City employee will be promoted to chief financial officer

Comptroller Melissa Clayton will become CFO when Robert Martin retires in August.

The city of Hopkinsville will promote a current employee to replace Chief Financial Officer Robert Martin when he retires later this year.

Melissa Clayton
Melissa Clayton

Comptroller Melissa Clayton will be the city’s next CFO, Mayor James R. Knight Jr. announced Tuesday at the start of the city council meeting. 

Clayton has worked for the city since 2011, first as a payroll specialist, then as finance administrator coordinator. She has been the city comptroller since February 2020. 

A native of Tennessee, Clayton earned her bachelor’s degree in business administration and management at Tennessee Technological University in 1990. 

Her salary as CFO will be $108,488. 

Martin plans to retire in August. He has been the city’s CFO since March 2003. 

Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. She spent 30 years as a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition.