Weaver makes his VA pitch before friendly faces

t has everything a vacant industrial site might hope for. It's a $1 billion construction job with the promise of 1,800 permanent jobs - many high paying - and offers a service with a virtually perpetual need.

And in a community adjacent to a military post with a wealth of veterans, it offers them better access to care and services.

Radcliff wants to capture the attention of the Veterans Administration. It hopes the offer of free land and a welcome mat will result in the agency building its new hospital here, closer to Fort Knox.

The bureaucrats are in the midst of a public comment period but have expressed no desire to consider other sites proposed by leaders in Jefferson and Bullitt counties and Radcliff is no different. The local VA leaders have invested their time and talent plus the government's money in the proposed Brownsboro Road site in eastern Jefferson County and are uninterested.

Mayor Mike Weaver is undeterred.

Presiding last week at what was billed as a town hall meeting but was more akin to a pep rally, Weaver was at his best.

He was holding court before a friendly audience describing all the attributes of the Radcliff destination and all the drawbacks of the Brownsboro Road property. He enthusiastically and boisterously reviewed point after point of his argument with detailed maps and professional architectural renderings to support the cause.

Some might compare him to an evangelical minister pleading before the community choir about the VA's need to repent.

In this circumstance, a more apt description might portray Weaver as a prosecutor rehearsing an extended opening argument before a friendly jury of more than 200 community members - many veterans of the U.S. armed services who occasionally interrupted with applause.

Weaver vows to carry the city's formal proposal to Washington, D.C. If this long-shot, 11th-hour bid to change the future of VA care in the region is going to happen, that's where the decision makers are.

Perhaps the timing is right because President-elect Donald Trump certainly is a non-traditional leader. He's already demonstrated a willingness to challenge traditional sources of power - including the intelligence community - so he certainly would not be shy about standing up to the Veterans Administration, which has a lot of dirty laundry in its recent past.

Since Weaver and J.J. Duvall, the city's development director, began working on this idea a few short weeks ago, they have reached out to politicians and local leaders for support.

The Radcliff City Council, which is not always on friendly terms with city administration, immediately and enthusiastically signed on. The Radcliff Small Business Alliance is working on behalf of this concept with T.W. Shortt, who has his own spotty history with the mayor, participating in the meeting last week. Several local legislators are behind the effort and Hardin Fiscal Court is expected to consider a formal endorsement of the effort at its next meeting.

Weaver certainly has made it a community effort. He has volunteers with engineering experience engaged and building contractors are providing free advise about how to meet any objections to the concept.

During his presentation Tuesday, he also provided a key reason this idea should be enthusiastically embraced by state leaders and Frankfort and by Kentucky's Congressional delegation.

Recalling a forum conducted following the 2005 base realignment efforts, Weaver raised the stakes. He sees this effort as a means to safeguard the economic engine that is Fort Knox.

Quoting leaders at the forum, Weaver said the message to the community was: "If you want to protect this military installation, it's not just the installation itself but what is outside the installation."

From a political standpoint, this truly is a no-lose scenario for Weaver.

If he wins, it's a monstrous victory against overwhelming odds. The community impact would be off the chart.

If he loses, it's the bureaucratic monolith of the VA - a part of the unresponsive, out-of-touch federal government - that turned it's back on 50 free acres and a caring community.

But after watching Weaver at the forum, it's clear he is a true believer in this idea and its merits. He is making a plea based on practicality, not politics.

His prosecutor-like presentation of the facts was well crafted and effective. But remember, there was no defense attorney to make objections and present a counter argument.

The question becomes: Will Radcliff be able to reach the ears of transformative decision makers and will they be willing to buy what Weaver is selling?

Ben Sheroan is editor of The News-Enterprise. He can be reached at 270-505-1764 or bsheroan@thenewsenterprise.com.

SHARE YOUR VIEW

Residents can participate in a public comment period regarding the VA's draft environmental impact report, which expires Jan. 11. Go to www.Louisville-EIS.com or send comments by email to LouisvilleReplacementHospitalComments@va.gov.