By Patrick Crowley
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Voters shouldn't waste their time trying to find the middle ground in the Kenton County Judge-executive race between Republican incumbent Dick Murgatroyd and Democratic challenger Patrick Hughes.

Name an issue - taxes, construction of a county jail, real estate purchases by the county, privatizing county golf courses - and the rivals are about as far apart as two candidates can get.

Even their views of the state of Kenton County are opposite.

"The sky is not falling," Mr. Murgatroyd has said on the stump. "We're on the right direction in this county."

"It's time for a change," Mr. Hughes has said. "We need a new generation of leadership."

Throughout the campaign, Mr. Murgatroyd has talked about what he considers the top accomplishments - improving the county's 911 system, extending water lines to rural areas, paving roads and planning for future transportation and road projects.

Over the last four years, Mr. Murgatroyd said, his administration has extended water lines so that 95 percent of Kenton County residents have access to public water lines. In addition 40 miles of roads have been paved, new parks - including a skate park - have been or are being developed.

Mr. Murgatroyd has also proposed jointly developing a riverfront farmers market with the city of Covington.

"The farmers market will bridge our rural and urban communities while serving as a unique opportunity for economic growth that will in turn benefit all Kenton Countians," Mr. Murgatroyd said.

The first-term judge-executive has also had to try to make the case that tough decisions have been made - i.e. raising taxes - because revenue to provide vital services was lacking in a tight economy.

"Our job has been to maintain services that we provide to the best of our ability," Mr. Murgatroyd said. "People may take exception to (this) but I think overall we've done a pretty good job."

But Mr. Hughes said mismanagement, poor decision-making and wasteful spending have dominated the Murgatroyd administration.

"The reason I got involved ... was because my opponent's job performance was not up to par," he said.

Here is how the candidates stand on the major issues in the race:

Jail construction. "The key issue I will address is to finally get the jail constructed, and do it in a way that doesn't blindside communities," Mr. Hughes said. "We're going to do it a way that brings people into the decision-making process ... and I'm going to get it and do it in a way that doesn't require a 237 percent tax increase on our payroll."

The incumbent court has wrestled with the issue of where to build since it took office. It considered at least five sites, often angering the communities considered, before settling on rebuilding at the site of the current jail at 303 Court St. in Covington.

The court wanted to pay for the jail by increasing the payroll tax. But the tax was challenged in court, and the case may be appealed to the Supreme Court, so no funding is absolutely clear yet.

Mr. Murgatroyd said the fiscal court inherited the jail problem from previous administrations and has made the tough decisions - raising taxes to pay for it, finding a location - needed to move the project forward.

"We've done everything possible to arrive at a proper solution," he said. "We never tried to blindside anybody."

Emergency dispatch. The fiscal court raised the county telephone tax three years ago to pay for a badly needed upgrade of Kenton County's Emergency Dispatch System. Law enforcement officers have said the new system is excellent and Mr. Murgatroyd has used the issue to tell voters that public safety has been improved.

Mr. Hughes has been critical of the tax increase and said instead of raising taxes the county should have merged its system with dispatch systems operated by Covington and Erlanger, which is what local government consultant Gerald Newfarmer recommended in a report to the fiscal court.

Mr. Newfarmer said the county could save $600,000 by merging the systems. Mr. Murgatroyd has said he is not convinced merging would save money because Covington would have actually have to increase its 911 fee before its system could be merged.

"I'm not so sure we're convinced the facts are there to verify ... that both the county and Covington are going to save dollars," Mr. Murgatroyd said. "And I'm not convinced it creates any better service."

Golf courses. Mr. Newfarmer's report also recommended the county consider privatizing one or all three of the county's golf courses because they are losing money.

Mr. Hughes said the fiscal court should study selling the courses to a private management company or to a developer that could build homes along the courses. Mr. Murgatroyd said only one of the courses had "negative cash flow" this year, and that was because of the weather and fewer rounds of golf played. He said the courses are financially self-sustaining, require no taxpayer funds to operate and are a service to the public he does not want to relinquish.

501 Main St. The fiscal court's $1.5 million purchase of a two-story brick office building at Fifth and Main streets in Covington has been a campaign issue.

Before the payroll tax increase was contested in court, the fiscal court was looking for office space it would need once construction of the new jail began, because the jail would take space used by county offices. But instead of leasing space, the county bought the building at 501 Main in March 2001.

After the jail was put on hold, the county was basically left with a building that is now mostly vacant. Mr. Hughes has said the county never should have purchased the building in the first place and should now sell it.

Mr. Murgatroyd opposes the sale, saying eventually the county may still need the office space. He also said at an Oct. 3 election forum that the county was making 8.5 percent on its investment in the building. Mr. Murgatroyd later recanted, claiming he made a mistake and that the county is actually only making 2.95 percent on the building.

E-mail Patrick Crowley at pcrowley@enquirer.com