During the Pulse of the People public meeting on April 25 and reported in the April 27-28 weekend edition of The Advocate-Messenger, Magistrate Tom Ellis, speaking to the audience, said he and Magistrate Jason Cullen have been “outspoken proponents of protecting your tax dollars” when it comes to EDP, and as a result, they were asked to attend a private meeting with Industrial Foundation Chair John Albright and EDP Chair Ben Nelson. His statement is misleading and incorrect.

As the chairman of the Industrial Foundation, I extended a courtesy invitation to all four newly elected magistrates to meet with them and share the history of the Industrial Foundation and answer any questions they might have with regards to it. As a courtesy to EDP Chair Ben Nelson, I also invited him to attend.

I offered to defer to Tom and Jason as to at a location they were comfortable with meeting. Tom said he would likely want to have a level of privacy, so a location was secured to provide him the privacy he requested. At no time was my meeting invitation extended for any other purpose except to give newly elected magistrates an opportunity to learn more about the Industrial Foundation.

John Albright

Chairman, Boyle County Industrial Foundation

Danville