COMMENTS PROVE FIERY AT CITY HALL

by Michael Monks 
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Following item after item of good news on Tuesday's agenda for the Covington City Commission (read about that by clicking here), when it was time for open comments from the commissioners, the evening took a turn for the testy, mainly from Shawn Masters. Also, Commissioner Steve Frank used his time to argue that the fight over redistricting Covington's voice in Frankfort is not over.

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SHAWN MASTERS

The two-term commissioner argued against what he described as city administration mandating that city employees, one in particular, not speak with commissioners. "The last three years we've emphasized that this is a city manager form of government but the reality is that all legislative action is exercised by this board," Masters said. "There's been an unwritten rule that employees can't talk to members of this board. A community development employee was told not to talk to Commissioner Masters. We work for the people and the staff works for us. We will talk to whom we want, when want, about what we want." Masters said that when the request for proposals to redevelop Covington's riverfront was distributed publicly, the commission had not been informed of its contents until everyone else was. "We have one shot at making this happen," he said. "One would think the commission would be part of the proposal and we weren't. The first time I saw the RFP was one day after it went out. I'm not going to tolerate it anymore. This is not a one man show. We are a team." Masters finished by calling for what he deemed simple respect for the commission and hinted that this type of alleged behavior is why former Mayor Denny Bowman resigned.

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STEVE FRANK

Commissioner Frank urged Covingtonians to stay attentive to the redistricting talk in Frankfort. "Covington is in danger of having its historic heart ripped out," Frank said of the plans to cede precincts from Covington's Eastside & Licking Riverside neighborhoods from the 65th House District to the 67th, which is currently made up entirely of Campbell County cities. "It has nothing to do with the personalities involved. It has nothing to do with partisan politics. It has everything to do with Covington's voice in Frankfort." A petition is being circulated online by the commissioners and can be found at www.thecovingtonian.com.

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SHERRY CARRAN

Commissioner Carran used her time to talk about a presentation she attended about bullying Monday night at Woodland Middle School (read about it by clicking here). Carran hopes that the message, which Monday night was directed at parents, will find more of a focus toward students. "It's an important issue that we all have to be aware of," she said. "I hope we can get this presentation into all of the schools (Kenton County & Covington." She asked that TBNK consider attending any future presentations with the intention of broadcasting them.

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STEVE CASPER

No comments for the evening.

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CITY MANAGER LARRY KLEIN

Klein did not comment publicly on Commissioner Masters's claims. Instead, he focused on the new job news involving Tier 1 Performance Solutions's decision to stay in Covington and relocate to the RiverCenter towers and the new plan for Lexington's Goodfellas Pizzeria to open in Mainstrasse. "A business out of Lexington saw the promise of Mainstrasse," he said. "Both of these firms are putting their mouths where their money is."

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CITY SOLICITOR FRANK WARNOCK

Warnock discussed losing two court decisions involving the proposed methadone clinic. Afterwards, he told The River City News the next plan for each case: in the federal court ruling, the City will send two "reply briefs" and in the state ruling, the Board of Adjustments has to consider the clinic as a medical facility as opposed to a treatment facility. Warnock did celebrate a court victory in which a lawsuit against the police department was dismissed. It involved an unruly, obese suspect who threatened officers and then died after being tased.