Bardstown resident announces intention to run as Republican for county judge's seat

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette

PETER TRZOP

Monday, Jan. 4, 2010, 3:55 p.m. - Bardstown resident Peter Trzop announced today his intention to run as a Republican candidate for the office of Nelson County judge-executive.

Rumors of a Republican entering the judge-executive's race have been floating around the community for a number of weeks. Trzop's announcement sets up a possible three-way race for the county's most powerful office.

Democrat incumbent Judge-Executive Dean Watts is expected to run for re-election; Rob Hamilton has also announced his intention to run as a Democrat for the office. Magistrate Tim Hutchins announced recently he planned to run for judge-executive as an Independent candidate, which allows him to bypass the May primary.

Candidates associated with political parties face a Jan. 26th deadline to file for office, while Independent candidates must only file their intent to run as a candidate by April 1. Hutchins has until that time to determine if he will indeed run for the county's highest office, or file to run again for magistrate in the county's fourth district.

Trzop's announcement:

"With a great appreciation to friends and family, I am announcing my candidacy for the Nelson County Judge Executive.  Our community has a long and rich history of being a great place to raise our families, enjoy the blessings of diverse cultures and religions, and appreciate both our historical preservation and business environments.  After my years of military service, Nelson County was a natural place for our family to come home and raise our children.  My wife and I love the people and history, along with being back with our families and old friends.  Many good people in Nelson County allowed for me over the years to volunteer, coach soccer teams, and gain valuable life experience.  I owe a great deal to our community.   

The time is upon us to make critical decisions on our future.  I want to focus government on supporting a strong business environment, continuing historical preservation, establishing a community center for our children, seniors, veterans and work to build a local college.  In order to accomplish these goals, we must develop a sense of team work.  Team Nelson County!  We are a collection of several towns wanting our larger County to be successful in jobs, culture, education and most importantly, raising our children with great values and community.  Our children, our future leaders, need solid reasons to stay and return to Nelson County.  Many people will stay and return if we create more good jobs, community facilities, a college, attract restaurants and develop a positive environment for individuals and families.

I promise as County Judge Executive to enforce open and fair government for all people of Nelson County.  It is my strong opinion that government, our government, should be here to serve the People, not certain people or groups, and should work hard to keep taxes lower and prevent over regulations of business.  People should be free to pursue their goals in life, and not have government hamper them. 
Government is designed to set the rules to the game, but to stay out of the way of good people doing good things for our community.  We must ask why we do not have a community center for our seniors, veterans and children despite the requests by such people as me for over 10 years.  Why is there not a local college for our adults to benefit?  Why are there not more restaurants?  I promise government will work hard to become efficient, keep taxes and regulations low, actively seek out business to come to Nelson County, and serve all the people.

My history of service to Country prepares me well for the challenges facing Nelson County.  I served in the local Army National Guard Unit 2/138th C Battery as an enlisted soldier, then later as an officer in the United States Air Force.  Despite becoming a Disabled American Veteran, I kept serving my community through volunteer work, business, and community involvement.  I believe that our community is made stronger with volunteer work, which is why I take time to coach youth sports and help members of our community.  My professional experiences help me to understand the issues at hand for our community.  In addition to my military background, I was a federal agent, Dean and Director of a college, professor at Embry Riddle University, built homes for Ashton Wood Homes, and a manager at Amazon.com.  My service to country allowed me to learn from a variety of people across the United States and Europe.  My family was very supportive of my educational pursuits, and I was able to gain an undergraduate and graduate degree at the University of Louisville, with only a few more months of work left for my doctorate in Organizational Leadership.  My experiences allow me a unique insight into our goal to make Nelson County a wonderful place to live and work. 

I am fortunate and blessed to have a great family with my wife Chasity and children Reagan and James.  Our families go back in Nelson County many generations along the Hawkins, Adams, Colvin, Mattingly and Spalding lines.  Our love for Nelson County makes it necessary to run for political office to ensure our community is a better place to live, work, and raise our families. 

Please take the time to check out my website to learn more about me, my promises, send me your opinions and questions, and see how you can help the campaign at www.petertrzop.com.  You can follow me on Twitter, Myspace, Facebook and YouTube.  Let's stand tall, unite and build our Team Nelson County, for we the people of Nelson County.  I would like to personally ask each citizen of Nelson County for your support and your vote.

If you would like to contact Pete Trzop, please see the below information.  Thank you.

Peter Trzop
Nelson County Judge Executive Candidate
pete@petertrzop.com
www.petertrzop.com
http://www.twitter.com/petertrzop
http://www.myspace.com/petertrzop

-30-