A few months ago a set of unusual occurrences occurred with the Clinton County Fiscal Court, resulting in its current temporary make-up.

The resignation of not one, but two magistrates and the subsequent fill-in appointments by the governor of two former Clinton County Judge/Executives to fill those positions.

Those appointments were made in April and May, respectively with the resignations of Willard Johnson and Charlotte Bernard in the 3rd and 5th districts, respectively. Both were Republicans. Appointed to fill those positions — both Democrats — were Larry Hatfield and Charlene King.

Making that chain of events even more unique was the fact that both of Beshear’s appointments to the Clinton County Fiscal Court, Hatfield and King, had in past terms served on the court after having won the highest elected position in county government makeup – Clinton County Judge/Executive.

Now, about a half-year later and a general election on the horizon in less than two weeks, both of those former county judges turned magistrates are winding up their appointment terms.

New magistrates are expected to take office soon after the November 6 election, once the results are certified by the county clerk’s office.

One candidate, Hershell Key, will represent the fifth district, being unopposed in next month’s election. Either Terry Buster, a Republican, or Amanda Rich, a Democrat, will fill the third district seat on the court.

Feeling that barring a call meeting of the court prior to the November election, both current magistrates spoke out somewhat last week about their time as court members, with Hatfield issuing a detailed letter to court members and the media.

Magistrate King said she had enjoyed being on the (fiscal) court, although she said there hadn’t been very many regular meetings. She also said she felt that in the Administrative Code, if a (regular) meeting was postponed or cancelled, it should be rescheduled for the next working day.

King, who has long advocated having fiscal court sessions video taped and replayed on the local access channel, noted her disappointment that the issue never came to an actual vote.

She added she had secured some sponsors for such a project and gotten cooperation from the high school to air the meetings, if approved, on the local public access channel.

Magistrate Hatfield, who also wrote a letter of resignation as well, gave a much broader picture in a detailed letter to Judge Huff and court members pertaining to the “future of Clinton County.” The letter reads as follows:

“When I first got the appointment as magistrate I couldn’t wait to come here and make changes, get everything straightened up. I soon realized things had changed drastically since I had left office, and you the Judge and Fiscal Court were working as hard as you could to keep our county afloat. I soon realized it costs more today to run county government one year than my four years combined. I was truly amazed at how well you were handling the budget with very little revenue coming in and a lot of revenue going out. Every month large transfers to the jail and ambulance service were necessary to keep those budgets going. Being top heavy on salaries was also an issue that someday must be addressed. But again I admire you for working within your means and keeping county government afloat.

I wish I could leave you after the General Election and tell you that all would be fine, that county government would have an abundance of revenue, and we have nothing to be concerned with. This is far from the truth. Over the next few months, you as magistrates must make some very difficult, and unpopular decisions regarding the future of our county. I can only hope that you will do the right thing, what you were elected to do, and what is best for the future of our citizens, not what is best to get as many votes as possible. You as elected officials must realize that what is popular, and may get votes, is not always the right thing to do. Remember you were elected to do the right thing, make the best decisions for the people of Clinton County. Don’t use this as a stepping board for another election or re-election. Look and learn from the past, live for today, and plan for the future.

Today we have two bottomless pits requiring more funds going out that coming in, this being the County Jail and the Ambulance Service. As you are well aware both these entities receive monies transferred each month from the occupational tax monies. This fund can’t keep this up much longer. This tax wasn’t created for the purpose of funding these two entities. You as government officials must decide which of these two agencies is needed the most, and how you intend to finance the everyday services. It has been mentioned to add an ambulance tax to the citizens of our county and use the occupational tax revenue for the jail only. This would work, but I don’t think that’s the solution we need at present time. The creation of another tax in the worst economic times since the Great Depression would only add to the economic woes of our citizens. We have asked the Department of Corrections to give us a breakdown at what the cost figure would be to operate the county jail as a full time facility vs. closing the facility. I truly believe when these figures come in you will be shocked at the savings closing the facility will bring. What I’m saying is you can’t keep funding both, sometime in the near future you must make a decision–be sure you think it over and make the right one.

In the hard economic times we face in our country today, and with the trickle down effect going to state and local governments, the next few years are going to be very lean ones. Federally funded programs are being cut out totally or drastically cut back. To maintain current services you must have the funds and revenue to pay for them, if not you must cut services. We as county government can’t spend more revenue than we bring in. We must balance our budget each year, a far cry from Congress and the Federal Budget which add to the deficit each year. We as taxpayers, and our grandchildren, will be paying for years to come for their mistakes. The county budget like the state and federal budget is almost stretched beyond repair. A short-term band-aid fix will not work anymore. We must now look for long-term solutions, long lasting solutions, and solutions the least costly that are the least painful to the citizens of our county. We can’t overlook any possible solutions, be it a freeze on pay raises, hiring of personnel or eliminating overtime. We must look at our equipment and decide whether to repair or replace is the most cost effective. We should look at furlough days as the state has done over the past few years. We must buy our supplies at the most reasonable price, turn down the thermostats, and make sure when not in use all lights are turned off. Little savings soon add up as little cost soon add up to big cost. If the county budget were our home budget we would have already made the needed changes. But isn’t the county budget the same as our home budget? It needs repair, let’s put all politics aside and fix it. Do the right thing for all involved, remember, learn from the past, live for today and plan for tomorrow.

Again, it has truly been an honor and privilege to work with each of you. I have nothing but the utmost respect for each of you. As a citizen of Clinton County, I place my trust and faith that you will do the right thing.”