Recently we had our Boone County GOP Christmas party. It was a great success thanks to a lot of hard work by party chairman Brett Gaspard and County Commissioner Kathy Flag.
A highlight of the evening for me was presenting former State Senator Dick Roeding with a lifetime achievement award from the Boone County GOP. Even though Senator Roeding lives in Kenton County, he represented Boone County for years, and for the seat which I now hold, I certainly have big shoes to fill.
I told one of my favorite Frankfort stories about Dick Roeding when presenting the award.
Sen. John Schickel with former Sen. Dick Roeding and his wife, Nancy, and Gov. Matt Bevin
Dick Roeding, who lives in Fort Mitchell, was always known as a dapper dresser. He would always wear a pair of casual pants to Frankfort and take his suit pants on a hanger and change into his suit pants once in Frankfort. Senator Roeding was always looking sharp. On this particular day he was leaving the Capitol around 5 p.m. and was in the parking garage and had apparently left his casual pants hanging in his office. His good-hearted secretary, realizing he had forgotten them, ran out to the parking garage yelling, “Senator Roeding you forgot your pants!” much to the surprise of many onlookers who were in the garage heading home around that time.
It was great to see both the senator and Nancy at the party looking so well. His wife Nancy was very well known to us as they always worked as a team, and the loudest applause of the evening came when I announced they had been married for over 60 years.
It is a new day in Frankfort with the Kentucky House of Representatives being in Republican hands for the first time in nearly 100 years.
What does this mean for Northern Kentucky?
Plenty.
Boone County State Representative Sal Santoro, has been named chairman of the important subcommittee on Transportation which writes the Road Plan—a very important move for our region. Boone County State Representative Addia Wuchner, has been named chairwoman of the important Health and Welfare Committee, which affects our lives in so many ways. I am thankful she is in that position as it is a topic I know very little about and can lean on her expertise for advice. State Representative Diane St. Onge, who represents part of Boone County, has been named chairwoman of the important Small Business and Information Technology Committee.
State Representative Adam Koenig has been named chairman of the Licensing, Occupations, and Administrative Committee in the House, which is the same committee I chair in the Senate. This is huge because virtually every business regulation goes through this committee and Northern Kentucky will stand as the gatekeeper in both Chambers. These appointments totally change the landscape of the Kentucky General Assembly and, quite frankly, will make my job much easier.
Best wishes to everyone and a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Senator John Schickel (R-Union) represents the 11th District in Boone County. He serves as chairman of the Senate Licensing and Occupations and Administrative Regulations Committee, as well as a member of the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee; Judiciary Committee; Natural Resources and Environment Committee; and Budget Review Subcommittee on Justice and Judiciary. If you have any questions or comments about these issues or any other public policy issue, please call me toll-free at 1-800-372-7181 or email me at John.Schickel@LRC.ky.gov. You can also review the Legislature’s work online at www.lrc.ky.gov.
