Hopkinsville Mayor Wendell Lynch will present an executive order at Tuesday night’s city council meeting appointing individuals to the twelve-member Non-Partisan Elections Citizens Committee. The committee will study the advantages and disadvantages of the city’s elections changing to nonpartisan.
According to the executive order, Rich Maddux will chair the committee that includes Darvin Adams, Rev. Perry Greenwade, Dan Kemp, Tiffany Mumford-Brame, Kelli Pendleton, Nancy Askew, Andra Gold, Faye Hendricks, Rose Jackson, Diane Wood, and Shannon Worden.
The Committee will be tasked with exploring all the pros and cons of changing from the current partisan to nonpartisan elections, as well as the potential impact on voter participation and if it would impact the representation of any particular segment of the community.
The Committee was established after Mayor Lynch vetoed the nonpartisan elections ordinance in July passed by Hopkinsville City Council in July 2020. The mayor told the News Edge at that time he felt the council moved too fast on the ordinance, and it needed to be studied further to understand it and give the public a chance to learn more about nonpartisan elections.
The nonpartisan elections ordinance that narrowly passed by a 6-5 vote included a city council primary with a ward system and then the top two candidates with the most votes would move on to the general election. The council members that voted against changing to nonpartisan elections were then council member Darvin Adams, along with current members Phillips Brooks, Patricia Waddell-Bell, Jason Bell and Kimberly McCarley.
