Mayor-elect James R. Knight Jr. is pledging to make Hopkinsville a “safer, cleaner” city and said he’ll take a hard look at how policing works in the community. He also wants to pursue smart growth, “not growth for growth’s sake,” while paying special attention to small businesses. To achieve all that, he said he’ll need the backing of city council and local residents.
Knight, who becomes mayor next week and will preside over his first council meeting Tuesday night, outlined his plans in a brief address after he was sworn into office Thursday afternoon in the city council chamber.
Christian Circuit Judge Andrew Self led the swearing-in ceremony for Knight and for incoming city council members Natasha Sophia Francis, Donald Marsh, Chuck Crabtree, Amy Craig, Travis Martin, Doug Wilcox, Robert Terry Meek, Jamie Lienberger, Steve Keel, Jason Bell and Matthew Handy. One council member, Bruce Smiley, could not be present and was sworn in earlier, a city official said.
Knight’s administration is the first of its kind in Hopkinsville’s history. He and all 12 council members are Republicans.
“In my administration, the residents of Hopkinsville will be at the top of the city’s organizational chart,” Knight told a large crowd that packed the council chambers. “I’ve spoken to literally thousands of residents, and their message to me is … ‘We want a safer, cleaner Hopkinsville.’ And that is what they are going to get.”
Knight, who has worked most of his life in his family’s appliance business, said small businesses won’t be taken for granted while he is mayor.
“As a small businessman myself, I get it. I understand. I want them to know, we see you, we hear you, and we appreciate you. And my administration intends to work with you hand in hand,” he said.
He pledged to clean up neighborhoods — “one lot, one abandoned structure at a time.”
Knight also called attention to street violence.
“The people of Hopkinsville have the right to feel safe in their homes and their neighborhoods,” he said. “Therefore, we are taking a very serious, internal look at what is happening in our streets and in our city. I cannot thank our public safety team enough. It is because of them [that] we are going to reimagine policing in the city of Hopkinsville.”
Following the ceremony, Knight told Hoptown Chronicle that he’s been spending time at city hall since the day after his election on Nov. 8 to ensure a smooth transition when Mayor Wendell Lynch leaves office in a few days. He said Lynch and others at city hall have devoted a great deal of time to help him prepare for the job.
Knight took the mayor’s race by winning the Republican primary over Vince Farrell, a church pastor, and then defeating Democrat Alethea West by a vote of 5,018 to 3,233 in the general election. West was the Ward 3 council representative but gave up a bid for reelection to the council so she could run for mayor. Lynch, a retired banker, did not seek another term as mayor.
This will be Knight’s first time in public office. He first ran for mayor in 2020 against Lynch but lost that bid. At Thursday’s ceremony, he thanked his family for sticking with him through two campaigns.
The first council meeting for Knight will include a vote on a new policy that would prohibit members of the public from speaking for more than three minutes during the comment portion of council meetings. That measure has already passed on first reading.
The meeting agenda also includes the proposed annexation of roughly 613 acres along John Rivers Road, the site for the Ascend Elements plant that will produce lithium-ion materials for electric vehicle batteries.
City council meets at 6 p.m. on the first and third Tuesday of the month. The members also meet as the Committee of the Whole at 6 p.m. on the third Thursday of the month.
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.
