Life Unscripted with Kevin Shook
Welcome to 'Life Unscripted with Kevin Shook', a heartening podcast where embracing vulnerability is the key to success. Join your host, Kevin, as he dives into the stories of remarkable individuals who have transformed their lives by opening up, facing challenges, and finding strength in their most vulnerable moments. Each episode features inspiring conversations with guests from various walks of life. Kevin's journey of embracing vulnerability has led him to meet amazing people, and now he brings their wisdom, laughter, and insights to you. Tune in and discover how embracing your vulnerabilities can lead to your greatest victories in life, both personally & professionally.
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Life Unscripted with Kevin Shook
A Tale of Political Passion and Local Leadership with Scott Bevington
Have you ever witnessed a political transformation unfold? Join us as we chat with Scott Bevington, a seasoned political figure from Fayette County, Indiana, who traces their path from a childhood marked by President Nixon's resignation to a dynamic career within the political arena. Our guest opens up about their early fascination with politics, an internship that cemented their passion, and the profound impact of Franklin Roosevelt's WPA and labor unions on their hometown of Connersville. This intimate tale of political awakening and identity is sure to captivate and inspire.
Learn about the nuances of county versus city government from someone who's held the reins, and get a peek into the life of a political stalwart who's juggled various elected roles with zeal. Our guest's dedication to public service is a beacon for those intrigued by the sacrifices and commitment needed to navigate the choppy waters of local politics – a true testament to serving one's community against the backdrop of ever-shifting party lines.
Let's see if I say this right County Council at large for Fayette County, Indiana. That's right Sweet.
Speaker 2:But one of my earliest memories as a child was watching Richard Nixon resign from office, and while I didn't understand all about Watergate and what was going on from that point forward, I was always interested in politics. I really had an almost an unhealthy Like an obsession Obsession with it, and I never did quite get rid of it. And when I was in college I had an internship at the State House and I walked in there that night to take the test to see if I could become one and I went oh yeah, this is what I want to do.
Speaker 1:Really so when you did your internship, were you assigned to a certain politician or I was assigned to the media office of the Indiana Democratic Party.
Speaker 2:Okay, growing up in Connorsville, you have to understand the history of our community and Franklin Roosevelt's WPA during the Depression was very good to our hometown. And with the subsequent power of labor unions after Roosevelt's time, when you grew up when I did and you were interested in politics, more likely than not you thought of yourself as a Democrat because your kids and grandkids, your parents and grandparents, thought of themselves that way. But when I got to the legislature I began looking around, going this isn't how I think. So I went to my state representative who was in his first term at the time. Who was that?
Speaker 2:His name was Steve Robbins and he is a businessman in Connorsville. He was in his first term and I said to him he was an old family friend. And I said, steve, what am I going to do? And Robbins gave me the best political advice I ever got. He said you are too young to decide what you are and what you are not. Take your time, look at everything and then decide. And five years later, on a beautiful spring day in 1996, I walked into the National Guard Armoury in Connorsville where my precinct was and I asked for my first Republican ballot and you should have seen the people working the polls that day.
Speaker 1:Their jaws hit the desk, so they weren't used to that.
Speaker 2:No, they weren't used to me coming in and asking for a Republican ballot. That was a brand new thing, and I did it because I knew in my heart that I was a Reagan Republican and I still am.
Speaker 1:So when you said a Republican ballot, was that a straight ticket?
Speaker 2:It was the primary. So in Indiana during the primary you can ask for whatever ballot you want Democrat or Republican and I had always asked for a Democrat ballot before. But I knew in 1996 I was a Republican.
Speaker 1:So tell me about the position that you are running for.
Speaker 2:Okay, it is Fayette County Council and it is an at large seat. There are four districts and three at large seats, so anybody in the county can vote for up to three people when they pick up a Republican ballot on May 7th, and there are six people, including myself, that are running for these three positions. I've been honored over the last four years to be one of those county council positions In Indiana locally. The city and county governments are a little different. The mayor is the executive body of a city. The city council is both the legislative and fiscal body In the county. The county commissioners are the executive body and legislative body. The council is only the fiscal body. So the only way we can affect policy per se is choosing not to fund something that's being requested by the commissioners or another county elected official, or reducing it at a lower level than what's been requested. We can't add something in that hasn't been requested. That's just not legal for us to do.
Speaker 1:Give me a rundown, give me a timeline of positions that you've been elected to and have held throughout your lifetime here on our next call Sam Nasser.
Speaker 2:Well, you know I got to thinking about this on the way over here. I was on the committee that raised enough money to buy our permanent Republican headquarters.
Speaker 1:Was that a county?
Speaker 2:Fayette County. Fayette County headquarters Republican headquarters. We bought the building. I forget what year it was, but it was early on when I became active. So I've been on the Central Committee now 27 years. I served on Congressional City Council as a Republican during the term of Mayor Morrie Connell in the early aughts. I've been our county chairman twice. The second time I took a took over a term that had been vacated when the Central Committee unanimously asked me to come back to finish it. I ran for mayor in 2003 and lost in the primary. I ran for state representative in 2006 and lost in the primary. I've been a state convention delegate eight times from Fayette County. My son was actually the youngest Fayette County delegate in history.
Speaker 1:Oh, wow 2016.
Speaker 2:He was 18. So I'm pretty proud of that. One thing I didn't run for office from 2006 until 2020.
Speaker 1:I think you mentioned that to me. Yeah, you took a break. Yeah.
Speaker 2:And I'll tell you why because it happened here in Richmond. Nothing about my state representative race in 2006 went very well Now who did you run against Tom Nollman?
Speaker 2:Okay, and Mr Nollman is from Union County and he was. He served as our state representative for two, three terms, but that was. It was an open seat when we ran. Nothing about that. Campaign for me went very well, and especially the night that I went to visit Wayne County Republicans in Richmond, the weather was kind of bad. It was one of those days where I just should have stayed in bed. I'd done better just to stay in bed, even though I was a little frazzled. By the time I got there I knew that I could answer any question on any state issue they could throw at me. So the first question out of the gate is from an older gentleman sitting in the second row I'll never forget this. And he looks at me and he says why do you want to run for this job? Such a basic question, right, right. Nobody had ever asked me that before, not even me.
Speaker 2:That's huge, and and um Well, it's huge that you even omitted just now.
Speaker 1:Well, I've had a long time to think about it and um.
Speaker 2:Well, I've had a long time to think about it and, um, I wasn't prepared to answer it. And it showed. And at the end of the evening, I saw that he was hanging back. He wanted to speak to me privately and he came up to me Gosh, I wish I could remember this man's name, but I'll never forget his face to the moment. And he looked at me and he said I don't want you to be upset about what happened here tonight. I've already talked to some people and you're the guy I'm going to vote for. But, son, if you want to win this race, you had better be able to answer that question Absolutely. And it hit me like a ton of bricks and I've never forgotten it.
Speaker 2:And I didn't run for office again for 14 years because I swore to myself that I would never do it again unless I felt in my heart that it wasn't about me. It should never be about the candidate, it should always be about the voters. All right, you're a servant, I am a public servant and it is an emphasis on that. And in 2020, I told the people of Fayette County that I thought I could be helpful. I developed a really diverse career. I'd had experience in manufacturing and tourism and financing Grants and economic development. I'd had experience at every level government, federal, state, local. I thought I could be helpful and I think I have been, and maybe we'll get into that here in a little while. But I think the people of Fayette County should reelect me because they're never going to have to guess whose side I'm on.
Speaker 1:Their side.
Speaker 2:Exactly.
Speaker 1:So there's. We've had other shows up here with other candidates for positions more locally, locally, Richmond, Back to why you took your time off and everything else. If they were asked why they were running, they would have pulled over that stack of papers and started looking about infrastructure Like what the fuck? Like? You should know why you're running. You should have an elevator pitch, you should have a one-liner, two-liner, something to know why you're running, Cause there had to have been something that caused you to run that's not on your book of paper. So kudos to you for humbling up and then, you know, making yourself vulnerable and be like okay, I should kind of take some time and I lost that race in retrospect.
Speaker 2:I probably should have you know and taught you a lot it did.
Speaker 1:It did.
Speaker 2:So, you know, too too often during the last four years I've I've kind of felt like I've no-transcript. I felt like the people of Fayette County's best interest needed to be protected, and of course that's what I do for a living is try to protect people's best interests. You know Absolutely. And so, um, Congress was really changed. I mean, when I grew up, most of the folks growing up were Democrats. Well, it's not that way anymore. I think we have, uh, we have, one county commissioner that's a Democrat and the county surveyor, that's it. The mayor, the clerk treasurer, the city council, the county council, um, the auditor, the treasurer, both judges, um, like I said, two of the three commissioners, they're all Republican.
Speaker 1:So, to build on that, I'll ask you something, I'll ask your opinion and then I'll share my opinion. Okay, On a local level, how much does it matter if they're Republican or Democrat?
Speaker 2:It should matter very much. I mean, and and that's really where you get a lot of the crossovers, because you know, especially in a town, towns are size right, even, as you know, richmond's three times the size of of Connorsville, but still, even even Richmond size, it shouldn't matter all that much. I mean, it has more to do with that, has more to do with national issues and and maybe values, um, but you know, does, when you're talking about um, whether your income tax should be raised or not, locally right, you know, kind of just depends on it's more issue related than it is. Um, you know what, what party you right, you're absolutely right.
Speaker 1:So I feel the same way and you know you're here today because Phil Quinn kind of pulled us together and we all love Phil and Phil is big into this stuff. So, um, he served on the city council here for I think eight years He'll correct me if I'm wrong, um, and he's just very active, even not living here. But, um, you know, he taught me a lot about this. Um, about local level versus national level. Uh, democrat first, republican first independent. Um, on the Richmond level, watching it this year, like to me it don't freaking matter. Um, I've never voted like a straight ticket. Okay, um, I can find good and bad in both parties. Um, you know, um, if I was to lean, I'd probably lean a little more to the right. Um, but, like you said, it's kind of how you're raised. So in Connorsville you were kind of raised in the Democratic party yeah.
Speaker 2:But just cause everyone else was everyone else was my, my grandparents were, my mom was um, that's just what you feel like you are. But then when you start looking around a little bit and you grow up and things change the community a little and you know, uh, connorsville's changed a lot. Oh yeah, I mean a lot uh, from the time I grew up.
Speaker 1:So when you so Ford was down there right and you were there.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, I have Ford. Uh, dnm, which was uh uh a. It was called design and manufacturing, and if you bought a Kenmore dishwasher from Sears in the 1970s, it was likely made in Connorsville um uh, what class?
Speaker 1:what class were you when you graduate, 1987? Okay, so I got hired to take pictures of a class reunion down there and they told me there was like 300 people in their senior class. Yeah, I was like, are you serious? Yeah, I didn't realize how big it was. Back back then.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, there was originally 369 students in my class. Wow, only about 280 graduated.
Speaker 1:So I've graduated from a Lynn. Okay, there was like Randolph Southern. Randolph Southern, just north of here. There was like less than 50 people in my senior class.
Speaker 2:Yeah, actually I was at a meeting. I was at a Kiwanis Club meeting the other day in Connorsville and the current school superintendent was a speaker and he mentioned that. You know, when I was in school there were about 1700 kids that went to Connorsville High School. It's down under a thousand now.
Speaker 1:Oh, wow, alright. So let's kind of wrap this up, scott. When is election day, may 7th, and how can they vote?
Speaker 2:There'll be precincts all over the community, but you can vote early by going to the courthouse. There's a conference room on the first floor that you can go to, and we have six candidates in this Republican primary. So you know when you pick up the ballot it's all Republican candidates, right? So that part of it really doesn't matter in the primary. So you will have to go and push every button for the people that you want and in the at-large race you can vote for up to three of the six of us, right? You don't have to vote for three. You can only vote for one or two or whatever you want to do. But so that's how you handle that.
Speaker 1:Alright. Well, thanks for coming on. Life Inscripted yeah, and we'll wrap this up, thank you. Thank you Appreciate the time. Life Inscripted with Kevin Shook.
