HOPKINSVILLE, KY (CHRISTIAN COUNTY NOW) – Russ Guffey is the Republican candidate for Mayor of Hopkinsville in the upcoming Nov. 3 general election, defeating sitting Mayor James R. Knight in the May primary. In order to allow residents to make an informed decision about their vote, the Hopkinsville League of Women Voters held a public forum on Oct. 1, where each candidate was able to answer questions about key issues.
Guffey is currently up against Democratic candidate Markeeta Wilkerson, and Independent candidate Desaepa Vansauwa. During the forum, all three of them were given two minutes for opening and closing remarks, three minutes to answer each question, and one minute for rebuttals. Questions were not given to the candidates beforehand.
Below is a summary of how Guffey responded during the forum. A full live stream is available on the City of Hopkinsville YouTube channel.
Opening statement
“Hopkinsville is home. And as a lifelong resident, a business owner and an elected official, no one in this race is more personally, professionally or politically invested in our city. No one has worked harder to preserve, to progress, and to promote our city. And no one in this race is more connected, more committed and more capable of moving our city forward,” said Guffey.
He laid out other campaign priorities saying that the city is 3,100 houses short of breaking even with the housing need. He also emphasized safety, and community issues like beatification and homelessness while supporting businesses and economic growth. Guffey said his plans are plentiful, but attainable to make Hopkinsville the best place to live, work, visit, play and stay.
Top priorities
The candidates were asked the following question: In three words or less, what would be your top priority as mayor?
“Housing, income, opportunity,” said Guffey.
How to fund mayoral priorites
The candidates were asked the following question: Name one specific city program or expenditure you would be willing to reduce or eliminate to fund one of your priorities.
As far as cuts go, Guffey believes that they may not be necessary. With his current role as magistrate on the Christian County Fiscal Court, he said they have used a strategic approach to fund their county responsibilities without reducing allocations.
“I don’t know why we would have to take from Peter in order to make sure that Paul gets something,” he said, adding that the county has been able to fund changes in departments like the jail and the sheriff’s office while also decreasing taxes every year and building surpluses in their reserves.
What would you do differently as mayor
The candidates were asked the following question: What is one problem in our city that previous leadership has failed to address, and what specifically will you do differently?
Guffey feels that an ongoing issue in Hopkinsville that has been continually “kicked down the road” is social services, beautification and homelessness. He described his goal of creating a Social Services Committee in order to humanely address the homeless population and offer them support and resources with the help of city officials, churches, business owners and more people in the community. This could include issuing ID’s to people so they are able to get work.
“The goal is to look at not kicking someone out, not pushing someone out, but how do we get people back on their feet? How do we make them productive and proud members of our society?” he said. Guffey also recommended opening up the city’s Trash for Cash program to individuals for a chance to provide extra income.
New fire station and upgrades
The candidates were asked the following question: A feasibility study for the Hopkinsville Fire Department recommended a sixth fire station to be located in the Commerce Park area and also identified significant upgrades or replacement for three others. What would your plans be to address these important findings.
Due to his time on the fiscal court, Guffey said he is very familiar with the operations of emergency services. An additional fire station would be beneficial in that specific area so firefighters would be able to quickly supply the appropriate equipment needed to extinguish industrial fires.
“We have to make sure that our first responders have every single thing that they need,” he said, adding that he has recently visited with each fire station in the city to assess their needs, noting that emergency personnel has grown out of several of the spaces, or they need upgrades to keep up with the over 10,000 runs that each station makes every month. He also brought up that trucks should be on a replacement schedule to keep up with repairs since they take upwards of three years to be approved.
In response to Wilkerson saying that resources could be shared, he pointed out that gear like PPE is specifically allocated to each individual a they would not be able to use them interchangeably.
Data centers
The candidates were asked the following question: What is your position on locating data centers in Hopkinsville-Christian County?
Guffey said it is important for the city to establish “non-negotiables” when it comes to data centers. This includes ensuring that they are zoned for industrial, not residential areas. He also wants to make sure they operate on a closed loop water system, that the developers pay an upfront sort of deposit and cover the costs associated with expanding infrastructure, plus they must find a way to reduce noise.
Also, he believes there should be an environmental and health study done and the developers should give back in some way. He said, “I would ask for money to be given to a community cause, whether that be a community grant, whether that be a community endowment, so that if they are going to come into our community, the community is going to benefit from it.”
Flock cameras
The candidates were asked the following question: What is your position on the use of Flock cameras?
“There is good that comes with it, the bad however is in the instances where we don’t have local control over that information. Local control is where we get that transparency,” he said.
According to Guffey, he met with the police department during his campaign to learn about what resources they are utilizing. Although he has seen the cameras lead to arrests, he said he reached out directly to Flock to ask some clarifying questions. During this process he learned that ownership of the data is determined by who installs the camera, and a lot of municipalities have Flock do their install.
Closing statement
“I hope the vote that you cast for me is based on decades of shared experiences and mutual respect. Because I worked hard for you as an employee and treated you fairly as an employer. Because we sat together in school and because I poured into your child as coach,” said Guffey. “Addresses shouldn’t matter, addressing issues should…persistence beats resistance every time.”
He went on to list his credentials and past experience including serving on various boards and supporting organizations in the city. He cited 48 years of leadership and friendship in the community and promised to show up for residents, “Action, not agenda. Proactivity, not reactivity. Policy, not politics.”
Find out more about Guffey’s campaign here.
More from the other candidates: