Villa Hills is the next in a line of Northern Kentucky cities to pass a resolution opposing the controversial Senate and House bills 50.
Senate and House Bills 50 would require mayors, legislative body members, all city offices, city wards, school board candidates and soil and water conservation officers to have partisan primaries or partisan elections.
Resolution 2023-2 passed unanimously during a Feb. 15 special meeting of the Villa Hills City Council, maintaining nonpartisan city elections.
“With respect to HB50…I believe party affiliations are a root of our problems today. People pigeonhole your thinking and actions merely based on your registered party. It’s been a blessing in my 20 years as a councilman to not have that burden or judgment precede my actions and votes. I do what makes sense and is fair and reasonable without an obligation to follow a party theme. I vote no to statewide offices by party affiliation,” said councilmember Scott Ringo.
“I do not feel that it is necessary to require partisan elections for city officials. The current statute allows local legislative bodies to choose partisan elections if they so wish. When I ran for council four years ago, I walked approximately 95% of the streets within the city of Villa Hills. There were only two individuals who asked me what my party affiliation was. I replied that it was a nonpartisan election and that the question didn’t apply,” councilmember Cathy Stover stated.
Villa Hills passes resolution in opposition to partisan election bills
