Joe Who? A Conversation with the Governor
By: Audrey Spillman
On the first day of the conference, we at Media Corps always get the pleasure to sit down for a conversation with the presiding officer whose face everyone knows: the Governor. This year, our conversation with Joe Hettinger was insightful, inspiring, and all-around fun. We started by asking the basics: What’s your opinion on the new age of information, and how has it affected our generation?
“I believe we’re informed in what we what to be informed on… though information is much more accessible, information now that is more accessible, they’ve marketed toward partisan news… When you want to hear something you can hear it… it’s a lot harder to hear hard truth… because news is partisan.”
When questioned on the issues in Kentucky that he’s most passionate about, Hettinger responded “suicide prevention and the heroin epidemic, those are two things that I’m very passionate about; I believe nowadays it’s much easier for drugs to get transported… No matter where you live in the state of Kentucky [drugs] can be found… it’s spreading fast.” On suicide prevention, he’s equally as passionate: “Everyone’s been afflicted — knows someone or has someone in their life who’s been afflicted by depression, and I think that it’s a shame that that’s happened to a lot of teens in our life nowadays.”
In this quote, he perfectly summarizes why so many people adore and bond over the Y: “The beauty of the Y is that we accept everybody; we do not judge, and we do not slander anybody for their views.”
On the Instagram live stream, it was asked whether or not felons should be able to vote once they are released from the jail system. To this, Hettinger responds: “I do believe in forgiveness — it’s very hard for felons to get jobs.” However, “the law given to us by the United States, the Federal law… the Constitution grants us the right and the privilege to vote… essentially you spit on it.”
We also asked him how the Y has changed him as a person: “It’s taught me that my actions do have consequences, good and bad. It’s taught me that everything I say is listened to; because really, our voice does matter.”
A question from Tristin Black, 2020 KUNA Governor, was regarding his idols. To this, Hettinger says: “biggest political inspiration… Mandela was amazing… he spoke for what he believed in, even though he knew he probably would die for it… and he did it all with peace.”
His advice to new and coming delegates? “Don’t be a stranger, talk to people… that’s the best part of the YMCA… at its bare roots… it’s just about making friends… Debating’s fun, but it’s not as fun as the people.”
He’s governor for a reason, and knows that he’s good at it: “I definitely know that I want to be a leader… I wanna use my voice, whether I’m standing on a stage or talking to people one on one, I wanna use my voice. I wanna be a leader, I think it’s something I have talent in.”
At the end of the day, though, Hettinger is most concerned with being a person. When asked whether more passionate about food or politics, his answer was simple. “I eat food every day. I don’t debate every day.”
And for those of you on the Instagram live stream who repeatedly inquired on his infamous watch: Rolex.
