Covington City Commission: Smith and Downing re-elected, two new commissioners join

The results are in for the Covington Board of Commissioners. Incumbents Shannon Smith and Tim Downing have maintained their seats, dominating the field, much like they did in the primary. Two new commissioners will take the remaining two seats: Tim Acri and James Toebbe.

There were four open seats on the Covington City Commission, along with an open mayoral seat. Ron Washington, the city's current mayor pro-tem, ran unopposed for the mayor's seat. Under Covington's city manager form of government, every commission member and the mayor have a vote on local laws. Mayors are responsible for running meetings, signing contracts and acting as the public face of the city, but they share executive and legislative power with the board. Because the mayor casts votes on laws and policies, the person sitting in the mayor’s seat has no veto power, unlike mayors under the mayor-council form of government.

Additionally, unlike the mayor-council and city commission models, city manager governments are required by law to have a full-time administrative officer, the city manager, who directly oversees the departments and workers in the city (although some cities who use mayor-council form often have a city administrator or city manager anyway). The city manager is appointed through a full vote of the board of commissioners and is responsible for much of the day-to-day operation of the city. 

The city manager is a sworn office, but as a non-elected official, the manager doesn’t have voting power. Still, city managers hold a lot of sway in how a city is run, especially since the commission and mayoral positions do not have required full-time hours. (Mayors and commissioners often work full-time jobs outside of city hall.) 

A ballot question asking Covington residents if they wanted to convert the municipal government to a mayor-council form was approved by voters this election, meaning the new commissioners will be charged with transitioning the government in the next two years. Residents will then vote to fill the newly formed city council seats in 2026.

"I am truly honored and humbled by the trust the voters have placed in me as the next mayor of Covington," said Washington. "This victory, along with the passing of the ballot initiative to transition to a mayor-council form of government, marks an exciting step forward for our city, though we know this change will take effect in two years. In the meantime, I look forward to working alongside the newly elected members of the city commission as we continue to address the needs of our community."