Saturday, February 20, 1999
Pendery outlines Campbell vision
He renews pledge to include input from south end
BY PATRICK CROWLEY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
NEWPORT — Campbell County Judge-executive Steve Pendery repeated a campaign promise Friday night when he pledged to include communities and residents in the county's south end in planning for growth and development.
Speaking at the county Republican Party's annual Lincoln Day Dinner, Mr. Pendery — the former mayor of Fort Thomas elected to office in November — delivered a vision of Campbell County that included better planning, more development, and a revamped administration.
The only Republican on a fiscal court of three Democrats, Mr. Pendery was accused during his campaign of wanting to develop the south end of the county against the wishes of its residents and land owners.
During Friday's dinner, Mr. Pendery said he wants to increase the representation of people from the south end and rural parts of the county in a review of Campbell County's planning and zoning comprehensive plan.
“It seems only fair,” he said. “They are most sensitive to change, they have all the undeveloped real estate in the county, and I want to see the south end better represented in this process.
“Each community, even the unincorporated areas, ought to control the nature, the pace and the scope of change for their area,” he said.
And as he did in his campaign Mr. Pendery also called for a long-range plan for the county “with coordination of the various planning units to make the plan that results from the process a reality.
“We're going to build a consensus on where development is wanted and needed and wind up ... with a stronger tax base” in Campbell County, he said.
As a county judge-executive, Mr. Pendery is a member of the Tri-County Economic Development Corp., the agency that recruits jobs and development to Northern Kentucky. He said he intends to work through and with the agency in bringing more development to the county, which Mr. Pendery said will increase tax revenue, help pay for services and reduce the tax burden on residents.
Cell tower problem
Mr. Pendery said he also wants to:
• Have a better county plan for the construction of cell phone towers.
“Cell phone towers are going up all over the county, and the legislature has given counties . .. an opportunity to control those,” he said. “We're going to get the cell phone companies together to manage and control where the towers are put. We're going to try encourage co-location to cut down on the number of towers.”
• Form a task force to study the operation of the jail and juvenile justice systems in Campbell County with an eye toward reducing the cost of the system.
• Hire a county coordinator to run the day-to-day operations of the county. Ads seeking applicants will begin appearing this weekend in newspapers and on the Internet.
About 200 members of the county Republican Party attended the dinner, held at the Syndicate restaurant in Newport.
During the dinner, former longtime Campbell County Coroner Dr. Fred Stine of Wilder, for years the only Republican holding county office, was honored.
Dr. Stine, 84, retired last year after 35 years as coroner. With Dr. Stine's endorsement, Dr. Mark Schweitzer — a Fort Thomas Republican — was elected to take his place.
“Dr. Stine has made an incredible contribution to this community and to the Republican Party,” said Kevin Gordon of Cold Spring, a member of the county GOP's executive committee.
On behalf of the party, Mr. Gordon presented Dr. Stine with a plaque commemorating his years of service.
“This is an unexpected surprise,” Dr. Stine said in a brief speech. “Just keep moving forward so we can get more Republicans elected around here.”
Dr. Stine's son, Fred Jr., is an assistant U.S. Attorney from Fort Thomas. His daughter-in-law, Katie Stine, is a state senator and three-term lawmaker, and his son-in-law, Steve Kimball, is a member of the Fort Thomas Board of Education.
As coroner, Dr. Stine, a pediatrician, received national acclaim for his work during and after the 1977 Beverly Hills Supper Club Fire in Southgate, which claimed 165 lives.
Last year he was honored by the Kentucky Association of Coroners for his work and longtime service.
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TRISTATE DIGEST
