Keith Bales, the director of Covington’s Public Works Department, was named interim city manager this week following the sudden resignation of City Manager Ken Smith.
The Covington Board of Commissioners unanimously voted to both accept Smith’s resignation and institute Bales as the interim city manager Tuesday night. Bales will remain in the post until Aug. 17 or until the city finds a permanent replacement.
“We know we’re going to do fine under [Bales’] leadership as interim city manager,” said Mayor Ron Washington on Tuesday. “As far as the city manager position goes, there are several applicants that the commissioners are going to be individually looking at and talking to. We believe that there’ll probably be a fairly quick decision on action, possibly as early as next week.”
Bales’s naming to the position came after over an hour of deliberations in closed session.
Tuesday’s meeting was a caucus meeting, which doesn’t usually include voting on legislation and personnel actions, but the commission moved to add the actions to the agenda. Reporting on the administrative workings of the city to the board of commissioners at meetings was delegated to City Solicitor Frank Schultz for the time being.
Smith was first named to the position of city manager, much like Bales, on an interim basis in 2021. Bales joined the city staff in 2021, as well, and became the director of public works in the fall of 2022.
Under Covington’s city manager form of government, the city is required by law to have a central administrative officer, an appointed position, that is largely responsible for managing the city’s professional departments on a day-to-day basis.
Covington voters approved a ballot measure last year to convert Covington’s government to the state’s common mayor-council form, which would remove the requirement for a central administrative officer, but the transition won’t be complete until 2027.
In the meantime, the city commission voted in December to grant the mayor official status as the head of the city and the “necessary authority to inquire into the conduct of duties and actions performed by the City Manager between meetings of the Board of Commissioners,” according to the text of the ordinance.
LINK nky learned of Smith’s resignation on Monday.
“City Manager Ken Smith submitted his resignation this morning,” reads a statement from the city. “The decision was his own, and the city is grateful for his service during his tenure.”
There was no public discussion of Smith’s departure leading up to the vote, but the commissioners thanked Smith for his service at the end of the meeting.
“I just wanted to sincerely thank him for all his leadership and years of service to the city,” said Commissioner Shannon Smith.
“I’ve really enjoyed working with Ken Smith over the years, and he will be missed,” said Commissioner Tim Downing.