The Daviess County Farm Bureau (DCFB) hosted a Measure the Candidate public forum Thursday night at Owensboro Community and Technical College. Candidates running for the 8th District Senate seat — Republican and incumbent Matt Castlen and Democrat and Owensboro City Commissioner Bob Glenn — were each given three minutes to answer a series of questions regarding the following topics: education, taxes, transportation, energy, agriculture, insurance, pensions and natural resources.
Jeff Harper, Director of Public Relations for Kentucky Farm Bureau, monitored the event. From the beginning, Harper reminded each candidate that they weren’t participating in a debate, but a forum. While the candidates agreed on some of the issues, tension grew between the two men during moments that showcased the difference in their beliefs, political positions and ideas.
Glenn (D) has been a city commissioner of Owensboro for three terms, as well as a public educator at OCTC. A firm believer in the value of public education and the working-class, Glenn told the crowd that current state officials had directed an “unrelenting attack on the middle-class and working families” over the last two years.
Castlen (R) first took public office at the age of 29, winning the House Representative seat for the 14th District. Raised on his family’s farm, Castlen later went on to start his own business — Castlen Steel. Castlen told the audience that the war on the working class involved him as much as anybody else
“I am the working man — I do it every day,” Castlen said.
When asked whether they supported continuing extended employment for career and technical education instructors, allowing them to receive the same proportion of salary increases as other educators, Castlen said he stood for pay increases based on performance.
“As a legislator, when we talk about state employees and we talk about salaries, I think an individual that, when someone goes to work, and they’re doing their job, and they’re working hard, I think their pay should be set on the criteria of how they perform,” Castlen said.
Glenn said, at OCTC, he currently works alongside some of the best educators he’d ever met.
“I don’t see any reason they shouldn’t be paid more,” Glenn said, adding that OCTC instructors were instrumental in providing students with an array of problem-solving techniques and effective communication tools.
As far as ensuring safety for children in schools, Glenn and Castlen held differing opinions on the matter of implementing teachers with guns as a safety measure.
“They won’t allow guns in schools because insurance won’t allow it,” Glenn said.
Glenn prefers safety measures such as remodeling entryways into school buildings, performing necessary safety drills and speaking up.
“If you see something, say something,” Glenn said.
Castlen, on the other hand, believes a well-trained teacher should be able to carry a gun in the name of safety.
“I’m not against trained individuals having guns to protect their students. With the right training, it’s possible,” Castlen said.
In regard to the House 44 Bill (1979), which put strict regulations on raising property taxes in Kentucky, both candidates said they supported the bill’s restrictions.
“I don’t think it’s fair to our farmers,” Castlen said.
Glenn agreed with Castlen regarding the tax on farmers but said that revenue for the city and state has to come from somewhere.
On whether to exempt the sales tax for farmers, both candidates agreed that farmers deserved protection from a sales tax.
“Without you [farmers], we don’t eat. The rest of the world is affected as well,” Glenn said. “We can’t put additional costs and barriers on farmers.”
“I stand to protect the sales tax on farmers,” said Castlen. “That 6 percent savings you saved from the sales tax might be the only profit you made that year.”
Castlen referred to himself as a “fan” of the consumption tax, adding that he also wanted to create a tax code that was fair for everyone. Glenn argued that the consumption tax placed on 17 new services in Kentucky — a bill passed by current legislature in July, 2018 — was a move that served to destroy the middle and lower classes.
Transportation was a topic both candidates agreed on when it revolved around repairing rural and secondary roads across the district.
“Our rural roads are traveled almost every single day. We have to focus on the highways that are traveled the most,” Castlen said.
He mentioned that, overall, the state was billions of dollars behind in repairing roads, adding they were in such bad shape.
Glenn, too, expressed his concern for rural roads across Kentucky, focusing on the number of accidents that occur due to the $1 billion dollars in damages.
“We’re fourth in the U.S. in traffic deaths — that should stun us,” Glenn said.
Broadband internet expansion into rural areas of the county and state was a hot topic for the candidates, who disagreed on the correct way to implement high-speed internet access to those living past the city limits.
“The biggest concern is ‘Where do towers go in rural areas?’” Glenn said. “In this district and in Hancock County — you talk to people, and they have terrible cell service. So we’ve got to have cutting-edge access to wireless internet. The Kentucky Wired Program has had a lot of hiccups and a lot of problems, but the biggest issue is to speed that process up, as they’ve tried to do. More importantly, and above all, we need to make absolutely certain that we do it for the purposes of business and industry because they too need high-quality access to wireless.”
Castlen said wireless internet had become a commodity used by almost every person, and on a daily basis. He said holding internet companies accountable in Frankfort was important, and that Daviess County needed the same access to wireless internet as bigger cities in the state.
“We’re seeing young people who are using their cell phones for all their communication, and we’re seeing it for advertisements — they’re selling their products online. We have to continue to hold that infrastructure,” Castlen said.
“Kentucky Wired — that could go down as one of the greatest scandals that the taxpayers ever funded. It is absolutely a joke,” Castlen said in regard to Glenn’s earlier suggestion of implementing Kentucky Wired in rural areas.
