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Mayor
- City of Owensboro, Kentucky
Mayor
Waymond Morris
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The
City of Owensboro, Kentucky, operates under the City Manager
form of government. This means that we have a
full-time City Manager who oversees the daily operations of
city government. The council, called “The Owensboro
Board of Commissioners,” is comprised of five officials
elected at large: a Mayor, who is elected to a four-year
term, and four Commissioners, who serve two-year terms.
The primary role of the Board is to set policy and to see
that its directives, as well as City Ordinances and
Municipal Orders are carried out by the City Manager, who is
responsible to the Board of Commissioners, and the
professional staff, who answer directly to the City Manager.
The City has approximately 500 employees, who, with the
exception of the Police and Fire Departments, have Civil
Service protection. The Police and Fire Departments
have job protection through State law.
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On
an average day, I generally arrive at my City Hall office with
enough time to return telephone calls from citizens or the
City’s professional staff, and to go through any correspondence
and respond as necessary. The remainder of my day is taken
up with appointments and meetings, and occasionally with ribbon
cuttings, grand openings, press conferences and a variety of
other functions that require the mayor’s attendance. I also
check with the City Manager daily in order to keep informed on
problems or issues that might require my attention.
Work
sessions are held each month in order for the City Manager to
brief the entire Commission on projects, concerns, and any issues
that are to come before the Commission for consideration.
Each week I set aside one day to meet individually with the City
Manager where he provides me with detailed information on
projects and problems. Also, I try to visit the City’s
ongoing projects’ sites at least once a week.
I
serve on numerous boards that affect the City of Owensboro and
that take a great deal of my time. The most time-consuming
is the Owensboro Mercy Health System Board of Directors, our
local hospital board. I also serve on the Industry, Inc.
Board, which also consumes a fair amount of time. Whenever
industrial prospects visit Owensboro, expressing an interest in
our industrial parks, I must make myself available to meet with
them to state the City’s desire to assist them and advise them
of incentives, which may be available to them upon location in
our city.
The
Owensboro Board of Commissioners regularly meets twice a month on
the first and third Tuesdays at 5:00 p.m. There are
times, however, when a Special Meeting is called in order to
approve an Ordinance(s) or Municipal Order(s) that must be done
to satisfy legal requirements in a timely manner.
Several
years ago, I spent a great deal of time meeting with citizens’
groups. However, in the past three years, we have divided
the city into 12 sections and established Neighborhood Boards (or
Alliances) in 11 of these neighborhood areas. The 12th
and last Alliance will be formed early in 2003. These
Boards have demonstrated that there is strength in numbers.
They have a direct voice to City government and have been able to
accomplish numerous projects and solve or resolve many issues
within their neighborhood.
I
also meet with individuals or groups that are developing large
tracts of land that are located in areas that the City hopes to
annex into its corporate limits. Annexation is
vital to the growth of our city. We must
continue to grow our tax base while keeping city taxes low.
This is accomplished best by growing our population and
spreading the cost of operations among a large number of
taxpayers. Growth is also very important
because federal entitlement grants are formulated according to
population numbers.
Sincerely,
Waymond
Morris
Mayor Owensboro, Kentucky
Biography
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