I attended the debate for the Boone County Judge Executive position that was held October 13 at the Boone County Public Library. The candidates included Chet Hand, a current Boone County Commissioner, and Tim Johnson. Write-in candidates were not invited. Trey Grayson, former Kentucky Secretary of State, moderated the debate.
After all debate questions were asked and all the candidates’ replies were completed, I walked away from the debate assured that Mr. Hand was clearly the best candidate to lead Boone County into the future.
In his opening remarks, Mr. Hand stated that county government should offer its residents excellent service, lower taxes, less regulation, better communication, and responsible planning and growth management. If you look at his record as county commissioner, everything he worked for the past four years centered around exactly those goals. His record speaks for itself.
Mr. Hand also believes government needs to be accountable. He wants to implement a means of measuring to determine what degree county goals and long-range plans are being met.
The commissioner has spent hundreds of hours meeting and talking with residents to better understand their concerns regarding issues related to traffic, infrastructure, zoning and building issues, and others. He has a keen understanding of what Boone County residents want because he has met with hundreds of them in small group or one-on-one meetings and phone calls in the past 18 months.
As county commissioner, Mr. Hand has acquired a solid awareness on everything of major importance within the county as well as those things that extend to other Kentucky counties and the state government. His answers to the debate questions demonstrated a thorough appreciation of the issues, challenges, and needs of our county.
His four years as a county commissioner have enabled him to develop relationships with many county judge executives, commissioners, magistrates, and other elected officials throughout the state. The same can be said for many state officials.
While Mr. Johnson’s purpose for running for judge executive is well-intentioned, that is not enough to satisfy the hefty demands of this position. He cited eminent domain and traffic issues as the two biggest concerns of the county that he would address. His brief responses to the debate questions were thin, displayed a clear lack of understanding of the many issues facing the county, and frequently referred back to eminent domain and traffic issues. When asked how he would approach working with other county and state officials, Mr. Johnson replied that he would “have to find out
how the political chessboard plays out.” He went on to say he doesn’t have a problem getting along with people and that everybody who knows him likes him, knows he’s a reasonable person and a man of his word.
Mr. Hand will be the first person to tell you he doesn’t have all the answers. But he will tell you that he will work hard to find and implement the best solutions to those challenges that arise. I encourage you to vote for Chet Hand for Boone County Judge Executive on November 3. To make your own educated choice, you can watch the full debate at https://youtu.be/4t16GyKW3Pw.
Mark Brackney
Boone County resident