Keith Taul Put a Plan on the Table—Now Show Us Yours 

By T.W. Shortt | Former Radcliff City Councilman, Co-Founder of the Radcliff Small Business Alliance, and Local Business Owner for Nearly Four Decades 

Hardin County Judge/Executive Keith Taul’s release of the Hardin County Roadmap 2030 represents what responsible leadership should look like: establish where we are, determine where we need to go, put the goals in writing, and give the public a way to measure whether government is actually getting there. 

Let us face reality: you cannot lead if you do not know where you are going. 

Roadmap 2030 puts measurable objectives on paper. It addresses public safety, EMS, fire services, emergency communications, roads, bridges, water and sewer infrastructure, broadband, transparency, budgeting, recreation, and community services. It also gives citizens something more substantial than campaign speeches and slogans—a written plan that can later be judged by results. 

That matters, especially in an election year. 

When The News-Enterprise reported on Taul’s State of the County presentation, his opponent, Radcliff Mayor J.J. Duvall, said he would be “factchecking” the information and seeing how it translated “on the campaign trail.” 

There is nothing wrong with fact-checking an incumbent. Voters should expect that. 

But there is a more important question for Mr. Duvall: 

Where is your map? 

Mr. Duvall has spent a substantial portion of his public career in Radcliff city government and has had considerable opportunity to influence the city’s approach to economic development, redevelopment, infrastructure, and long-range planning. 

I have a particular perspective on this because I once served on the Radcliff City Council. I sat through the meetings and heard the discussions. My recollection is that comprehensive long-range planning was not always treated with the urgency it deserved. 

Certainly, individual departments plan. Fire departments plan. Police departments plan. Public works department plan. 

But a city also needs a broader vision tying those efforts together. 

Too often, local government can become focused on what is immediate and visible: 

Parties. Picnics. Parade. Pyrotechnics. 

There is nothing wrong with community celebrations. They have their place. 

But they are not economic-development plans. 

They do not answer what Dixie Boulevard should look like ten years from now. They do not determine how aging commercial properties should be redeveloped. They do not establish measurable goals for infrastructure, code enforcement, public safety, or economic development. 

Drive portions of Radcliff’s older commercial corridors today and ask whether the community has consistently followed a comprehensive redevelopment strategy. 

It would be unfair to blame any mayor for every vacant storefront, deteriorating building, or private-property decision. Economic conditions, developers, property owners, lenders, and consumers all play a role. 

But leadership is about preparing a community for growth before the problems become more expensive and difficult to solve. 

That is what makes Roadmap 2030 significant. 

Keith Taul has put objectives before the public. In doing so, he has also created accountability. If EMS response times do not improve, citizens can ask why. If roads and bridges remain deficient, citizens can ask why. If infrastructure goals are missed, citizens can ask why. 

A roadmap does not guarantee success. 

It makes success or failure measurable. 

That is one reason I support Keith Taul for Hardin County Judge/Executive. 

Hardin County is growing, and growth brings pressure on roads, emergency services, housing, infrastructure, public safety, and county finances. Those challenges cannot be managed by reacting to one crisis at a time. 

Keith Taul has presented a roadmap that can be examined, questioned, criticized, and improved. 

Now his opponent should be held to the same standard. 

What are your measurable objectives? 

What are your priorities? 

How will taxpayers know whether you succeeded? 

Criticism is part of politics. 

Criticism is not a plan. Leadership requires a roadmap.