Election forum held for Richmond city commission and mayoral candidates

Oct. 26—Blake Vickers

The first night of the Richmond Chamber of Commerce's election forums kicked off at the EKU Center for the Arts on Monday evening with candidates for Richmond City Commission and Richmond Mayor.

Current commissioners Jim Newby, Ed McDaniel, and Mike Brewer appeared alongside challengers Mendi Goble, Tammy Cole, Matthew Vaughn, Joe Bentley, and John Perkins.

Commissioner Krystin Arnold appeared alongside current Mayor Robert Blythe in the forum for mayoral candidates.

The candidates faced a wide variety of questions, including ones about the city in general, downtown restoration, and the partnership between the city government and the Richmond Chamber of Commerce.

Mayor Blythe and Commissioner Arnold were the first candidates to take the stage on Monday.

One question asked the two candidates how they would use a "no strings attached" check of $1 million for the city.

"I would look into increasing our public safety. I think there's a real gap there that maybe our citizens aren't aware of. We have some work that can be done for infrastructure and some work that can be done in community development or for economic development," Arnold said. "I would spend the money to recruit more businesses. I think we're way beyond the point of baiting and hooking good businesses for our citizens to support. I think we're past the point of having to go to Lexington for everything."

Arnold added she would also like to see city employees paid better.

For his answer, Blythe said he would focus on one particular area — housing.

"I would stare at the million dollars for awhile and then I would release it," Blythe quipped. "But really, I would want the city to engage in providing truly affordable housing. I would like part of that to go toward housing the unhoused. The city cannot just freely go into the coffers... I would like to provide an opportunity for the city to do something for the unhoused."

Following the mayoral forum, the wide swath of city commission candidates took the stage. Each provided their own stances to a live audience and those watching online.

"I worked for the city of Richmond for about 33 years. Probably another three years part time. I worked for Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) and I was a part time instructor there for several years," Joe Bentley began. "My platform, so to speak, is I'm really a huge proponent of economic development and I would like to see a full-time economic developer for the city of Richmond."

Bentley also said beautifying the city is another one of his goals.

Commissioner Mike Brewer made his case for re-election by recalling his time on the commission.

"We got down to business as a commission. We achieved a great deal in those past four years. Including raises for our city employees and working together. Richmond is one of the fastest growing cities in Kentucky. I take pride in my city and my responsibilities to it," Brewer said before noting the current city government has not raised taxes.

The state of downtown Richmond and the city's relationship with EKU were topics that were frequently brought up during the forum.

Commissioner Newby — who made his case for re-election by noting his time in the city government made him well equipped to cooperate with others to help shape the city — said downtown does not do enough to draw in students from EKU.

"A question that I get all the time is 'What killed the relationship between downtown Richmond and EKU?' What killed it is when they shut down the bars... I'm not talking alcohol, it's a place for kids to mingle, hangout. That's what kids do," Newby said. "You ask any kid, 18 or 19 years old, you're trying to recruit them to come to your school. One of the first three questions the kid is going to ask is 'What's there to do downtown on a weekend?' Coffee and basket weaving just doesn't cut it."

Mendi Goble served with the Richmond Chamber of Commerce for 14 years before deciding to run for city commissioner and owns multiple businesses. Downtown revitalization is one of her top priorities.

"Making it beautiful and incentivizing businesses to come to Richmond. Coming up with a brand, like branding our downtown. I just think there are so many opportunities," Goble said. "To make that happen, we need to develop a group of people that would be, like a downtown group. Go back to Main Street and do something that can really benefit... Kentucky League of City's definitely has a formula to be successful."

She also suggested hiring a small group to clean-up litter in the downtown area to make it more aesthetically pleasing.

Commissioner McDaniel noted the city has been working off a comprehensive plan, but one of the obstacles facing downtown are the vacant properties in the area and their owners.

"These vacant buildings are privately owned. We have to hold those property owners accountable for their buildings. How do we do that? That's the big question," McDaniel said. "Is it a vacant building tax to impose on them to encourage them to fix those vacant buildings up and get them rented or sell them to somebody that will? In the next term, we have to take a strong look at how we hold these private building owners accountable for their own property."

Candidate John Perkins said a change to TIFF district funding would be helpful for restoration efforts.

"The TIFF District that was mentioned earlier, is a great idea... I understand that current TIFF program is funded on the backend. That means limited incentive on the frontend for business owners to meet matching those with the city or meet other goals if you want to come into the city with a new business. I think funding on the frontend of that TIFF deal would be ideal," Perkins said.

Perkins added he also thinks creating a downtown development director position would be a great idea.

Most of the candidates were in agreement that EKU is one of the biggest draws to the town.

Candidate Tammy Cole has worked at EKU for over three decades and is currently a part-time instructor. Some of her platform involves an expanding the partnership between the city and the university.

"I think one of the biggest assets here in the city of Richmond is EKU. I make no secret about the fact that I love EKU and I've worked at EKU in different capacities for the past 30 years. The partnerships between EKU and the city of Richmond are endless. One of the first things that come to mind is bringing visitors into the city of Richmond and collaborating," Cole said. "I think we can collaborate to bring conferences and events here to the city of Richmond."

The final word of the night came from candidate Matthew Vaughn's closing statement. He looked back on his experience campaigning and noted voters all live in their own version of Richmond.

"You all live in your own version of Richmond, with different impacts. What impacts you, doesn't impact me. So my ask for you, if elected city commissioner, is that you call me, you email me, you stop me and talk to me if you see me on the street... and tell me about your Richmond. What you hear, what you see, and what you want. Between my Richmond and your Richmond we'll make this our Richmond," Vaughn said.