BY PATRICK CROWLEY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
COVINGTON -- Steve Pendery and Tim Nolan are running against one another in the Republican primary May 26 for Campbell County judge-executive. But they spent much of their joint appearance on InterMedia cable Tuesday talking about the Democratic incumbent, Campbell County Judge-executive Ken Paul.
Both Mr. Pendery, the mayor of Fort Thomas, and Mr. Nolan, a former district court judge from the south end of the county, said they are running because the county has faltered under Mr. Paul's 13-year tenure.
Mr. Nolan hammered on Mr. Paul and the current court for having a budget that has "mushroomed" from $6.2 million 12 years ago to nearly $20 million today.
"The priorities are all out of whack," Mr. Nolan said. "We're not spending enough on roads or the basics. We are not spending enough on safety and not paying enough attention to our senior citizens, and we're top heavy with administration."
Mr. Paul, appearing on the same program a day earlier, said Monday that spending for police, roads and senior citizen programs have all increased during his administration and most of the increase in the budget can be attributed to inflation and normal growth. Mr. Pendery said the fiscal court must do a better job of attracting jobs and development to the county while not "paving over the south end of the county."
"We do not have our act together" when it comes to economic development, Mr. Pendery said. "We need more coordination and cooperation between planning bodies in the county."
Doing so will take better organization and result in more business coming to the county, Mr. Pendery said.
"You have to develop a consensus among the leaders, both political and business, on where you want to foster growth, on where you want to grow," Mr. Pendery said. "That is how you compete."
Mr. Nolan said he agreed the county needs to improve its infrastructure by extending sewer and water lines and improving roads.
"But before we can talk about growth of the county, we have to take care of the people that are in Campbell County," Mr. Nolan said.
"And they're fed up with not having water (and) sewers, and people in the south end of the county are just terribly upset." Mr. Nolan did nothold all his shots for Mr. Paul. At one point he referred to Mr. Pendery as "Tax and Spendery" and called him a liberal for supporting a school utility tax increase Fort Thomas voters passed last year.
Mr. Pendery said he was "proud" of his role in the campaign for the Fort Thomas schools, which had not seen an increase in its state money for seven years.
"I'm proud of my role in that," Mr. Pendery said. "I don't like seeing politicians straddling important issues and the mayor of Fort Thomas, as important as schools are to Fort Thomas, could scarcely duck that one."
Fees Fort Thomas residents pay have fallen by nearly $400,000 in the last few years, and the city has not raised taxes during his time in office, Mr. Pendery said.
He added that he's been endorsed by U.S. Rep. Jim Bunning of Southgate, a former Fort Thomas resident and city councilman.
Mr. Nolan had to answer a question on why he switched from Democrat to Republican a few years ago.
Mr. Nolan explained that he could not agree with the national Democratic Party's platform, which he described as pro-abortion and favoring special rights for homosexuals and others under Affirmative Action.
