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When Rep. Charlie Siler spoke, people listened
When it comes to former 82nd Rep. Charlie Siler, ex-News Journal Publisher Trent Knuckles may have summed it up best one time.
Mark White is Editor of The News Journal.
Trent had gone to a Williamsburg-Whitley County Airport Board meeting and Charlie was on the board. I don’t remember what was happening that prompted Trent to go to the meeting, which we usually don’t cover.
At one point during the meeting, Charlie spoke up on whatever topic it was. Everyone at the meeting intently listened to everything Charlie had to say.
When telling the story, Trent paraphrased the old E.F. Hutton commercial and said simply, “When Charlie Siler talks, people listen.”
For those that didn’t know him, Charlie Siler was a retired Lt. Col. in the United States Army where he served over 26 years serving in both the Korean War and Vietnam War. While his military service took him to different places, Whitley County was always home to Charlie.
Charlie moved back to Williamsburg after he retired from the military to garden and raise cattle, but his career in public service wasn’t over.
Charlie was smart being someone with both book sense and common sense, which is an ever increasing rare commodity.
I remember him telling me one time that one or two years before he first ran for 82nd Representative, he started going around to all of these little country stores throughout Whitley County. He would buy a pack of gum or something, and strike up conversations with the owners and managers getting to know them and building relationships in preparation for his political run.
This is something that most people and politicians wouldn’t think to do, but Charlie wasn’t most people.
It worked.
Charlie would go on to serve more than 20 years in the Kentucky General Assembly during two stints there.
Charlie joked that he left office after the first stint because of illness as in people got sick and tired of him.
The reality is Charlie’s first loss was the result of a vote he cast in favor of the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA), which transformed the ways schools are funded in Kentucky. KERA evened the playing field a bit particularly for smaller, more rural districts, but the bill brought with it a significant tax increase.
Charlie knew that voting for KERA would likely cost him his job as 82nd Representative as it did many of the legislators, who voted in favor of KERA.
He voted for it anyway because it was the right thing to do.
Charlie’s vote for KERA did more than just help better educate the children in Whitley County. He also used the political leverage that he got with that vote to get funding for the Williamsburg Tourism and Convention Center.
A few years when by and Charlie ran for 82nd Representative again. He won and served for several more years in the state legislature.
Those of us in the general public often complain that we wish our politicians would actually read the bills they are considering before voting on those bills. Most don’t.
Charlie did.
Before he retired from the military, Charlie took a speed reading course. He got pretty good at it, and could read quite a bit of information over a relatively short period of time and retain most of the high points.
When Charlie served in the Kentucky General Assembly, he was a Republican in a political body where he was largely outnumbered by Democrats. This made it hard to get many things done for his district, but not impossible.
Charlie was good at political horse trading. If a group of Democratic legislators was needing some more votes to get a bill passed, Charlie would often help them out if the proposed bill didn’t impact his district. In exchange, Charlie would get help in getting things for his district.
When you are in the minority party, that is how you get things done and Charlie was skilled at it.
Charlie passed away on April 23 at Baptist Health Corbin at the age of 94. His funeral service was held Saturday at Calvary Missionary Baptist Church.
Charlie left a legacy of public service, and he was always fun to talk to.
My condolences go out to his family and loved ones.
He was a good man, who will be missed.
