Beech Tree News Network

Background: My name is Jeff Jennings and I am 55 years old. I currently reside at 858 Logansport Rd just outside the city limits of Morgantown. I am married to Sara Gabbard Jennings (Foy and Janice Gabbard of Woodbury) and we have three children: Rachael, Giulia, and Joseph. I am the son of R.L and Faith Jennings and I have five siblings: Cheryl, Bruce, Susie, Beverly, and Gary. I am currently the Director of Transportation for the Butler County School District and have worked in the district for more than 30 years as a teacher, coach, and as a principal.

1.  What are the primary reasons for seeking office?

Butler County is a wonderful place! We have a radio station that annually raises more than $10,000 for needy families around the Thanksgiving holiday. We have a Morgantown Mission that operates on a shoestring budget but does amazing things for those in need. We have Andrea’s Mission and Celebrate Recovery which provide faith-based solutions that are changing the lives of people with substance abuse and addiction problems. We have all these wonderful entities and many more, but we still have much more to do. We have a window of opportunity that hasn’t existed for many years. This window opportunity can be absolutely transformational for Butler County. I have a 12 year old son and he along with future generations are counting on us to take advantage of this opportunity to improve the economic profile of Butler County. I am best suited to move Butler County forward.

2.  What specific qualifications do you possess that would allow you to be effective in the position you are seeking?

The ability to manage and advocate are the two overarching qualifications required to be an effective Judge Executive. As a manger, the County Judge has a fiduciary responsibility to spend taxpayer money only when it is legally and ethically proper to do so. As a school administrator, I have worked for many years under this same type obligation. This experience has required extensive financial planning and has improved my ability to bring people together under a common vision and purpose.

The ability to advocate for the county is critical as well. Due to family and personal relationships, I have built strong ties in Frankfort that, combined with the influence of the title of county judge, would give Butler County an access to Frankfort that hasn’t existed in quite some time. Many citizens are tired of the word lobby, as am I, and going to Frankfort to lobby (talk) is typically a waste of time. The days when our state government will hand out money are long gone. That being said, Frankfort is willing to help if we have a plan to help ourselves. I have these plans and I have the relationships to gain the access.

3.  Identify the key issues in the County Judge’s race and describe how to best address these issues.

Many of the key issues revolve around revenue or the lack thereof; some of the issues however simply involve investments of time and energy. The following are a few of the key issues:

Due to the state’s pension crisis, the county’s contribution for each employee to the County Employee Retirement System (CERS) will increase significantly each year for the foreseeable future. This contribution will rise from 19% to at least 28% over the course of the next few years. This will require extensive financial planning and tough decisions will have to be made.

We have a tremendous, efficient, hard-working road crew but we need a 5, 10, 15 year plan to improve our county road system. Along with making our roads safer, these improvements will help facilitate growth in our largest industry, agriculture. Along with the long range plan, ensuring that any gas tax increase from the state is met with a corresponding increase into the Rural and County Road Aid Program fund is critical to improving the condition of our county’s road system.

We have a great group of first responders who are professional, highly trained, and efficient but we must address the issues with the 4th district fire department in order to ensure quick response. Lives and property could be at stake.

High-speed broadband expansion will require creative thinking. Every sector of our local economy can be enhanced with high-speed internet. Expansion must be a priority!

We need clarification on the dumping at our aluminum plant. If the county is owed money we need to collect what is due. We also must receive some third-party assurances that the material being brought in and dumped has no negative environmental impact on our citizenry.

There also seems to be, at times, a significant amount of dysfunction in the proceedings of our fiscal court. Much of this discord revolves around the fiduciary responsibilities of the court. People have differing thoughts on when it is appropriate to spend taxpayer money. This is natural and occurs at every level of government. I believe by clarifying the roll that each official has and searching for better understanding of the issues at hand, much of this discord can be avoided.

While these issues and many more are critical to an efficient, well-run county, I believe the biggest obstacle we face is the development of our county workforce. We currently have job openings for entry-level positions that we cannot fill. The solutions to our workforce issues are multi-faceted and will require a significant amount of money. Money is available from public and private entities if we have a solid plan to address our workforce issues. Going to Frankfort with our collective hands out, will not work. Part of my plan requires that we partner with local industry to reduce their training cost by finding ways to train with other companies needing similar training. As an example, if company A needs to train 2 workers in hydraulics the cost would be significant. If company B also needs workers trained in hydraulics, these companies could partner and, using the economy of scale, reduce training cost. Skilled workers with additional training bring higher wages and increase tax revenue. I believe we can partner with other communities to make even more training opportunities available to our local industries and with our own ATC and SKYCTC right up the road, the possibilities are many. This is only a small part of my plan to improve the county’s economic profile.  The investment from our county would simply be our time and our energy.

4.  As a potential elected official, what do you see as the proper role and function of local government?

When I am fortunate enough to visit Washington DC, I always make time to visit the National Archives. Amongst all the great documents like the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence sets an original copy of the Magna Carta. An argument could be made that this 800-year-old document is foundational to our Constitution of the United States. One would do well to look to the Magna Carta memorial to find what I believe is the proper function of government; “Freedom Under Law.” Local government should promote/support individual freedoms like the right to bear arms, freedom of the press, and freedom of speech. Like a good basketball official, government works best when you don’t seem to know it is there. Having said that, local government is responsible for delivering a broad range of services to the constituents they serve. These services include establishing and maintaining suitable infrastructure (roads, utilities, zoning regulations), promoting economic and community development, ensuring emergency preparedness, actively encouraging tourism and recreation, and much more. As an elected official it is vital to build trust and confidence with constituents that these responsibilities are being carried out in a manner that benefits constituents the most. Elected officials have an ethical and legal responsibility to spend taxpayer as efficiently as possible and I take this responsibility very seriously. The position of county judge requires management and advocacy skills. I understand this very well and would be the best candidate to perform these duties with professionalism and diligence.

5.  What is your long term vision for Butler County? For example, what kind of community would you like ours to be in ten years?

As mentioned earlier, we have a window of opportunity that could transform Butler County for  many generations to come. In ten to 20 years, I would like to see a Butler County that has seen substantial wage increases allowing our young people to continue to live, work, and raise their families in our beautiful county. I would like to see more industry in our county to force wages upward and bring back our citizens who have left our workforce due to low wages. Higher wages would bring in more revenue from taxes that would allow the county to invest in tourism and recreational activities. Higher wages and a returning workforce would also increase the need for service industry jobs in various sectors of our county’s economy. This can be done through the development of a vibrant, dynamic, skilled workforce. A wise man once said, “The difference between who you are and who you want to be is what you do”. As a county, we must invest in ourselves. This doesn’t mean simply pour money on a problem and hope it gets better. This investment can simply be time and energy directed at a significant and worthy goal. We can and must do better!