Covington's governmental transition is underway. But what, exactly, does that mean?
Voters approved the shift from Covington's current city manager form of government to a council-mayor structure last November.
Now, city officials want to know more about how those voters envision the new government working.
Among the questions:
- How many council members will the Covington City Council have? The current city commission has four people. Kentucky law allows between six and 12 on a council.
- How those council members will be elected. Covington could opt to elect members at-large — from any part of the city — from districts, or from some combination of the two.
- Will council members be able to run with their party affiliation next to their names on the ballot? Or will council positions be non-partisan?
Mayor Ron Washington says a new survey and two forums on those and other questions are part of a larger effort by a nine-member transition committee to nail down the details about how Covington will run in the future.
"The information will be compiled by our staff and presented to the transition committee," he said. "The transition committee also will be talking to mayors and council members of other cities, seeing how it's working in their communities."
The two forums will take place March 13 at Covington City Hall and March 26 at American Legion Hall in Latonia. Both forums will start at 6 p.m.
The transition committee also will look at the city's various boards and whether they need to be restructured. It is also responsible for recommending changes to Covington municipal code related to the change in form of government.
The committee must make recommendations about how many members the incoming council will have, its salaries, and whether it will be elected at-large, from wards, or some combination of those by October of this year. It will issue its final recommendations in May 2026.
The Covington City Commission must give final approval for the committee's recommendations.
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