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Beshear takes car to latest Ky. town hall meeting
SOMERSET, Ky. — Gov. Steve Beshear, stung by criticism surrounding travel expenses, arrived in Somerset in an automobile — not an airplane — on Monday for the latest in a series of town hall meetings.
Beshear had taken three planeloads of high-ranking state officials with him to the coalfields of eastern Kentucky last week for the first of the meetings at a cost of more than $7,000.
“The symbolism of it shows him not to be very responsible with the public’s money,” said Brett Hall, a Republican Party strategist and one-time adviser to former Gov. Ernie Fletcher. “That’s just one of the things that sticks in people’s craws, especially when you hold yourself out to be Mr. Ethics and after accusing your predecessor of not being responsible with public funds.”
The governor defended the expense on Monday, saying it is important that Kentuckians have an opportunity to talk face with face with their government leaders.
“You deserve to know what we’re doing, and we deserve to know what you think,” Beshear told about 350 people who gathered inside an auditorium at Somerset High School. “And I don’t like a filter between us. I like it straight from the horse’s mouth each way. So we’re going to continue to do this.”
Political opponents had criticized the cost of air travel for Beshear and his top assistants, pointing to the state’s budget woes. The state faces a $900 million revenue shortfall over the next two years.
