Eleven of thirteen candidates, including the four incumbents, in the race for Covington City Commission appeared together at a forum last week hosted by the Westside Action Coalition at Wunderbar.
Each candidate gave short explanations of why they decided to run for the office. The May 20 primary will decrease the field from thirteen to eight that will advance to the general election in November where four will be elected to two-year terms.
The comments from the event are taken from video submitted by Holly Young.
Several challengers highlighted the lack of civil discourse that has plagued the current city commission since it took office in January 2013.
Challenger Chas Brannen, a former Kenton County judge, aimed at incumbents Mildred Rains and Michelle Williams saying that he is for Mayor Sherry Carran, City Manager Larry Klein, and “both Chucks”, current Commissioner Chuck Eilerman and former Mayor Chuck Scheper. “They’re not,” Brannen said of Rains and Williams.
“I’m for (executive director) Tom DiBello and the Center for Great Neighborhoods and they’re not,” he said.
Brannen, of Licking Riverside, also expressed support for “intelligent planning” and urban design, as well as the Sanitation District. “They’re not,” he said. “They opposed it with a childish, ridiculous petition that got three votes one night.”
“To the Robke Chevrolet deal over here, Mildred thought that was a conspiracy,” Brannen continued. “The Democratic governor of Kentucky, Steve Beshear, our Republican Judge Executive, a pretty good guy, and the City of Covington, and (Corporex Chairman) Bill Butler, a multi-millionaire, they all conspired to put that deal together.”
“I don’t think so. I think it’s a terrific thing to move the career center to the old Robke center, to redevelop the site.”
“There is a lot of nuttiness going on and people need to stand on their own two feet and call it out and make real clear what’s going on,” Brannen said. “That’s what I’m for and I think that’s what they’re against.”
“They can defend their record and if you want to change the commission, we need to change a couple votes on it.”
“Our current commission fights like cats and dogs,” said candidate Bill Wells, adding that he believes the behavior at City Hall has been “very immature”. Wells, who has served five terms as president of the South Covington Community Action Association and also led the Covington Neighborhood Collaborative, called himself “the neighborhood guy”.
“I know what the neighborhoods expect and what they want.”
He said his “big goal” is to attract businesses and residents to Covington. “We must work together,” Wells said. He called for landbank so that the city can start taking houses that are falling down and “put them back into usefulness to save our history”.
Retired Covington Police officer Danny jackson said that before he jumped in the race, he asked himself a question: Can I do a better job? “The answer is, absolutely I can do a better job,” he said.
“Everyone likes to say something nice about everybody but I think it’s been pretty clear with this commission here, there’s been some turmoil, there have been some disagreements and as much as they like to say they’ve been working together, I don’t think it’s the case.”
Jackson said he has spoken with several current police officers and said that they told him that they have found little accountability at City Hall. “Out where I live (in South Covington), police patrols have been cut to nothing,” he said. “I see the snow plow driver more often than I see a police cruiser. When I used to patrol in a cruiser we had four cars out south, now they’re lucky to have two.”
Jackson also called for finding a way to bring the browned-out fire pumper one back into service, arguing that developments won’t matter as much without public safety. “I’d like to say I know about business, but I don’t. I know a lot about public safety and that’s what I hope to bring to the table,” he said.
Other challengers used their time exclusively to talk up themselves. “I’m running for city commission because I feel that the city should be more family friendly,” said Brandon Mims of Botany Hills. “Right now we are hemorrhaging families leaving the area and I think we should actually work on residential properties to bring those who are renters and want to be homeowners, we should give them the chance to be homeowners through education and incentives to make it affordable.”
Mims also spoke out for public safety workers. “I believe we should be supporting our firefighters and police department because without them there’s really no point in making these investments,” he said. “We’ve got the heroin epidemic here and they’re our front line and that’s why I’m running.”
Challenger Warner Allen, who lost by 97 votes to incumbent Jerry Stricker in 206 during the city’s only commission race that used the “ward system”, used his time to invite guests to his fundraiser later that week and urged them to find out more about his platform at his website. “I’m running for a very simple reason,” he said, and then shared his campaign slogan: We Can Do Better.
Candidate Jordan Huizenga, of Old Seminary Square, said that Covington’s neighborhood fabric is “fantastic”. “What I want to do is focus on three primary things: jobs, housing, and education,” he said. “I think if we can improve our education and the way our neighborhoods and neighbors support families and suppot children then we will retain those families that are moving out of Covington.”
“If we can improve the situation and environment to not only bring in jobs to Covington but grow and support our current businesses, I know that that is going to drive the community forward.” Huizenga also said he wants to improve the city’s home ownership rate.
Christi Blair, who ran unsuccessfully for school board in 2012 is running for city commission this year, because “There are a lot of things not happening that I want to see happen,” she said.
“People are moving to the city. People want to come down here from all ages and I think we need to step it up a little bit,” Blair said. A top priority, she said, should be cleanliness. “One thing we need to do is clean it up. I hate to say it, but it’s dirty. I see filth all the time.”
Blair argued that the annual clean-up day should become a daily effort. “Have some pride down here and make them want to come down here,” she said. “If you have a clean city, a beautiful city, people are attracted to beauty and Covington is beautiful.”
Blair, a renter, also called for more clean rental options in the city.
The incumbents celebrated some of the successes emerging over the past couple of years. “There’s an awful lot going on, a lot of which you’re aware of, a lot you’re not aware of,” Chuck Eilerman said, adding that, “We have an awesome city.”
He said there are several new projects stretching across the city and quoted former Mayor Scheper in saying that in five years, you won’t recognize Covington. “We’re going to see things residentially, commercially, on the river, and in parks and recreation,” he said.
Eilerman was complimentary of city staff saying that City Hall continues to work together to straighten things out following the arrest and guilty plea of former finance director Bob Due who stole nearly $800,000 from city coffers. He also said that he wants to see through another City Hall move from its current rented space on Pike Street, where it moved to make way for The Hotel Covington, to a permanent home. “We’ve got some ideas in that vein,” he said.
The city has saved $4.5 million since 2012 through re-negotiated employee contracts and other efficiencies, Commissioner Steve Frank said. “We paid off some high interest rate debts and we’re using those savings to do capital improvements across the city,” he said. $50 million in new roads, sidewalks, and levee work will be done, Frank said.
“As we try to bring this area back, if you’re going to ask people to come here, open businesses here, you’re going to have to make this place look like a place you’re going to want to be.”
He said that plans for Gateway Community & Technical College’s $80 million urban metro campus in Downtown Covington would bring 5,000 students to the streets. “That’s going to get people back on the streets and get people living down here and shopping in our stores,” he said.
Frank also reiterated his strong opposition to building the $2.6 billion Brent Spence Bridge project through the use of tolls as a financing mechanism. “All the promise could be snuffed out,” he said. “If it costs five bucks to go to Covington and it’s free to go to Newport, well I know what would happen to our town and unless someone can prove to me otherwise, I’m sticking with Arnold Simpson on that one.”
Incumbent Michelle Williams acknowledged that citizens may see that the current city commission does not get along in public, “But in the board room, we definitely get along and try to come up with decisions that will be great for Covington and we’ve been doing that along the way,” she said.
“The Kentucky Career Center is underway and we’re also excited about the Life Learning Center getting underway here soon and hopefully the Waterfront will follow behind that,” Williams said.
She also noted that Gateway’s campus will “bring a whole lot of opportunity to Covington”.
“I am very excited about running again. I think I’ve brought a lot to the table and I will continue to do that. I will continue to fight for the residents.”
Incumbent Mildred Rains agreed with Williams’ remarks and also applauded Frank for his vocal opposition to tolls on the Brent Spence Bridge project.
Candidates Michael Gene Brosmore and Thomas Dorning did not attend the event.
Written by Michael Monks, editor & publisher of The River City News
Photo: Covington City Hall/RCN file
