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THE RIVER CITY NEWS MORE COVINGTON NEWS THAN ANY OTHER SOURCE
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| Shawn Masters |
Covington City Commissioner Shawn Masters will announce Tuesday night that he is withdrawing from the 2012 election. Masters, 40, was first elected in 2008 but after two terms in office has decided to focus more time on his family and his marketing business. "I sat in my parents' living room and realized I hadn't seen my father in two months," Masters said Sunday. "Communication with my parents has not been as close and we are a very close family. If there is ever to be a regret I don't want it to be that I didn't spend enough time with my family. It's time to move on."
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Masters juggles time as a city commissioner and as the co-owner of The Merlot Group, a marketing and public relations firm on Pike Street. Though he filed to run for reelection and has held one fundraiser the pressures of running a business and dealing with issues at City Hall, particularly in recent weeks, have convinced the Democrat to sit this campaign season out, Masters said. "The last few weeks, some of the issues that have transpired at City Hall have been very frustrating," he said. "I've had as many frustrations as accomplishments and at the end of the day everyone has to make decisions about what they want to do with their life and I want to focus more of my life on my family and my business."
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"I never wanted to be a career politician," Masters continued. "I don't look at myself as a politician and this decision doesn't mean that I won't continue to be involved with a lot of what we need to be doing over the next nine months. I am still committed to implementing our 10-point plan and to making changes to the systemic problems we face."
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First elected in 2008 and reelected in 2010, finishing fourth both times, Masters's second term has been plagued by depressing financial reports from City Hall and heated battles between city administrators and public employees. Despite the troubles, however, the commissioner cites several successes. "We have been addressing these problems that have been kicked down the road from union contracts to health care, we've been more of an advocate of the region in Frankfort demanding changes, and we're finally at the table regionally," Masters said. "We're not where I'd like to see us be on the economic development front but in the next few months we'll fine tune and begin utilizing the programs we have in place. 2013 will show a lot in terms of economic development."
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Mayor Chuck Scheper will also leave office at the end of this year but Masters remains committed to working with him. "The mayor and I have committed to being involved in the programs that he has implemented," Masters said. "I'd love to stay on and run the marketing committee that we're getting ready to launch."
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Masters's exit from the race leaves nine candidates for Covington City Commission in May's primary in which the field will be reduced to eight for November's general election where four candidates will be chosen at-large to sit on the next commission.
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