Returning Commissioners Tim Downing and Michelle Williams and newcomers Denny Bowman and Shannon Smith will take the oath of office with retired Kentucky Supreme Court Justice Donald Wintersheimer presiding during the event at the Carnegie Arts Center.

 

The four were the top vote-getters in the Commission election in November and will serve Covington residents for two years. The fifth member of the Commission, Mayor Joe Meyer, is in the middle of a four-year term and was not on the ballot.

 

City Manager David Johnston said the public can and should attend.

 

“If you live or do business in Covington, this is your opportunity to meet the officials who will be making the hundreds of decisions that will dictate what the City will look like for years to come and what the quality of your family’s life will be like,” Johnston said.

 

Even beyond the services provided on a day-to-day basis, the coming year will be important within City Hall, with City leaders developing a citywide economic development strategy; engaging the public in envisioning what a new City Hall complex should contain, should Covington decide to build one; and intensifying the process of figuring out what to do with 23 acres in the middle of downtown when the Internal Revenue Service abandons its paper-processing facility later this year.

 

“Years from now, people will look back at 2019 as a pivotal year,” Johnston said, “and these are the decision-makers.”

 

The event runs from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. (with the swearing-in occurring about 7 p.m.) in the main gallery of the Carnegie Arts Center, 1028 Scott Blvd. Parking is available behind the Carnegie and on the street.

 

There will be light appetizers and a cash bar.

 

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