Progressive policies are practical

There will undoubtedly be autopsies of the Kentucky Democratic Party; but I’d rather focus on a plan for the future, not a postmortem.

Many already know what’s been going wrong: Very few, including Democrats, know if the party stands for anything that may be seen as controversial. In Midway, we’ve proven that a socially progressive agenda can perfectly coincide with a common-sense approach to job creation, infrastructure and quality of life.

Despite passing what some opponents called a “job killer,” our fairness ordinance hasn’t resulted in the loss of jobs, but rather a 100-percent increase. That’s not to say that these jobs were created because of the ordinance, but they certainly weren’t deterred by it.

Increased revenue has allowed us to begin to invest in resurfacing roads, fixing sidewalks, upgrading water and sewer systems, and making improvements to parks. I serve in a non-partisan office, and I’m thankful for it. But I am a registered Democrat, and proud of it.

But I have many Republican friends, and today I’m telling them one thing they must be proud of — at least I know where they stand. In politics, you have to stand for something that might get you criticized before you can achieve anything worthwhile.

This story was originally published November 15, 2016 at 6:42 PM with the headline "Progressive policies are practical."