Rogers doesn?t rule out return to politics

Outgoing County Executive Kenneth Rogers announced his retirement, though not necessarily from politics, as he spent his last official day in office yesterday. Rogers said he is pleased with what he accomplished in his first term in the county?s highest office, and feels he worked to keep his campaign promises.

?You can go back to when I ran in 2002,? Rogers said, ?and what I said I was going to do was work hard to bring industry in, and we worked hard and got some industry in, though not as much as we wanted to. I also said I would watch over the taxpayers? money as if it was my own, and I feel like we?ve done that.

?We?ve had four good years, and I?ve enjoyed it. Anytime you can build a school, you can build a jail, you can pay off $2 million in debt eight years early, and build an animal control center, and not raise property tax, you?ve had a good four years.?

Rogers said he congratulates newly elected County Executive John Pelham and he feels the two of them ran a good race.

?I wish John all the luck and success that we had,? Rogers said. ?And I think he will do a good job. And we wish him all the luck for the county too, because if he does a good job, then the county will do well.?

As for the county?s future, Rogers says the emphasis on industrial jobs may not be the way to go, due to the difficulty of recruiting this type of business in today?s economic environment.

?I would like for us to look more at service jobs,? Rogers said, ?because that?s what we?re coming to. And as for manufacturing jobs, I hope we will not particularly be going for the large corporate companies, and stay with the 300 to 500 employee companies. Those companies are more likely to stay with you. I think that?s the route we need to go with industry.?

Rogers says his plans for the near future are to relax a bit and take stock.

?I?m going to retire right now,? he said, but noted he is not going to leave the political arena, and doesn?t rule out another run at the county?s top office. ?I?m looking at some other things to maybe run for, and hey, in four years, who knows? I might start beating the pavement again to see if I can come back in here. But right now, we?re just going to sit back and look at things and see what lies in the future.?