RICHMOND—Every sitting member of the City Commission is running for re-election. We offered to interview all of them so they could make their case for why they deserve to stay in City Hall.

And not one of them responded.

Of course we're disappointed the incumbents at the helm of one of Kentucky's fastest growing cities collectively decided to blow off the news outlet with the most readers countywide.

But we don't think their refusal to share their vision for Richmond's future and why they think they deserve to be in charge of it should mean you don't get the information you need to decide wisely at the polls.

Which is why if Richmond's elected officials won't give you that, we will.

By Wednesday of this week, it was clear we'd have to get a wiggle on if we were going to have this information for you by today, but our team here at The Edge is dedicated to bringing you the best news coverage Madison County has to offer, so we did it, all while continuing to cover our regular beats.

Thank you to my two reporters, Jemi Chew and Aubrey Kimble for moving quickly on this when I asked them to. They both worked equally hard gathering the research on each Commissioner and the Mayor.

We combed through our own coverage, other media reports, and City records to track trends in how these incumbents voted on issues that matter most to Richmond residents at a time when Richmond has been cited in the US Census as the part of the fastest growing micro-regions in the US.

Also, at a time when delays and overruns on construction of a multi-million dollar sports complex has also resulted in serious damage to private property.

And, at a time when questions about how economic development will be achieved as employment at the Blue Grass Army Depot is in flux, and nearly 1,500 contiguous acres of land on Duncannon Lane zoned for industry and with critical infrastructure has sat idle for years.

We asked, did they introduce any ordinances to address these concerns? Did they take an independent stand on anything? What did they spend the most time talking about? What did they ignore?

Then there is the mistrust between City Hall and the City Commission. Although an investigation was conducted into allegations of a hostile work environment, it's not clear whether the reported dysfunction has been addressed and whether it might have anything to do with the City's higher than average turn-over rates.

We are aware that at least two incumbents, Commissioner Mike Brewer and Mayor Robert Blythe, have been in office for 18 and 25 years respectively, indicating Richmond voters apparently like what they see. But then again, maybe Richmond voters don't know what they don't know.

This report shows you what we found.

Next week, we will bring you a profile of incumbent Mayor Robert Blythe.

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Whitney McKnight,
Founder and Publisher,
The Edge