Ferguson receives a positive review on its recent audit

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CPA Barry Daulton was on hand to report to Ferguson’s government on the results of the audit for the year ending June 30, 2008. The city received a clean opinion. Susan Wheeldon Photo

February 6, 2009

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By SUSAN WHEELDON, CJ Staff Writer The Commonwealth Journal Fri Feb 06, 2009, 01:19 AM EST

It’s good financial news for the City of Ferguson, which received a positive review on its most recent audit.

CPA Barry Daulton was on hand at the Ferguson City Council meeting Monday night to report on the audited financial statements for the fiscal year which ended June 30, 2008.

Daulton said that in his opinion, the financial statements present a clean outlook and there were no instances of non-compliance.

The city council also heard from Tim Woodcock of Precision Technical Solutions, who is currently working to survey the City of Ferguson.

Woodcock said the boundary surveying is progressing well and within two to three days, he should be finished with the field work. However, Woodcock said, though the original boundaries were pretty easy to follow, there have been some confusing areas within the surveying process.

The council asked City Attorney Heidi Powers look into the question on the boundaries to see what she finds.

“No matter what I find, it’s not going to be a clear cut answer,” said Powers.

The city opted to have its boundaries surveyed when discussion began about possible annexation, as they can’t move forward with any such plans until their boundaries are clear.

In other business:

• Dennis Crist, code enforcement officer for the city, said seven houses were underway for the scattered housing project.

• Mayor Allen Dobbs said he would like to thank Eric Weddle of Weddle Enterprises for moving quickly to do repairs on the road when there have been issues involving replacement of water lines.

• Dobbs said he and other city officials met with a representative of Kentucky Utilities (KU) about the tremendous amount of blackouts, and he explained some of the repairs they’ve done recently and what they plan to do.

The mayor asked that if there are blackouts, residents call it in to KU or report the problem to Ferguson City Hall, so they can let KU know. Dobbs said if KU doesn’t have records, they don’t know when such things have happened, as it doesn’t register with the utility company that there has been a problem if the outage is under 30 minutes.

He also noted that KU keeps a list of residents who are on some type of life-support such as oxygen, so they can focus on those areas first when there are outages. Dobbs also asked that residents let KU know if there is someone on a machine to help them medically, or let Ferguson City Hall know and they will contact KU.

• The council approved Carolyn Westberry for the open position on the city’s planning and zoning board.

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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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