The League of Women Voter debates continued Thursday evening with those running for Hopkinsville City Council who will face off in the May primary.
Democrat Incumbent for Ward 1, Thomas Grant, has a challenger this year in Democrat Darvin Adams. In Ward 7, Democrat Terry Parker is challenged by Faye Oglesby. Shannon Worden will face Ward 6 incumbent Wendell Lynch in the May democratic primary.
When asked what they thought the greatest challenge facing Hopkinsville is, Adams says the greatest issue is not having leaders that are visionary and that have the whole city in mind.
Grant says the city is lacking a qualified workforce and that leads to businesses not wanting to settle here, which leads to a lack of growth.
Parker was asked why he decided to run for re-election, and he says he wants to continue helping Hopkinsville progress and improve the quality of life.
Oglesby says she decided to run for office because she feels it’s time for more women to step up and take part in the leadership of the city.
Worden says one of the biggest quality of life issues facing the community is lack of affordable housing and a lack of understanding about what those who struggle to make ends meet face.
Lynch says the Hopkinsville-Christian County WINS program is helping improve the quality of life by attracting new people and giving residents something to do outside of work.
Each candidate fielded questions concerning subjects like growing downtown, improving neighborhoods across the city, what their stances on raising taxes were and several other topics. In ward six, the winner of the primary will go on to face Republican opponent Timothy Moss in the general election in November.
Watch the debates in full at the City of Hopkinsville website.