The Campbell County Judge/Executive debate between incumbent Steve Pendery and challenger, County Commissioner Ken Rechtin took place Thursday morning at the Marquise Event Center in Wilder. The event was hosted by the Northern Kentucky Political Action Committee, affiliated with the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce.
Judge Pendery’s platform was centered around his previous successes on the job, while Commissioner Rechtin urged the people of Campbell County to move away from the status quo.
The themes were similar to the first debate hosted by NKY Forum at the Wilder City Building last week.
Pendery listed major development projects in the works since he has been in office such as the Ovation development in Newport, the Manhattan Harbour in Dayton, Arcadia residential project in Alexandria, and the Technology Triangle at Northern Kentucky University, including the planned Health & Innovation building soon to be built. He talked about how well the County is doing and of how difficult it would be to do a better job than what he has done.
“Ken is like a life-guard who is about to save Michael Phelps as he’s about to touch the wall and set a world record,” Judge Pendery joked. “We’re not drowning, we really don’t need to be saved.”
Commissioner Rechtin emphasized the difference in the approach that the two men have for the job.
“It’s about the approach to government that distinguishes Steve and I,” he said. “I think the differences became most apparent with the smoking issue and other issues that came before the Fiscal Court.”
Rechtin said he viewed the job as being CEO of Campbell County rather than an ambassador of the county. He said his top priority once on the job, should he get it, is to hire an economic development director for the county.
When asked how he might simplify the tax headache for businesses that employ people in multiple cities, Rechtin said he would like to meet with all the county’s mayors to discuss it and that he also wants to establish a single flat tax rate to help with the frustration some businesses have over the issue.
“It’s an issue of how do we get from where we are now to a single-rate structure in Northern Kentucky for the businesses of the County, and that’s going to be the heavy lifting.” he said. “Maybe it’s incremental. Maybe we move from one phase to another, but eventually, if we had a single flat tax rate in Northern Kentucky and Campbell County particular, we could achieve a lot.”
Pendery responded by saying that the County has developed its own tax software and spent less doing so than other Kentucky areas like Louisville and Lexington, and that the improved technology will relieve some of the tax complications local businesses have.
“We have something now that can be used in Kenton and Boone Counties, should they choose to use it, and it offers the possibility for the first time that we could get together in a regional solution, have everybody migrate to a common platform and a common tax system that would solve this problem once and for all.”
When the topic of how to improve the situation of the CVG Board, Judge Pendery urged a cautious approach.
“I don’t think that the troubles that the CVG Board have to do with the structure so much as personality,” Pendery said. “Yes, the embarrassments that ensued are going to provide an opportunity to put right something that wasn’t ideal, but I think it’s wrong for people to jump to the conclusion that four governments is going to be better just because we changed the structures a little.”
Rechtin said he would like to see Campbell County have an appointment on the board and to be a voting member. He took the conversation into other boards.
“I believe that structurally many boards in Northern Kentucky need to be looked at. If we think all of these boards function perfectly in today’s environment, we’re sadly mistaken,” he said.
The two candidates disagreed on the importance of secondary and tertiary jobs in the area. Rechtin advocated embracing those kinds of jobs as a region, rather than put all of the emphasis on primary jobs. Pendery said establishing more primary jobs creates more secondary jobs.
“You don’t focus on secondary or tertiary jobs when you’re doing economic development,” Pendery said. “You focus on primary industry jobs like manufacturing where you attract a new business into the area. They create jobs, they pay people more, and therefore, a secondary or tertiary job is created as a result.”
The issue of the heroin spike in the region was raised and brought about some interesting responses. Rechtin talked about what he called “harm reduction”. He said that he supports programs like clean-needle exchanges and methadone treatments, and wants police from all the regional cities to carry Narcan which is used to assist users after they’ve overdosed.
“We do have a higher incidence of HIV and related diseases that are communicated through shared use of needles,” Rechtin said.
Pendery pointed toward the Drug Strike Force that was created and in turn, put over 300 people behind bars on heroin-related crimes as his response to the area’s heroin concerns. He also expressed his pride for the many grass-roots organizations like Northern Kentucky Hates Heroin.
“It isn’t that we aren’t doing things, it isn’t a lack of transparency, it’s that this is a problem that is almost intractable,” Pendery said. “There have been heroin epidemics before in the United States, it’s a long hard fight.”
In his closing statements, Judge Pendery emphasized that he answers the tough questions about such things as tolls for the Brent Spence Bridge without skirting around the facts.
“Whether it be the Brent Spence Bridge, the Sanitation Department, or nursing home beds, I’m willing to tell you, and take the risk to tell you, what you need to know. Yes, I listen. I understand what the concerns are, but I am providing you the answers whether they’re happy things to talk about or not.”
In Rechtin’s closing statements, he took the time to address the sanitation concerns of the county.
“We need fundamental structural change within SD-1. There are $750,000 homes that have septic tanks in their front yard. They want the sewer system. Camp Springs is upset because a pressure main that they can’t tap into is going up through their historic valley.”
Pendery and Rechtin meet for their third and final debate on Thursday, October 23, at Devanna’s on the Lake in Cold Spring. That debate is hosted by the Independent Business Association of Northern Kentucky and will also feature State Senate candidates Jason Steffen and Wil Schroder. It starts at 6:30 p.m.
Story & photo by Bryan Burke, associate editor