Candidates from five Kentucky House of Representatives races and one Kentucky State Senate race attended a candidate forum Tuesday, Oct. 2. Eleven hopeful officials spoke about hot-topic issues, most of them regarding public education. The Kentucky Education Action Team (KEAT) sponsored the candidate forum hosted at Daviess County High School.
Attendance for the event was low, especially compared to the large number present for the debate regarding teachers’ pensions prior to the public forum. Tuesday’s forum served as an opportunity for Owensboro’s citizens to learn more about each candidate’s position and campaign focus.
7th District House of Representative race
For the 7th District House of Representatives race, candidates are Republican Suzanne Miles and Democrat Joy Gray. Miles resides as the current representative of the 7th District, while Gray is running as her competitor.
Miles was a small business owner for 16 years and has been a federal employee since 2009, serving as a state legislator since 2013. Miles says concerns regarding pensions have been heard at the capital. She defended decisions made by current state legislature, saying officials were working on improving pensions and public education concerns for teachers, despite negative feedback received across the state.
“Since 2016, we’ve known exactly what was taking place and the money that wasn’t being invested,” Miles said. “This is the first time in a decade we made sure the promise was kept by funding the pension.”
Regarding charter schools, Miles says many schools in Kentucky don’t have the resources provided by Owensboro Public Schools and Daviess County Public Schools.
“You left one word out,” Miles said to opponents. “Public. We’re not talking about private charter schools. We’re not paying enough attention to how destitute our schools are. We have a lot of schools that aren’t doing as well [as OPS and DCPS].”
Miles’ opponent, Joy Gray (D), said public education hasn’t received the respect it has deserved, that teachers have dealt with unfair treatment regarding pensions and that charter schools will negatively impact current public school systems in Kentucky. Gray is a retired teacher who substitutes full-time at Heritage Park High School.
As far as amending pensions and funding for public education across the state, Gray said legislatures must work to fix the current tax codes.
“It’s costly, the ineffective tax breaks,” Gray said. “Reagan started with trickle-down economics, and it’s not working. Stop exaggerating prices — the state’s budget will even out if the state pays its share. They [state legislators] budgeted this year, but we are still waiting for the money. We need to improve our job quality and improve our wages.”
12th District House of Representative race
For the 12th District race for state representative, Republican Jim Gooch and Democrat Bruce Kunze faced off in answering the three questions asked of them regarding public education. Gooch has served as 12th District representative since 1996, and has specialized in natural energy and resources during his tenure as state representative.
“The last 20 years, I’ve served as chairman of the Natural Energy and Resources Committee,” Gooch said. “My passion now is energy. Kentucky has had some of the lowest rates in the nation. We’ve had some threats in our area about raising rates, so I’m concerned about that.”
Gooch said all parties are in agreement that Kentucky’s “antiquated tax system” doesn’t work when it comes to funding public education.
“Tax reform is needed,” Gooch said. “We exempt more than we bring in from taxes. Taxes must be fair, and they must encourage jobs.”
Gooch said charter schools might be a necessity for certain areas of the state and mentioned that several democrats, including former President Obama, supported charter schools during their reigns.
“There are some people in this state who are letting some kids down. Those public schools are failing them in other areas,” Gooch said.
Gooch’s opponent, Bruce Kunze (D), was a teacher for 28 years and a Daviess County commissioner from 1999 to 2010. Kunze feels the current state legislature needs to refocus, saying public pensions are a necessity for teachers across the state.
“Education is truly the future of our Commonwealth,” Kunze said. “I’m in favor of maintaining a defined benefit plan for current and new teachers.”
In adding more funding to public education, Kunze said more revenue was key to balancing the budget.
“The income tax is a better way to raise more revenue,” Kunze said. “We have to look at all available resources. The consumption tax — the problem is it hits lower income people harder. Of the 17 services recently taxed, 168 weren’t taxed. Why were some taxed and others weren’t? I’d pick four or five that have the most potential [to bring in more revenue].”
11th District House of Representative race
The 11th District race includes Republican Dr. James Buckmaster and Democrat, Robert Wiederstein, who did not attend the forum.
For 20 years, Buckmaster has owned and operated a medical clinic in Henderson for lower-income residents. He said that public service and healthcare are two of his biggest focuses.
“I understand the plight of the poor and those who are uninsured,” Buckmaster said.
As for concerns regarding public pensions and funding for public schools, Buckmaster feels the current state legislators have done a good job of stabilizing the pension crisis.
13th District House of Representative race
The 13th House District race includes incumbent Republican candidate D.J. Johnson and Democratic candidate Jim Glenn, who previously held the seat for 10 years until being defeated by Johnson in 2016.
Johnson lived in Washington, D.C. for 15 years, where he worked at the Pentagon, but eventually moved back to his hometown of Owensboro. He believes officials in Frankfort are doing a great job with fixing the current pension crisis and public education concerns.
“I saw a lot of bureaucracy in Frankfort,” Johnson said. “I thought, ‘If I’m going to complain, I should be willing to work.’ We fully funded pensions and went above and beyond. We put at least $3 million into the pension plans; that hadn’t been done in a decade.”
Regarding public education funding, Johnson said consumer taxes should be raised instead of income tax raises. Generating revenue is also one of Johnson’s focuses for repairing the budget.
“The last two years, we’ve seen $12 million in new investments [in Kentucky],” Johnson said. “We’ve created at least 1,700 new jobs. Generating revenue comes from people paying more taxes.”
Jim Glenn (D) said he’s an advocate for education and business as he has spent years teaching in the public education system, serving as a dean of both academics and business at Owensboro Community and Technical College. Glenn was also an Owensboro city commissioner.
“What concerns me is student debt,” Glenn said, adding that the average student graduates college with $38,000 of debt. “I left it [the city commission] with a $1.2 million surplus.”
Passionate about the pension crisis in Kentucky, Glenn says those who support current state officials for revising teachers’ pensions are thinking illogically.
“You can’t put it in a sewer bill and tell people you solved the problem,” Glenn said. “It’s going to take us 20 to 25 years to get out of this hole. We have to give some money [to public education] and then put a little money to the side. There’s no magic in charter schools — they give money to the private industry and not the public.”
A businessman by nature and experience, Glenn said targeting the revenue stream was the best strategy for amending public education funds.
“The economy grows on three things — technology, population and education,” Glenn said. “We have to build the economy. We need more $40,000 a year jobs. We can’t leave the people at the top out of taxes.”
14th District House of Representative race
Republican Scott Lewis is facing off with Democrat Elizabeth Belcher for the 14th House District race. Belcher, a certified nurse and occupational specialist, believes public education should be supported rather than attacked.
“The last two years have been an attack on workers’ wages and the working people,” Belcher said. Belcher, who retired from the City of Owensboro, said she understands budget cuts firsthand.
“I am pushing for a living wage in Kentucky. We currently have one of the lowest wages in the nation,” Belcher said of the state. “I’m fighting for the working people.”
Belcher believes strongly in public pensions, “healthcare for all” and legalizing medicinal marijuana. She said bringing casinos to the state could be an avenue for bringing revenue into Kentucky, as well as implementing a fair tax system.
“The sales tax added to services taxed 95 percent of Kentuckians; we have to make it fair,” Belcher said. “We need more revenue. It seems a lot of people at the top are exempt. We need to include a consumer tax and an income tax, equally.”
As for charter schools being implemented across the state, Belcher said, “Instead of funding charter schools, let’s fund our public education.”
Scott Lewis (R) serves as superintendent of Ohio County Schools, was a small business owner and Kentucky state trooper as well. Lewis also believes in funding public education and teacher pensions.
“Kentucky had the third worst funding in the nation,” Lewis said, mentioning a 16 percent decrease in pension funding across the state. “As a school superintendent, we’re having to do more with a lot less. You can’t decrease benefits and expect people to come into your profession.”
Pensions must be funded, according to Lewis. Lewis agrees that taxes must be amended, but he doesn’t believe taxing 17 services across the state was the best move.
“I think both parties agree the tax code is outdated, but you have to find the funds somewhere,” Lewis said. “The percent of the education budget went from 59 to 51 percent. We have to find revenue. It’s going to be a tough task, but if we know we need it, we have to do it.”
8th District State Senate race
For the state senate race, Democrat Bob Glenn and Republican Matt Castlen proved to cast the most divisive arguments of the entire forum. City Commissioner Glenn has been a union member for much of his career and served as a public educator. He feels contempt toward current Kentucky legislature in regard to their handling of public pensions and public education.
“I’m concerned about public education,” Glenn said. “This isn’t a compassionate, caring group [in Frankfort]. We’re paying almost 12 percent more to fund pensions — the state hasn’t done their part. We can do a lot better than the sewer bill.”
Glenn added that as a voice for the working people, the importance of supporting public education is a necessity for supporting the state’s economy, as well as retaining quality teachers and police officers.
“The economy is good, but working families aren’t benefiting,” Glenn said. “Schools have bent over backwards. I think speeding up the education process is a good innovation. These guys [current state legislators] are like sharks. These guys in Frankfort will get around to charter schools. Every dollar that’s funded toward charter schools is taken from public schools. They’re not going to care about kids like our schools do.”
Opponent Matt Castlen (R), an Owensboro native, started his own welding company, Castlen Steel, and ran as a politician for the first time when he was 29, winning the House Representative seat for the 14th District. Overall, Castlen said he believes in pursuing the American dream.
“That’s what built this nation,” Castlen said. “We’re one nation under God. I’m standing up for the moral compass.”
Responsibility and accountability on the part of Kentucky residents are two important focuses of Castlen’s campaign, as well as business development increasing steady revenue growth.
“We have to make sure we can pay our bills,” Castlen said. “We need to get government out of the way and create businesses that can grow.”
Castlen said Kentucky has done a good job of promoting economic growth.
“If you look at the last two years, the state is exporting more than ever. We need to continue to elect people who can budget their money and grow a strong economy,” Castlen said.
