Covington commissioners voted Thursday to appoint Steve Hayden to fill a vacancy on the board. Hayden was one of 29 people who applied for the job after Nolan Nicaise resigned unexpectedly last month.
"It was just a natural progression to move from working with the Covington Neighborhood Collaborative and City Park boards and that sort of work that I've been doing before, to working at this level in the involvement in city affairs," Hayden told WVXU.
He moved to Covington in 2012 after retiring from a decades-long career in IT systems analysis and project management.
RELATED: Covington ends short term rental moratorium
Mayor Joe Meyer called Hayden a natural for the position, and other commissioners said it won't take long to get him up to speed.
"Mr. Hayden has probably been to every commission meeting that most of us have been to in the past three years, and that’s appreciated," said Commissioner Shannon Smith in a statement. "I think he will quickly get acclimated to the position."
Hayden says he has a lot to learn.
"I'm a generalist," he said. "I'm not coming in with a bee in my bonnet about anything in particular. I just want to be part of the solution, digest everything that needs to be done — it's all important."
RELATED: KYTC reveals 4 design options for 4th Street bridge
Hayden says there are several key discussions coming up: filling the site of the former IRS building, the 4th Street bridge design, the Brent Spence Bridge companion project, and a new City Hall.
