No matter how you slice it, campaign donation question is valid

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette

May 11, 2006, 1 p.m. -- Early in the race for Nelson County judge-executive, I figured the topic of dead animal removal was a dead issue -- until it touched off an angry exchange during a televised debate, spilling over into a radio call-in show the following morning.

The county currently provides Nelson County farmers with a free dead animal pickup and disposal service. During his stump speeches, judge executive candidate Kenny Fogle has named this service as one that could likely be provided better by private enterprise.

Fogle supports smaller, less-intrusive government; however don't make the mistake I did of telling him he sounds very Republican in his philosophy (he'll tell you he's as liberal as the next guy).

While Fogle has said if elected he has no plans to sell the ambulance service or landfill, he also has repeated his belief that the county shouldn't be in the business of being in business -- particularly in areas where private enterprise could fill the need.

The animal removal service became a real issue during Monday night's debate between judge-executive candidates when incumbent Dean Watts pointed out that Sheldon Nation, the president of the company that formerly served Nelson County, has donated a total of $1,000 to Fogle's campaigns for judge-executive ($500 during this campaign and $500 in his 2002 campaign).

In late 2000, the Shelbyville-based Nation Brothers company was providing dead animal removal services to Nelson County and 24 other Kentucky counties.

The animals the company picked up were most often used in the production of pet foods. However, an outbreak of mad cow disease in Europe had dropped the value of the animals to a fraction of what it had been.

When it was time to renegotiate contracts, the company raised its rates dramatically.

In neighboring Bullitt County, the annual price doubled. In Nelson County, Nation Brothers' fee tripled, from $14,000 to $43,000 annually.

Bullitt Fiscal Court agreed to pay Nation Brothers what they wanted, mostly because the county had no other choice in dealing with dead animals. As Bullitt County Deputy Judge-Executive Rob Flaherty told the Courier-Journal, "There is really only one company in this entire area ... It's been frustrating." (Courier-Journal, July 11, 2001).

The story was different in Nelson County.

During the time Nation Brothers had the animal disposal contract for the county, five groups were helping the county pay the fee: Nelson County Farm Bureau, Nelson County Extension Service, the Beef Cattle Association, Soil Conservation and Kentucky Home Pork Producers.

Faced with the large increase in the fee, Nelson Fiscal Court took over collection and disposal of dead animals after the Nation Brothers' contract lapsed.

Why do people donate to political campaigns?

In some cases, they're friends, family and supporters of the candidate. They may like their leadership style, or believe they'll do a good job in office. There's a multitude of reasons why people give their cash to a political campaign.

One of those reasons is access.

It's no secret that campaign donations come from those who want access to that candidate after he or she is elected. They want their concerns, their issues to be represented in government. If you don't believe me, just check out all of the PACs in existence, each with its own agenda and candidates to support.

Watts has taken some heat for mentioning Nation's donations to the Fogle campaign and implying a connection between it and Fogle's call for privatization.

Take the candidates and the emotion out of this issue for a moment, and let's examine it in a vacuum.

The former animal removal provider (Sheldon Nation, president of Nation Brothers) donates money to the candidate who campaigns on and supports a platform against the county providing services that could be performed under contract by private companies.

Now you have to ask yourself: What are the man's motives? What is he hoping to accomplish? Certainly he would have to find the talk of putting some county-provided services out for bid quite attractive, particularly since his company still provides animal disposal services to neighboring counties.

While Watts may have taken some heat for it, the question he raised remains -- in my view -- a valid point. It's a point that the average citizen would never know or hear about otherwise because it is hidden away on documents tucked in a folder at the Nelson County Clerk's office. While the information is indeed public record, the facts are that few people examine them.

And though Kenny Fogle may have had the right to be angry about Watts' implication, it's important to remember that it was Fogle who accepted Nation's campaign donation. And if Kenny Fogle is upset because someone questions that donation, he has no one to blame but himself.