“Mismanagement”, “Corruption”, “Turning a Blind Eye” and “Hypocrisy”…
By Kenneth W. Terpenning
By Kenneth W. Terpenning
- The term “mismanagement” is defined by Princeton University scholars as management that is
careless or inefficient. By definition, our lawmakers and representation in Frankfort are our managers
of the law. Each year we hold an election to vote out the bad ones and vote in those we hope will do
better. Let’s examine the recent actions of our elected officials.
David Williams, a Republican, is the President of the State Senate. The President of the State Senate
in Kentucky is chosen by a majority vote of the seated senators to represent the voice of the State
Senate and manage the Senate’s affairs. The latest affair discussed this week, especially in the horse
industry, was that of legalizing video lottery terminals at several racetracks in Kentucky.
Video Lottery Terminals are basically computerized video games in the form of a means to gamble, like
a video slot machine or video poker. A vote on the subject passed the House by the required number
of votes, but when it reached the Senate Committee, it was killed…dead…like a roach hit by a can of
Raid in the commercials.
According to Senator Williams, prior to the House even getting the chance to debate the proposal,
said “there is not enough support to pass Governor Beshear’s proposal for expanded gaming”. He
went on to open his mouth and spew,
“Stick a fork in it, it’s done!”
Could this be considered a form of criminal coercion? Criminal coercion is defined as when a person
has the intent to compel another person to engage in or refrain from conduct by unlawfully
threatening to take or withhold action as an official or cause an official to take or withhold action.
Now I am no student of the law, nor do I claim Williams was guilty of such an offense. But I have to
ask...if it quacks like a duck, is it a duck? Oh and by the way, criminal coercion is considered a Class A
Misdemeanor according to Kentucky law 509.080. Misdemeanors can be impeachable offenses.
Many questions into Senator Williams’ motives behind these statements have come to light in recent
weeks. The reason was once believed that Senator Williams was opposed to expanded gaming
because of religious reasons, or because of the negative change in quality of life Kentuckians may
have to incur if expanded gaming was passed.
But then there was the rumor that Senator Williams had frequented casinos in other states.
Then the truth was revealed and Senator Williams’ office confirmed he did indeed attend casinos. So
what is the real reason the Senator is against them in Kentucky?
Williams is against them because he is afraid of “corruption” in the State Assembly by casino lobbying
groups. Wait, did I just say - Corruption??? In Kentucky??? What about the 124,000 hits on Google
when I type in the words “corruption in Kentucky government”? Now not all of those links lead to
specific stories about corruption in our state’s government, but when digging further, one can find an
actual time line of events of corruption in Kentucky’s government dating all the way back to 1820.
From bribery to sex scandals, from religious organizations holding the hammer down on the Senate to
simple issues of expense reporting fraud and embezzlement. Why now are some concerned about
corruption in our State Senate???
How does this relate to “mismanagement”?
Well, Beshear’s proposal would have generated much needed revenue and jobs for the
Commonwealth, help save (if at least temporarily) the horse industry, and lower taxes for
Kentuckians, among other benefits. (And the benefits far outweighed the drawbacks.)
To not support this proposal is careless and inefficient.
Also, to come out in public, before a major issue is to be debated in the Assembly, and completely
lambaste it and call it a dead issue when it still had a long road to travel before it could be considered
dead is vindictive. This carelessness, inefficiency and poor conduct is totally and completely
“mismanagement”.
Several Republicans including Alice Forgy Kerr and Stan Lee were against the VLT bill because of the
negative impact on lower income residents of Kentucky. Let’s ask those thousands in Indiana that
have received free class materials for school or full college scholarships they would not have received
if it weren’t for slots in their state. Or ask the Indiana Department of Revenue whose revenue reports
from the state’s casinos show millions upon millions of generated revenue helping the state balance
its budget. Of course, the horsemen and women in Indiana have benefitted greatly as well with
increased, competitive purses, better facilities and a reinforced breeding program.
Opponents of the VLT bill that lobbied Frankfort this past week cited the “unconstitutionality of the bill
as it bypassed the voting public” and the possibility for “increased debt, foreclosures, crime and
suicide” if the bill was passed. Increased debt, foreclosures, crime and suicide…hmmm….that kind of
sounds like what happens to citizens of Kentucky every time the General Assembly meets for another
session?? Let’s just call this “turning a blind eye” on the reality of the bill and its pros and cons.
- That leaves us with “hypocrisy”. We all know what this term means. Being a hypocrite…the pot calling
the kettle black…you get the point.
Senator Williams convinced his fellow senators that he had a plan to help bail out the racetracks
without legalizing VLTs. So he snuck his plan through the Senate committee and it was passed.
Only one, Senator Kathy Stein, abstained from casting a vote on Williams’ plan citing lack of reading
time to carefully review the proposal before voting on the matter.
Under Williams’ plan, Kentucky will take $7 million from Kentucky’s state employees’ health insurance
fund to lend it to Kentucky’s racetracks. So basically it is okay for the government to gamble with the
state’s citizens’ money, but it is not okay for the citizens themselves to gamble their own money? If
that is not being a hypocrite, I do not know what is. The clincher here?
Guess how much the Red Mile can borrow from this $7 million??? A whole, whopping…wait for
it…$25,000! What will that do for the Red Mile? Keep the concession stands open for the rest of the
year?? Or will that money be slipped into someone’s pocket? Time will tell…one thing is for sure that
the $25,000 will be of no use at all for the Red Mile or the standardbred industry.
With the many problems our sport and state has to overcome to survive these tough economic times
and nearby competition, mismanagement, corruption, turning a blind eye and hypocrisy should not be
occurring. I attempted to reach Senator Williams, prior to the VLT bill being voted on by any body of
the state legislature, via email, but no response was received.
In all of my years in business school, my years as a manager of various businesses and my years in
various leadership roles, I have learned that to lead people to making a sound and just decision that
is best for the majority, you have to make good decisions in a timely, well-considered way and your
team will follow suit.
Senator Williams’ decisions to dance around his issues with expanded gaming and his decision to say
his fellow senators’ minds are already made up about the subject is poor leadership.
Probably the worst of all is the simple fact that all of the actions Williams and his constituents have
done in recent days including some stupid, some unfiltered and some even bordering criminal if not
heinous all are going to take their toll on the horse industry in this state, not to mention the individual’
s lives that are already at the edge of a cliff waiting for a nudge to push them over the brink to utter
destruction.