january 2013 - balancing the scales

balancing the scales Volume 32 Number 1 January 24, 2013

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A founding member passes, Mary Jane Adams

pg. 4

Persistence pays off for Lynch energy efficiency

pg. 5

Wilderness Trace Chapter hosts successful fundraiser

pg. 6

Vicco, the smallest ‘fair’ town pg. 6

Coxton & Black Joe communities organizing in Harlan County

pg. 7

Ray Tucker campaigns for rural electric co-op director

pg. 10

Tax commission submits lackluster proposal

pg. 11

New Senate leadership shifts key players in HB 70 push

pg. 13

Land slides and excessive water runoff threaten homes in Harlan communities

pg. 7

balancing the scales, January 24 , 2013

Table of Contents

balancing the scales is published by Kentuckians For The Commonwealth and mailed third class from Lexington, Kentucky. Reader contri butions and letters to the editor should be sent to 250 Southland Drive Suite #4, Lexington, KY. 40503 or [email protected]. Subscriptions are $20 per year.

Executive Committee Corner page 3A founding member passes, Mary Jane Adams page 4KFTC pays respect to friends and allies who recently passed page 4

Local UpdatesEast Kentucky chapters celebrate the holidays together page 5Persistence pays off for Lynch energy effi ciency page 5Wilderness Trace Chapter hosts successful and fun fi rst fundraiser page 6Scott County members begin to advance fairness page 6Vicco, the smallest ‘fair’ town page 6

Canary Project Updates Coxton & Black Joe communities organizing in Harlan County page 7Mill Creek residents continue to fi ght for clean water page 8Clay County resident informs offi cials of their lack of understanding page 9

New Energy and Transition Update Ray Tucker begins campaign for rural electric co-op director page 10

Economic Justice Update Tax commission submits lackluster proposal to governor page 11

Voting Rights UpdateJason Smith – turned away at the polls, but determined to vote page 12New Senate leadership shifts key players in HB 70 push page 13

The KFTC staff team continues to strengthen and expand page 14Meet the staff page 15

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Kentuckians For The Commonwealth

is a statewide grassroots social justice orga ni-zation working for a new balance of power and a just society. KFTC uses direct-action organizing to accomplish the following goals:

• foster democratic values• change unjust institutions• empower individuals• overcome racism and other discrimination• communicate a message of what’s possible• build the organization• help people participate• win issues that affect the common welfare• have fun

KFTC membership dues are $15 to $50 per year, based on ability to pay. No one is denied membership because of inability to pay. Membership is open to anyone who is committed to equality, democracy and nonviolent change.

KFTC Steering Committee

Sue Tallichet, chair Dana Beasley Brown, vice chair

Rick Handshoe, secretary-treasurerMegan Naseman, at-large memberSteve Boyce, immediate past chair

Chapter RepresentativesHomer White, Scott County

Christian Torp, Central Kentucky Ted Withrow, Rowan County

Ben Baker, Northern Kentucky Shekinah Lavalle, Jefferson County

Travis Lane, Southern Kentucky Jack Ball, Harlan County

Cleveland Smith, Perry County Meta Mendel-Reyes, Madison County

Elizabeth Sanders, Letcher County Allyson Williams, Floyd County

Daniel Morgan, Wilderness TraceMary Hano, Shelby County

Alternates: Rosanne Fitts Klarer, Scott County;Greg Capillo, Central Kentucky; Lisa Bryant, Rowan County; Rick Traud, Northern Kentucky; Nan Goheen, Jefferson County; Alan Smith, Southern Kentucky; Carl Shoupe, Harlan County; Katie Pirotina, Perry County; Mark Henson, Madi-son County; Ada Smith, Letcher County; James Williams, Floyd County; Leah Bayens, Wilder-ness Trace; JoAnna Mackens, Shelby County.


Executive Committee Corner KFTC Chairperson Sue Tallichet reflects on KFTC’s involve-ment in litigation against coal companies that violate the Clean Water Act, including a precedent-setting case that resulted in an out-of-court settlement last fall.

by Sue TallichetKFTC Chairperson

Looking back I have to admit

that the hardest part of our litigation with two of the largest coal operators in our state was the waiting for legal decisions to be handed down. But when it hap-

pened, it was sweet. This long journey

began during the late spring of 2010. It has been particularly long

for those more centrally involved than I, and I feel honored to have been a part of such a very important effort by so many dedicated individuals de-termined to see environmental justice done in eastern Kentucky. That diverse entourage includes KFTC member leaders and staff, our attorneys and our allies, namely Appalachian Voices, and Waterkeeper Alliance, Ken-tucky Riverkeeper and individual plaintiffs. It was high time for some better news for eastern Kentucky. We actually got some. It all started over two years ago with the discovery of three years’ worth of discharge monitoring reports (DMRs) stacked in the corner of an Energy and En-vironment Cabinet back office. A very determined Appalachian Voices team led by Donna Lisenby blew the dust off the top sheets and began our journey that would forever alter how King Coal and the cabinet would do business in our state. As those involved can attest, it has been over two years filled with weekly phone calls, some lasting four and five hours, travel to Frankfort courtrooms and Lex-ington lawyers’ offices, and countless meetings among allied individuals and organizations. The resulting series of events so far is staggering. To begin, Judge Phillip Shepherd granted us the right to intervene in the cabinet’s enforcement actions. We brought ICG’s and Frasure Creek’s tens of thou-sands of CWA violations to the state’s attention. They responded by fining these two companies less than one percent of the maximum penalty allowed under the CWA provisions and requiring a minimum amount of remediation at those polluted sites. We deemed this to be less than fair, inadequate and not in the public’s interest, and we successfully challenged the cabinet’s refusal to let citizens be a part of the enforcement process. We won the right to be involved in that process and were ordered to begin mediation with ICG and Frasure Creek. In the process we also revealed publicly that the cabinet had been failing to monitor the pollution by these two companies. One cabinet official admitted that the agency did not know the number or location of

many of the coal companies’ discharge sites. Yet as the negotiations with ICG began to prog-ress, talks with Frasure Creek remained problematic. Frasure Creek and the cabinet appealed our right to intervene, losing in both the State Court of Appeals and later in the Supreme Court of Kentucky. Why is this significant? Even though the federal Clean Water Act allows citizens to be a part of enforce-ment actions, business as usual in Kentucky up to that point had consistently excluded citizens. Because of this precedent-setting decision by the state’s top legal authority, this should never happen again. Another landmark development occurred with the successful settlement with ICG. While I had complete faith in our mediation team, too many times coal companies managed to shirk their just responsibilities to the Appalachian people. I trust-ed the ability and dedication of my team, but it was the dedication to profits and greed that worried me. The resulting settlement was worth the waiting. As for Frasure Creek? Our work continues in court on that one. Looking back on these historic events, I am re-minded of where we are now. New Power has come to the citizens of coal-impacted communities in the form of new initiatives, such KFTC’s Community Science and Public Health citizens’ water testing project. Citi-zens in these communities can find out what is in their water by taking their own samples. New organizing opportunities, a KFTC mainstay strategy, are also in the offing. I am reminded that there is always merit in the pro-cess of fighting the good fight for any form of justice. While the road may be hard and long, like runners in a relay race we always have each other. And once again in our more than 30-year history, we stood up for each other by making democracy work the way it should.

Annual Letcher County Crepes of Wrath Letter Writing Party

In the home of Sharman and Jeff Chapman-Crane in Eolia. After enjoying homemade crepes, folks write letters to state legislators and local papers about important issues soon to be discussed during General Assembly in Frankfort. Please RSVP, space is limited. February 9, 2013 - 9:00 a.m. - noonRSVP to [email protected] or call 606-632-0051, space is limited.

e-mail any staff member at [email protected] except for Jessica Hays Lucas -- use [email protected],

Beth Howard -- use [email protected], and Beth Bissmeyer -- use [email protected]

KFTC Offices and StaffMAIN OFFICE

Morgan Brown, Robin Daugherty & Burt Lauderdale

P.O. Box 1450London, Kentucky 40743

606-878-2161 Fax: 606-878-5714 [email protected]

FIELD OFFICESLouisville

Jessica George, Jerry Hardt, Alicia Hurle

Carissa Lenfert, and Colette Henderson901 Franklin StreetLouisville, Ky 40206

502-589-3188

WhitesburgTanya Turner P.O. Box 463

Whitesburg, Ky 41858606-632-0051

Central KentuckyTim Buckingham,

Jessica Hays Lucas, Beth Howard, Erik

Hungerbuhler, Heather Roe Mahoney,

Dave Newton and Ondine Quinn

250 Plaza Drive Suite 4Lexington, Ky 40503

859-276-0563

Northern KentuckyJoe Gallenstein859-380-6103

Floyd CountyKristi Kendall and

Jessie Skaggs154 North Lake Drive

Prestonsburg, KY 41653606-226-4159

Bowling GreenDenney Breeding

270-779-6483

BereaLisa Abbott, Beth Biss-

meyer, Amy Hogg,Sara Pennington and Kevin Pentz

140 Mini Mall DriveBerea, KY 40403

859-986-1277

Teri Blanton118 Baugh StreetBerea, Ky. 40403

859-986-1648


In Memory of...A founding member passes, Mary Jane Adams Mary Jane Adams, one of KFTC’s earliest mem-bers, first vice-chairperson and later chairperson, passed away in December after an extended illness. Mary Jane and husband Raleigh were among the key organizers of the Leslie County Concerned Citizens, one of the core community groups associ-ated with KFTC in the early 1980s. They and other landowners formed LCCC to protect their land from destruction by coal, oil and gas companies, and later took on other issues. Adams was a leader on many KFTC issues, in-cluding the successful broad form deed constitutional amendment campaign in 1988. In a 2011 interview, she recalled that campaign:

“One highlight of my two years as chairper-son was Election Day when the Broad Form Deed Amendment was voted on. I remember being an election officer. People would come in to vote for the amendment and said they didn’t want to vote for any candidate. “I was an election judge and Raleigh drove me over to Hyden to take the results. As I walked in the clerk’s office, Jimmy Lewis, the clerk, yelled out, “We’re winning really big in Leslie County!” It took me a minute to realize he was talking about the amendment vote. Then lots of people cheered. None

of those folks had ever acknowledged my position as chair of KFTC. I was really surprised that they even knew who I was. “Then we headed on to Hindman [the Hind-man Settlement School]. Wow! There were cars everywhere. I remember all the KFTC staff were there and James Still and Joe Begley. Everything was moving in a whirl. We had to go next door to use the phone to talk to the press or whoever. I was running back and forth across the drive. Everyone enjoyed the evening, especially the verdict. “Finally, we had enough of a count across the state to declare the amendment had won. I got to announce the verdict. It was wonderful. More people had voted for the amendment than had voted for president.”

A public leadership role was not a natural one for her, Mary Jane said, but one in which she grew in skill and confidence through her work with KFTC and the Leslie County Concerned Citizens. She also took that skill into the classroom as an educator for 20 years. The family requests memorial donations be made to the Cutshin Mission-Clinic, 12500 Cutshin Road, Yeaddiss, Ky. 41777 or to the Markey Cancer Founda-tion, 800 Rose Street, Roach Bldg. - CC160, Lexington, Ky. 40536-0093.

KFTC pays respect to friends and allies who recently passed KFTC and the broader movement for social justice lost several key players over the last few weeks.

James Snyder James Snyder was a Scott County KFTC member and a leader in the campaign for the restoration of

voting rights for former felons. He died unexpect-edly in early January. Snyder spoke at the Voting Rights Rally at the capitol last year. “For me, this is really about iden-tity. I should have a voice. I should have a vote,” he said at the time.

Snyder lived in Illinois for a number of years, work-ing as a deputy voter registrar for the board of elections there – helping people register and vote. And when he lived in Illinois, he could vote. But when he moved to Kentucky to care for his par-ents, a past felony conviction kept him from voting. “I served my country. And I served my time for what I’ve done wrong, too. The right thing to do would be to let me and others like me to vote.”

J. Blaine Hudson Blaine Hudson was an educator and an important leader in the African American community in Louis-ville. He died at age 63 in early January.

According to a profile on the Kentucky Educational Television website, “Hudson began his fight for social change in junior high school, when he was refused admittance to a downtown movie theater. Later, as a student at the University of Louisville, he demonstrated at the … dean’s office, demanding improvement in edu-cational opportunities for African American students. He and several fellow protestors were arrested and tried under the newly enacted Kentucky Anti-Riot Act. The charges were eventually dismissed, but Hudson was forbidden by the judge to return to campus for one year.” Hudson became a history professor at the Univer-sity of Louisville, chairman of the Pan-African Studies Department, and dean of the College of Arts and Sci-ences until he took a leave of absence last year. About 10 years ago, he participated in a KFTC annual meeting workshop on racism.

Dennis Bricking Long-time social justice advocate Dennis Bricking was 70 years old when he died on January 12. KFTC members in Louisville and statewide had the opportu-nity to work with him many times over the years in his role as director of the Legal Aid Society in Louisville. He also was passionate about peace and poverty is-sues, organizing many witnesses for peace and an end to violence and war. And he served his community in many ways, including helping with the creation of the St. John Center for Homeless Men and the nonprofit New Directions Housing.

Rebecca Tarbotton As executive director of the Rainforest Action Net-work, Rebecca Tarbotton was responsible for successful campaigns against some of the nation’s largest banks, persuading them to stop investing in companies that used mountaintop removal mining. She died unexpectedly at age 39 while vacationing with her family over the holidays. Tarbotton was known as a visionary leader and helped move RAN into work to protect the forests of Appalachia, as well as forests around the world. KFTC members interacted with her on several occasions in recent years. A tribute to Tarbotton can be found at http://ran.org/becky.

Joan Mulhern KFTC members have known and worked with Joan Mulhern for about 10 years. She was the senior legislative counsel for Earthjustice and was particularly passionate about protecting clean water and stopping mountaintop removal mining. She recently played a key role in bringing hundreds of activists from central Appalachia to Washington, DC to deliver a petition to the White House with a message to end mountain top removal coal mining. Mulhern died in December after an illness. A tribute to her can be found at: http://earthjustice.org/blog/2012-december/in-memoriam-joan-mulhern.

Mary Jane Adams in her Leslie County home in 2008 while strategizing how to defend her homeplace from encroaching coal mining.


Local UpdatesEast Kentucky chapters celebrate the holidays together Across the state, chapters used the holidays to celebrate an amazing year of work and to build excitement for the coming year of action for justice. The four eastern Kentucky chapters (Harlan, Letcher, Perry and Floyd coun-ties) came together in Whitesburg in mid-December to celebrate and look ahead. More than 40 people turned out to celebrate each other, raise a little money and look forward to 2013. East Kentucky members planned for weeks, phone-banked and Face-booked for turnout, carpooled over snowy mountains, cooked food, brought friends, helped decorate with garland and lights, made glittery signs, do-nated their hand-made art, played mu-sic, bought posters, raffle tickets, and t-shirts, wrote personal “love letters,” contributed to a slide show, and shared ideas about the coming year, including a transition conference planned for April in Harlan County. From the potluck and art raffle to

a “dot democracy” activity that had members allocating stickers onto signs displaying the issues they’re most excited about, new and old friends alike were talking, laughing, and growing closer all evening. Throughout the night, a slide show of more than 100 pictures of east Kentucky members in action in 2012 rolled on a big screen to the tune of live fiddle, guitar and an occasional dulcimer. The art raffle featured a half dozen painted prints by long-time members Pam Meade of West Liberty and Jeff Chapman-Crane of Eolia, as well as beautiful hand-woven table runners from Loneli Polly of Mayking. Everyone gathered around the art table at 8 p.m. to celebrate the winner of each piece (and wait for their own names!) while 8-year-old Chase Gladson, of Cumberland, drew the winning tickets. Between eating and talking, folks wrote more than a dozen personal letters to their friends and fellow chapter mem-

bers with messages of love and asks of membership renewals. Several members renewed their own memberships that night as well as purchased posters, prints, t-shirts and other gifts for themselves and others. The chapters raised more than $350. “Getting to meet new members, as

well as see older ones, was such a blast,” said Harlan County member Carl Shoupe. “I must admit the entire event was well organized and fun! Hey, we even got some important work done, also!”

‘Here Comes The Bun’ rolls into Whitesburg

Letcher County member Car-rie Wells has joined two friends in opening a cooperatively owned and operated bakery in downtown Whitesburg. They operate on a basic principal that the owners work and the workers are owners. Wells has been vocal in lo-cal chapter meetings about work around better food systems and growers’ markets. She is also an old-time fiddler and founding member of Skip Dippers, who have played the I Love Mountains old-time showcase, Seedtime on the Cumber-land Festival, fiddlers’ conventions, festivals, and local KFTC events. Wells was the art teacher at Cordia School and brought seven of her students to Frankfort for I Love Mountains Day last year. The bakery – Here Comes The Bun – has opened to amazing suc-cess and is doing even better than the owners had hoped. Here Comes the Bun is one of a handful of new businesses that have opened in the last year or so on Main Street in Whitesburg, many of which feature local art and par-ticipate in the growing quarterly Art Walks.

Persistence pays off for Lynch energy efficiency In 2009, the Harlan County chapter partnered with MACED (Mountain Association for Community Economic Development) and the small town of Lynch to help apply for a federal stimu-lus grant. “It’s been a long road since then,” as Roy Silver said.

While the funds were from the fed-eral government, the decision-making went through state government. Month after month Lynch officials never got a reply about whether or not they would receive the money. KFTC members made funding the project in Lynch one of the de-

mands to Governor Steve Beshear when people occupied his office for sev-eral days in February 2011 leading up to I Love Mountains Day. Community members asked him about it again when he came to a meeting with them in Lynch that following April. Still no word. Then, about this time last year, the state realized that they had some un-spent stimulus dol-lars, and they con-tacted Lynch officials about that old pro-posal.

Things have been grinding forward slowly ever since. At the January chapter meeting, KFTC member and Lynch City Council member Bennie Massie reported that the city hall and city water plant have new heating systems and new lights. Work is now being conducted to in-sulate both buildings and replace some windows. The project no longer includes resi-dential weatherization but totals about $100,000 in upgrades to city buildings. “It will save a lot of juice,” Massie explained. The mayor and city council have taken a lot of heat from other elected of-ficials in Harlan County because they’ve opposed five different mining permits that threaten the community’s water supply. County officials have threat-ened to cut off funding for special proj-ects. A comment was made to one KFTC member, “To tell you the truth, the only money that has actually come through has been by working with your group.” KFTC members are rooted in long-term change and know that victories can be few and far between. For Lynch and Harlan County, this is a big win that has taken time and persistence.

Joshua Bills, an energy specialist at MACED (Mountain Association For Community Economic Development), conducted an energy audit of the Lynch water treatment facility.

Members from all four east Kentucky chapters gathered for a holiday party to celebrate their successes and to build bonds across communities.


On January 14, the town of Vicco in Perry County ap-proved the state’s first lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) anti-discrimination fairness ordi-nance in a decade. The measure, which prohibits discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations based upon a person’s actual or perceived sexu-al orientation and gender identity, received support from three of the city’s four-member commission and Mayor Johnny Cummings. “It’s so exciting. I barely be-lieved it when I heard,” said KFTC Perry County member Cleveland Smith. “The craziest part, es-pecially when I tell the story, is that I had a little bit to do with it. Everyone I’ve talked to is excited. It’s a huge deal. For us here, and Kentucky.” Vicco becomes the smallest city in the United States with such anti-discrimination protections

and joins three other cities in the commonwealth with fairness laws – Covington, which passed an ordinance in 2003, Lexington, and Louisville, which both ap-proved laws in 1999. “You know what’s great about the passage of the fairness ordi-nance in Vicco? For a day there, people across the country were talking about our little piece of the planet and they were say-ing positive things,” said KFTC member Deane Quillen of Perry County, who just recently moved to Nashville. “The media jumped on a story that highlighted a very basic hu-man desire – to live a life full of opportunity, free of limitation by discrimination – and a little coal town in Central Appalachia was quietly leading the charge. Lex-ingtonians were proud; Louisvil-lians were proud; for a day there we were all Kentuckians.”

Local UpdatesWilderness Trace Chapter hosts successful and fun first fundraiser

By Jim Porter

KFTC’s newest chapter, the Wil-derness Trace Chapter, held a get-together and fundraiser at Wayne & Jane’s Wine & Whiskey Bar at V-the Market in Danville on December 7. Each KFTC member was asked to reach out to all their friends and to bring out as many new people as pos-sible. Several members also did some phone banking a few days in advance to talk up the event and to raise aware-ness among the membership. Wilderness Trace members brought delicious “nibbly bits” and other good things to eat so the stage was set for a great holiday celebration. Music was provided by a local blues duo. The theme of the event, Cheer(s) for Appalachia: “No Greater Task: Art and Activism for Appalachia,” included the “No Greater Task” screen printed poster show curated by cen-

tral Kentucky KFTC members Brian and Sara Turner of Cricket Press. The poster show was a collabora-tion between regional and national poster artists and KFTC. There were 18 different original poster designs aimed at both raising awareness of and stop-ping the destructive practice of moun-taintop removal coal mining. The post-ers, examples of which were tastefully mounted on the wall at V-the Market, were offered for sale at $20 each. In addition to the artwork, there was a KFTC merchandise table that included clothing, literature and but-tons, as well as membership forms! Although the weather was not perfect, we had a great turnout of more than 100 people and raised al-most $1,000. And on top of that we signed up several new KFTC mem-bers. The chapter sends a big thank you to Wayne & Jane for hosting this gala event.

Vicco, the smallest ‘fair’ town

Scott County members continued to do great local work late last year and for the first few weeks of 2013. Late in the year, members had a great Arty Pie Party fundraiser hosted by Rosanne Fitts Klarer and Tim Klarer that brought out more than 70 people and raised more than $2,000 in grassroots fun-draising – in addition to just being a lot of fun. Members have become more involved in a campaign led by Georgetown College students and faculty to adopt a nondis-

crimination policy with regards to sexual orientation. Despite a strong and thoughtful rec-ommendation from the faculty, the Board of Trustees has declined to adopt the policy and KFTC members are helping people at the college to develop a strategic analysis of the campaign and plan next steps. Scott County members continue to strengthen a campaign for curbside recy-cling, are gearing up to do citizen lobbying in Frankfort, and are looking forward to another great year.

Scott County members begin to advance fairness

Wilderness Trace held its first fundraiser at V-The Market in Danville on Dec. 7. The event raised nearly $1,000 and featured a screen printed poster show.

Scott County members continue to focus on restoration of voting rights and curbside recycling while also engaging in Georgetown College fairness work.


Canary Project UpdatesCoxton & Black Joe communities organizing in Harlan County Since early spring 2012, homeowners in the Harlan County community of Cox-ton have been contacting local and state officials about land slides and excessive water runoff threatening their homes. Their continued efforts even landed them on the front page of the Harlan Daily Enterprise in June. In the investigative report, Coxton resident Floyd Hamblin told the paper, “I first began seeing muddy water coming off the mountain in March. I went up on the mountain myself and I saw a high-wall, where you walk around the logging road, and a cut that was made is about 6 or 7 feet high. There was water running off the mountain over the highwall onto the logging road and cutting gaps in the mountainside.” Hamblin and his family live across the street from Bridgette Pace, who says she has been on alert since she saw “a wall of water rush by her bedroom win-dow” back in March. P a c e a n d her family had to evacuate that night and re-turned to a mess of mud, rocks, and debris sur-rounding their home. She shared this frightening tale with KFTC Harlan County staff and chap-t e r m e m b e r s during a visit to her home a few months ago. Pace shared the same fears that Hamblin expressed to the Harlan Daily Enterprise. “I can’t sleep at night for fear of wak-ing in the middle of the night with mud coming through our home,” she said. “I sit out on my porch in the wee hours of the morning and listen to trees fall-ing and rocks rolling off the mountain. You can hear dirt moving. Before it got green you could actually see the slide moving… We’ve contacted everybody

we know to contact and nothing is being done.” To date, they’ve contacted and had “visits” (or drive-bys as Hamblin calls them) by county emergency manage-ment personnel, magistrates, Abandoned Mine Lands program personnel and vari-ous companies who’ve mined, logged or otherwise moved land on that mountain-side over the last decade. Apparently, Manalapan Mining owns the mountain and has leased it for logging after extensive mining in the past. Kentucky Utilities has cut roads and clearings for power lines, and mud-slides have been reported in the area some time ago. However, a clear responsible party is yet to step forward. Abandoned Mine Lands officials told both families, “We have been un-able to find evidence to show that the primary cause of your problems is from old coal mining. The problem area is not

physically con-nected to a mine, and we found no evidence of mine-related drainage as the primary cause of the prob-lem. Analysis of water sampled at the problem site failed to in-dicate the chemi-cal characteristics of water coming from a mine-re-lated source.” Now, almost a

year after the story appeared on the front page of Harlan County’s newspaper, Hamblin and Pace feel they are not much closer to any answers or solutions. But they have met nearby communities deal-ing with the same issue, from the same mountain. Albert and Janie Phillips, of nearby Black Joe, also contacted KFTC after speaking to folks in Coxton. While Hamblin and Pace are living in fear of potential damage to their homes, the

Phillips family are already dealing with the aftermath and continued movement and cracking of their home’s foundation. Water and mud have been slamming into the back of their home after hard rains and not only cracked their founda-tion but moved their home “four inches, nearly off the six-inch foundation,” Al-bert Phillips explained. Phillips has walked up on the moun-tain and thinks a big pond is filling up and then spilling over with the flow com-ing down onto his home. The Phillips family received a similar letter from the state Abandoned Mine Lands program and is currently appealing that decision. They talked with Harlan members about organizing some community meetings, starting petitions, and possible meetings with state officials. Back in October they attended a meeting in Benham with other Harlan members and the Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Steve Hohm-ann, as well as a few of his staff. After the meeting, they all took a field trip to the Phillips home in Black Joe. It was during this meeting that they

became KFTC members. Despite months of denial by state agencies that their issue was related to abandoned mines, immediately after the meeting with Commissioner Hohmann and visit to their home, the state sent out new geologists. Then the county judge-executive came out to visit and the problem was found to be caused by abandoned mines, which made it eligible for federal funds. The Phillipses learned that the state has designated $1 million to fix the sewer lines and re-route the water. Additionally, their homeowners in-surance recently paid to fix the damage to their home. “It was a miracle, and I don’t think anything would have happened if we hadn’t come to that meeting,” Janie Phil-lips shared at the Harlan Chapter meet-ing this month. They are continuing to encourage their neighbors to organize and get in-volved because many of the problems facing the community, especially to indi-vidual homes, have not yet been solved by the recent state action.

“I can’t sleep at night for fear of waking in the middle of the night with mud com-ing through our home. I sit out on my porch in the wee

hours of the morning and lis-ten to trees falling and rocks rolling off the mountain. You

can hear dirt moving.”

Bridgette Pace

Janie Phillips (pictured above) and her husband, Albert, have been dealing with abandoned mine run off cracking their home’s foundation as water and mud have slammed against their home.

Save The Date: 2013 Annual Membership Meeting is August 16-18 at General Butler State Park


Canary Project UpdatesMill Creek residents continue to fight for clean water The residents of the Mill Creek community in Letcher County have one seemingly simple request – clean, safe drinking water. Mill Creek is located in rural Letcher County between the town of Deane and the Knott County line. Residents in the area get their drink-ing water from privately drilled wells. Some Mill Creek residents have ques-tioned the quality of the water for many years. After coal companies both strip-mined the mountains and deep mined under the community and gas compa-nies drilled several gas wells in the area, the aquifers that supply the water wells either went dry (a common problem associated with mining and gas drill-ing) or began to produce only a small amount of dirty-looking water. Because the water no longer looked safe, Jimmy Hall, Elaine Tanner and Chris and Connie Yonts organized their Mill Creek community to have a meet-ing in the spring of 2012 to discuss con-cerns they had about the quality of the water coming from their wells. Additionally, they invited their state senator, Johnny Ray Turner, and state representative John Short. As a result of the request from Mill Creek residents, both Turner and Short submitted requests to the Kentucky Di-

vision of Water and to the Department for Mining Reclamation and Enforce-ment to come to Mill Creek and test the well water. Both agencies came and tested a few wells near the head of Mill Creek, but only the Division of Water found a toxic soup of metals and arsenic levels that are 10 times higher than the maximum contaminant levels considered safe for drinking water. After the Division of Water came and tested their water, Connie Yonts re-ceived a call and was told that her fam-ily should not drink, use or even touch the water coming out of their well. She was told to only use that water to flush their toilets. They should not use it to brush their teeth or wash their dishes. After the phone call, the agency offi-cial called back about five minutes later just to make sure Yonts understood that they should not use or even touch their water. For several months after that call, the Yontses have had to use bottled wa-ter for everything in their home. It got so bad that last fall the family decided to move and rent a house in Knott County so they could get away from the pollu-tion. They intend to move back, but they are not sure when it will be safe. Several people from Mill Creek have

been attending the Letcher County Fis-cal Court meetings to try and convince the county to run municipal water lines out to Mill Creek. However, at the Janu-ary meeting they were not allowed to speak. After doing research into state and county records, residents of Mill Creek discovered their community was sup-posed to have received water lines sev-eral years ago. However, when the current county judge-executive, Jim Ward, was first elected the funds for the Mill Creek water lines were used to run water lines to a different community in Letcher County. It’s not clear at this time whether this was a simple misuse of funds or if this was an illegal act. Members of the State Auditor’s of-fice have been notified and are looking into how the funds were used. At a recent Letcher County Fiscal Court meeting, the court did say the Kentucky General Assembly had al-located $150,000 in grants to run water lines to Mill Creek. According to Judge-Executive Ward, the total project cost would be about $4 million – leaving the county to pay upwards of $3.85 million. However, because of past actions by the court and a lack of county funds, the Mill Creek residents remain skeptical. Ever since the Division of Water tested just a few of the water wells in Mill Creek, several residents have called the agency and requested to also have their well water tested. Unfortunately, the Division of Water has not responded to these requests. Instead, the Department for Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (DMRE) has been out to test some of the wells. However, DMRE will test only for evidence that the wells have been im-pacted by mining, which means they will primarily be looking for sulfate lev-els in their tests. The DMRE will not be testing for metals or arsenic. Residents in Mill Creek are very concerned and would like to know the extent of the groundwater pollution. In September, Chris and Connie Yonts, Tanner and Hall went to Wash-ington D.C. to talk with the Kentucky Congressional delegation about their water problems and have a meeting with the U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency. The meeting with the Wetlands Di-vision of the EPA was, for the most part, not very helpful. However, at one point in the meeting the agency did reference the Safe Drinking Water Act and sug-gested residents review section 1431. When they got home, Tanner began researching the Safe Drinking Water Act, in particular the emergency powers clause in section 1431.

“Notwithstanding any other provi-sion of this title, the Administrator, upon receipt of information that a contaminant which is present in or is likely to enter a public water system or an underground source of drink-ing water may present an imminent and substantial endangerment to the health of persons, and that appropri-ate State and local authorities have not acted to protect the health of such persons, may take such actions as he may deem necessary in order to pro-tect the health of such persons.”

Since the meeting with the EPA in the fall, Mill Creek residents have been compiling research and drafting a “request for relief” that will be sent to Gwen Keys Fleming, regional adminis-trator for the EPA,.

Residents continue to monitor water in their communities, testing and col-lecting data that will help determine the safety of the water and pinpoint pollution sources.

Residents meet with Kentucky Division of Water as they test the community’s water, which was later reported to be too harmful to even touch, let alone drink. (continued on next page).


Canary Project Updates

For Curtis McKiddy and his neigh-bors, life changed in the Goose Rock community in Clay County a few years ago when Sand Hill Coal Processing re-ceived a permit to mine directly behind his home. The original permit was approved, but the mine operator has not broken ground on any of the original permit. Now Sand Hill Coal Processing has applied for an amendment to the original permit to add some acreage and to remove some acreage, but mainly it wants to change the mining plan. McKiddy is concerned because he knows that if the company starts mining behind his home he’s going to be cov-ered by dust and mud. He’s also wor-ried about water running off the mine site onto his property, not to mention all the blasting that may damage his home. The coal company justified some of his concerns by piling up rocks from the construction of a haul road on McK-iddy’s property. According to McKiddy, “It just feels like this is an example of this operator feeling as though he doesn’t have to fol-low the laws. He thinks he can just run over top of us. And if he is allowed to continue to mine, I’m sure we’re going to see more problems in the future.” When Sand Hill Coal Processing ap-plied for the amendment to its current

Clay County resident informs officials of their lack of understandingpermit, McKiddy decided it was time to contact KFTC to see what can be done to protect his property and his community. “I’m not happy about the thought of this company mining behind my home. But if they are going to mine the coal I want to make certain they are fol-lowing all of the necessary laws” McK-iddy said. When reviewing the permit applica-tion he noticed that the coal company planned to have five valley fills. How-ever, when he contacted the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Louisville he learned that Sand Hill Coal Processing had not even begun to apply for a 404 Clean Water Act permit to fill in waters with the dirt and waste from its mining operation. And when he reviewed the pre-application walk-through information from the Corps, the report seemed to indicate that one or more of the planned valley fills would require a 404 permit because it would be filling in jurisdic-tional waters of the United States. Then, at a recent meeting with Ken-tucky Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Steve Hohmann and Director of Mine Permits Allen Luttrell, they reviewed a mine reclamation plan map provided by McKiddy. Both Hohmann and Luttrell agreed that some of the valley fills appear to

be in U.S. jurisdictional waters, but they said they would have to look into the situation further to be certain. As part of the “Enhanced Coordina-tion” process established by the Obama administration in 2009, coal companies are encouraged to have a meeting with all relevant state and federal agencies in order to ensure that the permitting process is as smooth as possible. This meeting is not a requirement, but it is encouraged.

Hohmann and Luttrell revealed that Sand Hill Coal Processing had not taken advantage of this opportunity by setting up a coordination meeting for its permit application. At this point McKiddy is waiting to hear from Luttrell to learn if the coal company will be required to apply for a 404 water fill permit. And at this point the state has not issued the amendment to Sand Hill Coal Processing’s original permit.

They believe that section 1431 of the Safe Drinking Water Act gives the EPA the power to ensure that municipal wa-ter lines are run to the residents of Mill Creek. Elaine Tanner commented, “We have been stripped, we have been gut-ted, and we have been fracked. The coal market in Letcher County and the coal severance funds for the state are exhausted. Just how will they get the ad-ditional funds needed to supply water to the Milk Creek community?” Tanner asked. “Now is the time for EPA to step up to help us obtain a clean, safe and ade-quate supply of water in these mountain communities,” Tanner added. “Now that the coal and jobs are all but gone, the state of Kentucky and the coal com-panies have left us high and dry. The SDWA Section 1431 will make those that

Contaminated water (cont.)made the profits pay the cost instead of real people paying with real lives.” Residents will be requesting a meet-ing with the EPA either in eastern Ken-tucky or if need be in Atlanta. Meanwhile residents of Mill Creek continue to buy bottled water when they can and hope that they get access to clean and safe drinking water sooner rather than later. “My family has occupied these mountains for 200 years. Fact is, I was born on this mountain. When I pur-chased my family homestead little did I know the price that I would pay would be with 10 years of my life and my re-tirement just to fight for clean water and property rights,” said Jimmy Hall as he reflected on the years he’s worked to protect his home place. “At the end of the day and all is said and done, I just want to come home.”

(continued from previous page) SATURDAY, MARCH 9, 9:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.Jenny Wiley State Park, Prestonsburg, Kentucky

Join us for a day of workshops about ways to save and earn money through small-scale farming, forestry, and energy solutions!

Free and open to the public$10 suggested donation per adult

Pre-registation is appreciated: Register online at www.kftc.org/growing or call 606-878-2161

Workshops on...Beginning Organic Gardening, DIY Energy Efficiency, Small Scale Dairy Farming and more!

Sponsored by the Floyd County Chapter of KFTC, Co-sponsored by Community Farm Alliance and the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development.

ROWINGPPALACHIA


New Energy and Transition UpdateRay Tucker begins campaign for rural electric co-op director Ray Tucker is a former KFTC chair-person who lives on a farm in Pulaski County where he is a “Kentucky Proud” farmer, growing vegetables, tending bees and raising grass-fed beef. In the fall of 2012, Tucker decided to run for his rural electric cooperative’s board of directors. His campaign is just getting started. Last year was a tumultuous year for South Kentucky Rural Energy Coopera-tive Corporation (RECC), Tucker’s elec-tric co-op. Amid allegations of conflict-of-in-terest, four of the seven board members and the board attorney all resigned at the same time. This left only three, fairly new board members to set the course for the larg-est electric co-op in the East Kentucky Power Cooperative service area. According to the bylaws, the di-rectors could have appointed replace-ments, without an election or any other democratic process, to fill the four va-cant board seats. Instead, those three directors saw

this as an opportunity to make the co-op more democratic and transparent. They spent months being consulted on best practices for co-op elections and changed the bylaws to make it easier for members to run and participate in elec-tions. They held open forums for inform-ing members about how to run for the open board seats and required only 75 signatures for any qualifying member to get on the ballot. And so Tucker decided to run. He has just turned in his petition to get on the ballot and will know by February 15 if his candidacy is accepted. Ballots will be mailed to all mem-bers in the SKRECC on April 1 and due back later that month. Tucker hopes to run on a campaign of openness and democracy, affordable energy and good, local jobs through bet-ter energy choices. “My interest in electric utility issues is connected to my dedication to social justice and environmental steward-ship,” Tucker said. “Saving resources

is good business and good policy. As the Old Testament prophet once said: ‘Without vision the people perish.’ Here at home and throughout Kentucky and Appalachia, we need to promote and work toward a vision of a healthy, sus-tainable future.” Tucker has been encouraged by the progress toward democracy the board and the CEO have taken. “This is a big step in the right direc-tion, as this election is both democratic and transparent,” he said. “We must keep working to make sure future boards of directors don’t fall back into a self-serving, undemocratic model that

has plagued this co-op for years.”

If you are a South Kentucky RECC member, or live in Pulaski County or any of the near-by counties (whether you’re a co-op member or not), Tucker would love to have your support for his campaign. Between Febru-ary 15 and mid-April, he will be talking to folks throughout the area about democracy, energy efficiency and clean energy. He’ll be gathering petition signatures for a Mem-bers’ Bill of Rights and asking for SKRECC members to vote for him. If you’re interested in volunteering for his campaign, you can contact him at [email protected] or call Sara Pennington at 606-276-9933.

KFTC’s New Energy and Transition member committee met January 12 in Winchester. Committee members traveled from Whitesburg, Bowling Green, Louisa, Louisville and many points in between to get to know each other better and set KFTC’s priorities for the coming year for our three campaigns related to clean energy: Appalachian Transition, Renew East Kentucky and Sustainable Energy. The team developed an ambitious but achievable set of goals for the year ahead as KFTC members work to shape a Just Transition in the mountains and throughout Kentucky, renew and reform Kentucky’s rural electric co-ops, and work to pass clean energy legislation in Kentucky and help to grow the movement of Kentuckians taking action for clean energy. For more information, visit: http://kftc.org/issues/new-energy-and-transition.

Ray Tucker spoke at KFTC’s 30th birthday party in August 2011.

When did you make your last gift to KFTC?

Look at the cover of balancing the scales. Under your name we have listed your last gift date and

amount!

Feel free to donate as you can!Thank you to those who have renewed your

dues. We’ve been getting a lot of renewals in the door these past couple of months.

If you haven’t done it yet, you might as well.


Economic Justice UpdateTax commission submits lackluster proposal to governor Kentucky would get significant new revenue – but corporations would get a major reduction in taxes – under a package of tax change proposals recommended by the Blue Ribbon Commission on Tax Reform. Tentative projections show that General Fund rev-enue could increase by $659 million through increases in income and consumption taxes. Meanwhile, corporate taxes would be reduced by more than $120 million – more than 25% of current corporate income tax revenues. Road Fund revenues also would be reduced slightly. The recommendations were delivered to Gov. Steve Beshear in December after the commission spent eight months gathering public input and considering nearly 100

changes to the state tax code. The governor said he would talk with legislative lead-ers to back the package of reforms in a likely special legis-lative session some time in 2013. At the commission’s last meeting in December, big questions about restructuring the individual income tax were settled, with decisions making the income tax more progressive (meaning it asks more from those with greater incomes). The commission agreed to recommend an Earned Income Tax Credit – an anti-poverty program that KFTC and allies have pushed for years and helped put on the commission’s list of options – at 15 percent of the fed-eral credit. They also put a cap on itemized deductions and will phase out the exemption on retirement income (except for Social Security) once total income exceeds $30,000 a year. Jason Bailey of the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, Sheila Schuster of the Advocacy Action Network and Rep. Jim Wayne (a non-voting member of the commis-sion) led the effort to defeat a regressive flat tax favored by some commissioners. Projections showed that a flat tax would mean an average tax decrease of nearly $5,000 for those with income greater than $200,000, and a tax increase for low- and middle-income folks. Kentucky’s tax system overall is already regressive in that it asks lower- and middle-income folks to contribute a higher percentage of their income to state and local taxes. “I think that we heard more at all of the public hear-ings about fairness than any other single topic,” Schuster said. “Our system is outdated and unfair to lower income Kentuckians.” As he had been reminding the commission at almost all of its meetings, Bailey said the income tax “is the cor-nerstone of the revenue system. From a revenue and tax fairness perspective, the income tax … is the only tax based on the ability to pay.” In response to a comment from a commissioner about not wanting to “penalize higher incomes,” former state senator Joe Wright said: “I don’t view it as a penalty if someone makes a lot of money and has to pay more in-come tax. When I was paying more taxes I was doing a lot better. It never bothered me to pay taxes. Why not help this state and help our fellow man?” Rep. Wayne also disagreed with the labeling of the progressive proposals as a penalty. “There’s a social re-sponsibility that those of us who have made it have for the common good.” The vote was in favor of graduated tax rates over a flat tax. This package of changes will increase income tax rev-enues by $500 million, with incomes lower than $30,000 paying less and those above paying more. However, it is hard to say whether the tax system overall will be more or less regressive because of the $313 million in new revenue that will come from increases in the sales, cigarette and utility taxes – which by nature are all regressive. The huge giveaway in corporate taxes – representing more than 25% of the current amount of corporate tax rev-enue – was challenged by Rep. Wayne and Bailey.

KFTC members have positive impact on commission

KFTC members participated in a visible and influ-ential way throughout the Blue Ribbon Commission process, particularly through testimony at public hear-ings, talking with commissioners and attending all of the group’s meetings. The long-term awareness created through KFTC’s decade of tax reform work and pushing the Kentucky Forward Plan with allies in the Partnership for Ken-tucky’s Future also helped open the possibility for significant additional revenue and a more progressive income tax. In fact, three of the four major provisions in the Kentucky Forward Plan – the Earned Income Tax Credit, a more progressive individual income tax, and expansion of the sales tax to luxury services – were included in the commission’s recommendations to the governor. This was an important presence. As Linda Stetten-benz, who attended many of the commission’s meet-ings, pointed out, “I think a lot of these commissioners have been largely insulated from the input of ordinary people in decisions that affect them. “At the [October 23] meeting, I was disappointed with the first half of the meeting when they were mostly talking about how to help rich people. Becki [Winchel] and I talked with one of the commissioners whose ideas have often raised real flags for us. Then the conversation started to shift a little to talk about equity and revenue. “But I still feel there is a missing piece, and that is the disparity of incomes and how proposals impact poor people and rich people differently. There is not really a lot of understanding about that,” Stettenbenz added. “I’m glad that we, KFTC members, have put so much work into helping craft and lift up sensible poli-cies. We’ll have to continue … to hold our legislators accountable for fair and adequate tax reform.”

But this didn’t seem to bother some commissioners. It’s why they were on the commission. “Do we need to give this much in corporate tax breaks?” Rep. Wayne asked. “That’s $100 million for cor-porations that our consultants show we’re already com-petitive and really don’t need. There has been no study that shows this is going to increase our competitiveness.” Overall, the proposals could raise about $659 million a year in new revenue as seen in the table at left. That’s significant given the reluctance of legislators in the past to raise any new revenue. However, it’s far short of the $1 billion revenue shortfall the state is projected to have over the next decade, and does not equal the current level of under-funding of existing programs. And legislators also are looking for $300 million a year to put the state pension fund on solid footing.


Voting Rights UpdateJason Smith – turned away at the polls, but determined to vote A few stories were reported through-out election day of former felons who had gone through the process to have their vote restored by gubernatorial pardon – and received it – but were still illegally tuned away at the polls. This is one story from former felon Jason Smith, who en-countered a lot of diffi culty in casting his fi rst vote in a presidential election. “I was excited. I got my right to vote back after working hard to get it back in 2011 and voted for the fi rst time in the general election last year. This was my fi rst presidential election, though, and I was taking it really seriously – learning about all of the issues and candidates and really doing the research to cast a well-informed vote. “And the line was so much longer than I thought it would be. I waited for al-most an hour to vote, but it didn’t matter. It was worth it. “When I got up to the front, there was a sweet older lady who asked for my name and fl ipped through the booklet, but just

couldn’t fi nd me anywhere. She called the Hardin County Clerk’s offi ce and handed me the phone. “I couldn’t believe what the person on the other end of the phone was telling me. “She told me that I’d been ‘felony purged.’ I objected, saying that I’d gotten my right to vote back since then, but she just kept repeating that I was a felon and couldn’t vote – and that I was committing a crime by trying to vote. I was shocked, but determined, so I told her that I’d be over to the county clerk’s offi ce soon to talk about it and then I hung up. “On my drive over, I called the Secre-tary of State’s offi ce to talk to them about it and they were very attentive – saying that they’d look into it right away. “A little while later I made it to the Hardin County Clerk’s offi ce and showed people there my framed proclamation from the governor giving me my right to vote back. “’That means exactly nothing to us, sir,’ I was told. And they repeated the

same talking points from our phone con-versation – telling me that I’m a felon, that I can’t vote, and that it’s a crime that I’m trying to. “I stubbornly waited in the offi ce and told them that I wasn’t going to leave until I got to vote. “And that’s when they called the sher-iff and three offi cers came over. They told me that they wouldn’t let me vote even if the president called them and told them to himself. “I’m not going to lie, I got a bit scared thinking that I might get arrested for exer-cising my right to vote – for doing the right thing. But then I realized that a lot of good people have been to jail to protect the right to vote. And that’s not such bad company to be in. “But a few minutes later, the Secretary of State’s offi ce called and talked to the county clerk and they decided that they

had to let me vote. “I wish I could tell you that I was a complete gentleman, but I couldn’t help but ask if it was the president on the line. “I went back to my polling location and a few people there asked questions and I told the story of everything that had happened. And I fi nally got to vote. “Afterward, I was looking for one of those ‘I voted’ stickers. They were out but expected to get more in soon. I decided that I’d waited this long, I could wait a little longer for them to bring back a fresh roll of stickers. But one of the guys who had heard my story gave me his off of his own shirt instead. That was really kind. “Even after all of that, it was worth it for me to vote. But people shouldn’t have to go through that much grief just to exercise their right to participate in the democratic process. “There ought to be a better way.”

Jason Smith (pictured far left) met with Lindsay Hughes Thurston, Assistant Secretary of State, in early 2012 to continue to push forward HB 70 — an amend-ment to restore voting rights to former felons. Also pictured from left to right: Lindsay Hughes Thurston, James Snyder and Danny Cotton.

Film Screening February 28, 6-8:30 pm Downtown Lexington Public Library Theater

Sponsored by Central Kentucky Chapter of KFTC, Appalshop, Lexington NAACP and Central Kentucky Council of Peace and Justice


Voting Rights UpdateNew Senate leadership shifts key players in HB 70 push House Bill 70, KFTC’s proposed constitutional amendment to restore voting rights to most former felons who have served their debt to society, typi-cally has passed the state House over-whelmingly – with as many as 84 and as few as 70 of the hundred representatives voting yes, and with broad bipartisan support. However, the bill has consistently hit a snag in the Senate – where previ-ous Senate President David Williams, State and Local Government Committee Chair Damon Thayer, and a few other leaders, prevented HB 70 from coming to a vote in committee, thus not allow-ing the bill to be heard and voted on on the Senate floor. But this year, a lot has shifted in the Senate leadership. Senate President David Williams has left office to pursue a career as a judge, other leadership positions have shuffled, and there are seven new sena-tors (out of 38) and new chairs of key committees like State and Local Gov-ernment, where the bill is likely to be

assigned. The current makeup of the Senate Republican leadership is:

Senate President - Sen. Robert StiversPresident Pro Tempore - Sen. Katie Kratz StineMajority Floor Leader - Sen. Damon ThayerMajority Caucus Chairman - Sen. Dan SeumMajority Whip - Sen. Brandon Smith

Senate State and Local Government CommitteeSen. Joe Bowen (Chair)Sen. Stan Humphries (Vice Chair)Sen. Walter Blevins Jr.Sen. Ernie HarrisSen. Christian McDanielSen. Morgan McGarveySen. Gerald A. NealSen. R.J. Palmer IISen. Albert RobinsonSen. Dan “Malano” SeumSen. Damon Thayer

The shifts are both good and bad for the prospect of HB 70. However, two of the five members of Republican Senate leadership are strong supporters of HB 70, and it remains to be seen how much more freedom senators will have to fol-low their conscience now that David Williams is gone. At any rate, KFTC members are do-ing a lot more than waiting and hoping for a positive outcome. Members need to do all we can to educate legislators and put pressure on them to pass HB 70. Citizen lobbying in person in Frankfort is the best way to do that, but you can even make a big impact from your phone at home.

Can you take two minutes to pick up the phone and make a difference on this issue?

Call the Legislative Message Line (1-800-372-7181). The Message Line is open later than you’d think - 7 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Thursday, but open until 11 p.m. once the legislature is in session (starintg Feb. 5). On Fri-days, it’s open 7 a.m.-6 p.m.

Leave a message for the “Senate State and Local Govern-ment Committee,” “Senate Leadership,” plus your own Senator and Representative.

Message: “Please support House Bill 70.”

If you have an extra two minutes, please also ask a friend to call in.

Strengthen Democracy — TAKE ACTION

Kentucky Needs Your VoiceRight now, today, is our best

chance to build New Power in Kentucky as we also address the problems caused by Old Power — old political power, old economic power and old

energy power!

Join KFTC members in Frankfort as we lobby, march and rally for New Power.

• February 21 Voting Rights Lobby Day!This year we have added an additional voting rights lobby day to help move HB 70 forward. Meet in Capitol Annex Room 125, 8:30-9:45 am and cafeteria after 9:45 am. A drop-in lobby orientation will run from 8:30-9:45 am and then lobby visits till 2 pm.

• March 6 Voting Rights Lobby Day and Rally!Join us as we speak out for voting rights for former felons who have served their debt to society. Meet in Capitol Annex Room 111 starting at 8:30 am for lobbying throughout the day with a rally in the Capitol Rotunda from 1- 2 pm.

In addition, you can lobby with KFTC any Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. Contact your local organizer or contact: [email protected] or 859-200-5159.

Even if you can’t travel to Frankfort, it’s important to make your voice heard. Call the toll-free legislative message line at 800-372-7181 to urge your legislators to support these issues.

Watch your mail in the next week or so for KFTC’s Citizens Legislative Guide!


The KFTC staff team continues to strengthen and expand The KFTC staff team is growing and evolving in some important ways. Two experienced KFTC organizers recently shifted to new roles within the organization. Carissa Lenfert, who has worked

with the Madison County chapter since 2008, moved to Louisville, where she will continue in a role as Deputy Organizing Direc-tor. Colette Hen-

derson has left her position as the Jefferson County chapter organizer to become a Devel-opment Associate. In her new role she will focus on coor-dinating fun and informative events across the state to help us grow our membership and raise important funds.

I n a d d i t i o n to these changes, Central Kentucky organizer Ondine Quinn recently an-nounced her inten-tion to leave KFTC at the end of March 2013. Quinn has

been an important member of the staff

team since 2008. To fi ll these key positions (and a few others), KFTC has hired a talented set of fi ve new organizers who joined the staff team in January – Denney Breeding, Beth Bissmeyer, Beth Howard, Alicia Hurle and Jessie Skaggs! Denney Breeding (left in photo)

will serve as a community or-ganizer working with the Southern Kentucky KFTC chapter based in Bowling Green. Breeding is origi-nally from Letcher County. For the

past seven years she worked for an agency dedicated to improving the qual-ity of child care in a multi-county region around Bowling Green. She is a gradu-ate of Western Kentucky University and has also taught, coached and worked as a resident assistant and counselor with at-risk youth. Beth Bissmeyer (right in photo) will work as an organizer with KFTC chap-ters in Madison and Boyle coun-ties. She grew up in Louisville and is a graduate of Berea College. Bissmeyer has been an active member and lead-er within KFTC for

at least the past six years, fi rst in Berea and later back home in Louisville. She’s served the organization in many capaci-ties, including as chapter chair, voter empowerment organizer, intern and KFTC Steering Committee representa-tive. She also worked as an organizer for the Student Environmental Action Coalition and as a fi eld organizer in a 2010 congressional campaign. Beth Howard is the new orga-n i z e r w o r k i n g with the Central Kentucky Chapter of KFTC. Howard grew up in West Liberty (Morgan County). She is a graduate of Eastern Kentucky University and the second member of our staff team to be an ac-complished poet! Before joining KFTC’s staff, Howard served for fi ve years as a lead organizer with a grassroots or-ganization in Daytona Beach, Florida called Fighting Against Injustice Toward Harmony (FAITH). She returned to Ken-tucky in 2011 and has been working as a case manager facilitating classes in par-enting, job coaching, and interpersonal skills for a multi-county program based in West Liberty. Alicia Hurle is the new organizer working with the Jefferson County KFTC chapter. Hurle has worked for the past seven years with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Kentuckiana, where she served as

program coordina-tor. She is originally from Louisville and holds a master’s de-gree in public ad-ministration from the University of Louisville. Hurle has also worked as

a social worker and as a tutor and men-tor for at-risk children. She has extensive volunteer experience in Louisville, in-cluding with the Anne Braden Institute for Social Justice Research, Wednesday’s Child, Inc., and the Race, Community and Child Welfare Initiative. Jessie Skaggs joined KFTC’s staff in eastern Kentucky, where she will work to support the Per-ry County chapter and bring needed capacity to our work in the region, espe-cially around water testing and public health. Skaggs lives in Paintsville (John-son County). She graduated from the University of Louisville with a degree in graphic design and worked in that fi eld for four years. She holds a master’s de-gree in public affairs from Indiana Uni-versity, with an emphasis on sustainable development. While in Indiana, Jessie worked as the assistant director of a lo-cal growers’ guild with more than 200 members.

Thursday February 14, 2013 9 a.m Optional Citizen Lobbying in Room 111, Capitol Annex.12:00 p.m. Gather at the Ky River below the bridge at Capitol Ave.12:30 p.m. March to the Capitol (Flat route is .6 miles.)1:15 p.m. Rally on the Capitol steps — speakers, music, and a vision for Kentucky2:00 p.m. I Love Mountains Valentine delivery

For more information and to register visit www.KFTC.org/love

Ride the bus to Frankfort!The Eastern Kentucky bus will LEAVE:Whitesburg food city at 7 a.m. HCTC main campus at 8 a.m.Manchester Walmart at 9 a.m. London Wendy’s/Truck Stop at 10:00 a.m. Contact [email protected] for more information

Louisville Buses:University of Louisville Bus, Rauch Planetarium at 10:30 a.m. Reserve a spot, email Troy Tucker canvas.87@ gmail.comThomas Jefferson Unitarian Church, at 10:30 a.m. Reserve a spot and more information www.kentuckyipl.org

Day


LondonMorgan Brown

Administration Assistant

Robin DaughertyOffice Manager

Burt LauderdaleExecutive Director

Floyd CountyKristi Kendall

Floyd and Knott County Chapter Organizer

Jessie SkaggsEast Kentucky/Public Health

Chapter Organizer

WhitesburgTanya Turner

East Kentucky Chapter Organizer

BereaLisa Abbott

Organizing Director

Beth BissmeyerMadison and Boyle County

Chapter Organizer

Amy HoggProgram Associate

Sara Pennington New Power Organizer

Kevin PentzCanary Project Organizer

Teri BlantonCanary Project Fellow

Meet the KFTC StaffIn this first issue of 2013 bal-ancing the scales, we thought we’d do a bit of introduction to the KFTC staff team. Each staff member is categorized by of-fice location and includes their photo and title so you can get to know them and put a face with a name.

Bowling GreenDenney Breeding

Southern Kentucky Chapter Organizer

LouisvilleJessica George

Development Director

Jerry HardtCommunications Director

Alicia HurleJefferson County

Chapter Organizer

Carissa LenfertDeputy Organizing Director

Colette HendersonDevelopment Associate

Central KentuckyTim Buckingham

Communications Associate

Jessica Hays LucasDeputy Director for

Leadership Development

Beth HowardCentral Kentucky

Chapter Organizer

Erik HungerbuhlerE-Organizer

Heather Roe MahoneyDeputy Director

Dave NewtonDeputy Director for

Voter Empowerment

Ondine QuinnCentral Kentucky

Chapter Organizer*

Northern KentuckyJoe Gallenstein

Northern Kentucky Chapter Organizer

*Ondine will be leaving the KFTC staff at the end of March.


appalachia’s Bright future A Conversation on Shaping a Just Transition Eastern Kentucky’s economy is changing fast, and our future is unwritten. We believe we have the opportunity to move forward to-gether, to build a new economy here in the mountains – a diverse, home-grown economy good for all people. We can generate new jobs, new businesses, and new opportunities for the workers, fami-lies and young people of eastern Kentucky. It won’t be easy, but we can have a bright future here, if we build it. We believe it’s essential that the transition to the new economy is a just transition – one that celebrates our culture and invests in communities and workers who depend on the old economy. We have many assets here. Our goal is to develop opportunities for our people, for eastern Kentucky, to thrive. We hope you’ll join us for a conversation about the opportunities and challenges we face in our state and region as we work togeth-er to build the next economy here in eastern Kentucky. This three-day gathering in Harlan will feature information on the changing economy, lessons from other regions that have gone through tran-sition, and examples of entrepreneurs and communities beginning to build our bright future.

april 19 - 21 Harlan Convention Center

For more information, contact Lisa Abbott, [email protected]

“We can have a bright future here, if we build it.”

Carl Shoupe, Harlan County

Jan. 28 Madison County chapter meeting, 6:30 p.m. at Berea College Appalachian Cen-ter, 205 N. Main St., Berea.

Feb. 7 Economic Justice Lobby Day, Capitol Annex Room 125, 8:30-9:45 am, or cafeteria after 9:45 am, for lobby orientation and lobbying throughout the day. Tell legislators; Kentuckians deserve good schools, college affordability, safe and healthy communities, and the opportunity to attract good jobs for our workers. For more information visit www.kftc.org/ej-lobby

Feb. 7 Scott County chapter meeting, 7 p.m., at the Georgetown Public Library. Email [email protected] or 859-420-8919 for more information.

Feb. 11 Jefferson County chapter meeting, 6:30 p.m. at the First Unitarian Church, 809 South 4th Street in Louisville.

Feb. 11 Floyd County chapter meeting, 7 - 8:30 p.m., St. Martha’s Catholic Church in Prestonburg. For more information contact [email protected] or call 606-226-4159.

Feb. 12 Letcher County chapter meeting, 6 p.m., Whitesburg KFTC office. Contact [email protected] or call 606-632-0051.

Feb. 14 I Love Mountains Day! Join hundreds of Kentuckians standing up for our land, water and people. Gather at noon at the Kentucky River for a march that will start at 12:30, followed by a rally on the Capitol steps at 1:15 p.m. Wear red, bring a home-made sign and a valentine for the governor. Register online and find information at www.kftc.org/love.

Feb. 19 Northern Kentucky chapter meeting, 7 p.m. at Roebling Books and Coffee at 306 Greenup St. Contact [email protected] or call 859-380-6103.

Feb. 19 Perry County chapter meeting and potluck, 6 p.m., Bring a dish to share if you like, or just enjoy some food and fellowship with us! HCTC Tech Campus Ow-ens Building 115B. Contact [email protected] or call 606-632-0051.

Feb. 21 Voting Rights Lobby Day (the smaller version). This year we have added an additional voting rights lobby day to help move HB 70 forward. Meet in Capi-tol Annex Room 125, 8:30-9:45 a.m. and cafeteria after 9:45 a.m. for a drop-in lobby orientation, and then lobby visits until 2 p.m. Email [email protected] or call 859-420-8919 for more information.

Feb. 21 Central Kentucky chapter meeting, 7 p.m. at the Episcopal Diocese Mission House (corner of Martin Luther King Blvd. and 4th Street) in Lexington.

Feb. 21 Rowan County chapter meeting, 6 p.m. at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church on 5th Street in Morehead.

Feb. 25 Madison County chapter meeting, 6:30 p.m. at Berea College Appalachian Cen-ter, 205 N. Main St., Berea.

Feb. 26 Bowling Green chapter planning meeting, 6:30 p.m. at The Foundry, 531 West 11th St. Contact [email protected] or call 859-276-0563.

Feb. 28 Southern Patriot - Screening of the Anne Braden documentary, 6 p.m., Down-town Lexington Library in the Farrish Theatre. Anne Braden: Southern Patriot is a first person documentarby about the extraordinary life of this American civil rights leader. Braden was hailed by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in his 1963 Let-ter from Birmingham Jail as a white southerner whose rejection of her segrega-tionist upbringing was “eloquent and prophetic. For more information contact Ondine Quinn at [email protected] or call 859-368-4438.

Calendar of Events

january 2013 - balancing the scales

Documents

staff page

governor page

fundraiser page

push page

fairness page

harlan county page

clean water page

lack of understanding