First, let me be completely honest: I have no respect for Larry Russell Bryant. I have covered government on the local level and at some points the state level for more than three decades and I have never witnessed the destruction of a community by an elected official that I am witnessing now.
Bryant wants to portray himself as the Defender of Adair. He has swept in here to save us from ourselves. He wants to control everything and singlehandedly fix everything, and all he needs is a 1 percent occupational tax and anyone who does not go along is the enemy.
I personally think the county has needed to increase the revenue base for years. No question. How they do it should be the result of a healthy dialogue. Some want occupational taxes some want property taxes. At the end of the conversation, the court votes and the decision is made.
Guess what: that’s exactly what happened! The court voted, but it didn’t go the way Bryant wanted.
We were broke before the tax was put in place and we are still broke. Truly, though, the taxes have only been collected for two quarters, resulting in $356,860.13. The annual business license has added another $28,850, according to occupational tax director Sheila Blair. That brings the total to more than $385,700.
So, the county can expect new revenue of somewhere around $700,000 this year. Next year, the occupational tax rate drops by half, so the county can expect to receive around $385,700, although Blair said some companies have still not started paying in so it should be more.
That sounds to me like the fiscal court has taken measures to increase revenue and address the challenges the county faces. They’ve given raises, they pay health care for employees. They added a position in the sheriff’s office.
Granted, they cut and cut and cut for years, so there’s a lot of catching up to do. Sheriff Josh Brockman sounded the warning Tuesday night: we have to do more.
Sadly, Bryant is not capable of doing more, at least not doing it right. As magistrates try to figure out how to do business, they are constantly wrangling with a county judge who admitted during the court meeting that he purposely does not do his job because of his relationship with the magistrates. That is inexcusable.
His toxic attitude even keeps me from being able to do this job the way I like to do it. I will not go to his office. I will not call him for an interview. The last time I spoke to the man he got in my face and tried to get me to hit him. There is no talking to him. The few who are getting along with him right now will reach their limit. I can give you a long list of people who said, “I’ve been able to work with him and talk to him.” They could, until they couldn’t.
He needs to go. He is destroying our community.
What does Adair County look like on the other side of this? How many people have to resign? How many opportunities are missed because he won’t do the job he is directed by the court to do?
I hate that I have covered events this week and have not offered Bryant the opportunity to respond. I have offered that opportunity to people who were not happy with the story unfolding so many times I can’t count them all. It’s not about whether I like you or respect you. Never has been.
Reporters go into battle zones all the time to get the news and I understand that. I’ve had many unpleasant conversations; it’s part of the job. But I’m not walking into the warzone when I know that I will not come out with anything helpful. There is absolutely no excuse for his actions and I will not put myself in that toxic situation just to listen to him rant. He’s wrong, he is destructive, and he needs to go so we can start repairing the damage he has caused.
For those of you who are asking, and there are a lot of you:
Kentucky has very few options for getting an elected official out of office.
The General Assembly can actually vote to do it, but I think that may have been done once in the history of our commonwealth.
The only other option is for the elected official to be charged with a criminal charge of malfeasance. The courts have tended to be very strict on the definition.
A vote of no confidence does not force a person out of office, but one would think if a mass of people an elected official is serving took the effort to sign a petition, the elected official would know that he/she could not be effective in the job. But, no, to the many questions I have received, signing a petition does not start a process to remove someone from office.
