News from October 21, 2004 issue

Hargis hearing is delayed
The due-process hearing for suspended school Superintendent Fredericka Hargis has been delayed on a procedural matter. The hearing is tentatively rescheduled for Dec. 13-15.

The Crittenden County Board of Education agreed Monday to delay the hearing until the board answers more questions from Hargis' attorney.
Monday was supposed to be the start of the three-day, hearing to determine if Hargis, 49, should be fired as superintendent. Although Hargis is currently working as the principal at Rutherford Elementary School in Jefferson County, she has not resigned or been fired as superintendent here.

Before the hearing is rescheduled, the local school board will hold an executive session meeting behind closed doors to answer questions submitted by Louisville attorney Charles Ricketts Jr., Hargis' legal counsel.

Hargis was charged with felony wanton endangerment last February after she ran over the foot of a Marion resident in the parking lot of a local beauty shop. In July, Hargis entered an Alford plea to second-degree wanton endangerment, a misdemeanor. In an Alford plea, a person does not admit guilt but concedes there is probably enough evidence for a conviction.

While the criminal incident has been resolved, her employment status remains suspended without pay. It's been at least 10 years since a school superintendent has been removed from office in Kentucky. State law allows Hargis to have a due-process hearing in which the board hears testimony from both sides before deciding her future employment in the district. But no district or circuit judge is involved.

The hearing, which was open to the public, was held at the Marion Ed-Tech Center.

Attorney Bob Chenoweth of Frankfort has been hired to present the evidence against Hargis at the hearing, while board attorney Zac Greenwell is attending the hearing as the advisor to the board.
The board resolved several pre-hearing motions on Monday, but at the suggestion of Chenoweth and Greenwell, board members unanimously agreed to delay the start of the hearing until they could answer about 25 questions from Ricketts that were submitted last week.

The questions were not made public Monday. The board will call a special meeting to answer the questions during a closed school board meeting because it's related to a personnel matter.

Chenoweth wanted Ricketts to agree that it was okay to proceed with the hearing without the board answering the questions. But Ricketts wouldn't do that; therefore, Chenoweth asked for the delay.

"I don't want to go through this more than once," Chenoweth told the board. "And you don't want to go through this more than once."

Not knowing the answers to the questions could affect the proceedings, he said.

Ricketts said he had a gentleman's agreement that questions did not have to be submitted until Oct. 12. But Chenoweth said no agreement existed, and that Greenwell asked in March that discovery related to the case be submitted.

But unlike a circuit judge who can set a deadline for discovery matters, Greenwell has no authority to tell Ricketts or Chenoweth what to do. Greenwell reluctantly agreed to the delay.

"I am obviously frustrated," he told the board.

In pre-hearing motions, the board agreed that Chairman Bill Asbridge could continue to participate in the hearing. Ricketts argued he should be disqualified because he didn't have the appropriate training. In fact, Ricketts wanted to have the entire board disqualified.

"If that's the case, then Ms. Hargis is immune to these proceedings," Greenwell said.

Chenoweth said the training issue did not apply.

The board also voted down Ricketts' request to have Greenwell disqualified from the hearing because he had previously served as the investigator for the board regarding the case.

And the board voted down Ricketts' request to question the board members individually. The two sides did agree on one of Ricketts' pre-hearing motions. All people called to testify will not be allowed to hear or discuss their testimony with each other. They will either be sequestered during the hearing or admonished to not discuss the case.

Some said the hearing should not last as long now that many of the pre-hearing motions are out of the way. It's likely the hearing itself will take about two days. About 10 to 15 individuals are expected to testify.

Live debate draws full house
A standing-room only crowd packed into the tiny courtroom on the main level of the Crittenden County Courthouse Tuesday night to hear debates by local candidates seeking office in the Nov. 2 general election.
The event was aired live on WMJL-Radio, which co-sponsored the event along with The Crittenden Press. Nearly every candidate attended the debates. Three city council challengers did not participate, including Cindy Davidson, Jim Brown and Junior Martin. Brown was in the audience for a time, but was gone by the time the council race got its turn at the microphone. Davidson sent word that she would be unable to attend because of an illness in the family.

Additionally, state Rep. Mike Cherry was unable to attend because he was in Frankfort for the special session of the Kentucky General Assembly which is dealing with healthcare costs for state employees. His challenger Fred Stubblefield, a Marion Republican, spoke briefly at the end of the debates.

Many of the candidates read from prepared notes. All of them had received almost two weeks in advance the questions which would be asked during the debate.

Perhaps the sharpest comments came from challengers in a couple of the school board races. Darl Henley and Ronald "Red" Howton each alluded to current problems regarding the removal process of Superintendent Fredericka Hargis.

Henley, challenger in District 1, quoted poet Robert Frost in describing the two paths voters could take on election day. She said the path with her was for positive change and said the wrong road would be "four more difficult years" with a lack of respect for students, staff and teachers.

District 4 challenger Howton, too, said he wanted to put the focus back on students and get it away from "the things that have been going on the last few years."

Incumbents in those two races countered that progress is being made to solve some of the problems that have made headlines recently.

Incumbent Mark Williams also pointed out that he joined the school board only last February on an appointment by the state and only when the situation with Hargis had reached its apex.

"I joined the board during a tumultuous time," Williams said. "Now, we need closure in this situation and believe me when I say that the boat is righting."

Bill Asbridge, the incumbent in District 1, pointed out several aggressive goals the school system has established and emphasized teamwork to continue providing the best possible education for students.

Larry Threlkeld, incumbent in District 3, also stressed teamwork and goals for the school system. He pointed out that school board members have limited powers in regard to personnel issues within the system.
"The only employees we have the power to hire or fire are the superintendent and school board attorney," he said.

Chris Cook, the challenger in that district, laid out a methodical approach he would take if elected. He said a board member must do more than "approve or reject a superintendent's recommendation."

Current board members pointed to student achievement during their tenure. As illustrations to that fact, some pointed out tests scores and Crittenden being rated among the top 20 out of 120 counties in Kentucky in regard to the federal No Child Left Behind standards.

The city council race, where 10 candidates are vying for six non-partisan seats, provided the most amicable discussion. The challengers even mostly agreed that the city appears on the right course and praised many of the positive improvements over the past few years.

"Marion is on the right track," said challenger Donald Hooten, a retiree who lives in Greenwood Heights. "You had been stagnant for so many years, but you're showing something now."

Incumbents Mike Byford, Dwight Sherer, Allen Lynn, Ronnie "Doorknob" Hughes and Richard Cruce spent most of their minutes at the mic talking about plans to complete ongoing programs such as sewer line renovation, a new city hall and more recreational opportunities for youngsters.

Challenger Jason Hatfield, whose father and father-in-law have both served previously on the council, said he wants to focus on something other than sporting activities for young people.

"I'd like to see us look at things for kids that deal with education and the arts," he said, pointing to more availability to public-use computer labs such as the public library offers.

Sherer also brought up a novel idea, building an indoor arena like the John Arnold Center in Sturgis.

Tourism and recreation were topics each individual stressed.

Lynn, a two-term councilman, said the restaurant and motel tax was something the council labored over before imposing. He now believes it is going to show great dividends in increasing tourism traffic.

"The council made tourism a priority a long time ago and we're starting to reap the benefits."

Cruce, who was recently appointed to fill a vacancy on the council, noted that tourism dollars turn over seven times within a community, meaning that it is one of the greatest economic development issues the city faces.
Byford said money from the restaurant and motel tax are being put to good use. He said that is evident by the number of people coming here for Heritage Days, Back Roads Tour and to Paddy's Bluff ATV Park.

Hughes, who along with Byford are the longest serving council members, said he wants to extend the city improvements beyond downtown.
"The first thing people see when they come into town is important," Hughes said.

In the county judge-executive's race, incumbent Fred Brown pointed to a dozen or so projects and cost-savings measures that he has implemented since taking office last spring when Pippi Hardin resigned.
Brown stressed his relationship with county and state agencies which is making all of the progress possible. He cited his connections to Frankfort and other regional decision-makers based on his past service as a city councilman, magistrate and civic leader.

Brown said the regional jail project is tantamount to saving money and improving the safety of Crittenden County.

Robbie Kirk, the Democrat challenger, said he didn't agree with Brown's decision to put the regional jail in downtown Marion. Kirk said he would like to see it out of town in the industrial park where Par 4 Plastics is located.

A former state policeman, Kirk said it would be unsafe to have the jail downtown.

Brown said a jail committee chose the site in Marion, but that it was only preliminary. Right now, Brown said, Salem is also wanting the jail.

Kirk said he wanted to put into place incentives for manufactures to locate in Marion. Brown countered that those types of incentives are already in place and have been used in the past.

Kirk said that during his campaign he has promised to improve roads in Crittenden County and to be fair about which get chosen for repairs.

Brown said magistrates are responsible for prioritizing road work and also stressed that $500,000 of road improvements are coming within the next two weeks and $1 million more next summer.

"We got $165,000 extra for roads just because I went and asked for it," Brown said.

Kirk said there is always room for improvment and thinks he is capable of improving the county.