Ron Payne for Mayor

La campaña para Alcalde de Owensboro esta que arde.
Un breve repaso por los ultimos tiempos de la carrera politica de Ron Payne.

23 June 2006
City Commissioner Ron Payne, a former city manager, has halted his bid for re-election and will end his more than 30-year political career when he retires from the commission in December, he said Thursday.
"I'm closing the book on that chapter in my life," Payne, 60, said. "I've enjoyed it, and I'm looking forward to teaching for several years."
Payne, an assistant accounting professor at Brescia University, wrestled with whether to seek re-election before filing in late January after only one challenger and no incumbents had done so. Payne tied for sixth in the primary election and expected to have to campaign heavily to retain his office in the general election. Only 30 votes separated the fourth-place and seventh-place vote-getters in the primary.
Rather than campaigning, Payne said he plans to finish his term focused on the business of the city and his fall courses. After the term, he will dedicate more time to the university, he said.
Payne's withdrawal drops the number of candidates to six, with at least one seat and possibly two expected to be hotly contested based on the results of last month's primary.
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Payne also a made a push last year to create an economic development department. After that plan was rejected by other commissioners, he requested that the Greater Owensboro Economic Development Corp. provide quarterly updates to the commission.
He has been one of the most outspoken city officials against the idea of building a minor league baseball stadium.
"A lot of the work is already laid out," he said. "The budget is in pretty good shape. There's a few little challenges that need to be done there. But for the most part, I think the course is set for the city for the next few years."

20 December 2006
Ron Payne said Tuesday night he knew it was about time for him to leave City Hall when he realized he was the last employee of the original group that moved into the new building at Fourth and Allen streets in 1975.
"I feel like I've said goodbye before, but it's different as a city commissioner," Payne said.
Payne retired in 2003 after six years as city manager and 28 years in government service and then ran successfully for City Commission.
"I have no regrets," Payne said after the meeting. "I wanted to run and be an elected official to see some of the programs continue that I helped to start."
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Payne admitted the commission job took more time than he expected. "I should have been more aware, but until I was elected I wasn't fully aware of how much time this job would take," he said.
He plans to continue teaching full-time at Brescia University.

30 January 2008
Ron Payne wants to return to City Hall.
Payne, who dropped out of the race for a second term as a city commissioner in 2006, filed Monday to run for mayor.
Payne, a 61-year-old Owensboro native, spent four years as assistant finance director, four years as finance director, six years as city manager and two years as a commissioner before retiring in 2006.
Payne has been teaching accounting at Brescia University for the past five years. But he said he plans to retire after this year.
"Despite what state law says, being mayor is a full-time job," he said. "I will be retired, and I'm willing to roll up my sleeves and get to work."
Payne said: "I don't think we're making the progress with our economy that we should be. I think we need to set some goals and have some progress reports."
During his years as city manager, Payne said, "we started a lot of projects and were moving the city along. But it seems that we've stalled. We got off of riverfront development and started talking about a TIF outside the city."
And, he said, "I can't believe we're still talking about building the ice rink. I thought that was decided a long time ago. We need to start accomplishing some things. We don't need any more studies. We need to start implementing some things."
The city's future isn't bleak, Payne said. "I feel positive about Owensboro's future," he said. "But we're going to have to make things happen."
Payne had filed for re-election to the city commission in 2006 and tied for sixth among the nine candidates in the primary. The top eight advanced to the general election.
But Payne withdrew from the race that summer.
A certified public accountant, Payne received his undergraduate degree in accounting at Brescia and a master's degree from the University of Tulsa. He worked 14 years for the city of Tulsa, Okla., before returning to Owensboro.

21 May 2008
Political experience won out Tuesday night as Al Mattingly Jr. and Ron Payne earned the top spots in Owensboro's mayoral primary.
Mattingly, who ran unsuccessfully for the job four years ago, and Payne, a former city commissioner, will face each other in the Nov. 4 election.
"I think people want to see our city move a little faster," Payne said. "One of the things I was hoping for was that Jeff and I would get more than 50 percent of the vote. ... I'll be working hard to convince Jeff's voters to support me in the fall."

Total votes cast -- 13,229
Al Mattingly Jr. -- 6,128 (46.3 percent)
Ron Payne -- 4,536 (34.3 percent)
Jeff Sanford -- 2,565 (19.4 percent)

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