The last time candidates for Boone, Kenton and Campbell county commission met, before the primary election, they debated issues like transportation, land use and government transparency. Since then, these issues have become even more top-of-mind in the region. There have been broad discussions of transportation with the groundbreaking of the Brent Spence Companion bridge. Property rights and environmental conservancy are currently at play in a Boone County sewer line project. In Kenton County, the overhaul of the code of ethics has prompted concern over government transparency.
“We are not just industry, we are not just farmland,” said county commissioner candidate Debra Waller. “We are now just the crossroads between all of these different areas and we need to represent that.”
The forum was organized by Green Umbrella and other green space and environmental organizations. It was the second forum this election season, and candidates debated topics that were picked because they’re on voters' minds.
The candidates present were: Debra Waller, Boone County District 1; John Schickel, Boone County District 2; Lianna Nguyen, Boone County District 2; Sarah Froelich, Kenton County District 1; Benjamin Bach, Kenton County District 2; Jordan Baldridge, Kenton County District 3; and Brant Owens, Campbell County District 3.
Schickel was the only Republican candidate present. He is running against Nguyen for the Boone County District 2 seat.
All candidates agreed that if elected, they would advocate for better government transparency and efficient communication between residents and elected officials. But their policies on how to control economic development differed.
Data Centers
Recently, Kentucky lawmakers passed legislation to attract data centers to the region, but all of the commissioner candidates agreed they were not beneficial to residents.
Baldridge has worked in AI for years. He said the new Kentucky law takes away any monetary value it could provide.
“At the end of the day, there is no way to actually provide value to your account to that extent, because Kentucky carved out a 50-year moratorium for sales and tax use, so that they will never provide any benefit to you,” he said.
The candidates' proposals on how to prevent or slow down data center construction differed.
Owens said the issue comes down to local zoning laws.
“These corporations have lawyers that specialize in how to find loopholes in your zoning laws, and will pressure the local communities [saying] ‘you can't afford to fight us, and you're gonna lose,’” he said.
Others, like Bach and Nguyen, suggested passing moratoriums first to prohibit data centers for a period of time — just to get ahead of the issue.
“First you establish a moratorium, so you have time to plan,” Bach said.
He also spoke of non-disclosure agreements local officials around the country have signed with data center developers. He and other candidates said they would not sign these agreements if elected.
Nguyen also pointed out slowing down data center construction could prevent the projects from being built near homes, as they have been in other states.
“I do not want them to have to deal with the noise pollution, all that stress,” she said. “We don't know what can happen medically if you live close to a data center.”
Eminent domain and regional authorities
Candidates also discussed current discourse over eminent domain and possible threats to property rights. Eminent domain is when a government can take private property for a public service. In the case of data centers, that law provides a loophole.
“The loophole there is that because utility projects count as public use, new transmission lines or pipelines to serve a data center could go through private land,” Froelich said. “Even when that data center itself couldn't.”
An ongoing Sanitation District 1 sewer line project in Boone County has brought the issue of property rights and conversation to Northern Kentucky voters. Schickel said the way these projects get approved, without public input, needs to be studied.
“The reason for that is because years ago we delegated some of our responsibility to these regional authorities, and I'm going to be taking a good hard look at that in the fiscal court,” Schickel said.
Baldridge and Froelich also pointed out that regional authorities, like SD1 and the Port Authority, are made up of non-elected officials often appointed by the fiscal courts.
“Port Authority holds power, and they are not beholden to the same responsibilities that this whole court is, and so therefore they can have conversations and close room doors,” Froelich said.
While Baldridge explicitly states he is against eminent domain, Owens and Waller recognized its potential usefulness. However, both said in situations where eminent domain needs to be used, it should be for a public need, not just a public good.
Waller said projects that use this power should be focused on improving quality of life.
“Eminent domain is necessary to being able to build the infrastructure so that the environment is safe and livable and provides what the people here need,” she said.
Overall, candidates agreed that in order to address residents’ issues, the counties need a better system of transparency.
“This is part of a bigger issue that we need to learn new ways to communicate with the public,” Baldridge said. “That we need to actually post what the county is going to be voting on on the website that we need to actually centralize information.”
Read more
