Bray spoke at the Respite Bed and Breakfast, about seven blocks from city hall, where the Paducah City Commission would later meet to discuss a resolution by Commissioner Richard Abraham, who is also running for Mayor. Abraham proposed delaying everything for a year to allow for more discussion and research, and to allow a local non-profit group, Friends of the Parks, to raise money toward their $10 million goal. (Note: the Paducah City Commission voted down the resolution during their meeting)
Bray said he's spoken to numerous city residents about the issue and he knows they are divided, and he believes it's best to wait. He said Abraham's idea of a year-long delay is acceptable to him.
He said, "It is time to pause and look at resizing the wellness center, financing it more conservatively, and reprioritizing where it fits into the city's priorities."
Bray thinks the project's balance of funding should be closer to 50-50 between public and private money, with firm commitments from the private sector. He also thinks the city should reprioritize, "critical infrastructure needs such as storm water, while exploring the reallocation of bond proceeds."
As a businessman, Bray says thoughtful planning of funding is being abandoned in the rush to break ground.
He said, "We need to realize that our ability to grow and succeed as a community depends on our willingness to come together as one Paducah and prioritize our needs first, while ensuring that we continue to plan and build to improve our overall quality of life."
Bray fielded questions from the press and the public related to the topic. He said two examples of public-private partnerships are the Carson Center and Market House Theatre.
Regarding the Carson Center, Bray said, "that's an example we can use. That was a very large project that we really spent a lot of time raising money, but there's another example here in town and that's Market House Theatre. Market House Theatre has raised a lot of money over time, and they have zero debt, and they have not done a thing until they've had the money in hand. So, there's different models you can look at in terms of financing, but there's a way to approach it that's financially responsible."
As for the Friends of the Park, Bray said as far as he knows, the organization formed in 2018 hasn't raised any money, but has indicated it wants complete control of how an endowment would be used.
Bray said, "So there needs to be a real thought process about how you raise the money, when you raise the money and how that money's going to be deployed around the community."
While he's okay with the city participating in the project and even taking a well-thought-out risk, Bray thinks a 50-50 ratio of public and private funding would be a good idea.
He critiqued the current plan, saying, "you've got to have a viable project. This project projects things out so long, and there's some things about the flow of income when other bond payments begin to come off and we make a lot of assumptions, and I'm just not comfortable with all those assumptions in its current form."
Bray said if the project is put on hold, he hopes county leaders could be convinced to participate in discussion and possible ownership of the center.
When someone questioned the credibility of current city leaders and how they've handled the issue, Bray said, "I understand. That's why I'm trying to get elected."
If he gets elected as Mayor, Bray said he would consider the current status of the project and whether it could be stopped at that point. If not, he would concentrate on holding the Friends of the Park accountable for what they have promised, regarding the endowment.
