The City of Covington and its committee on government transition are seeking public input on how to structure the new city council.
The council is slated to take effect in 2027 following a November vote from Covington residents to convert the government from its current city manager form to a mayor-council form. The devil is in the details, though, and there’s still a lot that needs to be determined before the transition can take place.
The committee and city commission will need to resolve a handful of key questions before they can pass ordinances establishing the structure of the new government.
First, they need to determine the number of council seats the government will have. Kentucky law allows for anywhere between six and 12 council seats. The other two major population centers in Kenton County, Independence and Erlanger, have six and nine council members, respectively.
Additionally, the commission will need to determine whether council seats will represent the city at-large, specific districts or wards or if a hybrid of the two systems ought to be implemented. Finally, there’s the question of whether council elections should be partisan.
At-large or wards?
When a member is elected at-large, it means they represent the city as a whole. The current city commissioners are elected at-large.
Alternatively, the city can be divided into districts or wards, each with an elected council member to represent the population therein. How the city would be divided up would have to be established by ordinance. Many county governments, such as the Kenton County Fiscal Court, use a system similar to this, where each county commissioner represents a specific portion of the county.
Finally, the city can establish a hybrid system in which some council seats represent the city at large and others represent specific wards.
Under the ward system, candidates would have to live in the area they represent, but every city voter can vote on every candidate, whether they live in that area or not. Similarly, at-large elections allow every city voter to cast ballots for every candidate, regardless of where the voters live. At-large candidates can live anywhere in the city.
In terms of representation, “there’s arguments to be made both ways about which system is best,” said Frank Warnock, Bellevue’s city administrator. Warnock also served as the city solicitor for Covington from 2009 to 2019.
Proponents of the ward system often tout it as a means of ensuring all subsets of a city’s population have direct representation in city government. If a particular neighborhood has an excessive number of candidates, the argument goes, an at-large council may end up overrepresented by a particular demographic or set of interests.
“It would increase the chances a minority population would always have an elected leader,” Warnock said.
One could also argue that either system could result in deadlocked councils. At-large council members have to work with candidates they ran against on city-wide issues, meaning rivalries can spill over into their terms on council. On the other hand, competition between wards can lead council members to become consumed by parochial interests, losing sight of broader problems.
Covington actually switched from an at-large system to a ward system in 2005, an effort that was proposed by former commissioner Alex Edmondson but largely spearheaded by former commissioner Jerry Stricker.
The city was divided into four wards, one for each commissioner. The mayor – at the time Butch Callery – was still elected at-large. Yet, after two years, the commission voted to switch back. Stricker (believe it or not) was among the commissioners who voted to repeal the ward system.
“After the November general election, Stricker and commissioner Jerry Bamberger proposed doing away with the wards, saying they had not accomplished their stated goal of stimulating debate and encouraging more candidates to run,” The Kentucky Post reported in 2007.
Only three cities in Kentucky, besides Lexington and Louisville, employ ward-based systems, according to the Kentucky League of Cities.
What about parties?
Only six municipal governments in Kentucky mandate partisan elections, according to the Kentucky League of Cities. The current city commissioner seats are nonpartisan.
If the commission decides to establish partisan elections, candidates would have to declare their party affiliations before running. Independent candidates can still run in partisan elections, but they don’t participate in party primaries, which take place before the general election in November.
In 2023, two bills in the General Assembly attempted to mandate local candidates, not only city candidates but also school board candidates and several county-based positions, engage in partisan primaries.
The bills proved unpopular among many NKY officials, and several cities passed resolutions against the bills. Some officials said that introducing party politics into local elections simply didn’t make sense, while others believed mandating a primary would be a barrier to entry for many candidates as they would incur more expenses in the primary season.
“As an independent,” said Covington Mayor Ron Washington to the transition committee on Feb. 27, the idea of partisan elections seemed like a bad one, saying the nation was already too “divided.”
How to leave feedback
Covington residents can fill out a brief online survey about the issues raised in this report here: Committee on Form of Government Transition Community Engagement survey.
There will also be two public fora in March, where residents can speak about their desires for the new city council. Information on the public fora are listed below:
- Thursday, March 13 at Covington City Hall on Pike Street, beginning at 6 p.m.
- Wednesday, March 26 at American Legion Post 203 on Winston Avenue in Latonia, beginning at 6 p.m.
“I encourage all Covington residents and those who own businesses here or work here to speak up,” Washington said in a city press release. “Public input is an important component as we determine the structure of the new council and how it will be elected. After all, these will be your representatives carrying out your wishes.”
You can learn more about the laws governing municipal structures and the city’s transition process at the city’s FAQ page.
The committee will continue discussions on other issues related to the transition, such as officials’ compensation, term limits, triggers for primary elections and other issues related to government operations in the coming months.