Just Put It On the Line

The almost proposed annexation by Burnside of the Lake Cumberland shoreline around to Pulaski County Park for the express purposes of allowing alcohol sales for special events has created quite a furor. As could be expected the anti-alcohol sales crowd vociferously opposes such an effort in keeping with long-held tradition of prohibition. A meeting was held last week to allow citizens to voice their preferences and it was a sell-out with people from all over the county taking part. Judge-Executive Steve Kelly spoke to the crowd reiterating his opposition to alcohol sales but then he seemed to favor them as a means of funding an endangered budget. I have not had much to be concerned with about the new Judge-Executive but I find something here to disagree with but it is not with him alone. It is with nearly the entire fiscal court and some of the other officers of county government.

A few issues are at play here. One is Somerset's declared intention to take its share of the occupational tax to fund city projects which leaves perhaps a $4,000,000 hole in the county's budget. Now, I want to be clear that the city is well within its rights to take this money. In the past it had been allowed to accrue to the county for industrial development and other efforts that the city and county jointly pursued. From what I understand the city says it has not received its money's worth and proposes to undertake those missions itself. I think I am correct on that but correct me if I am in error.

The other issue is the hole in the county budget and the attempts to bring the economic development of the county proper more in line with the development efforts of Somerset and Burnside. The biggest thing the county has to offer is tourism but it lacks ways to take advantage of that industry to generate income. The proposal for Pulaski County Park would be one way to access the profitability generated by Lake Cumberland.

Finally, there is the process of annexation that circumvents the will of the people and allows annexation of public rights-of-way in order to be able to extend city services to distant areas. In this case, sales of alcohol. I am on record as opposing this strange way to accomplish annexation. It just does not make any kind of sense in the administration of public affairs.

I do not oppose sales of alcohol anywhere and I view it as prohibition and restraint of trade but from the viewpoint of public administration the people have the final say here. That brings me to one of the points which is economic development of the county's resources. As I said earlier, Judge-Executive Kelly opposes alcohol sales but approves of the revenue they generate. Well, you can't have it both ways. One of my pet peeves about politicians is their unwillingness to place their jobs on the line to stand for something. If the Judge-Executive wants to raise the revenue then he needs to propose ways to raise it. If he can't go along with the alcohol sales he needs to accept the results. The same goes for fiscal court and the voters at large. If the court and interested parties want to allow those sales then go to the voters and make the case. Put some political capital on the line and risk losing that taxpayer funded job. If it is good for the county then stand up. If the will of the people is avoided there will be a price to pay. Both Somerset and Burnside have approved sales and they are reaping the rewards of that boldness.

If Pulaski County residents desire to continue the level of services that they receive then the people and their elected representatives need to bite the bullet and accept solutions. Make the case for higher taxes. That is where revenue comes from. I point to the example of Burnside which has been able to fund services without raising taxes to its residents. If Pulaski County wants to exist without the many services provided then don't give government enough to operate. This is not a hard thing to understand. Now, a lot of people will go on about governmental waste and high salaries but that is, for the most part, not true. Over the past several years, especially since the Great Recession, governments have cut budgets to the bone, often to the detriment of its citizens and that needs to stop.

On the other hand, the Great Recession has been hard on the average wage earner in Pulaski County. While taxes are the lifeblood of governmental services there are other ways to generate that revenue and that is by encouraging industries, chiefly tourism in our case, to better access the wealth that tourists bring to our area. Only a fraction of that potential is being tapped at present. Our area has the potential to become a local Gatlinburg with water instead of mountains. If you have been to Gatlinburg then you have seen how tourism has been harnessed there. It can be done here. Even Burnside, the only town on Lake Cumberland, has not even begun to tap that unrealized potential.

Somerset needs to annex to the lake wherever Burnside has left a shoreline to be claimed and provide services and opportunities to those residents. Lake Cumberland is the most available resource we have. The case needs to be made to the voters for areas of Pulaski County adjacent to the lake to be opened for tourism development. We just can't continue to elect representatives who seek to avoid tough decisions that would benefit large numbers of people.

News yesterday told of the new Marriott Hotel to be built adjacent to the Center for Rural Development. This adds another piece to the vision of Congressman Rogers for which he took a lot of heat from some who called it a boondoggle. It is further evidence of the vision of Somerset to boldly push into the future. The county leaders need to follow the example.