Former City Attorney Named Interim City Manager

Commission gives support to health department needle exchange

ASHLAND Former city attorney Richard “Sonny” Martin was unanimously voted in by the Ashland commission as the interim city manager on Friday morning.

The Ashland Board of City Commissioners had a recessed meeting Friday at 9 a.m. to take care of old business mostly pertaining to the approval of construction and development projects.The board also took steps to move forward after voting 3-2 to terminate City Manager Ben Bitter during its regular meeting Thursday.Commissioner Larry Brown motioned to hire Martin as the new interim city manager at the same rate of pay as the previous chief administrator. The motion was met without any opposition or further discussion.Commissioner Marty Gute said the local board of health contacted him about governmental support for a needle exchange program at the Ashland-Boyd County Health Department.The goal of the program is to help limit the spread of disease, such as Hepatitis C and HIV through the use of dirty needles, which is something mostly associated with heroin use.In a previous report, Epidemiologist Kristy Bolen at the health department said the program would decrease the spread of disease while  giving health-care officials the chance to educate drug users about treatment options.According to the Centers for Disease Control, 45 percent of Kentucky residents addicted to heroin also were addicted to opioid painkillers. Cases of Hepatitis C in Kentucky increased more than 50 percent from 2007 to 2011.Mayor Chuck Charles, who is the Foundation President at Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital, told the commission although controversy is associated with the program, it is a good tool to tackle the spread of dangerous diseases.

 The commission unanimously supported allowing Charles to sign a letter of recommendation for the program. The health department  also will seek support from Boyd County Fiscal Court.