Special circumstances to name candidate prompts Fulton Co. Fiscal Court discussion

Fulton County Magistrate Henry Callison asked, “Do we need to discuss some of the things about the election for the people that might file? I think this is something on the minds of the people and probably need to discuss.”

Callison’s question arose at the July 16 meeting of Fulton County Fiscal Court.

Fulton County Clerk Betty Abernathy asked, “What do you want me to discuss. I do not have the KRS 108.05(4) in front of me at this moment.”
“The Democratic and Republican parties had the opportunity to provide a candidate to represent them in the November election. The Democratic Party chose Derek Goodson as their representative in the General Election. The Republican Party did not choose a candidate. They chose not to have a candidate to represent them. We have an Independent candidate that has filed to run as Sheriff in the November election, Doug Akers. The only other candidates that could file for that office could be Write-In candidates. Write-In candidates have until Oct. 26 to file. They would not be on the ballot. This is the only law and the only people that will be allowed on the ballot,” con-tinued Abernathy.

Callison said, “So only one can be appointed for the Democratic Party?”

Abernathy answered, “The May Primary is to choose a representative of the Democratic or Republican parties to run in November. It is a run-off. Again the Democratic Party chose a represent them and the Republican Party chose not to have any one represent them. I have to go, in my office, strictly by the law. The KRS guides me and tells me what I can and can’t do with the elections. I consulted with the Secretary of State’s office on several occa-sions because I had questions from different people in the community. I know it is very confusing and have tried to explain exactly what the law states. And that’s the way it will be. I know some of the candidates feel that since they filed and paid their money and campaigned they should be allowed to run as a Write-In or some position in November, but that is not what the KRS says and I have to go by that.”

Callison asked, “Who was on the Democratic Board?”

Abernathy stated, “I have no idea who all is on the Board, but I do know Brad Wiley is the chairman of the Democratic Party.”

Callison stated, “The only reason I’m asking the questions is because one called me about his name being on there. Was there something in the paper telling that any one that had a desire to run contact the board or anything like that?”

Abernathy said, “I didn’t see anything like that. I was called at the death of our Sheriff, by the newspapers and I responded over the phone and I can read what I said if you would like.”

Callison said, “I brought The Courier. I know it said something.”

Abernathy said, “The only thing different in there was it stated the Democratic and Republican Parties were go-ing to nominate a candidate. That is not true. I said they would be able to, that they have the ability to nominate one but did not have to. That is the only difference I saw in The Current.”

Callison stated, “I felt like this needed to be made open so people would understand that. There has been a lot of talk around town. Who is going to run, who is going to be the new sheriff. This not a reflection on anyone, not a reflection on Derek being appointed.”

Abernathy said, “Any time you have an election and you have people that have candidates they are for, they have the right, the entire public does. It has been published in the paper. A lot of people don’t get The Current. It has been published in the West Kentucky Star online, a lot of people do not get, and I understand that, and I appreciate you asking. I hope that is clear.”

Abernathy continued, “I have had several people come by my office, received several calls and I tried to explain to them the same as I have explained to you today.”

Charles Choate asked, “Should someone decide to run as a Write-In candidate to they have to come through your office?”

“Yes they will have to file and pay their $50 just like they were filing as a candidate for any office of the county. A Write-In candidate will not be printed on the ballot and they will have to educate the people as to how to vote for them. At the time they file they will give different names that they are recognized as. The Write-In candidate is check one by one. We have to take into consideration the intent of the voter. For instance, if I were to be a Write-In candidate, I would give certain names that someone calls me by – Miss Betty, Ms. A, Betty A, anything other than my name and that is on the paper work of the Write-In candidate. If a person wrote that, it has to be on the line un-der the office in which they are seeking, it can’t be under county clerk and meant for sheriff.”

“I wanted to say thanks to our Congressional representatives. Magistrate James Black called about flooding in the Upper Bottom. This was an unusual situation because the flooding was being caused by the increase in flow from the dam. We called Sen. Wendell McConnell and Sen. Rand Paul’s offices, Rep. James Comer, and Tennes-see Valley Authority representative Virginia Gray and they went to work and the next day the water was going down. The loss was about 100 acres, but could have been 3,000 or 4,000 acres, which might have resulted in mil-lions of dollars of losses for Fulton County. We appreciated our Congressional people. I wanted to say that for the press so they could report,” said Fulton County Judge/Executive Jim Martin.

“Bids were received for the Townsend Road Bridge contract. Wilkins, the same people who did Taylor Hill Road, was the low bidder. We have notified them, but will not award the contract until we approve the contract, send it back to Frankfort, the secretary of the Department of Transportation signs, sends it back to us, and then we can award the contract,” reported Martin.

The Magistrates approved the purchase of a John Deere Backhoe 310SL at the State Price Contract for Fulton County Road Department for $91,430.59, and includes an additional attachment for the forklift.

Discussion was held for repairs to the Fulton County Courthouse repairs and 67 windows.

One bid was received from Jackson Complete Contracting, who requested 50% up front.

Judge Martin told the Magistrates that once Jackson Complete Contracting mobilizes they would be able to ren-der payment but not before. Bid for the project was $18,865.

Magistrate George Jones asked, “He will show proof of liability insurance?”

Judge Martin replied, “Yes. He will have to show us he has $1,000,000 liability. He will give us a certificate of insurance proof before he can mobilize on the job.”

Magistrate Henry Callison said, “I have some questions about his work and I would like to hold off on this.”

The motion died for lack of a second.

It was reported paving in the Upper Bottom ran below budget, resulting in Holland Lane not being paved be-cause of a mix up on Jordan Road that needed to be corrected.

Magistrate James Black stated, “We got some problems on Upper Bottom Road. It looks like the mix was too dry in spots and is crumbling.”

“A refurbished thumb attachment for the front-end loader will cost more than a new one. The thumb attachment we have was purchased during the ice storm,” stated County Road Department Foreman Alan Coffey.

“It saves a lot of work moving trees. The price is $5,500 from Erb Equipment and they will come and install it,” continued Coffey.

“A letter from the Department of Transportation was reviewed, which reflected an elimination of all carry for-ward 80/20 money across the state. Fulton County had about $480,000 unused 80/20 money to carry forward. We were going to use this for the Townsend Road Project. You can not accumulate unused 80/20 money in the future and annually Fulton County will be allocated up to $80,000 for the year in the program,” reported Martin.

The state is proposing the replacement of a bridge on Hwy 1909 for ahalf million dollars. The county asked the state to eliminate that project and put the money on the Number 1 Bridge in the Upper Bottom and the state re-fused.

An update was given on the Jail Kitchen Construction Bills.

Judge Martin said, “George asked how we were doing on the project. We are over budget. We will still come in under the Engineers estimated cost of $250,000. We have come to the conclusion that the Engineers estimate was probably low. Everyone that has touched the project feels like it is over designed and that ends up costing us mon-ey. We are over budget probably by $120,000 - $130,000 in wages for the three individuals that work, delays, pip-ing system, and over runs on roof planks had to be redesigned. In still unhappy we are over budget, but happy our savings are way below if we had of done it otherwise.”

Magistrate Callison asked, “How much longer will the three contracts be working?”

Fulton County Jailer Steven Williams said, “It all depends on the weather.”

Judge Martin answered, “We have reduced the time clock on our supervisor. He is now on half time, because we are at a point he does not have to be there full time.”

Magistrates Jones and Callison wanted to ask about holding off on approval until closed session.

Charles Choate asked, “Judge, are bills something you talk about in closed session?”

Martin replied, “It shouldn’t be but unless it pertains to personnel issue or pending litigation.”

Jones said, “Part of it will be.”

In regard to the drug policy, Judge Martin stated, “We have been testing our employees on a random testing 10% monthly and I would like to extend that and give a little more latitude on when we do test quarterly and num-ber of employees we test. We did so aggressively we wanted to get through the employees to make sure we did not have any issues. We determined we are not any worse than any one else in terms of frequency. I would like a little more latitude to go from testing 10% month to quarterly without a set number by random selection.”

The drug policy change was approved.

The Magistrates went into Executive Closed Session pursuant to KRS61.810(c) at 9:39 a.m. They reconvened at 10:58 a.m. and reported no votes or decisions were made.