Judge-executive candidates spar during scorching TV debate

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette

Tuesday, May 9, 2006 -- Nelson County Judge-Executive candidates Dean Watts and Kenny Fogle spent 60 minutes Monday night locking horns in a sometimes fiery debate carried live by PLG-TV 13.

As the incumbent candidate, Watts used his opening statement to attack Fogle's criticism of city-county cooperation and county ownership of the landfill and ambulance service. The city and county are cooperating well, he said, citing the announcement last week of the new Nippon plant that will be coming to the county.

Fogle used his opening statement to lay out reasons voters should elect him to office. "I think I can make a difference," he said. "I simply think I can do a good job and I want the chance."

The first question from the media panel (Tom Redmon, WBRT; Lisa Tolliver, The Kentucky Standard, and; PLG News Director Tom Isaac) was about Fogle's campaign pledge to abolish the county occupational tax.

KENNY FOGLE	DEAN WATTS

Fogle said his idea is not to simply end the current tax and pass another, but to find a creative way to replace the revenue, such as grants and other sources. "The easiest thing for politicians to do is raise taxes," he said. "It's not the only way to raise revenue."

Watts said grants are not a sustaining source of revenue, so they aren't feasible as a replacement for the occupational tax.

The tax has helped keep the property tax rate low for property owners, he said.

Watts was critical of Fogle's suggestion of bringing in additional out-of-county garbage to the landfill to help replace occupational tax revenue. "I would hate to see our quality of life depend on out-of-county garbage," he said.

A question about county ownership of the landfill sparked heated exchanges between the candidates.

Fogle said he believed the county should only provide services that can't be provided by private enterprise. This doesn't mean that if elected that -- as rumored -- he'll sell county-owned businesses and fire all of the employees.

It's simply that he believes private services are better than government-provided ones, he said.

Watts disagreed.

"That's a typical state bureaucratic answer I just heard there," Watts said of Fogle's comments. A service like garbage collection is an essential service in this day and time, he said.

Fogle said he disagreed with the county practice of hauling dead animals to the county landfill. This is a service that could be left to a private enterprise, he said.

"A rotting carcass is different than a head of lettuce," Fogle said. "I don't care if its decomposing, I don't want a diseased animal in our landfill. Diseased animals do not belong in your landfill."

Watts defended the dead animal service, which is provided free to farmers in the county.

Watts pointed out that the owner of a dead animal removal service had contributed $1,000 to Fogle's campaigns -- $500 to his 2002 campaign and $500 to his current campaign. "That leads me to believe that privatization is greasing somebody's pocket," Watts said.

Visibly angered, Fogle emphasized to PLG viewers he was not being influenced by donors, and greatly resented Watts' implication he could be bought. After he was done, he apologized to viewers for his angry comments.

Watts told moderator Tom Isaac, "Tom, I never accused Kenny of being bought. It just so happens this guy lives out of the county," he said. "I just thought that was kind of odd."

WBRT's Tom Redmon asked Watts about his current state of health. (EDITOR'S NOTE: Redmon is an employee of WBRT, which is owned by Fogle and his wife.)

Watts said he was managing his health well. "My health is real good at this time," he said.

Fogle took time to admit that he was recently diagnosed as a diabetic. He vowed that if elected, he would resign if diabetes made him unable to complete his official duties as judge-executive.

When asked about the county's sign ordinance, Watts said that people need to realize all ordinances are compromises, and the city and county sign ordinances are different.

Watts also discounted a rumor about Cracker Barrel restaurant that had been frequently cited by Fogle. According the rumor, the restaurant chain decided not to open a store here due to the restrictive sign ordinance. "That never happened," Watts said emphatically. "That's a fact."

Fogle said he did not want to scrap the county's sign ordinance or planning and zoning ordinances. "I want to make it easier for businesses to come to town," he said. The sign ordinance slows down growth, particularly for small businesses.

During his one-minute rebuttal, Watts told viewers "My opponent has not offered any specifics on this issue."

"City and county relations are good," Watts began. "Do we sometimes disagree? Yes."

As proof of county cooperation, Watts read a list of recent projects that involved the county working with other communities."We're still working together," he said. "It's not a problem."

Fogle didn't agree, and he didn't mince words.

"There's a lawsuit filed between the city and the county, and the county filed it," he said. "You tell me if there's a problem."

Traveling in the outlying areas of the county, Fogle said those residents don't see the county government as cooperative. He didn't wish to name names "but off the record, this is what I've heard."

"When you get out into the county, you find this is a dysfunctional county government," Fogle said. "They're simply not talking to one another or working together."

In rebuttal, Watts recounted a lengthy list of projects involving the county government in areas around the county. "The cooperation is there," Watts insisted. "Kenny's overemphasizing the problems."

Watts was asked about the county's decision to quit sharing the occupational tax revenue with the cities of Bardstown, Bloomfield, New Haven and Fairfield.

In a meeting with the mayors of each city in the county, it was agreed Nelson County EMS should remain under local ownership, and that the county's occupational tax would fund the service under county ownership.

Watts said it was important to keep the service locally owned in order to keep quality service available to southern and northeastern areas of Nelson County.

All the mayors in the county agreed on the plan, Watts said. "It was a unified decision, and that is the truth."

Fogle countered that the ambulance service coverage area specifics could have been spelled out in a contract that would have required the business to cover the needed areas.

"The county did NOT have to take over this service in order to serve the people of Nelson County," he said.

Fogle said the county's decision to end payments to the cities in the county was responsible for the City of Bardstown enacting its own occupational tax.

"Is ambulance service in Bloomfield and New Haven better than it was?" Fogle asked. "The answer I'm getting is not necessarily."

Watts defended funding the ambulance service with occupational tax proceeds. "Every mayor in that room agreed that was what needed to be done," he said. "If you don't believe me, call them."

Fogle also took Watts to task for not using the tax revenues to help with the county's fire departments.

Watts said the county gives money to the fire departments for training and capital projects. "When revenues get tight, yes we have to cut back," he said. "We do the best we can do without raising taxes."

One of the few issues where Watts and Fogle shared common ground was on the topic of annexation.

Fogle said he disagreed with spot annexation along the KY 245 corridor. Watts said the hospital's relocation changed the city's annexation plans. "We would like the city to be more contiguous with their annexations," he said.

WATER, WASTEWATER AND GROWTH

Both Fogle and Watts agreed that the county needs to explore additional raw water sources.

Watts said that the county is getting some of its water from outside the county already, and that there may be additional sources in the future, including a new reservoir.

Water is going to be an increasing critical issue for the county as more people move into the county.

Watts said he would like to see sewers run to more suburban areas. The city's wastewater treatment plant has plenty of capacity, and the county is looking for ways to help build infrastructure to extend sewers further outside the city limits.