Deadbeat Dads: Vote For Larry Roberts & Avoid Paying Child Support!

Snippets from the Lexington Herald Leader
http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/local/14515289.htm

Posted on Sat, May. 06, 2006
Race pits innovation versus experience
NEW IDEAS PITCHED FOR FAYETTE ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
By Brandon Ortiz
HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITER

County attorney candidate Bill Cegelka wants to work with deadbeat dads and moms, cajole them into paying child support and, if need be, haul them into court.

But if that fails, Cegelka promises to take it a step further: He'll shame the 1,000 non-custodial parents who are most behind on child support by publishing their names in a paid newspaper advertisement.

[...]

Cegelka, an urban county councilman and attorney, has made improving child support collections a centerpiece in his campaign for county attorney.

[...]

As for Cegelka's plan to print the names of deadbeat parents, Roberts sees it as nothing more than an expensive political ploy. He said it would hurt kids.

"That father has a child out there who goes to grade school," he said. "I'm not about to have somebody ostracized by another child. ... I'm not going to exploit people."


Ploy or sound policy?

[...]

The insert greatly exceeded expectations, increasing collections by $695,000 as of March, said Bill Patteson, a spokesman for Maze. Of that total, $204,000 was collected from parents who were not even on the list.

[...]

Cegelka said he could approach the Urban County Council for funds. He also thinks he could make the office run more efficiently.

[...]

If printing names doesn't work, Cegelka says he'd prosecute the non-custodial parents for flagrant non-support.

[...]

Cegelka has also said he'd like to hire more investigators.

[...]

Sees need for training

[...]

But Cegelka thinks Roberts will have a hard time working with police because he has been a defense attorney the last 22 years. Cegelka boasted of his support from the Fraternal Order of Police.

[...]
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Over the past few days, we have learned that Larry Roberts (a) thinks women who jog alone are dumb because they could get attacked, basically implying that it is their fault and (b) is worried about embarassing deadbeat dads when he should be worried about the children.

With regards to deadbeat dads, I have some personal reflections on that. In 1999, I married a woman who had three children from a previous marriage, and their father refused to pay child support. Roberts is completely wrong about kids feeling ostracized. My step-children (at the time, our marriage didn't work out) felt abandoned by their father not paying child support. I am 100% sure they would have been better off knowing their father fulfilled his obligation to them even if it meant a comment or two in school? Really, Larry Roberts -- you'd prefer a family to not get hundreds of dollars each month so the kid doesn't get picked on in school?

This race is a no-brainer: Cegelka is the only viable candidate, even though he is a Democrat. But of course, let's see what the Herald Leader has to say ... see above.