Abraham: City Vote Could be a Course Correction

City Commissioner Richard Abraham was re-elected Tuesday, and as the top vote-getter, will be Mayor Pro-Tempore for the first time.

Abraham told WestKentuckyStar it was humbling to get 4,626 votes, and said he thinks his attempts to be consistent and reasonable have made him trustworthy to voters, even if they don't agree with him on every issue. 

Since Tuesday's election resulted in one commissioner being ousted in favor of a candidate who ran on a more conservative platform, Abraham said this year's vote could be considered a course correction from 2016, when voters chose city leadership that leaned more to the left.

Regarding 2016, Abraham said, "You can take that  as some political capital that the city wants to move in a different location, but 21 months after that, and you look at the makeup of the commission now, maybe now you can read it, 'maybe we're a little bit further than the majority of the folks in the city would like?'"

He stressed that the only way that happens is when people get out and vote. 

"The most powerful thing we have is the power to choose, and that showed up last night," Abraham said.

He said the city needs to focus on the storm water master plan and funding employee pensions, which means they will need to examine the city budget. 

Abraham said, "We gotta find that money to put in there for our guys. You're not wanting to cut any services, you don't want to raise taxes, so we're going to have to go in-house and look to see if there's any fat anywhere to put toward that. So, hey - the new guys coming on - get your popcorn ready, man, 'cause it's on!"