Voters in the city of Newport have four choices for the city's four commission seats. Newport has a city manager form of government in which the commission appoints the city manager, who carries out the board's decisions and sees to the day-to-day operations of the city. The mayor presides over the commission and also votes on issues before it.
We asked each commission candidate a range of questions about issues facing Newport. Below are incumbent Ken Rechtin's answers, which have been lightly edited for clarity and style only.
You may also want to read:
- Candidate Mike Radwanski's answers
- Candidate Julie Smith-Morrow's answers
- Candidate Aaron Sutherland's answers
- Or, return to the election guide
Please briefly describe your reasons for seeking this office.
Simply put, I seek the office of Newport City Commissioner to continue to advocate for and push improvements to the quality of life for the citizens of Newport!
What issues do you see as most important for Newport to address in the short and long terms?
There are numerous issues that we face as a community: The state of our schools, the lack of recreational activity planning, the deferred maintenance we need, the improvement in communication with our citizens and recognition and coordination of all the volunteer efforts going on in our city, just to name a few.
Northern Kentucky has significant need for more housing. What can commission do to help develop more housing for low, moderate and middle-income people in Newport?
As a municipality within the state of Kentucky our tools to encourage more residential development are limited, but some of our zoning regulations are very limiting for housing development. We need to consider how we can change some of these limiting zoning regulations to encourage more density in housing which would, I believe, do much to alleviate that need.
One of the gateways into Newport is the Purple People Bridge. This year, it closed due to maintenance issues. While repairs are underway, it’s clear it needs more resources to remain open to pedestrians and cyclists. How would you address this issue?
Our "Purple People Bridge" is a REGIONAL asset. We need to, as a region, recognize that fact and put in place regional governance structures and funding. The current governance is NOT regional and funding is nonexistent!
What specific opportunities do you see for working with neighboring communities?
Here is a quick list of specific opportunities for regionalism:
- The Purple People Bridge
- A regional River Authority
- A regional Northern Kentucky Parking Authority
- A regional approach to urban education
- Truly regional economic development, tourism
- Regional air quality enforcement and monitoring
- Truly regional public transit
Any closing observations?
Thank you for asking these questions! I would challenge WVXU to host topics like this. Merely posting these comments, while important, does not allow for the public give and take that should be happening in our region.