Branham

The Clark County Detention Center is expecting a $1.06 million shortfall in the coming fiscal year. Clark County Judge-Executive Henry Branham presented the jail's budget to commissioners during Wednesday's Fiscal Court meeting. The county would have to make up the difference from its general fund, Branham said. The jail's proposed budget will be included with the overall Fiscal Court budget which, according to state law, must be presented to the Fiscal Court by May 1, he said.

His term would have ended about two years from now. But the recent death of Clark County Coroner David Jacobs left the coroner position open, and officials soon will fill it. A new coroner will be elected this November, and the county judge-executive will appoint an interim coroner until the fall election, Clark County Clerk Anita Jones said. Officials must appoint an interim coroner because the position will be empty for at least 90 days before November's election. Still Judge-Executive Henry Branham is not rushing to choose that person.

Two magistrates of the Clark County Fiscal Court challenged County Judge-Executive Henry Branham Wednesday on comments he made earlier this month about magistrates meeting together. Second District Magistrate Joe McCord and 1st District Magistrate Rick Smith expressed concerns over a May 9 comment in which Branham said a group of magistrates has a vendetta against his office staff and are meeting before court meetings. The comment was made in an interview with the Sun shortly after the court gave a first round of approval to the county's $12 million budget for the 2007-08 fiscal year.

Clark County Judge-Executive Henry Branham is following committee recommendations to redraw magisterial districts into three areas that balance voter strength between the city and county. Branham announced Wednesday that after a public hearing Tuesday night, he is backing recommendations to split Clark County into nearly equal pie shapes that begin in the city and expand toward the county's rural areas. "I think the methodology that the committee used in coming to this redistricting was very sound," he said.

Clark County Judge-Executive Henry Branham doled out appointments Wednesday to six county committees that will help determine government policy on roads, fire services and Community Foundation Grants, among other things.Branham said he made the 19 appointments based partly on the personal requests and preferences of the magistrates. "I took all those things into account and tried to come up with some good working committees," he said. Magistrates Steve Palmer, Vanessa Oaks Rogers and Joe McCord, County Clerk Anita Jones and Jailer Bobby Stone were appointed to the insurance committee.

Clark County Judge-Executive Henry Branham presented a wide-ranging community survey to the Clark County Fiscal Court on Wednesday, asking magistrates to keep the results fresh in their minds as the community prepares to move forward. Conducted by experts at the University of Kentucky, the 53-question telephone survey was performed as part of an ongoing joint planning effort between the Winchester Board of Commissioners, the Clark County Fiscal Court and the Clark County Board of Education.

Clark County Judge-Executive Henry Branham proclaimed March as American Red Cross Month to recognize the organization’s humanitarian role in the Bluegrass region. Attending were, from left, volunteer Sam Robinson, Branham, volunteer Doyle Rambo and development coordinator Laura Atkinson. Not pictured was Jamie Adams, director of volunteers.

Clark County Judge-Executive Henry Branham, right, reads a joint city/county proclamation declaring this week National CPR/AED Awareness Week. Joining Branham for the reading were, from left, Winchester Mayor Ed Burtner, Fire Marshal Major Neal Oliver and Major Eric Hunter, emergency medical services officer. The Winchester Fire-EMS has placed 23 AEDs throughout the community in public places through their Community Access AED program.

Gov. Steve Beshear has appointed Clark County Judge-Executive Henry Branham and local engineer Randall S. Palmer to the Kentucky Transportation Center Advisory Board. Branham and Palmer are both from Winchester. Branham has served as judge-executive since 2007 and represents the Kentucky Association of Counties. Palmer is a civil engineer with Palmer Engineering and represents the Kentucky League of Cities.    Following an announcement to the Clark County Fiscal Court on Wednesday, Branham said the board focuses on transportation matters throughout the state.

Emergency Medical Services Week was declared for Winchester and Clark County in a joint city/county proclamation read by Winchester Mayor Ed Burtner, third from left, and Clark County Judge-Executive Henry Branham. Joining Burtner and Branham are Winchester Fire-EMS personnel, from left, front row, Battalion Chief Paramedic Allen Tallent, Chief Danny Castle, P/Major Eric Hunter, Paramedic Eddie Barnes; back row, EMT Billy Leslie, EMT Scott Bell, Paramedic/Lt. Trent Travis, EMT Paul Richardson and EMT Ramsey Flynn.

The Clark County Redistricting Committee has proposed boundaries for six new districts as the local government prepares to transition from the three-commissioner format now in use to a six-member panel approved by voters in 2012. The districts are not final. Clark County Attorney Brian Thomas said the county must follow all steps to comply with state law and publish public notices public before finalizing the districts. Voters approved the change to a commission form of government in November 2006, reducing representation from seven magistrates to three commissioners and the judge-executive, all elected at large.

The Clark County Fiscal Court presented a draft of its more than $14.6 million budget for the 2014 fiscal year Wednesday. While some county departments' requests were trimmed, it pinpointed the amount that would be given to each department, if any, from the Community Foundation Fund, according to a budget summary handed out by Clark County Judge-Executive Henry Branham. The county is still about $60,000 short of meeting budget, but the court plans to restrict spending while keeping services intact.

After the final budget meeting for the Clark County Fiscal Court Tuesday morning, the court is still nearly $60,000 in the red, but there will be no job cuts or layoffs. When setting the budget for the 2014 fiscal year, the cash carry-over was $668,000. After department budgets were presented to the fiscal court, it was $1.4 million short. After last week's budget meetings, the deficit was cut to $801,000. At Tuesday's meeting, Clark County Judge-Executive Henry Branham and the commissioners were able to make cuts and will dip into the Community Foundation Fund, a fund that is a result of the sale of the Rockwell International property in the 1990s, to cover the shortfall.

While the fiscal year 2006 budget was the toughest he has faced during his administration, the proposed 2013-14 budget, which currently has a more than $800,000 deficit, has all of the indications of being second-worst, Clark County Judge-Executive Henry Branham said Tuesday. After pulling funds together, the cash balance for the fiscal year 2014 is $648,617, Branham said at the Fiscal Court budget workshop session. After lowering projections on how much the county would receive in insurance and city payroll taxes for the rest of this fiscal year, the budget is still about $801,000 short.

The Clark County Fiscal Court again discussed pay raises for employees at the county road department, but took no action. Clark County Judge-Executive Henry Branham told Fiscal Court members he wants the best employees to do important county jobs, and discussed the employees' low morale due to the lack of pay raises. Road Department Supervisor Kevin Wilson said he never received an answer to his question during the Feb. 13 meeting regarding pay raises. He asked why the jail employees, who have an incentive to stay with a 75-cent raise after six months of uninterrupted service, can receive raises when his employees have not. Wilson had asked for 25-cent raises for his 12 road department employees, who start out at $7.25 an hour.

The budget just got a bit tighter for the Clark County Fiscal Court. Clark County Judge-Executive Henry Branham alerted the court to a loss of $68,876 during its regular meeting this week. The loss comes because of a change in the bond reimbursement for the county's judicial center. The county originally expected to receive $138,335 for the bond reimbursement for the purchase of the judicial center in 1989. The Administrative Office of the Courts claims it paid off its share of the $2,535,000 of the capital construction cost in fiscal year 2012.

The Clark County Fiscal Court has a replacement for its out-going county treasurer. Ken¿Hawkins was hired to replace Tina Lynn during the Fiscal Court's regular meeting Wednesday. Lynn abruptly resigned from the post two weeks ago, citing the relationship between her office and the office of Clark County Judge-Executive Henry Branham. Lynn's resignation was originally set for Wednesday, but the court asked her to stay until Friday and Lynn agreed. Hawkins will take over the post Monday, filling a position that has seen six treasurers in four years.

Clark County Treasurer Tina Lynn addressed the Fiscal Court last week hoping to instigate change in the office she will vacate Sept. 14. The Fiscal Court accepted Lynn's resignation at a special meeting Friday morning. Her letter of resignation called the relationship between her office and that of Clark County Judge-Executive Henry Branham's office "contentious and adversarial. " “Things have become increasingly difficult between the treasurer's office and the judge's office,” Lynn said.

The Clark County treasurer tendered her letter of resignation in a special fiscal court meeting Friday. In the letter, Tina Lynn, who has served as the county's treasurer since July 2010, called the working relationship between the treasurer's office and Clark County Judge-Executive Henry Branham's office “contentious and adversarial.” Lynn originally gave a final date of employment of Sept. 12, but county commissioners asked her to stay through Sept. 14. Lynn agreed to the request.

A group of concerned residents is trying to garner public support for a plan that could return the Clark County Fiscal Court to its previous seven-magistrate format. Former magistrate Joe McCord and his wife, Sheila, are among 10 community members trying to raise awareness about the issue, contending that three commissioners cannot adequately represent the entire county. “It's too much territory for one person to cover and their constituents to feel comfortable calling them,” Sheila McCord said.