The following op-ed is written by Boone Co. Judge/Executive Gary Moore, a candidate for reelection in the Republican primary on May 17
I humbly ask for your vote on Tuesday, May 17th. I am seeking another term because I love working for you each day and we have so much more to accomplish! Over the next four years I will continue to strive to make our community the best it can be. My wife, Linda and I have children and grandchildren here in Boone County and I want our county to be a place where they can have the quality of life and success that you and I have here. I will do my best to leave this community better than I found it!
I am a man of faith, and I am 100% Pro-Life. Through the years I have received numerous pro-life awards and endorsements. Once again, I am the only candidate for Judge Executive to be endorsed by Northern KY right to life and Kentucky Right to Life.
I am Pro 2nd Amendment and I helped make our county one of the first, second amendment sanctuary counties in Kentucky.
I am a “Conservative Republican”, and my record proves it. That’s why groups like the Northern Kentucky Association of Realtors and the Building Industry Association of Northern Kentucky support me. Other endorsements include Congressman Thomas Massie and Sheriff Michael Helmig.
All these qualities are important to conservatives like you and me but please keep this in mind, when choosing your Judge Executive there are other things to consider. Your Judge Executive is responsible for the day-to-day management of the county with includes hundreds of employees and an operating budget of about seventy million dollars. You are choosing the CEO of your County!
I also humbly ask that you consider my record of success. When you vote for Gary Moore, you are not taking a risky chance or registering a protest vote, possibly for someone unqualified. Instead, you are making a “Conservative” decision and keeping our county on course.
I am also seeking a new term because we have several exciting projects currently underway, that I want to see completed. These projects are the rural waterlines project, the rural roads project, and our countywide high speed broadband network.
We are ahead of schedule in delivering our high-speed broadband internet network to every door in the county by the Spring of 2023. We will be one of the first counties in the nation to offer one gig of speed to every residential home anywhere in the county. This is a $40 million dollar project that will provide E-Health, E-Learning for our students, and work from home opportunities for our residents. I want to see this network completed for all Boone Countians.
Roads, roads, and more roads! Over $150 million dollars of road projects are currently underway. Another $100 million dollars of projects are nearing their start dates, while another $50 million in projects are being designed and planned. There has never been this level of highway and road investment in our county at one time. I will continue to partner with Boone County’s own State Rep. and Transportation Budget Sub Committee Chair, Sal Santoro to create additional projects that were planned in our Transportation Planning Studies of 2007 and 2018. In addition, we have a new rural road widening and safety projects coming very soon.
Through the years rural Boone County has requested waterlines and while we have built many miles we have more to do. We are currently engineering two very large sections that will get clean public water to our only Boone County School that still operates on a well. This project will provide safe and clean drinking water to the students and teachers at Kelly Elementary while also providing fire hydrants to better protect the safety of the precious lives in the school. My goal is to complete these and other rural water lines during the next four years.
Of course, it takes money to accomplish these items all while meeting our state mandated requirements. We have a budget history of over performing by spending less on the expense side of the ledger while growing our revenues without raising taxes. Our economic development strategies have paid off! In the new term it will be more challenging with President Biden’s inflation but since our balance sheet is the strongest it has ever been we will be able to continue this success, without raising your tax rates. Speaking of my tax history, when I became your Judge Executive the real property tax rate was 12.5 cents per one hundred dollars of value, today it is 9.8 cents per one hundred dollars of value. I am thankful to have the support of your County Commissioners, Charles Kenner, Cathy Flaig, and Jesse Brewer in reducing these rates many times. I challenge you to find another local government that can equal this performance!
In closing, I can’t take credit for all these amazing accomplishments. I am pleased to work with and partner with your County Commissioners, my amazing administration, and our wonderful county employees. I will also continue to partner with our state legislators, which are all chairs of key committees in Frankfort.
With your vote on Tuesday May 17th, we will keep Boone County moving in the right direction and we will keep making Boone County the best place to live, to work, and to raise our families.