Hillbilly Report

Three Challengers For Seats On The Elizabethtown City Council Will Testify In Frankfort.

Ditch Mitch KY.
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Three challengers for seats on the Elizabethtown City Council will testify at a hearing regarding city classification legislation at the Capitol Annex in Frankfort on Wednesday, September 24th, 2008.
City Council candidates Steve Atcher, Bill Bennett and Matt Wyatt will participate in a discussion regarding the need to fix city classification legislation that was written by the General Assembly in 1994.  That legislation said the General Assembly would create a new classification system to replace the population-based city classification system originally created in the Kentucky Constitution. The General Assembly has never done so, leaving the original population-based classification system as the only existing classification system in the state of Kentucky.

This situation figured prominently in the battle over a restaurant tax ordinance passed by current city council members Tony Bishop, Marty Fulkerson, Kenny Lewis and Mayor David Willmoth, Jr. in 2007.  Elizabethtown still classifies itself as a fourth-class city, making it technically eligible for a restaurant tax.  According to the population-based city class system, a fourth-class city has a population of less than 8,000.   Opponents of the restaurant tax point out that Elizabethtown’s population exceeded 20,000 in 1997, and had a population of 22,452 in the 2000 U.S. Census.  Cities with a population of 20,000 to 99,999 are second-class cities per the population-based class system.  Second-class cities are not authorized by Kentucky law to enact a restaurant tax.  Elizabethtown’s population is now well over 24,000.

Where Are The "Ax The Food Tax" Signs?

Ditch Mitch KY.
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Today as I drove down Dixie Highway through Elizabethtown I noticed nearly all of the "Ax The Food Tax" signs were gone.
Does anybody know why? Surely proponents of the food tax wouldn't be sneaking around and stealing them, or would they? 

"Ax The Food Tax" Rally, Elizabethtown, Kentucky.

Ditch Mitch KY.
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Friday August 14, 2008 Steve Atcher, Bill Bennett and Matt Wyatt, all candidates for Elizabethtown City Council,  sponsored the "Ax The Food Tax" rally, in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. Bob Hack, a candidate for Elizabethtown city council was also in attendance. All four candidates have pledged to get rid of the restaurant tax and reclassify the city of Elizabethtown to a 2nd class city.
I took a few photos, click here to view them.
I also shot video of the event. I kept the video short so that those that couldn't make it to the rally could get a flavor of what went on and to put the current members of the Elizabethtown city council on notice that folks are serious about kicking them out of office.
It was really nice to attend a meeting like this and shoot video. Much different than Mayor David Willmoth, Jr. not allowing me to shoot video when Steve Atcher and Bill Bennett were presenting their case to the Elizabethtown city council.
When I left the meeting I couldn't help but think that Marty Fulkerson, Tony Bishop and Kenny Lewis are going to have a whole lot of explaining to do and then I thought, it's about time.