Samantha Swindler, Managing Editor
The Times-Tribune
CORBIN — Do you know who you are getting ready to elect this May?
Because we’ve been trying to figure that out, and it’s a lot harder than you’d think.
For more than a month, The Times-Tribune has been asking local candidates in the upcoming May primary elections to fill out a survey and submit a photo for an upcoming elections booklet we’ll be printing this month. (If we haven’t reached you — please call our newsroom at 606-528-2464 so we can include you.)
We’ve been contacting hundreds of candidates in the Tri-County at the numbers they listed on their official candidacy papers filed at the courthouses.
Some of the numbers aren’t working numbers. Some of them simply ring and ring. And — what’s quite scary — some candidates said they were too busy to fill out our four-question survey... which includes such taxing queries as “What qualifies you for this position?”
Too busy? You expect us to go down to the polling place and vote you into office so you can make close to $10,000 a year as a magistrate (for example) through the minimal exertion of effort it takes to show up to a meeting once a month — but you can’t take the time to complete a basic survey?
What kind of public servant could you possibly be? Why the heck should I elect you?
Whitley County sheriff candidate Jim Morgan told us he didn’t want to participate in an upcoming candidate’s debate because he “didn’t want to give up his secrets.”
So, he doesn’t want to tell the public what he’s going to do in office?
Wow.
To switch gears briefly, All this election talk recently led to a conversation with a friend living in D.C. about mandatory term limits for elected officials. But term limits are simply an acknowledgment that we can’t elect anyone worth two hoots, and our best hope is to limit the amount of damage they can do in office.
Supporters of term limits say we’ve created a government of career politicians. Heck, I don’t have a problem with career politicians. If I’m going to elect someone to represent my best interests in Washington or Frankfort or Williamsburg, Ky., I want them to take it as seriously as a career, not as lightly as a hobby. I want them to study issues, to be well-informed, and to vote according to their conscience, not the prescribed doctrine of a political party.
Besides, we already have term limits. They are called elections.
No, a lack of term limits isn’t the problem. The candidates and the voters are the problem — because any idiot can run for office, and we voters don’t expect enough from them.
I find it horribly offensive that a candidate is “too busy” to return phone calls from the local newspaper. Obviously, I’m a bit biased on this, but by God, newspapers have one vitally important role — to hold government accountable. How can we do that when they won’t return our calls?
Do you wonder what the heck is going on at the Laurel County Jail? Or at the Whitley County Sheriff’s Department?
We do too, but the jailer and the sheriff refuse to speak to anyone at this newspaper about it (or in the case of the jailer, to anyone at all.)
Next month, you’ll find in your Times-Tribune a glossy election guide booklet with the surveys that were returned from participating candidates.
I thought it would be a lot easier to collect those surveys.
And really, this column isn’t about me complaining about that booklet. If a candidate is “too busy” for the local newspaper, he’s probably going to be “too busy” to talk to you once elected. If we can’t find him before the election, no one will find him when there are tough issues facing the county after November.
If you aren’t accessible, you have no business in elected office.
I beg of you voters — please care who is elected in your community. If you feel powerless to stop wasteful spending and corruption in Washington, remember that wasteful spending and corruption are just as rampant locally, and your vote really can make a difference here.
Also remember that many of these elections — including those of the Laurel and Whitley county sheriffs — will be decided in May because only Republicans are running.
Next month, the Times-Tribune will also host a series of candidate debates in the Tri-County.
A Knox County candidates forum will be held Monday evening, April 12, at Union College. All candidates are invited to meet and greet with the public, but those running for judge-executive, sheriff and district judge will be invited to answer questions from our moderator.
A Laurel County candidates forum will be held Tuesday evening, April 13, at the Sue Bennett College campus in London. Again, all candidates are invited, but candidates for sheriff, jailer and judge-executive will be invited to answer questions on stage.
A Whitley County candidates forum will be held Thursday, April 15, at University of the Cumberlands. Candidates for sheriff, state representative and district judge will be speaking in the debate.
We invite the voters to come out, meet the candidates, ask a few questions, and give ‘em the third degree.
Our government should be run like a business. You, the voter, are the boss, and democracy only works when you care about who you hire.
Samantha Swindler is the managing editor of the Times-Tribune. She can be reached at sswindler@thetimestribune.com
