Accomplishments as Mayor

Accomplishments Since Elected in 2014.

“State Of The Union, Union KY that is”.

Sale of Old City Building.

The city will be moving into the new city building in the Spring of 2027. We knew that we had to sell the old city building. The property surrounding the old city building is owned by Christ Hospital. They wanted our property so they owned the entire block of property from Bristow Road to Mt. Zion Road. And, they wanted it before they announced the building start of their new Ambulatory Care Center. The property where the old city building sits was assessed for about $300,000+/-. I worked out a deal with Christ Hospital to purchase our old city building for $900,000 plus allowing allowing the city to remain in the building “rent free” until June 30, 2027. I am a good negotiator.

Working with Board Of Elections to make sure no future voting mistakes will be made in Union.

After the November 2024 election, polling mistakes within two City of Union voting locations were uncovered and law suits took place. As a result, election results for City Commissioners were thrown out! I personally spent a lot of time working with Justin Crigler, Boone County Clerk, to make sure that for all future elections proper and right ballots will be printed on the spot at voting locations where City of Union residents and Unicorporated Boone County residents vote together. What happened was that poll workers gave out wrong pre-printed ballots to voters at the stated two City of Union voter locations. It was determined that in the November 2024 election over 800 out of 2,400 ballots were mis-handled. Through my efforts with Justin Crigler, voting printing machines will be in place to make sure that proper ballots are printed on the spot for all future elections at those two Union voting locations that had problems in 2024.

Brilliance Ave. Extension from Bristow Ave. to Harmony.

I fought very hard for that stretch of road to be developed. This road section did not cost Union residents one red cent! This road extension was funded with federal funding and a kind donation of monies and land from the Grammas family. They donated the land that this road extension was built upon, and they donated nearly $200,000 to cover the amount where building costs exceeded stated federal funding. This was a hard fought battle where some Commissioners did not want this project completed. The good news is that residents use and really like this road extension. The fight was worth it.

Graeter’s/Braxton/Dewey’s Development.

This is one of my greatest accomplishments as Mayor. Due to a personal relationship with Richard Graeter and the Rouse family (owners of Braxton Brewery), I was able to pull this project together several years ago. Today, the Graeter’s store in Union is one of their top 5 stores chainwide! Braxton and Dewey’s is one of the hot spots for residents to go to each and every week. When I drive by this development, I just smile knowing that I had a lot to do with this project becoming a reality. Please go there and enjoy!

Promenade Center.

This center is discussed under Current Issues/Projects. Developing a $170 million dollar project and seeing all the retail businesses operating, houses being sold, and apartments being rented is quite an accomplishment…all of which being completed under this administration and my leadership. It took a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, but it was all worth it.

Administration.

When I took office as Mayor nearly 12 years ago, administration was a Clerk Assistant Clerk, and the Cemetery Sexton. The very first meeting of our new administration, the Commission hired our first City Administrative Officer (CAO)…David Martin, who today is the Boone County Clerk of Courts. The next position created was a Communications Director…Melissa Hinkle; Jaime Lyons now fills this position. We then went onto create a Public Works Director to replace the City Engineer contracted position. Last addition was an Assistant Clerk position. The major effort of the first four years I was Mayor was to build a first class administrative staff. Today our staff is the best staff I have ever worked within government and business sectors.

Today we are on our fifth CAO. After David Martin, we hired Matt Dowling; he is now Boone County’s Assistant County Administrator. After Matt Dowling, came David Plummer; he is now Alexandria’s CAO. Then came Amy Safran; she just move to Washington State with her husband. Our fifth CAO is Paul Kremer; our former Public Works Director. Kelly Preston is his replacement. The City of Union has now gained a reputation for being an excellent training ground. I am proud to have trained these fine former CAOs.

Committees.

When I first became Mayor, there were only two committees established for City Commissioners to supervise…Public Works and Economic Development. I expanded the committee concept so that all four City Commissioners had committee duties. I first established the Communications Committee to work with the Communications Director, then added the Fiscal Committee for a Commissioner to see that established budget expenditures were properly made. I then established the Executive Committee, because the city has to work with developers and on projects that are not ready to be opened to the public. While Commissioners work on their assigned committee areas, I (as Mayor) supervise on all the areas…I have been kinda good at doing that!

Relations.

During the first year being in office, I knew the importance of working in conjunction with Boone County, City of Florence, and the City of Walton. So, I began developing friendships with Boone County Judge Executive, Mayor of Florence, and Mayor of Walton. When talking to Boone County Judge Executive Moore, I suggested that the Judge and three Mayors should meet quarterly to let each other know what is going on within our respective cities and within the county. So, we started the Judge and 3 Mayors Meeting each quarter, and have met quarterly for almost 12 years now. Communication between the Boone County governments is essential and I am glad Judge Moore took my suggestion and ran with it.

Boone County Planning Commission (BCPC).

The Boone County Planning Commission (BCPC) provides the county and each city with planning and zoning services based on a memorandum of understanding signed back in 1966/revised 1976. For this service each government entity pays BCPC an annual service fee. When I first became Mayor, BCPC informed each Boone County government entity as to what annual service fee they thought each entity should pay. Unfortunately, there was no real quantitative measurement in their rationale for their fee requests. I developed a quantitative measurement system for each Boone County government entity to pay its fair share based on population or on a per capita basis. After a lot of struggle and discussion, each city and the county accepted this funding system, and it still holds today…12 years later. So as a result of the funding system I developed, the City of Union now pays its fair share and is not over charged as it was before this system was initiated. We now have a strong working relationship with BCPC; we hope to continue that relationship in the future.

Mt. Zion Road Development.

The completion of this project opened the gates for growth and development of this city we love called Union. Prior to Mt. Zion Road becoming a four-lane thoroughfare between I-71/75 and new Rte. 42, developers were reluctant to commit to Union. For example, most nationally affiliated restaurants do not build more than two miles from any interstates. Rte. 42 from I-71/75 is five miles to Union. The 5 lane Mt. Zion Road is less than two miles from I-71/75! This makes Union viable for development to developers. I was was part of the team along with State Senator Schickel and Judge Executive Moore to present the case to expand Mt. Zion Road into its current 5 lane status.

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