Following the article When is an endorsement an endorsement? posted on this blog the following article appeared in The Enquirer.
Does NKY Tea Party ad skirt campaign laws?
The Kentucky Enquirer - An ad by the Northern Kentucky Tea Party has caused some people, including the Boone County attorney, to question whether the group has violated Kentucky's campaign finance laws.
This is one of the most unique campaign signs that has been observed running around in Alexandria.
Judging by this ad (shown below) that appeared in The Alexandria Recorder October 28, 2010 it appears that The Northern Kentucky Tea Party is endorsing the list of candidates that it has prominently named in the ad.
But wait.
Reading the fine print at the bottom of the ad it states, “The Northern Kentucky Tea Party does not endorse or financially support candidates for public office”.
It goes on to say, “The above candidates have indicated support and promote the Tea Party principles if elected”.
The ad lists a candidate for mayor and one candidate for city council.
The fine print goes on to say, “There may be other candidates who support the principles of the Northern Kentucky Tea Party but have not made their support known.”
What a crock. We contacted some candidates that are not listed in the ad and they have told us that they were never contacted by the Tea Party in regards to their views but that they also haven’t regularly attended Tea Party meetings.
We can only conclude that in order to make the list the only criteria used was whether or not an individual went to a lot of Tea Party meetings and paid lip service. There was no effort to reach out to the other candidates and solicit their views.
The ad also states that the Northern Kentucky Tea Party “promotes the principles of fiscal responsibility, limited government and free markets”.
The ad urges you to vote yes on the adoption of the Justice of the Peace form of government for Campbell County which is in essence bigger government as it goes from 3 commissioners to 8 justices.
An ad that appears to be political endorsements but says in fine print that it is not and says the organization is for limited government but endorses expanded government seems like a group that hasn’t quite gotten its act together.
We said it earlier but feel compelled to say it again, what a crock.
You be the judge.
Round two of the Anti-Lloyd Rogers ads. This one appeared in The Alexandria Recorder on October 28, 2010.
There were some interesting ads in The Alexandria Recorder October 28, 2010 edition.
Here is one of them.
Here is a paid advertisement that ran in The Alexandria Recorder October 21, 2010 Page B7.
In the Viewpoints section, page A9 of the October 14, 2010 edition of the Alexandria Recorder there appeared an article titled “Keep Dan McGinley – he’s a ‘proven leader’” by guest columnist Robert Feinauer including Mr. Feinauer’s picture.
The article reads like Mayor McGinley’s claimed accomplishments, campaign statements and talking points.
For someone who seems so well informed no one seems to ever remember seeing Mr. Feinauer in attendance at any council meetings.
Could Mr. Feinauer have a ghost writer?
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We asked ourselves after reading the press release (reprinted below) “Just who is CLAG”?
We don’t recall them publicly taking stands on issues or endorsing candidates before. We’ve never heard of them.
Are they some secret society of “ultra-elites”?
Well a little research shows that you can find a list of their members and you too can be a member for a payment of $50 in yearly dues.
By the way, after some careful thought we agree that a change from the commission system would not be in the best interests of the citizens of Campbell County and so we urge a vote against this goofy proposal.
The slate of candidates for Mayor and City Council are listed below the last post. As we are getting closer to the election on November 2 how do you feel about the folks on the list?
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Concern is swirling, albeit quietly for now, surrounding the apparent lack of information available concerning usage and financial reporting for the Alexandria Community Center complex. The complex includes a separate building which is also utilized for rental use.
Apparently the city is unable or unwilling to supply a list of users, dates of use and fees collected for each use.
The Community Center plan is supposed to be that it would be self-sustaining and the tax-payers would not be subsidizing its private use. The city employs two dedicated employees for the Community Center.
Some questions are:
These are legitimate questions and the city should be able and willing to supply this information. After all, the Community Center complex is tax-payer owned and funded.
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According to NKY.COM Alexandria Mayor Dan McGinley announced Friday (July 23, 2010) that he will seek a fourth term in November.
"The reasons to live and work in Alexandria have continued to grow since I first became mayor," he said in a statement. "Our city is stronger financially. Our neighborhoods are patrolled by the best-trained police officers in Northern Kentucky. The city continues to develop - and we have accomplished all of it without any tax increases generated by city council."
McGinley, who has been the mayor for 12 years, is endorsed by Judge-executive Steve Pendery and former Alexandria mayors George "Sonny" Carmack, Ray Hildebrand, Roger Steffen and Victor Steffen.
McGinley will face Alexandria City Councilman William "Bill" T. Rachford Jr. in November. The deadline for candidates to file the paperwork to run for nonpartisan city offices is Tuesday, Aug. 10.
Political notes from around N.Ky.
McGinley seeks re-election as Alexandria's mayor
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From the Kentucky Club for Growth blog.
NKY Politicians keep trying to send smokers across the river to Ohio by pushing a smoking ban.
Typically, the chief advocate is the CJE of Kenton County, who is attempting to drive it through before he retires.
But there's a sense that it's now or never: Kenton Judge-executive Ralph Drees, a driving force behind the ban, will retire at the end of the year.
Few other local officials have the political clout to bring all three counties to the table on such a controversial issue, as anything dealing with regionalism inevitably is in Northern Kentucky.
The feelings of Kenton County residents are probably well represented by the CJE's likely successor.
(Plus, Drees' likely successor, Steve Arlinghaus, opposes the ban.)
In Boone County, the CJE seems to have understood the results of the recent election that he barely escaped. From the NKY Tea Party:
At the Boone County Tea Party meeting last night, Judge Exec. Gary Moore said that the ban has no traction among the current or incoming fiscal court, especially in a bad economy because it could hurt small businesses.
Still, it's an agenda item in all three counties. If you'd like to make your voice heard on this issue, here are the next meeting dates:
Boone - Tuesday, July 27, 2010 @ 5:30pm at the Administration Bldg. in Burlington.
Campbell - TODAY Wednesday, July 21, 2010 @ 5:30 at 1098 Monmouth Street in Newport
Kenton - Tuesday, July 27, 2010 @ 7:00PM at the Independence courthouse
Not mentioned in the original blog post is that the make-up of Campbell County’s Fiscal Court could very well change in November and if so it is unlikely that the votes for a smoking ban would still be there in Campbell County.
To see how popular opinion is shaking out on this issue –
Campbell County is experiencing a spike in the number of companies requesting property tax assessment values be lowered and local government tax revenues including fire districts and schools will feel the pinch.
One of those companies owns Village Green Shopping Center in Alexandria.
According to an article published in The Kentucky Enquirer (click on the link to view) the owners have requested a decrease in their evaluation for tax purposes of 2.6 million dollars.
The city has already passed their new budget and is now holding off on setting the tax rates for their citizen property owners until all of the ramifications are clear although they are approving street projects as though all is well.
Hold on to your wallets.
By the way, since Alexandria property owners also pay county taxes, hasn’t Sara Lee been on the receiving end of a sweetheart deal for quit some time?
We’ve wondered why an 11 year position at the cost of $80,000 (including benefits) per year (Pat Dressman) was replaced by a newly created part time position of 100 hours per month at $15.72 per hour (Katie Tallon) back in April; and now Ms. Dressman has been re-hired for another newly created position of 100 hours maximum at $34.93 per hour after her failed political pursuit (which is why she retired(?) so as to not violate the Hatch Act in the first place).
This type of thing just smells bad.
Congratulations to Commissioner Ken Rechtin for taking the right position on this issue.
Job creation and hiring hanky panky however is not limited to the Fiscal Court.
Plans are under way to reopen the Alexandria Buick Pontiac GMC dealership closed since October 2008 as a used vehicle showroom and lot.
Alexandria Republican Kevin Sell, who unsuccessfully challenged Judge-executive Steve Pendery in last month’s GOP primary has issued endorsements in several races on the November ballot.
He has endorsed Bill Rachford for Mayor of Alexandria.
Steve Pendry will more than likely endorse current Mayor Dan McGinley since Mayor McGinley was quoted as being in support of Pendry for Judge-Executive in Pendry’s campaign literature.
You can’t help but notice the American flags on about every other utility pole on the western side of Alexandria Pike (US 27) in Cold Spring extending from Crossroads Boulevard north to Martha Layne Collins Boulevard.
Once again Council member Rogers insisted on using a council meeting as a political forum. He insisted on giving Alexandria’s individual precincts tally of votes for the primary election, attempted some analysis and asked for the results to be posted on the city’s web site.
Not that this isn’t interesting but this is fodder for the news media.
Mr. Rogers just doesn’t get it concerning council meetings.
They are for attending to the city’s business and not intended to be used as someone’s personal political commentary session.
Ever wonder who serves on the city’s Ethics Board or Planning and Zoning Commission in case you would like to contact them?
They’re not listed anywhere on the city’s web site.