Kenton County commissioner primary candidates weigh in on SRI, other key issues

Candidates for Kenton County commissioner came out to Piner on Monday night to discuss issues on the minds of the south county residents, including the county’s Site Readiness Initiative.

With the incumbents for county commissioner districts 2 and 3 choosing not to pursue reelection this year, the races for seats on the fiscal court have proven among the most competitive in the region. Seven candidates will participate in a primary for a Kenton County commissioner seat in May. This year also marks the first time in more than 20 years that Democrats have run for a seat on the governing body. Two Democratic candidates, John Busse and Jordan Baldridge—both from Kenton County district 3—participated in Monday’s forum.

The SRI is an initiative of the current Kenton County Fiscal Court that aims to inventory land in the south county for potential future industrial development. It has proven unpopular among some of the county’s residents, and it was the first question posed to every candidate at the forum. Their points of view were mixed. Some opposed it outright, and other responses were more measured.

Baldridge and Republican Jeff Niceley, from district 2, were the least ambiguous; they both opposed it explicitly.

“If elected, I will not support the SRI,” Baldridge said. “I would support repealing it and doing a new study that actually listens to the people.”

“I am against the SRI as it stands right now,” Niceley said. “I understand the concept, I understand the planning to it, but I’m absolutely against it.”

Busse described the SRI as a “sales tool” to try to get people to sell their land to developers.

“You have to ask the people in southern Kenton County, do they want to sell their land?” Busse said. “If they do, well, it looks like there’s an opportunity. If they don’t, it looks like somebody’s trying to sell it for them, and I don’t think that’s the way it should be.”

Republican Sherry Goodridge, from district 2, said that she’s “not opposed to that planning tool in general” and pointed out that the SRI was not something that one could just repeal; it was less a fixed plan and more of a document or a tool that when used correctly could “hopefully influence some of the potential businesses that can come in there.”

The other Republicans also reiterated that the SRI wasn’t something that could be completely repealed. Still, even with those caveats, the candidates were generally in favor of having greater resident input into the process.

“There’s no situation where I would support any sort of blanket rezoning that would circumvent any sort of due process or notification for those people,” said Republican candidate and current Erlanger City Council Member Rebecca Reckers.

Scott Kimmich, who’s held various political positions in his life and was familiar with how government studies are created, said he couldn’t in good conscience say he wouldn’t ever vote for a zoning change but said, “I will not vote to institute to begin a zone change, and I, under no conditions, will vote for the use of eminent domain for industrial development in Kenton County.”

“The rural character and nature of our county is incredibly important,” said Matthew Hayden, a Republican candidate running for district 3, “and the feedback of our citizens is paramount. So while we may not be able to make certain changes on the fiscal court, what we can do is listen to the people.”

The event was hosted by the Kenton County South County Citizens Group, which has become a forum for many in the south county to express their concerns about both the SRI and the overall future of family farms in the region. Not all of the candidates were asked about farms, but those who were emphasized their importance.

“I think it is vital that we do all that we can to support our rural community, and that will be something that I will advocate for with our state legislators to see if there new ways that we can help just keep our family farms in business,” Goodridge said.

“I think family farms are really the backbone of the country,” Niceley said, a sentiment that was also expressed by Baldridge and Busse.

“Does government need to support these small farms?” Busse asked rhetorically. “Absolutely.”

The candidates were also questioned about the role of large, region-wide economic development groups like the OneNKY Alliance and BENKY, as well as their funding. Here, most of the candidates admitted that groups like this had some benefits but also expressed a need to keep them accountable to county residents.

“We are a region, and ultimately what helps us be competitive is having organizations like this to help compile data and assist lawmakers in making high quality decisions,” said Hayden. “However, obviously, we need to make sure that, at the end of the day that the decisions that are being made by our fiscal court members are from the will of the people.”

Kimmich advocated for a “zero-based budget every year” (i.e. a balanced budget) for any organization funded by the fiscal court.

Notably, toward the end of the forum, the moderator directly asked Niceley and Goodridge about possible conflicts of interest with the county’s current leadership.

Niceley’s business entered into a partnership with Schneller Knochelmann, a business owned by Kenton County Judge/Executive Kris Knochlemann, last year. Goodridge, on the other hand, has been active in the Kenton County Republican Women’s Club, a group that also holds incumbent district 1 Commissioner Beth Sewell among its membership.

Niceley said that the partnership between his business and Knochelmann’s was a small part of his revenue; it wouldn’t affect his bottom line much if their partnership ended.

“That’s a very small part of any type of revenue that I get, and that doesn’t affect me being able to state my opinion, which I have stated my opinion to Kris,” Niceley said. “He knows exactly where I stand, and that’s not a bad thing. That’s how we get things done. When people agree all the time and just rubber stamp each other, that’s a problem.”

Goodridge said that her involvement with the local party—she’s also the vice chair of the Kenton County Republicans Executive Committee— was the part of the reason she got civically involved. Still, she said that she had “no problem keeping things separate as they should be.”

Other topics of discussion included zoning policy, tax policy and housing. You can watch a video broadcast of the full forum below. Check out LINK nky’s Election HQ to get all your news for the upcoming elections.