[Coco] Lonnie Falk died June 9, 2006

[tim lindner]

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20060628&Categ
ory=NEWS0102&ArtNo=606280320&SectionCat=&Template=printart


Prospect mayor takes office 
Kehlbeck fills in after Falk's death
By Matt Batcheldor
mbatcheldor at courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal

It was a job Joe Kehlbeck never expected to have, and when first offered
he turned it down.
But the longtime Prospect resident reluctantly took the gavel as mayor
last week, appointed by the City Council to fill the term of the late
Lonnie Falk.
Falk, 63, died June 9 of a heart attack.
Kehlbeck, 79, said he rebuffed Councilwoman Nan Milliman when she
suggested he serve as interim mayor until January, when someone elected
in November would take over.
"She said, 'Think about it,' " Kehlbeck said.
Later, Kehlbeck said he recalled a conversation with Falk a couple of
years ago, when Falk asked him if he would run for mayor.
"I said no," Kehlbeck said. "He said, 'Well, if we need you, you will.'
"
Kehlbeck decided to accept, leaving a message on Milliman's answering
machine.
Kehlbeck has also decided not to run for the office in November.
Like Falk, Kehlbeck will not be paid. The Prospect City Council has
discussed adding salaries, but members haven't agreed on an amount.
Kehlbeck is Prospect's first new mayor in 13 years, but he's no stranger
to the city or City Hall.
He moved to Prospect in 1972, relocated by his employer, General
Electric. He served in several GE management positions before retiring
in 1988 after 36 years.
And Kehlbeck served on a committee that spent more than a year reviewing
and updating Prospect ordinances. As a result, he's familiar with even
minor rules about barking dogs and property lines.
"I've seen his work in the city of Prospect," Councilman Lee Zimmerman
said. "He is somebody I would certainly be very comfortable with being
in that position."
A Clifton, N.J., native, Kehlbeck has an engineering degree from the
University of Iowa and a master's in business administration from
Rutgers University. He briefly served in the Army during the closing
months of World War II. He has a wife, Kathryn, and a son, Keith, who
lives in Dallas.
Like Falk, Kehlbeck is a computer hobbyist, and for years he has
programmed software for the city's police department and reading center.
He became friends with Falk, and often had lunch with him.
Kehlbeck has served on the board of his homeowners' association in the
Estates of Hunting Creek subdivision and has done other volunteer work,
but hasn't dabbled much in politics before.
"I'm not that political," Kehlbeck said. "I'm interested in what's right
for the city."
Kehlbeck isn't quite sure what he'll do in his six-month term. He said
he wants to continue the programs Falk started, and wants the city to
stay "green."
"A lot of it is keeping the momentum going," Kehlbeck said.
Aided by a decade of residential growth, the city's budget grew under
Falk. He added festivals and pushed development restrictions to keep out
commercial ventures.
He built a new City Hall with a reading center on the second floor, a
small lending library that stocks fiction and nonfiction titles. The
council named the reading center for Falk last week.
City Council members praised Kehlbeck as someone who could carry on what
Falk started.
"He's always been someone who has volunteered to serve on different
committees to help at City Hall," Milliman said. "He's familiar with
City Hall. He's familiar with computers. He just seems like the most
natural person to try to fill in."
Reporter Matt Batcheldor can be reached at (502) 582-7086.
-- 
tim lindner
tlindner at watermarkpress.com                                   Bright