Incumbent Taylor Mill Mayor Dan Bell faces a challenge in November from Mike Blackburn. Both candidates spoke to LINK nky about their campaigns.
Mike Blackburn
Mike Blackburn is a lifelong resident of Taylor Mill. He was born and raised there and has a grown son. He is the owner of a roofing and remodeling company.
Blackburn said he has been watching city commission meetings for about 12 years and has been increasingly concerned about the direction the city is going under the current administration.
“I don’t like the direction the city is heading,” Blackburn said. “The biggest thing right now is that their champagne tastes on a beer wallet is putting us in debt. It’s going to cause our taxes to be raised.”
Blackburn referenced the city’s plans to move forward on the building of a new firehouse at a cost of around $6 million.
“Many structures in the city have been neglected because the commission has chosen not to make repairs when the fire department and the public works department have requested them,” Blackburn said. “The public works building has been condemned for eight-plus years, and the fire department has been in significant disrepair for years. If we had taken preventative measures we wouldn’t be looking at a $6 million dollar building.”
“At the public hearing, seven out of seven citizens stood up and said they wanted to go with common logic, work with the budget and fix what we have,” Blackburn said.
Blackburn also said that due to a tight budget, there is turnover in the police and fire departments, and that the city should look for volunteer firefighters.
“If we brought more firefighters in as volunteers and incentivize them, they can get hours and education,” Blackburn said. “It would also give the fire department more people on hand to respond to calls, since there has to be two people that go out on all calls. If we save money there, we can put it toward the police.”
He argued that with more volunteers, they could also respond to emergency calls, while full-time staff could assign tasks to volunteers, like crowd control and other duties.
In addition to addressing budget concerns, Blackburn would like to have more community involvement. He said he would like to start an incentivized volunteer program for adults and kids to help with things in the city, and they could be rewarded with gift cards.
Blackburn believes the new caucus meeting is good, but it needs to be recorded, since it is an official city meeting, and things can be said there that need to be recorded. The caucus meeting was added to the city commission’s calendar to allow for discussion of city issues outside of legislative meetings.
He would like to honor veterans and have a parade, either on the Fourth of July or Veterans Day.
Blackburn would also like to bring back Parkfest, but would like to make it simpler, and do away with the fireworks. He believes that money can be spent somewhere else.
Finally, Blackburn believes in term limits, and would like to see them instituted in the city. He thought two to three terms are enough for anyone, and if the effort to institute term limits in the city were successful, maybe bigger offices could consider term limits.
“We can control the country if we all work together,” he said. “I believe in people over politics.”
Daniel Bell
Mayor Bell is currently serving his third term as mayor and previously served six years as a city commissioner.
“We are growing, and I believe we have to be a forward-thinking commission,” Bell said. “If you only take care of now, and look backward, you can’t be prepared for the future.”
Bell has lived in Taylor Mill for 28 years and is married with four daughters and five grandchildren.
He is most proud of fixing over 35 streets within the city.
“That’s a big deal,” he said. “We have a plan, which is drawn up by our engineer based on each street’s need, and we are working that plan.”
In regards to the firehouse project, Bell acknowledged that the city commission was split on how to move forward but believes that the city made the right decision.
“Even if we tried to construct a building like our current firehouse, we would not be able to, because it is not a commercial building, and due to the current building codes and regulations, they would let us build it now,” he explained. “Fixing a building that wasn’t built up to code just doesn’t make sense. There is so much competition for good firefighters right now. If you are a brand new firefighter/EMT, and you look around the Northern Kentucky area for the best job you can get and there are several cities with new or almost new facilities, even if the pay is similar, where would you go? We need to be competitive. Our city is growing, and we want to attract quality firefighters.”
Bell said that the city is debt-free currently, something he likes to brag about.
“But it is exactly because the city is debt-free that we are able to take this on,” Bell explained of the firehouse project. “The city is in good shape, so we will be able to spend the money necessary to build this. We are not going to jump off any cliffs or anything. I just want to build what we need. Commissioner (Caroline) Braden said it best, we have to take care of the people who take care of us.”
Bell feels strongly that the city needs to be prepared for the future, and an up-to-date firehouse will be needed because there are about 3 to 4 new developments coming into the city.
Another thing Bell is proud of is the coordination of the city with Kenton County and the city of Covington to fix the slips on Wolf Road.
“I met with Representative (Kim) Moser and Senator Chris McDaniel and we talked about the problems with Wolf Road and Wayman Branch Road,” said Bell. “So Chris said he would look into it because it is a major east/west access to I-275. Next thing, I got a text telling me he was able to appropriate $600,000 to fix Wolf Road, and in addition, he was able to get $500,000 for Wayman Branch. Because I went down there on behalf of the commission, our city received $1.1 million for those two streets.”
Bell is on the Kentucky 911 Services Board and has served on the Kentucky League of Cities executive board. He likes to have a voice to promote Taylor Mill, he said.
Bell has also been on several Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments (OKI) boards and that is how he was able to acquire funds to put a sidewalk in along Taylor Mill Road, he said.
The project was split into three phases, and the city received about $300,000 for the first phase, $450,000 for the second phase, and about $846,000 for the third phase. The city had to contribute 20 percent, and because federal projects tend to be slow, it has taken awhile, he said, but it saved the city money and Taylor Mill will have almost three miles of sidewalk.
Bell is also proud that the city has received a grant of $46,000 for the amphitheater at Pride Park.
As far as the caucus meetings go, Bell is in favor of them, but thinks they mainly need to be a vehicle for the commissioners to discuss issues. He said it is easy for people to criticize what they don’t understand.
Bell believes that since he is retired, he has the freedom to visit Frankfort when he needs to or to attend meetings that give him connections to promote Taylor Mill.
He is proud that the City of Taylor Mill has been voted the safest city in Kentucky and said that doesn’t happen without the effort of all the city departments and everyone in the city. He believes Taylor Mill’s Police and Fire Departments have a big hand in making the city safe.
“I am very big on having the city provide quality city services,” said Bell. “Our city came into existence as a city in 1957, 65 years ago. I think we need to keep a positive attitude and make changes that will allow the city to progress seamlessly into the next 65 years with all the tools it needs to be successful, and the best version of itself.”
