BY RACHEL DOVE
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN

INEZ — Martin County Judge/Executive Lon Lafferty has pledged to make Martin County’s water system his top priority over the next four years. He says he aims to fix it and is already working toward that goal.

Following a catastrophic water system failure Dec. 26 that left the county’s population without water as crews struggled to patch leak after leak, Lafferty began making phone calls and arranging meetings.

“The situation has been allowed to develop into an enormous problem that affects the daily lives of every man, woman and child in Martin County,” Lafferty said. “We can no longer stand by while we watch bandaid after bandaid being slapped on a gaping wound that’s festering while we wait to see how long before we are faced with another fiasco.

“I go to sleep thinking of avenues to pursue to acquire the needed funding, and it’s the first thought on my mind each morning.”

On Thursday, Lafferty and his staff met with representatives from U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell’s office and Big Sandy Area Development District to make his funding request known.

“I’m not mincing words and not asking for an amount that wouldn’t suffice to fix the problem,” said Lafferty. “I am asking for $60 million. I’m perfectly fine with that amount coming from different sources, but anything less will not do the job.”

The judge has been on the phone with U.S. Senator Rand Paul’s office and U.S. Congressman Hal Rogers’s staff making plans to meet with them.

“The same goes for our state representatives and our governor’s office,” noted Lafferty.

“We are tackling this head-on. There will be no sweeping it under the rug or crossing our fingers and hoping we don’t have any further issues through the winter.”

Lafferty pointed out that for decades, millions of dollars were taken from the local economy of Martin and Pike counties via the coal severance tax.

“Martin and Pike counties built this state through the coal severance funds made possible by the blood, sweat and tears of our coal miners. We made it possible for Kentucky to prosper and grow on our dollar,” stated the judge. “But sadly, while other counties, cities and communities reaped the benefits of the backbreaking labor that cost many miners their health and even their lives, Martin County was an afterthought – and we still are.

“Enough is enough. The buck stops here,” he added.

Lafferty says party affiliations have no place in this cause, and it’s time for teaming up.

“I’m a Republican appointed to the position of judge/executive by a Democrat governor. I have approached state and national leaders about our needs and never gave a thought to what party they belonged to,” stated Lafferty.

“Folks, we need water. We have to have water. Nothing else matters without clean drinking water and a reliable and trustworthy system that doesn’t leave us with outages every time we turn around.

“Water is a basic necessity and is the most vital need of Martin County. This is not a Republican or a Democrat issue; it’s a human issue.”

According to Lafferty, the response to his requests has been promising, and he remains optimistic.

“No matter who we have to ask, how loud we need to yell, or how many hours we spend on the phone and knocking on doors of the powers that be, we need $60 million.”