Link NKY Candidate Questions for James

Please describe your background and life experience and how it will inform your service if elected.

I am a lifelong resident of Covington, growing up in Latonia in a single-parent household. I attended Latonia Elementary and Holmes High School as a child and eventually enlisted in the U.S. Navy two months after Sept. 11, 2001, as a cryptologic technician. I did not really know what I was signing up for, but I felt that the military would be a good fit. I spent four years on active duty, and once I returned home, I still had a desire to serve. I enlisted in the Kentucky National Guard and then the Navy Reserve after that contract ended and spent a total of 15 years in the service. During my time in the military, I deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom as well as to Afghanistan, where I spent a year working at a detention facility. While in the military, I saw both sides of humanity and am grateful for the opportunity to experience some great things as well as many horrible things. It really makes me appreciate all that we have living in the United States and the freedoms that we are afforded. Since leaving the military, I have been an advocate for veterans while serving in the VFW at post, district and state positions. I travel to Washington D.C. annually at my own expense to speak with our senators and representatives on bills that will benefit veterans as well as active duty and reserve members.

What specific issues will your campaign focus on, and what issues would you like the city to give more attention to?

I want to be able to represent the average Covington resident because that is what I am. I am not a business owner, and I don’t come from wealth. I just work a normal 9-to-5 job every day. 

Many residents sometimes feel forgotten south of downtown, and I want to ensure that every neighborhood knows that they have a voice within our city. I hear a lot of the concerns that many residents have within our city around public safety, activities for our youth and economic development outside of the riverfront area. I feel that our city leaders need to be out in the community more to understand the day-to-day issues that residents are facing and collaboratively work on ways to address those concerns. 

With having four commissioners, I think that it would be easy to divide up among ourselves to be present in the neighborhood meetings like Latonia Uptown, Residents of Westside and other groups, at least a few times a year to hear first-hand from residents what is going on and what we can do as elected leaders to assist.

Many developments in Covington have entailed work with state, county and even federal leaders. How will you advocate for Covington across jurisdictions? Do you foresee any challenges in this regard? 

Advocating on behalf of Covington across jurisdictions will require strategic collaboration and effective communication. If elected, I will leverage already established connections at the city, state and federal levels from my time advocating for veterans and prioritize building new ones at all levels. I will ensure that Covington’s interests are consistently represented in my discussions as well as decision-making processes. 

The challenges that I expect will mostly be with conflicting priorities, but I am confident in our ability as a commission to navigate those. By emphasizing the positive impact of Covington’s initiatives, we can find common ground and gain support from leaders at all levels of government.

What’s your assessment of Covington’s general fund shortfall, and how would you mitigate the problem if elected? 

I do not think that anyone expected COVID to happen and work from home to become sort of the norm for multiple years. I am an employee that historically worked in Covington, and since 2020, I have worked remotely from home. The good news is that in September, the major employer who has caused the shortfall will increase their time in the office from 1 week a month to 50% in-office. I am hopeful that it will relieve some of the burden our city has faced.

If elected, I would support halting all projects coming from the city’s general fund that are not absolutely needed and are not revenue-generating. Like many residents have to cut their spending when faced with budget constraints, the city government should operate the same way.

I would expect by the end of this year during the budget process, we will also see the recommendations from the city’s finance director and see waste and recycling increases at an additional $36 per year. I was shocked to learn that every resident also can receive 1 debris voucher from City Hall per month for bulk dumping at the transfer station. I would support updating that to quarterly or bi-annually because a good majority of residents do not accumulate large amounts of trash to dump, and I would suspect some of that is being abused. Finally, I would support that any changes made that impact residents are immediately reversed once the city is financially stable.

Is there anything else you’d like to speak about that isn’t addressed in the above questions? 

I just want to say that I am extremely grateful for this opportunity to possibly represent the city that I love so much. Through my terms as an elected representative within veterans’ organizations, I always remembered that my job was to represent the members who put me in that position. I understand that if elected as a commissioner, my job is to look out for the best interests of the residents and business owners and listen to their feedback, whether good or bad. I plan to be completely transparent and will never be afraid to admit if I make a mistake. I look forward to the opportunity to meet more residents throughout this campaign season.