Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisors

The Fayette County Soil and Water Conservation District coordinates financial, technical, and educational assistance through local, state, and federal initiatives that support the community to implement sustainable practices.

Candidates in the race are: B.J. Bentley / Perry Gibson (write-in) / Lynn Roche-Phillips

B.J. Bentley

Barbara “BJ” Bentley is currently serving as the Treasurer on the Soil and Water Conservation District Board, since 2020. She has professional background as and RN and a real estate broker.

Campaign Finances*:

*Note that the first filing deadline for general election campaign finances is September 10th.

 

 

Perry Gibson (Write-In)

Campaign Finances*:

*Note that the first filing deadline for general election campaign finances is September 10th.

LexVote Questionnaire:

  • If elected, I would like to be a voice for the vast majority of Fayette County Citizens who do not live on farms; I would achieve this by encouraging my fellow Supervisors to redirect more funds for projects to urban or at the least suburban areas of the county. To the disregard of the purpose of an elected body, it should, if at all possible, represent the constituents, and Fayette County is the second most populous County in the Commonwealth; we might be a population that has some farmers, but we are not a population of farmers.

    Another thing that I want to accomplish is to bring attention to the role of Soil & Water Conservation District Supervisor; this is a role that is in every single County, but it appears to me that very few people in Fayette County even know about these 7 elected officials. One cannot hold an elected official accountable, if one does not even realize that that elected official's office exists.

    As silly as this might sound, another thing that I would like to accomplish is to simply be dignified in my holding of this office. It is my understanding that these last few years, the board has not gone without controversy. From one of the supervisors being dismissed over an unsigned oath in addition to having been served with a temporary protection order, along with further allegations that I will not address, to a different supervisor resigning from the board then writing an op-ed for the Lexington Herald Leader that does not paint the board in the best light. Boring does not mean being lazy. It does not mean being unproductive. As much as people might love media gossip, our preference should be that our elected officials be quite boring.

 

 

Lynn Roche-Phillips

Lynn is currently a member of the Soil and Water Conservation District Board. She is an Associate Professor of Geography and co-lead of the Urban Forest Initiative (UFI) at the University of Kentucky. Lynn is certified in City Planning, and worked in city planning for 17 years.

LexVote Questionnaire:

  • The mission of the Fayette County Conservation District (FCCD) is to sustain the quality of our area's urban and rural ecological environments by managing use of land, water, trees, and other natural resources for long term conservation.  This is accomplished through environmental education, cost-share programs, partnerships with local sustainability-focused NGOs, and direct involvement with local farming operations. Funding for FCCD comes from a .001 percent millage of Fayette County ad valorem taxes. Other funding includes Tobacco Settlement funding and revenue from FCCD equipment rentals.  

    As a Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor, I share responsibility to direct FCCD funds equitably across all parts of rural and urban Fayette County to maintain and enhance ecological systems. These include programs and projects that protect soils, reduce stormwater runoff, utilize water efficiently, enhance the quality of local streams, and promote an ethic of environmental stewardship among Fayette County residents. My goal is to honor Fayette County taxpayers through high impact uses of limited funds.