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Court should stem referendum’s tide

(Bowling Green, Kentucky) – The Kentucky Supreme Court recently heard arguments on whether a referendum can be held next month to allow the city of Lexington to condemn its privately owned water company.

Some say a referendum will once and for all end the city’s attempt to condemn the Kentucky-American Water Company, which serves 325,000 customers and operates as one of the best water utilities in the nation. Maybe, but the state’s high court should recognize that much more is at stake with this ruling than the future of a single company.

Allowing a referendum to be held in this case would seriously undermine the importance of private-property rights, local elections and the rule of law. In 2003, a majority of Lexington’s council members voted to condemn Kentucky-American. However, the makeup of the council changed in November when voters elected a majority of officials who opposed using condemnation against the water company.

As a result, pro-condemnation groups and officials are asking the court to allow a referendum. The court should remind these forces that “a referendum” has already been held – in the form of an election.

The problem for these bureaucrats is that the results of the election did not go their way. So their response is to use referendums and the courts to accomplish what constitutionally mandated elections failed to give them.

The state Supreme Court should put an end to these antics. We have a constitutional, not a pure, democracy. Decisions are made as voters elect their representatives and entrust them with enacting sound policies and protecting our liberties. Besides, property rights have never been subject to a recall vote.

“By ruling against this referendum, the court can demonstrate a heightened respect for the Constitution, private-property rights, elections and the rule of law,” said Chris Derry, president of the Bluegrass Institute, Kentucky’s free-market think tank. “To rule otherwise would erode our representative form of democracy endowed by our founders and re-establish one ruled instead by fallible human beings.”

The Bluegrass Institute is an independent research and educational institution offering free-market solutions to Kentucky's most pressing problems.

Permission to reprint, in whole or in part, is hereby granted, provided the author and his affiliations are cited. Authors are available for interviews by contacting the Institute.

Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions
400 East Main Avenue, Bowling Green, KY 42101

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