| Bourbon City Council Race Ward I: Newcomer up against longtime board member |
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| Written by Jaime Baranyai | ||||||
| Tuesday, March 09 2010 | ||||||
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BOURBON – Bourbon City Council incumbent Mark Hilse will have to defeat Gene Kulaga in the April election to keep his Ward I seat. Hilse, 49, has served on the Board of Aldermen for the past eight years, and says he wants to stay on to see the completion of several city projects. “I just want to see the progress continue in Bourbon,” he said. “I want to finish projects that have been started.” Some of those include infrastructure projects for water and sewer lines, and others involve bringing new businesses to Bourbon. “We’re working with the nonprofits BDA and BCDC and trying to help them attract businesses to town,” he said, noting the possibility of a Dollar General store coming to Bourbon. During Hilse’s past four terms, he’s had to help balance the budget during tough economic times. “We’ve got to be more conscientious of what we’re spending,” he said. “We have to balance payroll, insurance and everything else. It’s a tough deal. You’ve got to be good to your employees, but you also have to be careful with taxpayers’ dollars.” Hilse said budgeting takes an effort of the entire council. “We have to sit down and brainstorm,” he said. “We talk about what we can afford to do without out. The four of us have to sit down and hash things out. We don’t always agree, but we try to do what’s right for the citizens.” Hilse said he wants another opportunity to serve the citizens of Bourbon by remaining on the Board of Aldermen. “I’m there for them, looking out for their best interests,” he said. “I try to listen to the citizens and what they want.” The ad salesman for the Sullivan Independent News has lived in Bourbon since he was 15 years old. He and his wife, Susan, have two children and Hilse’s hobbies include playing bass guitar. In the April election, Hilse will face off against Kulaga, who has temporarily served on the council in the past. “A few years ago, Hilse resigned for about six months and I was appointed by the Board of Aldermen to fill the vacancy,” he said. Kulaga, 60, who owns G-K Plumbing, graduated from Bourbon High School and has lived in the area for about 50 years. He said he originally decided to run for Ward I because he assumed he would be the only candidate. “Mark said he wasn’t going to run, but then he changed his mind,” Kulaga said. “I was going to step down, but Mark encouraged me to stay in. If the voters want a change, I’ll be there for them. If they want the same, that’s fine too.” If elected, Kulaga said he would like to try to bring businesses to Bourbon. “I’d like to see things get better for the community, and get businesses to come to town,” he said. “We’ve been trying to work on that. We have the industrial park, but it’s not really going anywhere.” To promote growth, Kulaga believes more community activities, such as festivals in the summer, might help. “Car shows … even an occasional street dance could help,” he said. While he wants to see some new businesses in town, he doesn’t want to make Bourbon too big. “I’d like to see some growth, but not any major changes,” he said. “I’d just like to see what we’ve got get a little better.” Part of that includes completing a number of infrastructure projects, but Kulaga understands money is tight. “The economy is down and our city budget is tight, but we seem to be staying afloat,” he said. “Right now I don’t see any excess spending anywhere. I don’t see where we can cut anything right now and survive because we’re running on the minimum right now.” Although Kulaga admits he’s no expert when it comes to budgets, he has a willingness to learn. “I want to start learning about grants and how we can get aid,” he said. Even though Kulaga runs a plumbing business, he said he’ll have plenty of time to devote to being a board member. “I can offer my time, my input and my understanding of what people need,” he said. (Jaime Baranyai can be reached at 860-NEWS or by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ) Bourbon City Council Ward I Candidates Citizens can contact Mark Hilse at (573) 732-5661 Citizens can contact Gene Kulaga at (573) 732-4267
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