By Nate Haney
In “Fletcher should be a fan of state, not just UK” the author portrayed Governor Ernie Fletcher as an anti-University of Louisville Governor, who most certainly favors UK.
Honestly, it took me a couple-three times to actually follow what the author was saying, and why. Perhaps I was thrown off by the obvious disdain for the Governor, or simply the truly far-fetching points the author tried to pin upon the Governor.
First, the author mentions the vetoed projects that U of L had, and followed by the monies not being awarded in the following session.
It’s true, the Governor vetoed some of U of L’s wish list of projects, and he did so for purposes of a bond rating – he believes that you can’t let universities, funded by state tax dollars, to have a free-for-all building things without having to go first through the government. If the Governor hadn’t done this, schools such as UK would have the state in further debt.
The Governor’s actions are called responsible fiscal management and sound public policy.
Further more, to suggest that this Governor, because he vetoed these projects has not been good to U of L is laughable. Let me remind you.
$2 billion investment, yep, that is a “b”, as in billion, in the renovations to the U of L Medical Center over ten years; $300 million for a new U of L basketball arena, did UK get one of those? Oh wait, remember the $5 million investment in the Shelby Campus to renovate and build it up? What about the new Eastern Parkway entrance so our students don’t have to walk aimlessly and dodge tractor-trailers on their way to class?
As a matter of fact, the Governor has provided U of L with more money in 3
