When Election Day comes through on November 5—or for those who take advantage of early voting—those in Hopkinsville’s Ward 12 will have some names to consider on the ballot.
After current City Councilman Matthew Handy’s bid for re-election came to a stop in the May primary, Republican Elizabeth Draude and Democrat Samual Goodman are squaring off for the seat. Last week, the Hopkinsville League of Women Voter’s hosted a debate forum, where the two candidates discussed many topics, ranging from small business incentives, zoning across the city, public safety, city streets and more.
Goodman says there’s a lot of empty buildings downtown, and he could see taking advantage of that space to develop apartments downtown.
Draude says she would have to see what exactly is stopping more apartments being established downtown and see if that can be moderated to allow for more development.
Both agreed the homelessness crisis is a big concern for Hopkinsville, with Draude saying it wouldn’t hurt to have more resources available to those struggling with homelessness.
Goodman says his heart goes out to the unhoused, and called on the community as a whole to come to a solution—and he again mentioned the empty available space downtown.
Goodman is in support of a measure that would support both landlords and their tenants, saying that while he hopes everyone would protect each other, the only way to set it in stone is to create an ordinance doing so. Draude agreed, saying there’s need to be something on the books that provides protections to both sides.
You can watch the entirety of the debate on the League of Women Voter’s—Hopkinsville, KY Facebook page.