Only eight city residents, not including members of the Covington city government and its committee on government transition, attended a public forum this week to collect feedback about how to structure Covington’s new mayor-council form of government, which is slated to take effect in 2027.
The city commission formed a committee on the transition late last year, comprised of resident appointees from the city’s various neighborhoods. The forum was part of an effort by the city to collect residents’ opinions on how to structure the new government.
Specifically, the event aimed to get input on the number of council seats the new legislature should have, whether the seats should be elected at large, representative of specific wards or districts (or a combination thereof), and if the city should mandate partisan primaries.
You can read LINK nky’s explainers to learn more about the differences between Kentucky’s municipal government structures and the differences between at-large and ward-based systems.
“We need more participation in the political process in Covington,” resident Daniel Burr told the committee. “You look here tonight at the number; I thought this would be packed.”
Although the numbers were slim, those who did show up shared their thoughts about the potential structure of the new government. Although there was disagreement about the number of seats and whether a ward system should be employed, no one was in favor of partisan elections.
“Partisan politics do not belong in a city government,” Burr told LINK nky after the meeting.
Unlike some of the other speakers at the meeting, Burr thought a ward system would be ideal, arguing it would increase the field of eligible candidates, conceivably narrowing the area where candidates would have to campaign. He argued this would remove financial barriers to running.
“If it gets down to a district, to one person out of this geographical area, it might encourage somebody,” Burr said. “They say, ‘Well, if I make it through that first one, then I can try to get really serious about raising money,’ because I think that is a factor that you should consider in these elections. We need to encourage more people for diversified areas of the city, of diversified backgrounds; we need to encourage them to run.”
Not everyone agreed, though.
“For whatever reason, the at-large system that we’ve had for the last 20 or so years seems to have done a fairly good job of guaranteeing or providing good representation, or diverse representation of different regions in the city,” said Dave Meyer, who formerly served as the vice chair for the Kenton County Democrats. In spite of his partisan background he, like the other attendees, was not in favor of partisan elections.
As far as the number of council seats, Meyer said, “the focus of the legislative body should be on how many it takes to produce good laws,” adding that he tended to advocate for a “a smaller number, rather than a larger number, but it’s also a function of the support staff, of the folks that are attendant to that.”
City councils in Kentucky can have anywhere from six to 12 members. The other two major population centers in Kenton County, Independence and Erlanger, have six and nine members, respectively.
Kara Acri, the wife of City Commissioner Tim Acri, a former reporter and lobbyist and current owner of Scarlet Begonias Flower Truck, said that ward systems in her experience can sometimes degenerate into internecine rancor. Ditto for partisanship.
“I can tell you from my experience what I found both in covering [government bodies] as a former newspaper reporter and working with them as a lobbyist and a consultant, is that a nonpartisan, at-large local government is the best form that I found where they are able to successfully accomplish what they want to get done in the community,” Kara Acri said.
She gave an example of how bad things could turn out.
“I literally had to write a letter from one city to give back a $3 million federal grant because the partisanship on the council was so bad that they just took turns swiping back and forth at each other,” Kara Acri said. “In another, the ward format, the wards literally pitted against each other, the representatives for those wards, to basically screw over the other wards, and it was just ugly.”
There will be another public forum on the government transition later this month at the American Legion post in Latonia. Information on the event is below:
- Wednesday, March 26 at American Legion Post 203 on Winston Avenue in Latonia, beginning at 6 p.m.
“I encourage all Covington residents and those who own businesses here or work here to speak up,” Covington Mayor Ron Washington said in a city press release. “Public input is an important component as we determine the structure of the new council and how it will be elected. After all, these will be your representatives carrying out your wishes.”
You can learn more about the laws governing municipal structures and the city’s transition process at the city’s FAQ page.
Residents can also fill out the city’s online survey to give written feedback on the matter.
