Bastin named interim director of development foundation

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January 8, 2009

By SUSAN WHEELDON, Staff Writer The Commonwealth Journal Thu Jan 08, 2009, 06:07 PM EST

Somerset — The Somerset-Pulaski County Development Foundation (SPCDF) board appointed Mark Bastin as the interim director of the foundation during yesterday’s special called meeting.

This comes after former director Carrol Estes suddenly retired at the end of 2008.

Bastin began at the development foundation as assistant director in April 2007, after the board decided to fill the position, which had been open for several budget years. He formerly owned and ran three steakhouses.

Meanwhile, the board, made up of area business leaders, also discussed the qualifications necessary for the position and running an advertisement for the vacancy.

“I would recommend a simple one page contract,” said Attorney John Adams.

Adams explained that the contract should tell what is expected and what would require that person to be fired if they don’t meet those needs.

Board President Don Bloomer asked that Adams work on a contract and he asked that there be a committee formed to come up with a job description for the new director.

Those who will serve on the committee include Steve Butcher, Steve Lochmueller, Bob Harris, Don Bloomer and Lisa Childers.

“Are there any requirements on behalf of the county we have to meet?,” asked Lochmueller of the judge-executive who has a position on the board.

“Not that I’m aware of,” said Pulaski County Judge-executive Barty Bullock.

The committee will meet next Tuesday to discuss the qualifications that they think will be needed for the job.

Bloomer said the board needed to fill the position on an interim basis and he recommended the board appoint Bastin to assume that role.

The board unanimously approved Bastin to that position.

To end the meeting, Bloomer told all the board members he believed they were in good hands both with the board and the staff.

“I just want to say, gentlemen, you are not obsolete, you are a very good board,” said Bloomer, “ ... people who have the community at heart.

“And our staff is very capable of performing (the foundations) functions,” he added. “We’re in very good hands.”

Absent from the meeting were Mayor Eddie Girdler, Rodney Casada and Tammy Price.

Bullock said following the meeting he believed it went well and as expected.

“I will do my best to carry on the business of the foundation, until a permanent director is found,” Bastin told the Commonwealth Journal following the meeting.

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Pulaski carries Girdler to win

In the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s primary election, it was impossible to miss the colorful signs dotting nearly every Pulaski roadway. The names in the race for the 15th State Senatorial District seat popped out: A.C. Donahue. Chris Girdler. Mark Polston.

Once citizens hit the ballots, however, the results mirrored the dimensions of the signs themselves: Chris Girdler stood the tallest.

Girdler, deputy district director for Congressman Harold “Hal” Rogers, ran away with the votes inside Pulaski County’s borders, earning 3,926 votes for 62.05 percent of the total number cast.

That number more than doubled the next highest vote-getter, businessman Mark Polston, who raked in 1,624 votes for 25.67 percent.

However, Polston — who owns Classic Carpet, a home-flooring business located just off the southern 914 bypass — can claim a moral victory ... three of them, in fact. In all three counties in the district other than Pulaski — those being Adair, Casey, and Russell Counties — Polston actually edged out Girdler.

In Adair, Polston beat Girdler 629 to 394. In Casey County, it was 538 to 417, and in Russell, it was 1,862 to 1,038.

Polston said he just “couldn’t pull it out with the numbers” and that “the machine worked for” Girdler in Pulaski County.

“I think that was their strategy — I think they had a Pulaski County strategy all along,” said Polston. “They played the political game well.”

Polston said the difference between his and Girdler’s campaigns was that “mine was a very, very grass roots campaign,” he said. “I did not have a political machine behind me. I understand how this process works, and in this instance, he prevailed.”

As for why Girdler didn’t take three of four counties, the winning candidate — since there are no Democrats in the race, winning the Republican primary was effectively a final victory for Girdler — said he didn’t have an answer for that.

However, “I believe things happen for a reason and I hope the long and strenuous campaign will only heighten my desire to move beyond the bitterness and partisanship of the recent past,” said Girdler.

“Regionalism is a goal of mine, and I look forward to helping all four counties,” he added, noting that he campaigned heavily in each of them.

Sen. Vernie McGaha, the long-time state senator whose seat the candidates were vying for, actually supported Polston after Liberty’s Todd Hoskins dropped out of the race earlier this month.

Donahue, a local attorney, got 556 votes in Pulaski County, 8.79 percent of the vote. He only received 145 votes in Russell County, 74 in Adair County, and 75 in Casey County, where hometown candidate Hoskins almost matched him with 71 votes despite no longer being officially in the race.

Polston said he’s “still digesting” what happened, and though “the process has been a very good experience for me,” he wouldn’t commit to running again in the future. “I wouldn’t shut the door to anything, but I’m not opening any doors either.”

Still, “I think I got a lot of people involved in the process that had not been involved before and would not have been otherwise,” he said. “A lot of people got out and worked really hard, got motivated to talk to friends and neighbors. I think a lot of people became involved through this campaign that are going to be involved for a long time.”

Girdler stressed his “positive message” and said that Rogers is a “mentor and good friend” that he would turn to for advice in dealing with a frequently combative legislative body in Frankfort, one for which Girdler hopes to help change the culture.

Girdler said that he was “confident and optimistic” during the day Tuesday because he’d “worked extremely hard.” Nevertheless, the realization that he’d won gave him “chill bumps,” he said.

“I’m absolutely honored,” said Girdler. “The position of state senator is more than an honor, more than an office. It’s a charge to keep, and I will give it my all.

“I pledge to be the people’s state senator,” he added. “I look forward to working with everyone to move this region forward.”

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