Hopkinsville’s new mayor and city council will be hiring at least two department heads next year. Chief Financial Officer Robert Martin and Police Chief Clayton Sumner will both retire in 2023.
Martin told Hoptown Chronicle that he’ll leave city hall in August — and his job is already advertised on the city’s website.
Martin is one of the city’s longest-serving administrators. He became CFO in March 2003. He is a certified public accountant.
Sumner announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that he plans to retire. His departure is also planned in August. He has been the police chief for eight years and a member of the local police department for 20 years.
“I want to thank the city of Hopkinsville as well as the men and women I have had the pleasure of working beside over my career for all their support and friendship,” he said in a letter informing city officials of his plans. He also thanked his family for supporting him.
The new mayor, James R. Knight Jr., will take office following a swearing-in ceremony at 5 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 29, at the Hopkinsville Municipal Center. He follows Wendell Lynch in the mayor’s office. Lynch, a Democrat who did not seek reelection, served three years to complete the term of Carter Hendricks after he resigned early to become executive director of the South Western Kentucky Economic Development Council.
Christian Circuit Judge Andrew Self will administer the oath of office to Knight and to the 12 council members.
For the first time in the city’s history, the mayor and all 12 council members will be Republicans.
A reception will follow the swearing-in ceremony. The ceremony is open to the public and it will be streamed live on the city’s Facebook page.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
