candidate for
Our city has gotten pretty aggressive in the past year on this issue. We have buildings and homes that are vacant and abandoned and the violations and fees are just stacking up on these properties. We started the mass foreclosure process and the Lot Next Door program to try to clean up our city. We feel that we've taken an aggressive approach to help clean up Hopkinsville and it's working.
This one is near and dear to my heart. As a realtor, I've seen this as an issue for years now. We are going to have to get creative to get new builders and investors in our community. I'm on a few committees who are starting talks on this issue. We are trying to reach out to builders to see what's stopping them from coming into our community and work to fix any issue. We only have a handful of active builders in Hopkinsville. We have to reach out beyond those few we have and recruit more. We aren't trying to "be like Clarksville," but we have to change our mindset going forward. We need new ideas because the ones in the past have clearly not worked.
I think the city and the county do a great job working together on economic growth. We are as aggressive in 2022 than we've ever been. The ways that worked even 5 years ago don't work today so I think we are working together very aggressively to land that next investment for Hopkinsville and Christian County. The more jobs we create for our area the more everyone will benefit including our nonprofits. Our community is such a caring and giving community and the more people/jobs we bring in, the more giving these companies will be to nonprofits such as United Way and the Boys and Girls Club just to name a few. Growing our community is the answer to almost every financial issue we have, and we are working every day to sell Hopkinsville!
Gun violence is a huge issue nationwide and we are seeing the uptick here in Hopkinsville as well. And what blows my mind is that a lot of crimes that involve firearms are involving our youth. It seems there is no respect for life when it comes to criminals. They'd rather pull a gun than to fight it out physically which is very concerning. We have to start educating our youth that gun violence is a permanent answer to a temporary problem. There are other ways we can work through issues that do not involve guns. I also support the FLOCK cameras that our city has installed. I think in the past, criminals have believed it was "safe" to come to Hopkinsville and hide out. Now with the help of these cameras, hopefully the word is getting out that we are cracking down on criminal activity in Hopkinsville and they need to find another place to hunker down. These cameras have done a great job so far and I support getting more.
Simply put, I'd continue to support the downtown revitalization incentives that are set in place now. We have had quite a bit of success with a few investors who have purchased these older buildings and remodeled them back into a functioning retail space and/or residential space. I'd love to see more investors and property owners take advantage of these incentives.