ONE-ON-ONE
- June 2002
by Ed G. Lane
'Government is to Serve the People'
Former Governor Louis Nunn on Kentucky politics--past, present and future
 |
Louis B. Nunn
One of only seven Republican governors to preside over the Commonwealth
of Kentucky, Louis B. Nunn left his mark on the state by working
with a Democratic General Assembly to achieve his goals for
the improvement of the college and university system, mental
health facilities and state parks.
Nunn’s term as governor,
1967-1971, came during a period of tremendous societal and political
unrest throughout the nation. Nunn is often remembered for sending
the National Guard to Louisville and Lexington in response to
civil rights and anti-war disturbances.
Prior to his election
as governor, Nunn, a native of Barren County and lawyer by profession,
serve as a state court judge.
He currently resides in
Woodford County.
|
Ed Lane: You are the only Republican governor elected by Kentucky voters
during in the last 50 years. When will the next Republican governor
be elected?
Louie Nunn: Next year.
EL: Who are some of the potential
republican contenders for governor in the upcoming election?
LN: My son Steve (Steve Nunn,
state representative from the 23rd District – R) has formed a
committee and he will definitely be running. I understand Ernie Fletcher,
the U.S. Congressman from the 6th District, is contemplating running,
but I don’t know whether he’ll desert the president in a
time of war to run or not. It would be a tragedy if we lost that congressional
seat and Republican control of the House of Representatives.
You have the judge/executive
from Jefferson County, Rebecca Jackson. Then there’s state senator
(from the 5th District) Virgil Moore who has filed a committee. Beyond
that, the Democrats look like they’ll have an interesting race
between Attorney General Ben Chandler and Charlie Owens in Louisville.
I’ve always had a good relationship with the Chandler faction.
As a matter of fact, Governor Chandler campaigned for me in every
campaign that I was involved in except one.
EL: What about Lt. Governor
Steve Henry?
LN: Oh, you can stick a fork
in him and turn him over; he’s done. I don’t think he’ll
amount to anything in the race. The race will be between Charlie Owens
and Ben Chandler. The other candidates are good people. I don’t
mean to be demeaning to them, but they have not got the support and
the political savvy to match those two.
EL: Governor Paul Patton has
had difficulty working with the legislative branch of government. How
good was your relationship with the legislature when you were governor?
LN: When I was governor, I
was very fortunate. I had 46 Republicans in the house. The Democrats
had control and Julian Carroll was sitting at that end of the hall.
I had 14 Republican senators out of the 48 and Wendell Ford was sitting
at the other end of the hall. Julian and Wendell were both very political,
but I was able to get most of the legislation through that I wanted.
And it was a fairly simple process. I wasn’t governor to glorify
myself, I was there to serve the state of Kentucky. So, when there
was legislation that needed to be enacted, I would tell the people
who were interested to give the bill to the Democrats, to let them
think it was theirs and let Democrats start the bill and the Republicans
would support it. So we went through a lot of that and I was very
accommodating to a lot of the Democrats. The good things that Bert
Combs and Ned Breathitt had started and hadn’t completed, I picked
up and went on with them.
EL: What recommendation would
you give the Republican standard bearer for governor on how to win the
next election?
LN: Go see the people. That’s
the reason Kentucky hasn’t elected many Republican governors.
I don’t know whether they were too lazy, ill-advised or what
their problems have been. And most of our Republican candidates just
didn’t get out and go see the people and work with the counties.
Every Kentuckian wants to drink at the head of the spring, and if
you don’t let him know that there is a path to the spring, he’s
going to find somebody that does. And of course, you’re confronted
with so many Democratic county officials. They want to protect their
turf, they want to support the one that they think is going to be
the winner.
EL: In Frankfort, are the
Republicans, the Democrats and the governor having a hard time adjusting
to a two-party system?
LN: They are, but I don’t
have any real sympathy for any of them. They could cooperate, they
could work together. But if you put good programs out there, it’s
hard for those people to back away from them. And as governor you’ve
got the bully-pulpit, if you want to use it.
EL: Do you think that Governor
Patton should call a major press conference and say that Kentucky needs
to have public financing of the governor’s race?
LN: When Patton was first
elected governor, he called and asked me to visit with him –
as I assume he did with all the other governors. He told me at that
time that he was going to let other people run the government, that
he was going to advertise and promote economic development in Kentucky.
And I said, they’ll run Kentucky into the ground before you get
through because they’re going to have their ideas, each one’s
going to have his own agenda, they’re going to hire their own
people and they usually take care of themselves. So, I would strongly
recommend that you stay in charge.
Right now what do I see happening?
The child welfare program is in trouble. They’re having to move
children. A grand jury investigation is going on. The mentally retarded
– problems there; grand jury investigation going on. The program
in the highway department for minorities; FBI investigation going
on. The highway department, in the bridge department, bribery, already
admitted it; grand jury investigation going on. Entering pleas in
the federal courts, guilty. And that’s just the things that have
come to the surface. The press doesn’t look into it like they
once did. Patton’s educational program has received a lot of
favorable comment, and the program may be good. But, in education,
it takes 10 or 20 years to find out how successful it’s been.
EL: What about Gordon Davies,
the president of the Council on Postsecondary Education? His board didn’t
renew his contract.
LN: Dr. Davies had some problems.
Some of them were personal. His personality didn’t necessarily
fit into the Kentucky framework of “Hello, how are you?”
When he got ready to drive a nail, he hit it right on the head. And,
he didn’t hesitate to do what he thought was best. And I think
he was victimized to a certain extent by the legislature. Everybody
over there wants something to take home with them. The legislature
has gotten like the U.S. Congress. The legislators collude and get
together and “the people” don’t always get the best
thing.
EL: What about the Kentucky
budget?
LN: Well, I wrote the first
billion dollar budget, now it’s around $37 billion. And that’s
happened in 35 years or so.
EL: That’s about a billion
dollars a year increase?
LN: That’s right, about
a billion dollars a year increase. And, it’s obvious what’s
going to happen when you adopt all these federal programs. This year
the Congress will give you 90 percent and the state puts in 10 percent.
Next year they’ve got a new program, the state gets 80 percent
and pays 20 percent. And then you’ve got to adopt the next one
and over a period of years it’s going to catch up with you. The
money has been thrown to the wind. It’s really a disgrace that
Kentucky is in the shape that it’s in considering the money that
has been available to us.
EL: The economy in Kentucky
has been very strong, and state government has spent most of the excess
tax revenues. Now Kentucky is having a shortfall in estimated revenues.
During a strong economy should government retain the surplus and hold
off on spending?
LN: Absolutely. Kentucky should
have maintained a greater surplus, a larger rainy day fund than it
did. I vetoed more bills than any governor ever did and there wasn’t
a one of them overridden. But, I was challenged by a lot of legislators.
They were running a lot of spending through, and I wrote in my veto
message why I did and they didn’t challenge it. Now, it may be
different.
EL: How would you rate Governor
Patton’s budget and spending recommendations?
LN: Well, the budgets speak
for themselves, and governor is the one who writes them. Budgets speak
to what the situation is. Government has to administer in the areas
of the greatest needs for human concern. That’s what government
is for – to serve the people.
EL: Senate President David
Williams has received a lot of criticism by the newspapers. Do you think
that criticism has been justified?
LN: Some of it may have been
justified. I think that he would agree that it was inappropriate for
him to lose his temper and take some overt acts that he allegedly
took. But, David is very intelligent, he’s a good parliamentarian,
and he’s very principled. Some of the things that David did were
for political purposes. Democrats may have been doing the same thing.
EL: What is your position
on slot machines at Kentucky race tracks?
LN: I’m very supportive
of the horse industry. I’m responsible for the Horse Park. But,
if they put slot machines in the race tracks, it will be a two- or
three-year honeymoon at the most, because the people who make those
slot machines and the people who get the money out of them will get
a lot more money than all the horse people. Give me a half million
dollars and I will have a slot machine in every country store in the
state of Kentucky and maybe some of the churches within three to four
years. And then, the people won’t have any money to spend at
the race tracks and they won’t have any reason to go to the tracks
and play the slot machines.
EL: Governor Ned Breathitt
is extremely involved in the politics in the Central Kentucky area around
Lexington. He has been supporting take-over of the water company. Do
you have any comment on that?
LN: I don’t live in the
city of Lexington. I haven’t studied or looked into whether the
city should buy the water company or not buy it. Ned Breathitt lives
over there, he lives in the city. He’s a voter over there and
I can understand why he would take a role in it. I believe in a strong
local government. The best government is the one that’s closest
to the people, but I don’t necessarily believe in the government
owning everything. I’m in favor of a free enterprise system and
I don’t like to see government take over a private business.
Government can control it through their ordinances and through legislation,
but to own it and to operate it is, in my opinion, getting into the
business world. The free enterprise system is what made this country
great.
EL: What are the two top issues
that Kentucky will face in the next decade?
LN: The revenue situation
is an immediate concern because of the estimated shortfall the state
is experiencing right now. And the tax structure probably needs changing.
I’d try to bring the government under control, and eliminate
the state employees who are loafing. The big issues facing Kentucky
are maintaining the services that government provides and getting
control of government.
EL: It’s been about 35
years since you were elected governor. What would you say is the major
thing that has changed in Kentucky during that period?
LN: Well, I suppose the affluence
of society has been the major change. Kentuckians have had a large
increase in their personal income. Governor Martha Layne Collins bringing
Toyota to Kentucky has meant a great deal to the state’s economy
– I didn’t approve of what she was doing at the time, but
now I admit she was right.
EL: How active are you in
business?
LN: I probably stay as busy
as anybody else. I got involved in hemp. I’m very opposed to
marijuana, and I didn’t understand the difference between hemp
and marijuana. A lot of people don’t. You have to be of a mind
set that you can examine everything and once you understand the difference
that you’re not afraid to admit you were wrong. I was one of
those uninformed about hemp. Hemp is a more durable product and it’s
safer than metals. In automobiles, metal will break and cut you, you
don’t have that problem with hemp. Hemp would save our timber.
Long after I’ve been buried, hemp will be great for agribusiness
in Kentucky. I want Kentucky to get in the forefront with hemp like
the state did with tobacco.
EL: Are the growing conditions
in Kentucky ideal for hemp?
LN: The growing conditions
are ideal, the soil is ideal. That’s the reason the U.S. government,
in 1941, sent hemp seed and equipment to Kentucky.
Ed G. Lane is chief executive of Lane Consultants Inc. and publisher
of The Lane Report.
edlane@lanereport.com
Back to One on One Index
Back to the June Issue
|
