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Make A Positive Difference With Your Vote; X-Rated Businesses

By Theresa Fritz Camoriano

1.  Vote - On Tuesday, May 20, Kentuckians will be voting in a primary to choose their next governor.  Many people complain about money talking in politics, but the person who spent $8 million of his own money to buy this election just dropped out of the race.  Many people complain about negative advertising in political races, and there certainly have been some low blows in this race, but we have a choice.  We can choose to vote for the person who has the slickest ads or who gets down and dirty and smears his opponent, or we can vote for someone who has taken the high road and who we think will make the best governor.

A political race should be an extended job interview, and we voters should look at the candidates as job applicants.  What do we know about these job applicants?  Do they have experience in jobs comparable to the one for which they are applying?  (For example, have they held a position as an executive successfully overseeing a large number of employees, or is their experience mainly as a legislator?)  Do they have good references?  (For example, do their constituents like the job they have done in the past?)   Have they shown that they can put a team together that can get the job done while keeping costs down?  (For example, are they on good terms with their running mates?  Have they worked well with people of all political parties?  Do they have a history of cutting costs or increasing spending?)   Do they come close to sharing our view of the proper role of state government?  Have they committed themselves to taking specific actions of which we approve, or do they talk in vague generalities about making the state a better place, caring about education, or caring about health care costs, etc.? 

As future employers, we should recognize that, in this year’s race, there is a candidate who stands head and shoulders above the others in many respects.  She has excellent experience in an executive position running a large government entity; she has a very high approval rating from her constituents; she has rooted out corruption and not played partisan politics; and she has worked effectively with people of all political parties to do the job well and within budget.  She is not the hand-picked insider, and she is not the big money candidate, and she has the potential to make a real, positive difference for Kentucky.  You know who she is.  If you are prejudiced against her because she is a woman or because she is from Jefferson County, I hope you will reconsider that prejudice, because, as a prospective employer, you should cast your vote based on what will be best for the state, not based on emotions or prejudices.   Please take your responsibility as employer seriously and vote wisely.

2.  X-Rated Businesses – There has been much ado lately about X-rated businesses in the Louisville area.  People are trying to find ways to get the government to drive these operations out of business, but the courts have not cooperated.  Last week, I wrote about the difference between what is moral and what is legal.  This is a case in which the courts have recognized the legal rights of X-rated businesses to operate on their own property, despite the fact that many people don’t like what they are doing.  That does not mean the neighbors or others who dislike this type of business are powerless.  There are many actions they can take to rid these types of businesses from their neighborhoods.  For example, they could put up their own money to buy the property, put a restrictive covenant on the property to prevent it from being used for this type of activity, and then lease or resell it to someone who wants to conduct a more acceptable type of business activity.  Alternatively, they could picket the establishment, take photos of the customers and post them on the Internet or in a neighborhood newsletter, and, of course, not spend their money buying those X-rated products.  On the other hand, if they do not care enough to take any of these actions, and if they are simply looking for the government guns to come in and do their dirty work for them, then maybe the X-rated businesses do not really bother them as much as they claim!

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