BY PATRICK CROWLEY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
NEWPORT -- Greg Buckler, the Democratic candidate for Campbell County jailer, has been hired as a sergeant on the staff of interim jailer Jim Daley.
Mr. Daley, a Democrat running for the Kentucky Statehouse, said Mr. Buckler, of California, is qualified for the $10.50-an-hour job.
But Republicans, including jailer candidate Bill Culbertson of Fort Thomas, are claiming the hiring was politically motivated to help Mr. Buckler win the fall election.
"It's a shame they have to hire a candidate," Mr. Culbertson said Wednesday. "It's very possible and probable that this hiring was politically motivated, but I want to run a campaign on the issues and try to stay away from all this politics."
Mr. Buckler's hiring was also a big topic of discussion at Tuesday night's Campbell County Republican Party meeting in Highland Heights, where several party leaders also speculated the hiring was intended to give Mr. Buckler an advantage in the election.
But Mr. Daley, a Cold Spring Democrat running against Fort Thomas Republican Joe Fischer in the 68th House District race, disagreed. "Greg Buckler is a former police officer in Alexandria, a former Campbell County sheriff's deputy, a trained EMT (emergency medical technician), and he is qualified for this job," said Mr. Daley, appointed in April as interim jailer.
Mr. Buckler won a five-way Democratic primary May 26. He said he is qualified for jailer and the sergeant's job because of his 10 years in law enforcement and because he has graduated from the Kentucky Police Academy at Eastern Kentucky University.
"I'm going to be working second and third shift, so it's not like I'm going to be campaigning while I'm working," Mr. Buckler said. "I've been hired to do a job, and I'm going to do it."
Mr. Daley denied GOP claims he was pressured to hire Mr. Buckler by the Democratic-controlled Campbell County Fiscal Court. It was Judge-executive Ken Paul who appointed Mr. Daley to replace former jailer Earl Ping, who retired in March.
