Exurban power grab beat back

I'm glad we can lay this ridiculous effort to rest - most of it, at least.

Campbell County, Kentucky, has such class-charged politics that we shouldn't have been surprised that there was such a trauma over whether its central city should house any county services.

Campbell County has 2 county seats - Newport and Alexandria. Some services are found at both courthouses. The Newport courthouse is more convenient to most urban working-class neighborhoods. The Alexandria courthouse is closer to most wealthy exurbs.

With services at both locations, everyone should be happy, right?

Well, not the Republican exurban intelligentsia. Not unlike Oscar the Grouch, they have to complain about something. So they launched an effort to have all county services removed from Newport.

This would not have accomplished a damn thing - for Alexandria wasn't lacking these amenities to begin with. This effort was especially stinging because the more working-class half of the county centered on Newport had paid a courthouse tax that the other half was exempt from.

Talk about taxation without representation! Bear in mind that the wealthy suburbs control most county offices anyway!

The only thing closing the Newport courthouse would have done would have been for the exurbs to once again lord it over the blue-collar cities. It also would have forced urbanites who can't afford cars to travel 15 miles out of town just to do county business.

Local conservatives have always detested Newport for some reason (ahem), but this is plumb ridiculous.

Anystink, a lawsuit was filed to force county offices in Newport to close. Plaintiffs came up with a new argument: They said Newport isn't really a county seat, even though it is.

But yesterday, a judge laid this suit to rest.

Inexplicably, he agreed with the plaintiffs' claim that Newport isn't a county seat. Why, I don't know, because everyone knows damn well it is.

But the plaintiffs actually lost in their effort to deprive Newport of its county offices - because the judge also ruled that Kentucky law doesn't prohibit counties from putting offices outside the county seat. In fact, the court found that the law says the sheriff still has to have an office in Newport even if it isn't the county seat.

Now that this case is settled, both Newport and Alexandria get to keep their county offices. Be happy.

(Source: http://nky.cincinnati.com/article/AB/20090512/NEWS0103/305120048/Offices+can+stay+in+Newport+)