Former Princeton Mayor Sherman Chaudoin has been named the county’s newest judge/executive.
Gov. Steve Beshear appointed Chaudoin Thursday to replace late Judge/Executive Van Knight, who died Wednesday, April 9.
Magistrate George Kilgore had served as acting judge/executive in the interim and will continue to serve until Chaudoin takes office Thursday, May 1.
“Van was a good friend,” Chaudoin said Thursday afternoon from his home in Princeton. “I’m excited, and yet, it hurts a little bit that we had to lose a good man for me to be in this position.”
Chaudoin has served for the past nine years as executive director of the South Kentucky Industrial Development Association (SKIDA).
That organization is due to be phased out by the end of the year, he said. Chaudoin had planned to stay on to assist in that process, but in light of the appointment as judge/executive, he will tender his SKIDA resignation.
Chaudoin was born and reared in Louisville, the son of a teacher and a police officer.
The first half of his career was spent in the insurance industry. Chaudoin rose through the ranks to become vice president of claims for Kentucky Central Insurance in Lexington.
In 1982, though, Chaudoin and his family moved to Princeton, where he opened his own “mom and pop” insurance office.
“And this has been my home ever since,” he said.
While working for SKIDA out of its Hopkinsville office, Chaudoin maintained a low public profile in Princeton.
“A lot of people thought I had left town,” he said.
That, though, was not the case, he added. “I bought my lots at Cedar Hill some years ago, and I intend to stay here until Morgan’s takes me away.”
Chaudoin resigned his position as Princeton mayor in 1999 to take the SKIDA post.
He had been elected mayor in 1989 and took office in January 1990.
It was as mayor that he began his friendship with the man who would serve for 14 years as the county’s judge/executive, Van Knight.
Knight was at that time serving as Princeton’s city clerk. “He really dedicated himself to making me the best mayor I could be,” Chaudoin said.
The clerk also encouraged the new mayor to take the time to sit down with residents who stopped by City Hall and listen to their concerns.
Knight would carry that principle to the judge/executive’s office, and Chaudoin hopes to follow that lead, both in the office and in the county, he said.
“For the next several months, I’ve got to get out and find out what’s on people’s minds,” he said.
“It really does give you a map for the future if you can find out what they’re worried about and what they’re excited about.”
The new judge/executive said he would also work to continue Knight’s efforts to extend county water service and pursue economic development opportunities for the county.
The focus on economic development will keep Chaudoin on familiar ground, given both his history with SKIDA and his economic successes as mayor, such as the recruitment of the Bremner plant to the city.
“One thing that I’ll always be proud of and is gratifying is that we were able to get Bremner to locate their plant here,” he said.
The Bremner announcement, he added, came shortly after the shutdown of the Princeton Hosiery Mills facility and gave those displaced workers new job opportunities.
Five industrial announcements were made during Chaudoin’s tenure as mayor. Several of those industries are gone now. “But they provided jobs and livings for people while they were here,” he said.
Industrial vacancies, like the AFCO building on U.S. 62, can become opportunities for the recruitment of new companies to the county.
“It could still take a year or two,” Chaudoin said, “but even in a down time in the economy, there are still one or two good prospects floating.”
Having served nine years as executive director of a 20-county industrial development organization will help the new judge/executive in those efforts.
Chaudoin said he would also work to continue the relationships that Knight had developed, as well as those from his own past, including officials at the Pennyrile Area Development District office and state officials in Frankfort.
Working for SKIDA meant Chaudoin had to maintain a certain remove from politics, but his eye on the government remained.
“Once you’ve been involved in government and know how it works, you can’t help but be interested in everything that goes on,” he said.
A further benefit for the new judge/executive is the county’s solid standing.
“The county’s in great shape. That’s the exciting part,” he said. “I can’t imagine stepping into an office that, to my knowledge, just has no problems.
“It really is an opportunity for us to just continue to move to the next level.”
Chaudoin will serve until November, when county voters will elect someone to fill the remainder of Knight’s term, which runs through 2010.
Executive committees of the county’s Democrat and Republican parties will choose candidates to square off in that election.
Chaudoin hopes that his name is on that ballot.
“I want to work beyond the six months,” he said. “I hope to be appointed by the county committee to run in November.
“I’ll certainly be asking them to support me anyway, and I’m going to work in the judge’s office to justify that support.”
Building bridges with the county’s magistrates and cooperating to better the county will hopefully achieve that goal, he said.
“This is really about the county and the people. It really is about doing the best job for them that we can. I think Van did that. He always put the people and their needs first.”
• Mayors from Princeton and Fredonia expressed optimism about having Chaudoin in the judge/executive’s office.
“I’ve known him for a long time. I think he’ll do a good job,” said Fredonia Mayor Mike Board Friday. “I’m sure he’ll be just as easy to work with as Van was.”
Board said he hoped to keep the new judge/executive informed of Fredonia’s issues and concerns. “We will try to work with him all we can,” he said.
Mayor Gale Cherry said Chaudoin was an excellent choice for the office.
“Most of the committees that Van was on, Sherman has been on at some time in the past,” she said, adding that both knew the same individuals in Frankfort, officials who could work to bring assistance to the county.
“And he understands the importance of the city and county working closely together,” she said.
“He and Van were very good friends and worked together closely during Sherman’s administration. I’m sure (Knight) would be pleased Sherman has the opportunity.”
