been a lot of news people rolled through here and take out the image of beattyville the poorest town in the country. people are suspicious. what are your thoughts on that? its home. no matter what we have or don t have, it s always going to be home. in a small community like us that s been going downhill for 40 years, a lot of people draw money from the government, no jobs leads no no money which leads to depression, which leads to drugs or alcohol. you know, we just have 35% of our high school kids graduate. wow. sothing to do.e leave to find i want young people to stay. i want them to find jobs and be with their families. just like i want my children to be with me. i ran for mayor back in 2010. and i got beat by a handful of votes. thaul all you have here is a handful of votes. absolutely. i m proud of who i am. i m proud of my mother. she has a sixth grade education. she s hooked these home cooked meals. she has taken care of me for 33
years and she s still taking care of me. i m proud to be from beattyville and i want to help the community. that s what a small town is about. helping everybody. do you feel like you re running for mayor maybe there s a target on you now that people are trying to run your name down? i don t care how big a target on my back, guns loaded. you mean there are probably some guns you could load? you know how it is. when we say that, we mean metaphorical. but if i need guns, they re loaded. absolutely. you say your mom has a sixth grade education but a ph.d. in food. this is real, real good. robert touched on it a little bit, but like many communities dealing with poverty, drug abuse has become a serious issue. in 2015, 30% of residents in eastern kentucky reported having a family member or friend that abused prescription drugs. in the late 1990s abuse of pain pills surged and it became an epidemic when oxycontin became
we just have 35% of our high school kids graduate. young people leave to find something to do. i want young people to stay. i want them to find jobs and i want them to be with their family, just like i want my children to be with me. i ran for mayor back in 2010 and got beat by just a handful of votes. all you got here is a handful of votes. absolutely. listen, i m proud of who i am, proud of my mother who has a sixth grade education. cooked home-cooked meals taken care of me 33 years and is still taking care of me. i m proud to be from this town and help the community. that s what a small town is about. helping everybody. do you feel running more mayor, maybe there s a target, people trying to run your name down? i don t care how big a target. i m guns loaded. out here you mean, probably some guns you could load? well, you know how it is! he joins us now. you ve been to a lot of places with the show.
suspicious of me and the camera crew rolling through here, a lot of news people rolling through and take out the image of the poorest white town in the country. people are suspicious. can you talk about that? what are your thoughts on that? it s home, no matter what we have or what we don t have it s always going to be home, but in all honesty in a small community going downhill for 40 years, a lot of people they draw money from the government, no jobs, leads to no money which leads to depression which leads to drugs or alcohol. we just have 13% of our high school kids graduate. young people leave to find something to do. i want young people to stay, find jobs and to be with their families just like i want my children to be with me. i ran for mayor in 2010 and i got beat by a handful of votes. that s all you got is a handful of votes. absolutely. listen i m proud of who i am. my mother has a sixth grade education. she s cooked the home cooked
it s what i grew up. i m basically your standard redneck. i was the first person who ever went to college in my family. i had a grandfather, as i told you, who was a saint. he and my grandmother fought the only time. the only thing they agreed on was education and civil rights. he had a sixth grade education. she had a correspondence degree in nursing. they knew they were all the same. so i deserve no credit for what i tried to do. i just raised that way. but i know how they feel. i m telling you, the older you get, the worst it is. if you look in the mirror every day and think you can t do anything to change the future.