Pageantry and promise

Fletcher vows a 'new unity'

Fletcher extols 'greatness in this state'

Text of Gov. Fletcher's inaugural address

Herald-Leader
December 10, 2003

Pageantry and promise
Agenda for term echoes campaign's messages

FRANKFORT - In an inaugural address reminiscent of his campaign messages, Gov. Ernie Fletcher set an ambitious agenda for Kentucky yesterday that included efficiency in government, affordable health care and better education without raising taxes.

Soon after being publicly sworn in as Kentucky's 60th governor on the front steps of the Capitol, Fletcher underscored the first of those goals, signing an executive order that freezes some 4,000 vacant state jobs. Only emergency positions and his own key staff appointments are exempt.

Then, in the midst of the pomp, pageantry and official duties of his first day, Fletcher, a physician, even briefly attended to a white-haired man who collapsed at a reception on the second floor of the Capitol.

Fletcher and Dr. James W. Holsinger, the new secretary of the Cabinet for Health Services, crouched over the man until paramedics arrived.

He "lost consciousness for a few seconds," Fletcher said. But he "was fine" when he left on a stretcher for a Frankfort hospital, the governor added. The man's name was not released.

At his afternoon inaugural ceremony, under gray skies and with temperatures in the low 60s, Fletcher delivered a 13-minute speech long on goals but short on specifics to accomplish them.

He made no mention of how he would deal with the divided Kentucky General Assembly, which he must convince to approve his proposals.

"We inherit not only goodness and greatness, but also duty, a duty to face Kentucky's problems that have festered for a generation," Fletcher said. "State government has too often been used to look out for the insiders and not the citizens."

Fletcher also bemoaned what he said were "hurtful divisions" in the state among rural and urban regions that have produced high poverty rates, low education levels and a drug problem.

"But I say to you that poverty, whether of the spirit or of the world, is not our destiny," he said.

In repeating his campaign theme of "restoring hope," Fletcher said he believes the way to create "an ethical government" is to surround himself with people of integrity, character and self-discipline.

He also noted that one of his early acts will be to reorganize state government. Details of his plan, which will include the merger of some of the 14 cabinets, are expected in a few days.

Fletcher promised affordable health care and better education "without raising taxes on the hard-working people of Kentucky." Later in the speech, however, he said he will attempt to "modernize taxes."

He also said he will create incentives to increase wages and reform regulations to keep jobs in Kentucky.

"My friends, greater prosperity for all is coming," Fletcher said.

House Speaker Jody Richards, D-Bowling Green, said he is eager to see how Fletcher manages all those goals in the budget proposal he must present in late January.

"It would be wonderful if he accomplishes all he said in his speech without raising taxes," said Richards, who also ran for governor this year. "But frankly that will be hard to do."

Senate budget chairman Richie Sanders, R-Franklin, said he expects Fletcher to offer "creative ways to improve Kentucky without raising taxes."

Fletcher said his hiring freeze, signed in his Capitol office after he left the swearing-in ceremony, is designed to "send a clear message that we need to bring efficiency and increase productivity" in government.

Charles Wells, executive director of the Kentucky Association of State Employees, called the freeze "a good move given the state's budget problems."

No executive branch vacancy will be filled until it has been evaluated for its necessity, Fletcher said.

Taking office as lieutenant governor yesterday just before Fletcher's speech was former U.S. Attorney Steve Pence of Louisville.

Pence drew laughter from a supportive and mostly attentive crowd when he noted that his career has included jobs as a lieutenant, lieutenant colonel and now lieutenant governor.

"One of these days I may have a title not preceded by lieutenant," he said, a comment many listeners took as signal of higher political aspirations.

Fletcher also watched several new members of his Cabinet sworn in.

Earlier in the day, at the inaugural parade, the lack of African-Americans in that Cabinet prompted a protest by the Rev. Louis Coleman, a Louisville civil rights activist, in front of Fletcher's viewing stand.

"It's a poor way for a governor to start off an administration, with no diversity," Coleman said.

Asked about the protest, Fletcher said he is not yet finished with his appointments.

The Courier-Journal
December 10, 2003

Fletcher vows a 'new unity'
New governor's first acts include state hiring freeze

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Gov. Ernie Fletcher set goals of "efficiency in government, affordable health care and better education" yesterday as he began Kentucky's first Republican administration in 32 years.

Repeating a campaign pledge, Fletcher also said in his inaugural address, "We're going to get there without raising taxes on the hardworking people of Kentucky." And in one of his first acts, he signed an executive order putting a hiring freeze on vacant state jobs.

In his campaign, Fletcher vowed to allow no overall tax increase but said he was willing to raise some taxes if others were cut, leaving the state with no immediate gain in revenue.

Fletcher spoke for 13 minutes on an overcast but seasonably mild afternoon to an enthusiastic and heavily Republican crowd at his inauguration outside the state Capitol. Following his address, with his wife, Glenna, at his side, he took the oath of office from Kentucky Chief Justice Joseph Lambert.

Fletcher, a doctor who most recently served as 6th District congressman before becoming the state's 60th governor, promised to bring a "new unity" to heal the cultural and geographic divisions that he said have impeded Kentucky's growth.

But while urging unity, he implicitly criticized his seven Democratic predecessors.

"State government has too often been used to look out for the insiders and not all of the citizens," he said. "This has insulated poverty from progress, and need from remedy. What could have been a broader, common, wealth, has become a guarded treasure, traded much of the time among the well-positioned."

Speaking earlier, Lt. Gov. Steve Pence decried "the days of blind cronyism" and a state government "concerned with perpetuating itself instead of acting in the best interests of the people."

Fletcher vowed that his administration would show compassion. "As children of a higher power, the passionate focus of our lives must be to relieve suffering, to improve lives, to work for a better future," he said.

The new governor inherited a state budget projected to fall $262 million short of anticipated revenue this year, and a shortage next year that his predecessor, Paul Patton, has estimated at $710 million.

Fletcher did not specifically mention that issue in his speech but promised such problems could be overcome: "My friends, greater prosperity for all is coming."

Fletcher promised that he would begin his efficiency push with an order reorganizing state government.

"Cabinets will be merged, and the first step toward greater efficiency will be taken," he said. "We will continue to streamline this government, not for its own sake, but to more efficiently serve and directly connect government to the people of the commonwealth."

The hiring freeze affects about 4,000 open positions, Fletcher said later in his office at the Capitol. He said that the positions would be evaluated to determine whether any could be eliminated and that the order applies to any new vacancies that arise.

Regarding health care, Fletcher noted in his speech that he is a physician and said he would propose measures to increase access to care while reducing costs, but he was not specific. He also said he was committed to "removing disincentives so we can keep more doctors in the state, modernizing Medicaid and working to improve the health of our citizens before problems occur."

On education, Fletcher said he was committed to "an early literacy program, quality teachers, character education and safer classrooms."

He said education reform efforts of the past 13 years have achieved some success. "Clearly, there has been improvement, and we cannot stop now," he said.

And he promised to tend to the needs of higher education. "We want to have outstanding regional and research universities, and we will work to place a university among the top 20 research universities in America," he said.

Afterward, University of Kentucky President Lee Todd said he assumed Fletcher was referring to UK. University of Louisville President James Ramsey said he was encouraged by Fletcher's support for higher education and by his use of the "top 20" phrase as an example of his goals.

Fletcher said he would improve the state's economy with "incentives to increase wages, modernize taxes, reform regulations to spur opportunity instead of running it out of the state, and more vigorous support of the industries already here."

Leading Democrats complimented Fletcher on his address.

"It was the right tone, focusing on unity," said Louisville Metro Mayor Jerry Abramson, who wore a tie with a pattern of tiny elephants, the Republican symbol. "It's called the new world order," he said.

Abramson declined to comment on Fletcher's allusion to Democratic rule, other than to say it's time to look forward, not backward.

Attorney General-elect Greg Stumbo, now the state's highest-ranking Democrat, said Fletcher's remarks were political, "but I don't think Democrats should take great offense at that."

Stumbo said his only quibble with the speech was a lack of outright support for the principles of the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990, of which Stumbo was a major proponent. "I would like to have heard a larger commitment to keep the educational foundations of KERA," he said.

Fletcher and Pence were officially sworn in just after midnight in the Capitol rotunda, and took the oath again at the 2 p.m. ceremony on the front steps of the Capitol.

They affirmed and did not repeat the lengthy oath, which includes an affirmation that they have not fought or assisted a duel. Fletcher said after the ceremony that they acted out of convenience, but said he thinks the state constitution should be changed to remove the dueling reference because "I don't think it's the national image we want to have."

Fletcher, Pence and their wives began their day with a private worship service attended by about 300 people at First Christian Church in Frankfort, where the governor's brother, Harold Fletcher Jr., is vice chairman of the board.

In the parade to the Capitol, as the Fletchers' gray Corvette passed state Republican headquarters on Capital Avenue to rounds of applause, Fletcher shouted to Bowling Green lawyer Marshall Hughes, "Marshall, how sweet it is!"

At the parade reviewing stand, there were echoes of Fletcher's campaign against the Democratic nominee, Attorney General Ben Chandler. Glenna Fletcher held on her lap the Fletcher grandchildren who symbolized the campaign's "Restoring hope" theme on yard signs, bumper stickers and other materials.

As the Boone County float passed, with a huge, bobblehead figure of Fletcher, the governor exclaimed, "The Terminator!" During the race, Democrats used a less kindly looking figure of Fletcher called the Job Terminator to link him to national Republican economic policies.

After his speech, Fletcher appointed some temporary cabinet secretaries to serve until he issues his reorganization order. They are: labor, General Counsel John Roach; tourism, Chief of Staff Daniel Groves; personnel and revenue, transition team chief Mike Duncan; families and children, Health Services Secretary James Holsinger; public protection and regulation, Budget Director Brad Cowgill; workforce development, Education and Humanities Secretary Virginia Fox; and finance, former Personnel Commissioner Tommy Greenwell.

Responding to complaints by some African-American activists that he has yet to appoint a minority, Fletcher's staff introduced reporters to James Nevels, chairman of the Swarthmore Group of West Chester, Pa., an African American who said Fletcher had asked him to be finance secretary. Nevels said he declined because he is chairman of a school reform commission in Philadelphia.

The Rev. Louis Coleman, director of the Shelbyville-based Justice Resource Center, stood across from the reviewing stand holding protest signs. "I'm afraid this is going to be the first of many protests we'll have in the next four years," Coleman said.

Fletcher said he had interviewed other African Americans and noted that he has many more appointments to make.

"We are reaching out," he said, "and we will continue to do so."

Herald-Leader
December 10, 2003

Fletcher extols 'greatness in this state'

The inauguration's theme was "Unite Kentucky" and the idea permeated Fletcher's first public speech as Kentucky's 60th governor.

"The geography of Kentucky is drawn not only on the map but also on the culture," Fletcher said.

"Everyone here, regardless of age, lives as part of a generation that has yet to know the full power of true unity as Kentuckians, one and all. That ought not to be," Fletcher said.

Fletcher was not the first to lament Kentucky's ingrained and notorious regionalism. Many state leaders and social scientists over the years have complained that Kentuckians have stubbornly stunted their own development.

Fletcher said Kentuckians are rightly proud of their citizenship. Yet, "we are, in our state, somewhat divided from one another," he said.

He said there is a "jealousy" between rural and urban, and the major regions - "west, east and central" - do not feel themselves to be part of a whole.

"It has been this way for so long that it has been accepted without even realizing the cost of these hurtful divisions," Fletcher said.

Lt. Gov. Steve Pence, whose speech preceded Fletcher's, touched on the same theme. Pence said regionalism and division had been the legacy of a government historically dedicated more to its own perpetuation than to any public service ethic.

He and Fletcher are determined to change that, Pence said. "Say goodbye to the days of blind cronyism, ... the myth that poverty is destiny," he said.

Fletcher said inauguration day "marks a fresh start" and that his goal as he assumed office was "a new unity."

His 13-minute inaugural address contained some sweeping promises, including better health care and improvements in education, from early literacy to university research.

Fletcher also reiterated basic themes of the winning campaign waged against state Attorney General Ben Chandler, his Democratic opponent - no tax increases; instead, a promise to cut the size of the executive branch bureaucracy.

Fletcher said merger of some cabinet agencies would be among his first official acts. "Greater prosperity for all is coming," Fletcher said, delivering one of several applause lines.

Fletcher was already governor when Chief Justice Joseph Lambert ceremonially administered the oath of office on the Capitol steps. In keeping with tradition, he had been sworn in during a private ceremony at midnight, when Gov. Paul Patton's term expired.

Fletcher simultaneously resigned as congressman for central Kentucky's 6th District.

As provided in the 1891 Kentucky Constitution, the inauguration took place five weeks after the general election - an election affected at least in part by scandal.

Patton, 66, was seven years into what many considered a productive administration focused on education and the economy when news of a two-year relationship with former nursing home owner Tina Conner led him into political retirement.

Patton and first lady Judi Patton had front row seats beside Fletcher and his family. Three of the state's six other living former governors also attended - Louie B. Nunn, the state's last Republican governor until Fletcher, and Democrats Julian Carroll and John Y. Brown Jr.

Former Govs. Wendell Ford, Martha Layne Collins and Brereton Jones were absent.

Fletcher was introduced by his father, Harold Fletcher Sr., who spoke warmly about his son's accomplishment. "Every parent wants the best for their children," the elder Fletcher said. "You live through them and you dream through them."

The inaugural ceremony itself was history mingled with technology - and the modern mania for security.

The Capitol, completed in 1910, was decked the old-fashioned way with red and blue bunting. But Fletcher delivered his speech with a TelePrompTer, and the ceremony was beamed through two giant screen televisions to bystanders who lacked tickets for seating. A pair of Kentucky State Police "special response" teams kept watch from the Capitol roof.

Fletcher, a physician and engineer by training, was initially a reluctant politician. He took the plunge in 1994 when Lexington-area Republicans recruited him to run for a state House seat after another prospective candidate got cold feet.

Fletcher won that race but his was a bumpy start. Democrats who controlled the House gerrymandered him out of his district after a single term. Fletcher then ran for the 6th District congressional seat in 1996, won a primary by just four votes, and was trounced by incumbent Rep. Scotty Baesler in the general election.

Baesler gave up the seat in 1998 and Fletcher won it. He was re-elected in 2000 and 2002. One year later, he led his party in breaking the Democrats' 32-year monopoly on the governorship.

U.S. Sens. Mitch McConnell and Jim Bunning were among Fletcher's admirers Tuesday.

"It's a change that we never thought we'd see happen in our lifetime," Bunning said in an interview.

McConnell said the inauguration was "a really brand new experience" for many Republicans, himself included: It was the first he had attended.

Courier-Journal
December 10, 2003

Text of Gov. Fletcher's inaugural address

My goal as I enter office is a new unity with efficiency in government, affordable healthcare, and better education.

And for education, I am committed to an early literacy program, quality teachers, character education, and safer classrooms.

Education is our greatest opportunity to give an irrevocable gift to the next generation.

We will build upon the successes we have seen in education over the past years.

Clearly, there has been improvement, and we cannot stop now. Whatever success Kentucky has in the future will be achieved only by citizens who receive a complete and vigorous education.

And that includes higher education. In the new, knowledge-based economy, higher education is absolutely necessary. We want to have outstanding regional and research universities, and we will work to place a university among the top 20 research institutions in America.