It was an evening of debates Wednesday at the Hopkinsville Municipal Building, as candidates looking to be Mayor of Hopkinsville met in a Christian County Republican Party forum.
Republicans J.R. Knight and Vince Farrell will face off on a primary election ballot in May, where the winner will go on to face with Alethea West or Michael Pendleton, who are running as Democrats.
Things became spirited when the subject of public safety and the Hopkinsville Police Department was brought up—Farrell says making sure the budget for excellent public safety is fully funded is of great importance to him.
West clarified that one of the top priorities of city government is public safety and she thinks other initiatives need to be undertaken to reach out to the community and find the root causes of violent crimes.
Knight says you can’t close your eyes and pretend there’s not a crime problem in Hopkinsville, and he would work to address it.
Other topics such as downtown revitalization, upkeeping of neighborhoods across the city, workforce participation, economic development, local employment wages, housing and more, with each candidate fielding questions.
Pendleton was unable to attend the debate Wednesday evening.