairdale is Ms. Welch’s strongest based of support, and where she has also been losing ground to Ms. Davis. Secondly, the letter appears to have gained wider distribution thank to supporters of Ms. Welch. Folks from her camp were allegedly seen passing the letter out to residents at a recent music festival in Fairdale.

What makes me suspect about the letter is that Ms. Davis is about as opposed to the Klan as one can get, as is Ms. Welch no doubt. A tactic such as this is not in the character of Ms. Davis. Also, the letter was directed mainly at people living in the area where Ms. Welch needs to carry in order to win in November. Finally, some the folks passing the letter around were not only from Ms Welch’s camp, but were also some of the same individuals who pulled a similar stunt on me when I ran for Metro Council. In short, it’s what we used to call in the military as “disinformation”. People should treat it as such.

Poll Results

As you’ll recall, we did a poll last month about Campaigns & Elections listing of this blog under the category of “Liberal”. We had 2 votes for “Liberal”, 2 votes for “Conservative” and about 6 votes for “Centrist”. That’s about as middle of road as one can get! Since C&E doesn’t have a category for “Centrist”, I’ve asked them to list our blog under both the “Liberal” and “Conservative” categories. Thanks everyone for participating!

Primary Colors

Without a doubt, the 2006 Primary was one of the most exciting in recent years. “Runaway” Renay Davis won in her first political outing over Fairdale activist Sharon Woodring by one (that’s right, one) vote for the Republican nomination. She’ll challenge Democrat Vicki Welch for the Metro Council 13 seat this fall. Welch was appointed by the Democratic controlled Metro Council to replace Ron Weston, who won a special election for the 37th State House seat. Stay tuned. Dan Johnson had no trouble in winning the Democratic nomination for Metro Council District 21. Johnson has served as Alderman, and now a Metro Councilman for 14 years. Dan will face Republican Betty Drexler this fall. Dan has been a solid union supporter over the years. Given his popularity, and the fact this is a strong Southend Democratic base, Dan should easily win reelection.

Political newbie Marianne Butler beat out Kevin Triplett for the 15th Metro Council. Marianne, a Democrat, is the daughter of retiring 38th State Representative Denver Butler (you’ll recall I “convinced” Denver to hang it up with my 2004 race against him). With no challenger this fall, Marianne wins the seat by default. Kevin has been serving as the Legislative Aide for the retiring 15th Metro Councilman, George Melton (that will be two of the “good ole boys” gone). But for the folks in the 15th shouldn’t get too excited. Marianne will have a lot of work to do. The district has been long neglected and word on the street is that Marianne isn’t exactly known for being energetic. And by the way, neither candidate was endorsed by the Great Louisville Central Labor Council.

David Nicholson defeated fellow Democrat Russ Salzman in one of the nastiest Primary races. He’ll face Republican Shelly Knopf for Circuit Court Clerk in November. Hopefully Nicholson will have some of mud cleaned off by then. Tony Lindauer got the nod for PVA by beating political novice Aaron Tasman and long time political veteran and former head of the Louisville Democratic Party, Melvin Ratchford. Tony will face off against John May this fall. I’d like to say a little something about Melvin. I’ve known Melvin for some 15 years. I count him as one of my friends in and out of politics. This is a guy completely dedicated to public service. He is about as fair and honest as the day is long. It was truly heartbreaking to see him lose. I wish him all the best for the future.

Now, let’s look at the 3rd District Congressional Race. Democrat John Yarmuth beat out three challengers for a crack at long time incumbent, Republican Anne Northup. The “Sixty Million Question” now becomes, “can he really do it?” No other challenger has been able to seriously threaten Northup for her seat. Not radio personality Mike Ward or loveable former Circuit Court Clerk Tony Miller or even the empty hypester “Young” Jack Conway just to mention the top three (by the way, Conway just announced his engagement to Elizabeth Davenport. Ok, show of hands, who really cares?) And let’s not forget, this seat had long been held by Democrats in what is still a predominately Democratic county in a predominately Democratic state.

Yarmuth knows the issues better than anyone who’s faced Anne before. Possibly even better that Northup herself. He’s articulate. He does well in debates. He looks good on camera. Anne’s previous opponents were poor debaters, and they sometimes struggled with the issues. But John’s “Achilles heel” will be his long history of espousing some fairly liberal views. Let’s remember that while Jefferson County is by far the most “liberal” county in Kentucky, it isn’t a Boston or San Francisco! Like the rest of the state, Louisville is predominately Democrat and conservative, with small pockets of what one could consider liberal leanings, which just so happens to be John’s primary base of support. So, what we have here is a seat previously held for decades by Democrats, in a Congressional District heavily populated by Democrats, and yet the Democrat Party seems unable to find a Democrat that Democrats will vote for! And then there’s that pesky money issue. Anne will have several million in her war chest by the time the election rolls around while Yarmuth isn’t expected to raise more than 2 or 3 million. In terms of just the money, it’s a no contest. John will have to find a way of toning down his liberal views coming more to the center/center-right, especially if he’s to carry the much needed south and southwest parts of the county.

If the Democratic Party was serious about winning back the 3rd Congressional Seat, they're going to have to step outside their comfort zone. The formula to winning is actually pretty simple. Start by looking for a likeable conservative Democrat with good pre-existing name recognition, like someone from print, TV, or radio, and preferably someone with a military background. I suggest also looking outside the gang “usual suspects”. People are tired of recycled politicians. Make sure everyone knows this person is the party’s “chosen one” long prior to the Primary to discourage challengers and conserve money. This also gives the impression of party unity. Make sure they are well versed about and speak often on the issues early on. Start raising money locally, statewide, and nationally in anticipation of finding this individual. Don’t waste time searching and then trying to raise the bucks second. Anne already has a head start as the incumbent. Finally, start this process well in advance of the next election (I said the formula was simple, not easy). Of course, there is another side to this to consider. Maybe the Democrats keep electing Republican Northup because they actually like the job she’s doing.

Down the Stretch

With just a little over two weeks to go until the Primary Election, yards signs are popping up everywhere. Here in the South End, the majority of the signs are for judicial candidates, most notably Silverthorn, Rochester, and Gibson. There are several Russ Salsman for Circuit Court Clerk signs out there too. We can deal with them at a later date if you’re interested. As for the political candidates, things are heating up as we head around the third post for home (Sorry. With all the Derby events happening, I couldn’t resist a little horse raising analogy).

In the 13 Metro Council race, Republicans Sharon Woodring and Renay Davis are running just about neck and neck, with Ms. Woodring slightly ahead in sign count. Of course, as they say, signs don’t vote. True, but they do create a perception and politics is a much about perception as it is about issues. What bears watching is how the two will finish out the last couple of weeks. According to their last finance reports, Woodring has raised a grand total of $1300.00, with most of that coming out of her own pocket. Davis has done a bit better with around $4300.00. Obviously neither candidate can afford much in the way of campaign material, such as mailers or radio. Rumor has it that some signs are appearing in yards of Democrats in an attempt to create the impression of strength, as well as in the yards of a few Republicans and Independents without permission of the homeowner. That’s not an intelligent way to run a race. On the posisitve side, few yard signs are being stolen...er....disappearing. Right now, it’s about shoe leather in this race with whichever candidate can knock on the most doors. Look for a last minute sign drop by Davis as she pulls ahead in what will be a tight race.

On the Democrat side, Vicki Aubrey Welch, who is unopposed, is getting a few signs out. They seem pretty sporadic in location. While there’s no real need to put out a large amount of yard signs in an unopposed primary, given that she’s an “unknown quantity” in the 13th, she would be wise to get as many signs out as possible to introduce people to her name, and again, to create the right perception of support for this November. In should be pointed out that Ms. Welch, who has some union history through her family, does have the support of most unions. Ms. Welch has also stepped up with her support of the Living Wage, once the matter is introduced before the Metro Council. Kudos to her on both points.

In 15th Metro Council race, Democrats Marianne Butler and Kevin Triplett, who is the aide to current—and outgoing Metro Councilman George Melton, are in a dead heat. Ms. Butler, who’s been late in getting her small yards signs out, holds the lead in large signs while Mr. Triplett is coming on strong with the smaller signs. So far, they seem to be matching each other at every turn. Neither candidate however has been very impressive in the fundraising department. This seat looks like a lost opportunity for the Republicans. A nominally well financed GOP candidate would have made life miserable to either Democrat. The next week or so will make or break the campaign in this winner-take-all race. By the time the other candidate sees what’s happening, it’ll be too late to react.

Elsewhere, current Metro Councilman Dan Johnson should have no problem keeping his seat, and PVA candidate Melvin Ratchford appears to be the people’s favorite how here in the county if yard signs are any indication. On a side note, I was contacted by Ed Springston. Mr. Springston is running as an Independent for Metro Mayor. Challenging this status quo is something I live for, so I checked out his webpage. Mr. Springston has some pretty interesting comments to make, and some well worth considering. Regardless of whether you’ve made up your mind to support for mayor, I urge you to check out Mr. Springston’s webpage at http://www.myviewmatters.org/. Just remember to keep an open mind, and be sure to vote on Tuesday, May 16th.

A Fond Farewell and Endorsements

Recently Louisville lost a larger than life community leader, Anne Braden. Ms. Braden was fixture in the civil rights and social justice movement since the 1950s. Heck, she was nothing short of a legend. People seemed to either adore or hate her with equal passion. Indeed, she was a woman of passion. If there was a fight to be fought, Ms. Braden was there. No questions asked. I had the occasion to meet Ms. Braden a couple of times after moving back to Louisville in 1979 from San Francisco. I remember attending a County Commissioner meeting several years ago. Ms. Braden, who was quite petite, and some of her friends sat down behind me. She leaned over a whispered a question to me. I really can’t recall what it was. Well, one thing lead to another and we started quietly talking. Shortly, Ms. Braden asked my name. With big eyes and a wispy smile, she sat back and said “Oh, I’ve heard of you!” Slightly embarassed and barely able to subdue a smile of my own, I replied that I knew who she was too, which I thought was much more impressive! This provoked a little chuckle between the two of us. But this chance encounter cemented my impression of Ms. Braden. She wasn’t someone seeking personal glory. She was a woman trying to set things rights. And she did succeed in setting many things right.

The Greater Louisville Central Labor Council (GLCLC) has completed its candidate endorsements for the upcoming May election. Here are some of the more interesting ones I thought you might be interested in:

For Mayor, the GLCLC voted not to endorse “Mayor-for Life” Jerry Abramson (D). In fact Jerry faced some tough questioning about hiring key administrative positions from outside of the community and on local transportation issues. It appeared from his responses that Jerry doesn’t like his decisions questioned. Frankly, that’s just too bad.

While there was no recommendation taken for District 1, and no action in Districts 9, 11, and 19, Mary Woolridge (D-3), David Tandy (D-4), Cheri Hamilton (D-5), and Neville Blakemore (D-7) were all endorsed.

In Metro Council District 13, Vicki Welch (D), though obviously far less qualified than any of the other candidates, got the nod. Her Democratic opponent, John Gatton, dropped out of the race. Vicki says she’ll keep former Councilman Weston’s aide, Steve Clark on board. On the Republican side, Sharon Woodring didn’t bother to show up or even answer the questionnaire, but Renay Davis did. Renay, who has done a lot of work on behalf of some of the member unions, made a pretty good showing for herself. Renay has got the practical experience, intelligence, and energy, and she'll represent everyone throughout the District 13. For those of you living in this district, go with Renay Davis. You'll be glad you did.

In District 15, there was no recommendation in the race between Democrats Marianne Butler and Kevin Triplett. Both candidates did well in their interviews, but Kevin, who has been serving as the aide to the current councilman, did a little better. Kevin also has a stronger grasp of the needs of the district. I think Kevin would serve the residents of the 15th much better.


No action was taken in the District 17th race between incumbent Glen Stuckel (R) and William Cohan (D). To no one’s surprise, Dan Johnson was endorsed in District 21. John Sommers (D-23) was endorsed over incumbent James Peden (R), who got a good butt chewing for his failure to sign a petition to oppose current “Right-to-Work” legislation after he said he would, if he had known about it. Bad move Jim. These folks know their stuff. Political newcomer, Erin Ryan (D) will get GLCLC backing in her race against Republican incumbent Doug Hawkins in District 25. Erin has very little in why of experience, be it community or political. While she’s a delightful gal, she’ll be no match for Hawkins.

For State Representative, Charlie Miller (D-28th), Kevin Bratcher (R-29th), Tom Burch (D-30th), Steve Riggs (D-31st), Mary Lou Marizan (D-34th), Jim Wayne (D-35th), Tim Firkins (D-38th), Dennis Horlander (D-40th), Tom Riner (D-41st), Reginald Meeks (D-42nd), Darryl Owens (D-43rd), Joni Jenkins (D-44th), and Larry Clark (D-46th), Amy Shir (D-48th) all got the nod. There were no recommendations for the 32nd, 33rd, or 59th State House seats. On the State Senate side, there were no recommendations in the 10th, 26th, 36th, or 38th seats.

Mike Weaver got the GLCLC endorsement for the US 2nd District, as did current Commonwealth Attorney, Dave Stengel (D), County Attorney Irv Maze (D), Sheriff John Aubrey (D), and candidate Russ Salsman (D). For the US 3rd District, there was no recommendation. Interestingly, there was no recommendation for Property Valuation Administrator. However without a doubt, Melvin Ratchford (D) was by far the most qualified of all candidates.

Remember, the Primary is Tuesday, May 16th. Please be sure to get out and vote! We can't change the system unless you do.