The candidates for Covington City Commission have responded to an election survey produced by Kentuckians for the Commonwealth (KFTC).
KFTC is a statewide organization that focuses on problems with coal mining, transportation, tax structure, voting rights, and leadership, among other issues.
Ten of thirteen candidates for city commission responded to the survey’s five questions, published below in full:
1. What are some of the things you want to accomplish in office if elected?
Warner Allen: I believe we can do better in all aspect of Covington. To do better centers on a number of core values, specifically collaboration and team work, service, as well as transparency in government and respect. My campaign focuses on three critical components to Covington’s success—(1) Business, (2) Community, and (3) Service. We can do better in these areas by: (1) Working better for small businesses and focusing more strictly on business retention to keep businesses thriving in Covington for the long term, (2) In Community, we have to maintain our stance on No Tolls when it comes to the construction of the Brent Spence Bridge Project…we have to look at all options available to support Covington on the largest project ever to hit our region…the federal government has a direct responsibility in this critical project and it is the top priority of my campaign to protect Covington’s residents and businesses from any harm caused by the potential of tolls, and (3) In Service, we need to continue to operate efficiently and effectively but keeping up on all technological advances to support police, fire and emergency responders. We need to continue growing our knowledge and expertise in the use of GIS and related technologies to fight crime and combat the horrendous heroin epidemic in Covington.
Christi Blair: I want to be a Covington City Commissioner so I can ensure the public’s tax dollars are being spent on the basic and essential needs of the community first. I believe some of the budget priorities have not been in logical order or in the public’s best interest. Public safety is number one, our fire and police departments must have the resources they need to protect our citizens at all times. Infrastructure must be maintained, our streets, sidewalks, curbs and sewers should never be neglected. We need to focus on our parks and recreation department and provide more opportunities for our youth and senior citizens to socialize and enjoy our city. We need a community center and a senior center, we have none now. As a City Commissioner, I want the quality of life to improve for our residents. Clean up the city, physically and ethically. I want to make sure we address blight and slumlords in a timely manner. The heroin crisis needs to be addressed and the city should sponsor public service announcements to educate the community and guide them to resources. We need an open form of local city government that communicates and has a open ongoing dialogue with the citizens. We need to improve community relations with investors, make our city easy to work with and encourage growth and economic development from the private sector. I want our city to be a fun, clean, great place to work, live and visit!
Chas Brannen: I am running for the office of Covington City Commissioner so that a third adult can vote with our fine Mayor, Sherry Carran, and our excellent Commissioner Chuck Eilerman, to provide a stable majority on the Commission. The City Commission needs to give overall direction to our City Manager and then let him do his job operating the city.
The childish and destructive behavior of the other three Commissioners, now fairly well know to the voting public, must end. It will surely end when they are voted out of office.
Steve Frank (incumbent): If elected this will be my third and hopefully last term as City Commissioner. Being in elected office was never on my bucket list. I came to it because then Commissioner Jerry Stricker asked me and three other professionals to form an Audit Committee to help the city get a handle on its finances. We had three findings. First the city was heading to imminent bankruptcy. Second that the only reason the city had not already gone bankrupt was that we had stopped maintaining our streets, sidewalks and other infrastructure. We calculated that Covington had run up a $35 million dollar deferred maintenance liability. Oh and there financials controls were to loose. When we were not taken seriously by the then commission, I got fired up and ran for office and compounded my error by screwing up and winning. I am the person who approached and convinced Chuck Scheper to take up the mantle as mayor when Denny Bowman resigned and I was integral to our finding over $4 million dollars in savings that we are now reinvesting back into the city to help attract new young families and businesses. This is what is known as the “Scheper Plan”. My reasons for running again are to institutionalize these changes, further tighten financial controls in the city so that our operations are run in a more businesslike fashion, and finally for better or worse; I seem to be the point person in keeping the Brent Spence Bridge out of the hands of a private for profit business. Frankly, I am the only person running with an extensive business and financial back ground and with one exception, the only person with significant influence on a regional and statewide basis.
Jordan Huizenga: I believe Covington has some of the greatest assets in the region and around the tri-state. From our historic housing stock to our two riverfronts, our entertainment areas to our unique and eclectic neighborhoods, Covington has so much to offer. What I want to do in office is develop these assets into realized opportunities.
I want to improve the rate of homeownership and strengthen our neighborhood fabric so individuals move, live and stay in Covington. I want to improve the educational outcomes of students and children in our community by supporting families and partnering with our school district and neighborhood organizations to build community supported schools. I want to improve the safety of our neighborhoods by supporting our police and fire departments while addressing the heroin issue in Covington.
Above all, I want to move Covington in a positive direction through forward thinking strategic leadership that brings our community together. We need to focus on collaboration and communication to tell our unique story and engage the variety of populations throughout Covington.
Danny Jackson: When I am elected I hope to make Covington a safer place to live by providing our police and fire departments the resources they need to effectively do their jobs. I plan to help our businesses be more effective by listening to their ideas and let commerce do what it does best without unnecessary government interference. I plan to bring “accountability” to our City Manager’s office and end this era of cronyism and managerial incompetence which now is so pervasive with this current Commission.
Brandon Mims:
- End the brown out for the Fire department and replace all out of date equipment.
- Upgrade the Police departments equipment and training to meet and exceed the needs of the city.
- Follow contracts with the unions to end unnecessary legal bills.
- Eliminate wasteful spending of tax dollars.
- Make City Hall a responsible steward and focus on maintaining our cities infrastructure and holding property owners accountable for the condition of their property.
- Bring in meaningful jobs that will provide a means of upward mobility.
- Introduce alternative means of higher education through local Union apprenticeships and after school programs if the skill in question may not require a degree.
- Create long term incentives for those interested in owner occupied first homes to come into the city.
Mildred Rains (incumbent): More affordable housing; Bring more business to Covington; Get more residents involved in their government!
Bill Wells: Improve the collaborative environment at city hall. For seven years I’ve worked with our neighborhoods to solve challenges we face, not just in my neighborhood but all the neighborhoods. I have seen the advantages of working together and we need more of that at city hall.
Covington needs a seat on the Sanitation District Board. We are Northern Kentucky’s largest city. We have storm water runoff and combined sewer overflow issues and I see little relief for our citizens until we have representation on this board.
Continue to reduce vacant and abandoned structures. We are on the right track in reducing blight and I will support our ongoing efforts. We need to work with our neighborhoods to pinpoint problem properties and form a Land Bank so we can rebuild our aging neighborhoods not just demolish our past.
Support our Gateway College Urban Campus. Not since RiverCenter have we had a catalyst for change of this magnitude. We can use this opportunity to attract quality housing and businesses to our downtown.
Finally, we must continue to provide funding for our basic needs – those things that make every other investment worthwhile, keeping Covington one of the safest cities in the region.
Michelle Williams (incumbent): I still believe that Riverfront Development should become a priority for the City of Covington. Efforts have been made for the Waterfront Restaurant to re-open and for approval on other project to develop on the river. I want to continue to see the momentum building with economic development throughout the City. We can see this with the addition of the New Walgreens, The Kentucky Career Center, and The Life Learning Center. I want to bring transparency to the city, its important that residents know what’s happening with the resources and what role their opinions plays in the decision making process. I would like to continue bring new ideas to Covington, such as the Adult Playground, which is a fully equipped free outdoor gym. I have completed the proposal and have been acquiring funders.
Over the last several years our communities have seen an increase in homelessness and a decrease in adequate, affordable housing, especially for younger and older residents. Do you believe local government has a role to play in increasing access to affordable, safe housing? If so, what ideas do you support or propose?
Allen: Housing is both a private and public community concern. I have the privilege of learning from my wife who serves on the Housing Authority Board of Covington. My core belief is that there is absolutely no reason for homelessness in the richest country in the world but it is a serious problem in our own community. As a child, I was homeless far too many times, even having lived in the Welcome House…but without such critical services, I wouldn’t be where I am today…a later graduated top of my class, earned several degrees, have been successful in my career and now own my own business. Being self-sufficient should be the central goal and deliberate movement toward that end and it takes collaboration from both local government and our shared business communities. We can do better by working harder to garner more state and federal support, even in the form of grants to help build and sustain successful organizations that protect our young people and older residents. The money is out there, we just need qualified people (such as myself) who know how to get the funding to support this critical need in Covington but we need to do it in a way that helps these folks become self-sufficient, educated and supported in the long-term with minimal financial impact on the taxpayer.
Blair: We have more than plenty of housing opportunities in Covington/Latonia, apartments, homes for rent or sale, several senior citizen apartment communities and public housing complexes. I do believe it is the City of Covington’s responsibility to make sure landlords maintain their properties and have code enforcement go after the slumlords for violating city ordinances. I do not believe it is the City’s job to be a landlord, that is for the private sector. The city of Covington is half rentals. I think we need more nice apartments in the $500-$800 price range. There are always apartments for rent in Covington in all price ranges so we do have an advantage when it comes to attracting renters, students, relocation, downsizers, room mates, vacationers.
Brannen: We need a housing strategy as one of our near and long term objectives. One of the first things that I will do on the Commission will be to work with the Mayor, Commissioner Eilerman and the City Manager to line out just such a strategy.
Homelessness is an enormous challenge for any municipality in 21st Century in America. We need – officially – to be mindful of the homeless as well as the presence of substantial poverty and the working poor in all of our older cities.
Frank: We have been very active in making our code enforcement more effective in going after slumlords and other problem property owners. We have even instituted a program where landlords have to have a license to operate that can be revoked if problems persist. We have also made available a more effective relief program for poor homeowners who lack the resources to improve their property if they get sited by the code board. We are also very interested in working closely with the soon to be named new Director of Covington’s Housing Authority so that we can begin to get more residents of public housing integrated into the community rather than feeling left out.
Huizenga: I believe our local government should help create an environment where all people can live in safe quality housing. The Hope VI River’s Edge project will provide an important opportunity for mixed income housing targeted at young people, the elderly and those families who are economically disadvantaged. To make this and other housing developments successful we need to provide targeted and intentional support programs for these populations. Simply providing access to housing is not enough.
Covington also has an abundance of neglected and abandoned buildings along with empty lots throughout the city. We should grow our partnership with the Center for Great Neighborhoods and other developers to turn these building and lots into useful and beneficial real estate that adds to the neighborhood rather than detract from it.
Jackson: I think our local government should not try to reinvent the wheel with any special programs but continue to support the State and Federal programs that are in place and utilize their resources to continue to aid those who need it. At the end of the day, the taxpayers that support local government programs are the same ones that support State & Federal programs.
Mims: I do believe that local government has a role to play in providing safe affordable housing to everyone. What that role is depends on the resources that are available, laws and what the residents/business owners of Covington are willing to do to address the situation. Any new development including rehabs of multi unit residential space needs to take into consideration the affordability and safety of future occupants. The city of Covington has developed enough Posh living spaces that have gone bust because of the price. We also need to work with our local organizations to develop Co-op housing for those working to get back on their feet. We need to hold accountable the property owners & realtors that have sat on vacant buildings for years allowing them to fall into disrepair and making them impossible for a rehabber and/or home owner to come in and create affordable housing. Vacant buildings are a drain on city resources not only do they provide negligible income through the collection of property taxes, they are a drain in terms of public safety and health by providing a haven for criminal activity. Also we need to have an educational program that teaches individuals the basics of independent living and home ownership.
Rains: Rehab the best of City owned houses with CDBG money & sell the houses at a reason price so they can be put back into productive use.
Wells: You’ve heard the saying give a man a fish and he eats for a day; teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime, I’m in favor of the later. From time to time we all need help, but when generations continue to need help, we have let them down. The best way, in my opinion, to break this cycle is through education and that is just one of the reasons I have always supported Gateway’s Urban Campus, this could truly be a game changer, offering the chance for people to learn skills that they can use for getting employment.
Affordable housing is an issue in Covington, and we have a history of helping the less fortunate in our city. We have public housing and we have homeless shelters and safe havens for those facing extreme challenges. I can’t see us not continuing to provide resources, but we also have to look at the big picture – we can’t be everyone’s life boat. We have to create opportunity as well. I think Gateway has that potential.
Williams: I believe that the development of affordable housing can help attract both new employers and a skilled workforce. Research shows that affordable housing development also drives local economic growth. The availability of affordable housing plays a role in where businesses decide to build, relocate, or expand their operations. A lack of affordable housing can put a local economy at a competitive disadvantage. I will continue to support residential rehabs for low to moderate income families and would also encourage developers to seek out city incentive programs that would allow them to locate and identify properties that could potentially benefit both the city and developer.
Budgets continue to be tight, and people continue to express concerns about how the city will be able to meet its obligations. How do you think the city should handle revenue concerns, bearing in mind the need to help struggling families in our community?
Allen: This takes win-win partnerships and likens itself to running a household – the city must tackle priority/basic needs as well as aspire to future projects and goals. There are many opportunities in the city for resource sharing to help reduce costs. As budgets continue to get smaller, we just have to adapt to the economic changes and be more creative on how we solve problems. In some cases, public private partnerships could work as long as they are monitored for the benefit of the city, resident, businesses and expected outcomes. In a previous career role, I was responsible for a $58 million cost reduction effort to help keep jobs but also to reduce waste for operations in north, south & central America…we succeeded in doing this in about a year…it just took a collaborative team effort and sharing of knowledge and creativity to “learn” how we could stretch dollars, reduce costs, maintain success and plan for the future. In Covington we can do this too, but it starts with an agreed mindset that we can do better.
Blair: The City of Covington is obligated to ensure the safety of its citizens despite the budget. We pay almost 20% in property taxes ($18.99 per $1,000 in city limits except for exemptions), I think that’s plenty of money to get the job done. We need to increase property value and attract new businesses not keep raising taxes! Spend the money on the people who live here now, not invest in small plans to hope people will choose to move here and stay. We have many lifelong residents who need to see a return on their investment by staying loyal and investing their time and hard earned dollars into our city.
Brannen: We have no choice but to balance our budget; that is true of every state and municipality. I am a big believer in the Scheper Plan, which was articulated by our previous Mayor, Chuck Scheper. It seeks – among other things – to promote new business development in Covington by gradually reducing the tax burden on businesses and their employees. That looks to me like a process that could generate new funds to support every city function.
Frank: While budgets are tight, we have used the reorganization of Covington’s Government during the “Scheper Plan” to run more efficiently without cutting services. In fact after using those savings to pay off some old high interest rate debt; we are about to start a $50 million dollar capital improvement plan which will include major upgrades of existing parks and recreation facilities that all can enjoy without costs. We are also working with other community groups to provide more opportunities for both our young and old alike and are working on establishing several new Community Centers.
Huizenga: In order to combat our revenue issues at the city level we need to focus on creating jobs that bring in tax dollars. By creating an environment where business start, stay and grow, Covington can better support struggling families in our community. Covington needs to create a strategic plan to grow our technology, bio-medical, professional, retail and entertainment sectors that will grow our tax base and provide the resources we need to support families in crisis.
By supporting job growth for new and existing companies in our community, Covington will also grow the number of opportunities for low income families to obtain gainful employment. In order to be successful, this type of growth needs to be specific, strategic and intentional. Covington needs to actively recruit businesses and create an environment where startups can be successful while taking care of our current businesses and helping them grow. Finally, we need to create a strategic plan for a successful business growth in our community and work to create a successful future for all of Covington’s residents.
Jackson: I think the City of Covington should put its tax paying citizens first and consider its obligations to provide a safe and secure city. The priorities of local government should always bear in mind what programs they can afford and who it is that pays for them. I would like to see more of our local private organizations and groups provide help to those who need it and live in their communities.
Mims: Contract negotiations with our vendors should be handled with the understanding that personal strife should not come into play when getting the best deal for the city. City officials should always keep in mind what’s in the best interest of the city not themselves. With that said we should not offer contracts to individuals and companies that have exhibited poor workmanship or cases of favoritism. Also we should not allow or even offer multi year property tax abatements on residential dwellings over a certain amount for obvious reasons, especially if it is a second home.
Rains: Increase the tax base by doing #2 above; Bring more businesses into Covington.
Wells: The City, like ourselves, must live within its means. We have to find a balance between investments meant to attract new dollars and those we put into maintaining what we already have, and helping the less fortunate. Finding that balance is part art and part science. I like the actions of our city staff in this regard; yes, we have had to borrow money, but we now have the necessary funds to begin a five year community reinvestment plan that is long overdue, improving our streets, our sidewalks, and our infrastructure. This helps everyone. It is not the glamorous side of city government, but it is important. If you don’t maintain what you have how can we attract residents and businesses? They are not going to be attracted to a declining city.
This reinvestment plan should help to revitalize our aging infrastructure, for example, replacing miles of deteriorated sidewalks that if the individual homeowner paid for it, could financially devastate them. This is one way we can help everyone in the city. It is through this type of collaboration where we can reach goals that were thought to be unreachable.
Williams: I believe that the City has taken measures to identify areas in the budget that need adjusting, due to a decrease in state and federal funding resources, as well as lost tax revenue. I would also encourage city staff to continue seeking out grants that will offset project cost. The City should be transparent with city plans and budget concerns.
Many former felons have a hard time returning home to communities after serving their sentences, and face challenges in finding both adequate housing and employment. What ways can the City of Covington help returning citizens find meaningful employment and adequate housing in our community?
Allen: This is an area where many wonderful organizations like Life Solutions, Life Learning Center, Welcome House and the one-stop career center can all play joint roles to support “non-violent” felons in getting them back on their feet, trained, supported and self-sustained into our society and local communities. Non-violent offenders deserve a chance to “bounce back” but it takes each of us in our community to support the effort. I would look into launching a “social marketing” (not social media) campaign to engage our talented community members to volunteer their time, talent and treasures to support folks into becoming contributing members of our community again…whether it be using a skill to train, sharing our own education and knowledge or simply donating money to important causes that support the success of felons and keeping them from repeat behavior. We cannot expect the city or government to fix every social problem…in many cases, government creates these problems…it’s up to me and you and strategic partnerships.
Blair: I don’t have statistics on how many felons are Covington residents. It is not the City of Covington’s responsibility to provide jobs or housing to anyone so I don’t think felons should receive preferential treatment when many non felons are jobless or homeless in our community. I do have sympathy for those who have paid their debt to society and deserve a second chance for a new beginning. The city could provide a resource link on the city’s webpage for free, as a public service announcement, to guide felons to websites such as exoffenders.net for felon friendly employment list. I think its more important to learn how to assimilate back into society. Family, friends, church, neighborhood and charitable organizations are the ones who should step up and volunteer to assist anyone who needs help with housing and jobs, felons included. Again, there is an overabundance of housing opportunities in Covington/Latonia so housing should not be a roadblock to transitioning into our community. I would encourage free to very low budget solutions such as cooperating and communicating with probation and parole, county,and state agencies.
Brannen: It is time to wake up to some the obstacles to re-integration into the community that challenge men and women who have been convicted of criminal offenses. Most fair-minded people should agree that once an offender “has done his/her time”, they be afforded the opportunity to live a normal life.
I support legislation and practices that will help to make that happen.
Frank: Covington has worked very closely with the State of Kentucky and private philanthropist, Bill Butler to create the Life Learning Center at the former Stewart Iron Works. No tuition is ever charged to help get those who have not made it into the mainstream of life, particularly those with a “record” if they are willing to get with the program. They will teach and find work for those who have been marginalized by society. I am also on the Board of Gateway Community College’s Foundation where we are attempting to build an Urban Campus in Covington that would then be able to teach practical skills and trades so that our disadvantaged can find their way firmly into the middle class. Lastly we are creating along with the State a “One Stop” at the Old Robke Site on Madison where job interviews will take place. In addition this facility will also house the Northern Kentucky Area Development District (which happened because I am on their board as well). The “ADD” District not only attracts businesses it also is the hub for providing most of the social services of the area; programs such as “Meals on Wheels” and Health initiatives such as Prenatal and other Health Outreach programs.
Huizenga: In order to create a community where all residents are safe and supported, Covington should support and partner with community agencies to provide high quality programs for individuals transitioning back into society. Organizations like Transitions, Inc. have the experience and expertise to properly support these individuals. The City could also look for opportunities to hire these individuals for jobs that are sometimes less attractive to non-felons. By establishing positive employment history for these residents, it will make it easier for them to find and keep future employment.
Jackson: I think the City can aid these individuals by helping to support the organizations that are currently involved with this issue, such as Catholic Charities. The City should encourage these individuals’ family and friends to lend a great deal of the assistance that is needed.
Mims: That is a good question. Ideally I would like it if a social worker or family member met up with the former felon prior to release and discuss what their plans are and pull from a listing of places that are available to them if they decide to live on their own after they are released. The city can create incentives for companies to hire felons and those who have a disability.
Rains: #2 can be a part of this, also #3; Bring more business to Covington
Wells: Covington was one of the first cities in our region to adopt an equal rights amendment; perhaps we should have a community discussion about this issue, using our Human Rights Committee as a forum and see what our citizens think. Through collaboration maybe we can arrive at actions that we can take locally to deal this national issue. For those who have served their time, made a commitment to be law abiding and good citizens, and work to integrate themselves back into the community, they should be treated the same as we would anyone else.
Williams: I would encourage local business owners to offer felons the opportunity rejoin the workforce, through skill training and re-entry programs that can motivate them to become part of the community. I am an advocate for transitions, where I have completed supervisor training for the past four years. I do this so that I can offer assistance with job training and life lessons. I believe this is an important role.
Due to budget cuts, and pay and hiring freezes, from both the local and state Governments, we have seen many local public employees’ salaries go down in terms of real dollars, while at the same time many needed positions remain unfilled. What can the city of Covington do to support employees and fill job vacancies?
Allen: Staffing is the most significant expense of any business. It is also has the highest ROI when proper evaluations are in place….we need to ensure strong and just evaluations based on performance and priorities in the city to ensure we are staffed appropriately to move us toward achieving what I discussed in #3 above. Sometimes this also means that we combine roles, share resources and, again, use our creativity and innovation. If we look at how we can reduce waste, develop strong cost reduction programs and share resources, we can save the necessary funds to adequately staff key positions in the future. It takes common sense financial planning.
Blair: I saw several job vacancies on the City of Covington’s website and it seems like someone always retires and new hires are at all commission meetings. I think the job market is picking up and any cuts or freezes we see are across the nation, not just unique to our city. With technology, comes downsizing. The City of Covington can support employees by making sure everyone knows their job duties and responsibilities, evaluating and giving feedback for job performance, giving credit where credit is due and respecting our city workers.
Brannen: The answer here is much the same as the answer to question number three. The good news is that Covington has a bright economic future, positioned as it is on a major river, across from a major American City, with a great stock of century old buildings ready for redevelopment and re-use.
I happen to believe that Covington is about to experience a surprising urban renaissance. That tide might just lift all boats.
Frank: Every employee in the City received a 3% raise and is scheduled to receive additional raises in the new fiscal year. What we have done is modernized our payroll and benefit system and provided a clinic where our workers can, if they chose go to quality doctors without having a co pay or a deductible. These same doctors also provide healthcare for Toyota so this is quality healthcare and we have started providing wellness programs for employees. Outside of union negotiated contracts, management to receive increases must now be annually reviewed and their increases will be based on their performance as judged by their subordinates, peers and managers.
Huizenga: In order to be successful, Covington must have the necessary resources to pay our qualified staff and hire experienced and intelligent people to move our city forward. This human capital in integral to our success because out city’s staff do the leg work to execute the policies and plans of the city.
In order to grow our resources and support city staff, Covington can look for cost savings in general outdated operations and invest these savings into impactful areas of city work to move our community forward. We can also investigate and implement regional governmental efficiencies that could lower costs by partnering with other municipalities and agencies in Northern Kentucky. Most importantly, we should focus on strategic job creation to grow our tax base and provide the necessary resources to hire and pay our quality city staff.
Jackson: The primary reason I am running is due to the managerial incompetency and the cronyism that the current Commission has allowed to occur and remain in City Hall. This city is in desperate need of strong leadership and accountability. Independent and in agreement of my stance on the lack of accountability at City Hall the Covington Police F.O.P. Executive Board issued a statement claiming there little to no accountability in this current Commission. Nothing is going to change until we have true leadership back in City Hall. We need leadership and responsible fiscal management for our employees and citizens.
Mims: As a federal employee myself I am in the same boat. I would like to work with the unions, along with the county & state government to see if we can create a sort of floating pool of rookies that we can pull from and hire on as positions are needed this will cut down on waiting time for police cadets and fire fighters. City officials should refrain from bad mouthing city employees in the media. We should be praising our city employees and make sure that our city employees have the necessary tools to do their jobs. Increasing pay without looking at the books appears to be tied with bringing in more taxes and without raising taxes on everyone we really need to look into bringing in more higher paying jobs to the city or making the city more family friendly.
Rains: The City has filled vacancies in the last few months & created new positions to fill jobs that were newly created & needed ie, IT, Ass’t Finance Director & Auditor.
Wells: The city has filled nearly every position called for in the Management Partners Report and, within the past couple of years, nearly everyone has been given a salary increase. If we expect a professional management team at city hall we have to make that investment. A zero based budget has been adopted and our financial house is in much better shape than it has been in the most-recent past. The investments in our infrastructure and our economic development team are intended to attract new businesses and residents so that we can reap the rewards that come from that and continue to grow economically. So we are on the right track.
However, no one should promise they will automatically give raises or hire new employees. That would be irresponsible. Good leadership at city hall means that you make decisions for the community while considering the context of the time: our financial stability, the needs we have identified, and the ability for those investments to improve the city. This is where having a good team at city hall can really help; when we all put the good of the community above any petty political issues and work for the common good.
Williams: In the past year the City of Covington has approved salary increases for non-civil service and non union employees, as well as approving job descriptions and employee evaluations to insure that productive employees are given increases they deserve, and I will continue to support staff in this effort. I feel it is important for the safety of the community that we man thirty firefighters a day, according to the contract, and I feel this issue needs to be resolved sooner rather than later. I also feel there is a need to fill vacant positions in Fleet and Public Improvements.
Candidates Michael Gene Brosmore, Thomas Dorning, and Chuck Eilerman (incumbent) did not respond to KFTC’s survey.