Hopkinsville Mayor Wendell Lynch and city council members will take the oath of office Tuesday — each doing so separately in council chambers to comply with COVID-19 safety measures.
A comprehensive video of the swearings-in will be shown at 6 p.m. Wednesday on the city’s website and Facebook page, and on City TV (Spectrum channel 376), city officials said.
The mayor’s brother, retired judge Arnold Lynch, and Christian District Judge Lindsey Adams will administer the oaths.
Family members of the elected officials will not be able to attend the ceremonies in council chambers, according to the city’s announcement.
Lynch, a Democrat, was elected in November to serve the two years remaining in the term of Carter Hendricks, who left office early to become the county’s lead industrial recruiter. A retired banker, Lynch was serving as Ward 6 councilman when his fellow council members voted unanimously on Feb. 18 to name his interim mayor.
The 12 council members elected to serve in 2021 and 2022 are:
- Ward 1 — Natasha Sophia Francis (R)
- Ward 2 — Kimberly McCarley (D)
- Ward 3 — Alethia West (D)
- Ward 4 — Chuck Crabtree (I)
- Ward 5 — Amy Craig (R)
- Ward 6 — Travis Martin (R)
- Ward 7 — Terry Parker (D)
- Ward 8 — Tom Johnson (R)
- Ward 9 — Patricia Waddell-Bell (D)
- Ward 10 — Steven Keel (R)
- Ward 11 — Jason Bell (R)
- Ward 12 — Phillip Brooks (D)
Francis, West, Crabtree and Keel are newly elected.
The new council’s first regular meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Jan. 5.
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.
