Ron Payne - The Mayor

Aquel simpaticon profesor de Accounting que empezaba todas las anecdotas de su epoca del ejercito diciendo "Did I? ... did I tell you about..." es hoy el alcalde de Owensboro.

El candidato opositor (que tambien perdio las elecciones del 2004) se llama Al Mattingly Jr y me cae muy mal porque se quiso hacer el vivo cuando le hice una pregunta en el debate pre elecciones 2004. Ademas, como si fuera poco, es muy feo. (ver foto mas abajo)

Webs:
http://www.payne4mayor.com/
http://almattinglyformayor.com/

Chequeenlas que son increibles.

Dejo el articulo que salio en el Messenger Inquirer sobre las elecciones.

Payne slips past Mattingly in Owensboro mayoral race
By Owen Covington, Messenger-Inquirer, Owensboro, Ky.
McClatchy-Tribune Regional News
781 words
5 November 2008
Messenger-Inquirer (MCT)

Nov. 5--With promises of moving the city of Owensboro forward after what he sees as a period of inaction, Ron Payne was elected mayor Tuesday night after edging City Commissioner Al Mattingly Jr.

Payne, a former city finance director, city manager and city commissioner, will add another title to his resume that includes decades of work for the city of Owensboro.

"For a guy who won his commission race by 12 votes, this is a landslide," Payne said while celebrating his win at the Roca Bar restaurant on Kentucky 54. "I think there's a message here that the people want to see some change here."

Payne cleared an even 11,000 votes in the mayoral contest while Mattingly, who is in his second term on the City Commission, garnered 10,802 votes.

This is Mattingly's second unsuccessful run for mayor, and his second loss by a small margin. Mattingly lost to current Mayor Tom Watson four years ago by 186 votes.

"I'm disappointed, but not for me -- for the people who supported me in this race," Mattingly said.

Payne campaigned hard this summer and early fall after finishing second to Mattingly in the May 20 primary and receiving the endorsement of the third-place finisher in that race, Owensboro businessman Jeff Sanford.

A central point of Payne's campaign has been the criticism that the current commission lacks leadership and has been unable to move forward with plans for the city.

"I think as I went around town, I think people want to see us move this community forward," Payne said. "We've been a little stalled, and I'm looking forward to meeting with all the commissioners and talking to them and getting their input."

Payne has also proposed a "community progress referendum" -- a countywide survey of residents to establish a list of capital projects and government initiatives the city should pursue.

Payne has said he would model the survey after Decision 2002, the 1997 initiative that identified support in the city for projects such as the new police administration building and storm-water projects, and an occupational tax increase to pay for those projects.

Payne said he has been too busy campaigning to talk with the five candidates for City Commission to get their thoughts about such a referendum.

"I do want to talk to the commissioners at some point about this idea I've got for doing this referendum," Payne said. "I'm not asking the public to study anything. I'm asking the public about should we proceed with this or not."

Mattingly said he was not able to put the time or energy into the race that he had hoped to, in part because of dealing with this death of his brother and his mother since the primary election. "That took a toll on me and my family and my ability to really campaign effectively," Mattingly said.

Mattingly dismissed talk that the election of Payne and two new members of the commission was a criticism of what the commission has done since Payne left the commission two years ago.

Mattingly also said he hoped Payne and the new commission would continue to support the strategic plan designed to reorganize city government and the downtown master plan that is still in the works.

"That is one of the major things that this commission has done, and it will affect this community for years to come," Mattingly said.

Payne said he will focus on input from the community about how to proceed as a city, and that developing downtown will remain a priority.

Payne has spoken out against the proposed tax increment financing project that divided the community last year before failing to gain the acceptance of the state.

The Kentucky 54 area will develop without the help of government while the same can't be said of downtown, Payne said.

"I think we need to hear more from the community about what they think we should be undertaking," Payne said.

Payne also plans to approach the commission about passing an ordinance to drop his salary as mayor to $1 and use the money that would have gone to his salary to purchase another buffalo statue like the one beside the Owensboro Museum of Fine Art.

"We're going to move this community forward," Payne said. "We're going to be a different community four years from now."

Copyright (c) 2008, Messenger-Inquirer, Owensboro, Ky.


Al Mattingly Jr. - Two-time election loser.