Newly-elected Covington Mayor Ron Washington discussed his vision for the city with local business leaders, elected officials and other regional figures at a special luncheon on Thursday.
Put on by the Covington Business Council and hosted at the Embassy Suites on Rivercenter Boulevard, the luncheon provided an opportunity for Washington to discuss his background as well as his goals for his time in office. Key topics included economic development, housing, the city’s finances, the conversion of the Covington city government and the overall outlook for the NKY region.
“Look at yourself as ambassadors,” Washington told the luncheon attendees. “When you’re at a wedding party, or you’re out and about, or you’re in suburbia, talk about our city. Talk about the good things that are happening in our city.”
Covington Business Council Executive Director Pat Frew interviewed Washington during the main portion of the event. He began with basic questions about Washington’s background.
Washington, who was born in Harlan County but grew up in Covington, was a foster child, and he spoke about the importance of his foster and later adoptive mother Anna Washington had in his upbringing. Anna Washington was highly involved in the local community, having worked at the former Covington Community Center, which stood on the site where Center for Great Neighborhoods is today. Washington attributed much of his sense of civic duty to the values his mother instilled in him.
“She worked at the Covington Community Center,” Washington said. “She was involved in our church. Community was always, always, always so important to Mom. She instilled it to all of us [Washington and his siblings].”
You can learn more about Washington’s biography by reading LINK nky’s profile of him back when he was a mayoral candidate.
“It’s not lost on you that you’re the first African-American mayor in Covington’s history,” Frew said. “Talk about the significance of that for you.”
“I think it speaks volumes about our city,” Washington said. He added that not only was he the first Black mayor of Covington but of any large Kentucky city.
He qualified that statement, however, by saying, “I ran unopposed. So, I think that tells you the type of city [we are]. Our voters elected me because they felt that I was qualified and based off my character, and they know that I’m going to lead the city, and I’m going to represent the city, and I’m going to fight for the city, no matter what color you are. I believe that’s why I was elected.”
Talk then turned to the issues. Washington discussed the city’s budget, the general fund of which is still suffering from a deficit. The deficit arose due to the loss of payroll tax income when the city’s large employers, most notably Fidelity, allowed their employees to work from home during the pandemic. This had the effect of siphoning payroll tax away from the city.
Although the gap hasn’t been closed entirely, the situation has improved throughout the course of the year as the city has implemented cost-cutting measures, and Covington’s commercial landscape has begun to rebound. Washington was optimistic about the budget.
Dovetailing with the budget, Frew asked point blank if the city could afford the new city hall it was building. The city broke ground on the new building in October, and financing its construction required the city to take out debt.
Washington responded by saying the city could manage the expense and that the current city hall was both structurally dubious and unsightly. This deteriorated the morale of city employees, Washington argued, and a new city hall would help bolster the pride of city residents and attract new businesses.
“It’s time for our employees to have a nice place to work,” Washington said. “And it’s time for our citizens to be proud of the place.”
Washington emphasized the need to attract more business, even though he admitted much of the economic development that’s occurred has taken place north of 12th Street. Although the southern reaches of the city have seen less development, it was important to emphasize, he said, that economic development was a boon to city services generally.
“There’s a disconnect between the Central Riverfront, what’s happening there and what’s happening in the rest of the city,” Washington said. While it wast true that federal money existed to help residents in the southern parts of the city with housing and other issues, it was not replacement for general prosperity.
“If we could be a very robust economy and really, really grow our businesses, that would give us money to help those in those houses,” Washington said. “So we have a communications – I wouldn’t say an issue because we’re trying to address it – but we have to constantly remind people why this is important. Latonia and the southern part of our city is just as important as the north-end, but right now, it’s easy to attract people there, and we have to take advantage of that.”
Washington also expressed optimism about the city government’s conversion to a mayor-council form of government, which he argued would be more efficient and accountable than the current system. Additionally, he discussed the importance of collaborating with other jurisdictions in the region and said he looked forward to working with the county and state.
Toward the end of the event, an audience member asked Washington what he was most excited about for his term. Washington didn’t hesitate about what needed to be addressed – housing.
“I’ve got people in my family, and I’m sure you have people in your family; they’re sleeping on couches or sleeping in their parents’ basement,” Washington said. “So, it’s a national problem about housing, but we in the city need to do something. We have many, many vacant houses in our city. We need to turn that over to private investors, to nonprofits. We need to build; we need to build homes. We need to have income-aligned housing, and that’s what I’m going to see, and that’s what I’m focused on.”