Quick question: Can you name a public park in unincorporated Hardin County? You can't — because there isn't one. Residents inside Elizabethtown have the Sports Park, Freeman Lake, American Legion Park, and more, but if you live in the unincorporated parts of Hardin County, public green space simply isn't part of the picture. That's a quality-of-life gap, and it's one a county of our size and resources shouldn't accept.

Outdoor spaces improve health, community and quality of life. I will:

• Work toward a county-wide Parks & Recreation Master Plan — a basic planning tool that most comparable Kentucky counties already have and that Hardin County lacks.

• Support development of accessible passive and active recreational amenities: trails, athletic fields, and public river and stream access that residents across the district can actually use.

• Encourage open-space requirements in new residential developments, so that as Hardin County grows, green space grows with it rather than getting paved over.