LouLife

You could say that former Greater Louisville Economic Development Partnership exec Crit Luallen has politics in her blood, and you would be correct — literally. Eugenia Crittenden Blackburn Luallen, Kentucky’s current auditor of public accounts, is descended from two 19th-century Kentucky governors, John Jordan Crittenden and Luke P. Blackburn, whose family names she shares. Luallen, a Democrat, has worked for all six living former Democratic governors of Kentucky, but had never held elective office before winning the auditor’s job in November 2003. Now the Frankfort veteran is seriously eyeing a run for the state’s highest office next fall.

Luallen has an easy smile and a bearing of understated elegance. She lives with her husband Lynn in the farmhouse on 150 acres near Frankfort where she grew up with five older brothers. She has three stepchildren and six grandchildren, and is an accomplished artist who also gardens, rides horses and cooks for family and friends. At age 54, she’s a survivor of early-stage colon cancer (her mother died of the disease) and a second unrelated cancer. Doctors have given her a clean bill of health. With such a full life, it’s easy to wonder why the soft-spoken Luallen would want to enter into a campaign that she says without question will be "ruthless," given the current political climate of the state and nation.

Luallen has firsthand experience with bitter partisan battles and the tumult of political scandal. As cabinet secretary (essentially the state’s chief operating officer) for former Gov. Paul Patton, she took part in the legislative wrangling between Kentucky’s Democratic-controlled House of Representatives and Republican-controlled Senate, hammering out a budget compromise with Republican Senate President David Williams in 2000, to name one hard-fought battle.

When allegations surfaced in 2002 that Patton was trading, and then withholding, political favors to a woman with whom he was having a sexual affair, Luallen personally urged Patton to stay in office, but ultimately resigned her own post. Her departure as cabinet secretary was a blow to the administration, signaling that Patton’s closest advisors had lost confidence in his ability to run the government. Was Luallen taking political cover, or following through on principle? She says now that she was not only disappointed in Patton on a personal level, but also deeply discouraged that the legislative agenda they had worked so hard to advance, including landmark higher education reform, had been compromised. "We could no longer keep the focus where it should be to get the job done,"
Luallen says.

As auditor in the current administration of Gov. Ernie Fletcher, a Republican, Luallen likewise has a ringside seat for the political drama unfolding from Fletcher’s alleged merit-hiring violations. Like the Patton scandal, she says, the ongoing questions about Fletcher’s ethics have diverted considerable energy from legislative goals. She faults the current administration for lacking top-level management experience and for its inability to quickly acknowledge and address problems. Yet Luallen seems calmly undeterred by the potential hazards that lurk for anyone who ventures to take center stage in Frankfort. "In any large organization there are going to be mistakes made," she says. "How you deal with it is the mark of true leadership."

Setting herself apart from the government bashing that seems to be in political vogue — even among politicians — Luallen says she believes it’s possible to build effective coalitions within and between the public and private sectors. She finds intoxicating the potential of honest, competent government to have a lasting positive impact on the lives of citizens, and has elected more than once in her career to take cabinet-level jobs in state government rather than potentially more secure and lucrative positions in business.

Some might paint Luallen as a quietly ambitious politico whose familiarity with the front offices and back rooms of the state Capitol could smooth her way to power. Others would suggest that she’s motivated by genuine devotion to public service — a throwback to a political generation that preceded the sound bites, blogs and personal mudslinging of the 24-hour news cycle. Either way, she is trading on a certain quiet competence. The question is: Can it sell in politics today?

To understand where Crit Luallen might be going in her political life, you have to look at the road she’s traveled so far — one not too distant from her Frankfort-area roots, literally and figuratively, but covering terrain varied and challenging enough to provide some of the experiences that might serve a future governor well. Lois Mateus, of Louisville’s Brown-Forman Corp., says Luallen "has got this grace about her." The two met just after Luallen’s 1974 graduation from Centre College in Danville, when she took a summer job stuffing envelopes for Wendell Ford’s first U.S. Senate campaign. Mateus, who was then public relations director for the Kentucky Democratic Party, recalls that even at age 22, the independent, strong-willed Luallen "had the capacity to listen."

During the Ford campaign, Luallen says, "I became fascinated by the whole political process and the idea of being involved in public service." Inspired by Ford himself, who was Kentucky’s governor before serving four terms in the U.S. Senate, Luallen decided to stay in Frankfort, working on Julian Carroll’s successful gubernatorial campaign and later in the administration of Gov. John Y. Brown.

In 1983, then Lt. Gov. Martha Layne Collins made a bid to become the first (and still the only) female governor of Kentucky, and Luallen was hired as campaign media coordinator. "No one really thought she could win at the time," Luallen says. But when Collins was elected, Luallen became her special assistant, coordinating speechwriting and special events. Luallen, who was an art major at Centre, also served as Collins’ arts commissioner.

When Collins left office in 1988, Luallen entered the private sector, first as a senior public affairs manager for Louisville’s Humana Inc. and then with the Greater Louisville Economic Development Partnership. Larry Hayes, now Metro Louisville’s Deputy Mayor, was involved in her hiring at the Partnership. He thought the diligence and people skills Luallen had demonstrated in Frankfort suited the challenge of working with varied interests on the local development scene, including, in those pre-Metro merger years, both the Louisville mayor (then as now, Jerry Abramson) and the Jefferson County Judge Executive (Harvey Sloane).

Luallen’s recollection of the Partnership job includes a steep personal learning curve when it came to exercising the political skills she had viewed as assets. "What surprised me the most," she says, "was to (find out) that most business leaders lacked respect for government leaders and
politicians."

Another involved in her hiring, The Courier-Journal’s then-publisher, George Gill, counseled that she would have to convince members of the Partnership board — Louisville’s top business leaders — that a Frankfort politician could do the job. Luallen tells the story of the Partnership’s first executive committee meeting after she came on board when, accustomed to the routine of a political staffer, she took a seat behind Gill, who chaired the all-white, all-male committee. As the meeting began, Gill looked over his shoulder at Luallen, slapped the table and said, "Get up here where you belong."

Luallen didn’t hesitate. Gill recalls, "She just loved politics, and I say that in the best sense of the word. The political process of governance is really her strong suit — the art of persuasion, negotiation and compromise." During her four years in Louisville, Luallen says she not only became comfortable with her own place at the table, but also came to recognize the importance of the participation of private-sector leaders in the development of public policy.

On Luallen’s watch, the Partnership emphasized accountability by commissioning a study to monitor Louisville’s economic growth compared with that of other cities — a focus that foreshadowed Luallen’s current role as auditor, the state’s chief accountability officer. Luallen also brought her Frankfort experience to bear, encouraging a more constructive relationship between Louisville and state government, which had (and to some extent still has) a reputation for ignoring its
largest city.

Luallen went on to become president of the Partnership, a Democrat working with politicians and business leaders in a role often associated with Republicans. And Hayes’ hunch that Luallen had the ability to forge consensus among parties with conflicting interests proved to be correct. Indeed, it was the signature skill that she would eventually take back to Frankfort.

Through her work with the Partnership, Luallen says, she came to recognize that business views government as slow and non-responsive — with good reason. "We in government, if we’re really going to be effective at impacting the economy in a positive way, have to partner with business more," Luallen says, adding that the public sector should "be as flexible as business is in terms of making quick decisions, making decisions that are outside the box."

As an example, Luallen helped bring all sides to the table when, as Patton’s cabinet secretary, she successfully steered the state’s 1997 tax incentive package for the United Parcel Service Louisville hub expansion that included Metropolitan College. The innovative program makes it possible for UPS employees to simultaneously work and att/files/storyimages/area colleges and universities, and was a critical component of the deal that kept the company here.

Louisville attorney Jack Conway, who served as Luallen’s deputy cabinet secretary in the Patton administration, says she never got full credit for helping forge the UPS deal among government, academic institutions and the large corporation. Al Cross, veteran Courier-Journal political observer and director of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues at the University of Kentucky, likewise cites Luallen’s backstage negotiating skills during the 2000 tax reforms, where she helped bust loose a legislative logjam that challenged even seasoned political professionals. In a political world that always has the volume turned up, Luallen seems to be a quiet exception: Her personal contributions may not be readily identifiable or painstakingly stamped with her name. Luallen’s interest, says Conway, is in "doing the job, not holding the office."

Luallen was also a key player in the Patton administration’s 1997 higher education reforms, which included wresting control of Kentucky’s statewide community college system from the University of Kentucky. Jim Ramsey, now president of the University of Louisville, served alongside Luallen as Patton’s finance secretary and budget director. He says Luallen’s knack for give and take without sacrificing policy objectives helped advance the administration’s initiatives toward the establishment of the independent Kentucky Community and Technical College System. "To take a significant piece of major policy and get the votes in the House and Senate at a time when UK was adamantly opposed took a lot of leadership," Ramsey says.

The key to success with the community college initiative, Luallen says, lay in a year of groundwork — identifying organizations and individuals in support of the administration’s position and persuading others to come over, including the state chamber of commerce, the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence, representatives of Kentucky corporations, and swing-vote legislators. "My part," she says, "was to build the case and build the support with a broad group of allies, who (in turn) could build support with legislators." As a result, Patton lined up the votes, and UK came to the table ready to deal.

She now says that while standing on the steps of the Capitol in May 1997 and watching as Patton signed the higher education legislation she and others had worked around the clock for months to hammer out, she had a political epiphany: In the private sector, she would never be able to recapture to the same extent "that feeling of satisfaction from the clear connection between actions and results." When asked why she’s a lifelong Democrat, Luallen says, "I truly believe government has a role in making people’s lives better."

Young Democrats Luallen (left) and Lois Mateus in 1979

There’s also the question of whether the auditor’s office might be a dangerous platform from which to launch a gubernatorial campaign. Past Kentuckians in the job, including current U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler (D-Lexington), who served as auditor from 1992 to 1996, have notably failed in previous gubernatorial bids.

Depending on which side of the ledger you sit, the auditor is either watchdog or bulldog — legally obligated to check the books of all state agencies and county governments. The office brings mismanagement, fraud and corruption to light, which should earn the appreciation of taxpaying voters, but inevitably also creates enemies at the local political level. Recent audits of Knox, Webster, Clinton and Fulton counties, for example, have been referred by Luallen’s office to the FBI. In Knox County, Luallen’s staff reviewed books that revealed $2.7 million in questionable expenditures in the privacy of a cell in the county’s closed jail, incurring the wrath of Knox County Judge Executive Raymond C. Smith.

Despite such volatile situations, Luallen says, "I have to walk a straight path . . . and not think about the politics." The auditor’s office, she says, should be about more than saying "gotcha," emphasizing broader issues of management, like a recent detailed review of local jail expenditures that revealed huge county-to-county discrepancies and possibilities for $20 million in annual savings statewide — savings, she notes, that could be earmarked for education, which in turn deters crime.

Luallen is also aware that her years in Frankfort provide plenty of fodder for opponents. Her husband Lynn, retired executive director of the Kentucky Housing Corp., was a prosecution witness in the 1993 extortion trial of Dr. Bill Collins, husband of the former governor. (Bill Collins was later convicted of soliciting political contributions in exchange for state contracts.) More recent was a flap over Luallen’s initialing of non-merit state government positions to be filled when she was Patton’s cabinet secretary. She maintains that "Crit’s List" was an example of political prudence, not favoritism, indicating only that jobs were open to be filled, not which individuals should get those positions, the charge that is dogging the current administration.

Former Jefferson County Republican Party chair Bill Stone acknowledges Luallen’s "quiet competence," but questions the ability of any Kentucky Democrat to be independent of traditional constituencies, like the labor unions he says have a lock on maintaining Kentucky’s status as a non-right-to-work state, which some policy makers believe restricts economic development.

If Luallen emerges from a field of potential Democratic candidates for governor — current speculation centers on the likes of Ben Chandler, Jack Conway, Steve Henry and Jerry Abramson — she could be attacked by Republicans for her personal ties to Patton, her husband’s closeness to the Collins conviction and, of course, the fact that she’s a Democrat. In speeches testing the waters for a campaign, she seeks a high road and advises audiences to demand vision from their leaders, built on a foundation of competence and integrity. The current political climate, she says, is about "personal destruction instead of how we move forward."

Luallen makes clear her interest in being the person who will lead that charge, but acknowledges, "I have to decide if the benefits of serving effectively and making a difference in Kentucky make it worth it on the personal side." Surviving cancer, she says, has caused her to think about every day a little more carefully. "You want to be closer to the people you care about and sp/files/storyimages/more time with them, not less, (but) you also want to make a difference with the time you have."

Later she adds, "I’ve never really failed at anything I set out to do."