Candidate Endorsements

By Jeff Jobe, Community Publisher/Barren County Progress, JPI

Newspaper endorsements are of little surprise to people paying attention but they sometimes awaken TRUST from those not so in tune with the happenings around them.

It is those people I hope to reach today.

If you have witnessed this newspaper print truth to power in examples you know to be true and appreciated our work, I am asking you to TRUST us in casting votes if you aren’t certain.

There is nothing more important than to share a love for community, state, and country, and this is what motivates me to do what I do as a publisher.

I didn’t grow up in powerful circles where I might have rubbed elbows with presidential or governor candidates. I never witnessed anyone in my family voting for someone they thought might give our family a contract without bidding, get a job at the road department or city-owned power company, or blacktop the street we lived on.

But let me be very clear, Glasgow, Kentucky has a history of leadership who did and they continue doing it just like they saw it done. We need change and I have worked hard to expose how some seem to think this is okay even today.

President of the United States:

We endorse Donald J. Trump for President of the United States. It was a great honor for me as your publisher to have been chosen to represent Kentucky as one of the first four journalists ever to participate in a White House press briefing via Skype.

President Trump thought our beliefs were important in January 2017, and I sincerely believe he will care again come 2025.

US Representative in Congress:

We endorse Brett Guthrie for Congress. Representative Guthrie has active members of his staff involved in our community and he is available when called upon.

Representative Guthrie is a well-respected member of Congress and he will be a strength for President Trump and Vice President JD Vance.

Kentucky State Senate:

Our endorsement of David Givens for Senate is one which comes with years of witnessing a good man begin his political career with integrity and serve in a manner we can all be proud of.

Senator Givens is involved in every piece of legislation passed in Kentucky and we need to show our appreciation for the work he does today and be prepared to stand with him wherever his career takes him.

State Representative:

We endorse Steve Riley for Kentucky House of Representatives. There is probably no one who is better suited to represent this heavily educational influenced county than a retired educator himself. This is perhaps why he has no Democrat challenger. Steve Riley has been witnessed as being loyal to his conservative values while honoring his reputation as an educator.

Commonwealth’s Attorney:

We endorse John Bishop Gardner as Commonwealth’s Attorney. As a newspaper, we depend on law enforcement to respect our work for truth. A community must feel justice is fair and balanced. We have yet to witness any examples of John Gardner or his team being anything less than honest with his work.

Circuit Clerk:

Julie Wright Jolly is the right and now only candidate for Circuit Clerk. This newspaper asked her one question when she announced her candidacy and it was, “Will you stay out of other elections if elected?” She said, “Of course, I am running to do this job to the best of my ability and not influence any others.”

Cave City City Council:

Our endorsements are for three of the four incumbents and one newcomer.

Incumbents Denny Doyle, Brandon Wright, and Clifton Parsley have been the strength the city has needed for a long time. We don’t like the way Beverly Ford pushed for the removal of a fellow council member for something she ignored from two others the prior term. Small towns don’t need politics.

We endorse Leticia Cline as the top new candidate. She did a fine job when she served a prior term. She encouraged ordinances to grow downtown and she understands the struggles small business owners endure.

Glasgow City Council:

We endorse Marna Kirkpatrick and Max Marion because they are the only two incumbents not voting for tax increases and $6.7M for two sections of land with no identified reasons.

It is difficult to endorse against some of the candidates because they stood against tax increases and overspending in the past. I can only explain their change of heart as just being tired of the fight. We too are tired of the fighting.

One never knows how a new candidate will vote. We endorse characteristics we believe will give them the strength to stand up for the people and against those using our tax dollars for their own financial gain.

We endorse the following new candidates: Phillip Gearlds, Randy Wilkinson, Matt Keith, Justin Martin, Tommy Burris and Cherie Vaughan.

Our city has seen divisive topics brought to council and committees because of Councilman Patrick Gaunce’s personal opinions or personal agendas.

He has stopped the county from getting enough land to prominently display our community’s biggest development project, the $45M government center. While rallying votes for themselves dividing our community over building a farmer’s market. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t want it, but few of us feel it should be placed in front of such an amazing architectural design. True leaders would work with the county and help us come together. This division has hurt us all.

I have personally come to know our county magistrates, the judge-executive, and many of the veterans Gaunce has made out to be backward and racist on his social media account. These people are our neighbors and friends and all they wanted was respect and their questions answered regarding private emails and non-disclosed meetings. This is so very hurtful and divisive.

Phillip Gearlds is a strong retired veteran with leadership skills and strength. He won’t sit quietly as veterans are shut down from speaking in public meetings and not having their memorials maintained. Gearlds said he believes in term limits and if still serving in eight years he would hope he would be ready to be Mayor.

Randy Wilkinson brings 40 years of working with students and numerous school officials. He has a reputation for dealing with school problems and making them go away. He is a problem solver and our community has problems that need to go away.

Wilkinson has a quiet nature but is not timid about answering any questions. He believes voters should be involved in big decisions.

Justin Martin has made a career inside Human Resources for large employers. He has knowledge of personnel management procedures and can protect our finest assets, city employees, from the political whims associated with nasty elections.

Perhaps with Martin’s experience we taxpayers wouldn’t have had to pay for so many negotiated settlements associated with accusations of wrongful termination.

Tommy Burris has a resume of hard work and community involvement. Working as an official with the Kentucky High School Athletic Association he understands the importance of making the best calls possible. Glasgow could use an official at times to manage the division we have seen.

His recent forum debate showed a man who thinks before he speaks and it was well received. Clearly he has spent time campaigning and listening to people. Transparency, guarding tax dollars and helping attract good paying jobs are indeed at the top of most citizen discussions. He also indicated helping people who are here prior to wanting to attract more and not wasting time on issues not relevant to the tasks mentioned.

Cherie Vaughan is perhaps the most involved newcomer to Glasgow. She exudes a sincere desire to be involved and help in anyway she can.

As a downtown business owner tied to local tourism, she has firsthand knowledge of what happened when Glasgow city officials allowed our communities’ biggest tourist attraction, the Plaza Theater, to shut down for so long. It almost destroyed downtown Glasgow.

Thank you for helping make the Barren County Progress, Kentucky’s fastest-growing community newspaper. Our pledge to you is that come November 6, 2024, we will continue to cover local news in a manner to ultimately shine through with truth.