Leaders in Johnson County disagree over future of transitional housing facility

Republished from WEKU.

An eastern Kentucky judge-executive and the mayor of the county seat are at odds over the future of a transitional housing center. Johnson County leaders are seeking a grant to purchase the former Heart O’ Highlands Motel the Altogether Opportunity Center operates in. Paintsville Mayor Bill-Mike Runyon said 50 to 60 percent of calls for police assistance come from that immediate area.

“We are putting in a new pool, a new swimming pool over there within 300 feet. We have a high school baseball field within 300 feet. We have a high school football field within 300 feet, and we got a park and playground within 300 feet.”

Johnson County Judge-Executive Mark McKenzie declined an interview with WEKU. In a statement, he said the facility serves as a warming center, an emergency shelter and transitional housing for people who’ve completed treatment for substance use disorder. Runyon said the center helps some people, but he and the city council want it somewhere else.

“It’s all about the location. We’re not against the Fiscal Court trying to do something to help people. We would actually go in with them and try to get that done too If it was another location.”

In McKenzie’s statement, he said the center offers a compassionate, proactive approach to a growing problem in a controlled, accountable environment.

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Originally published by WEKU.

Republished with permission.

https://www.weku.org/the-commonwealth/2025-02-04/leaders-in-johnson-county-disagree-over-future-of-transitional-housing-facility