Kentucky

Government power structure changes may be coming to Covington

Published

2 years ago

July 3, 2024

Government power structure changes may be coming to Covington

COVINGTON, Ky. — A group of business leaders is pushing for a change in the city of Covington’s power structure. It could be on the November ballot if a petition is successful.

What You Need To Know

Covington’s current form of government consists of four elected city commissioners, an elected mayor and a city manager

A group of local business and political leaders is trying to change that

Covington Forward is working to get enough signatures to place an initiative on the November ballot that would adopt the mayor-council form

Joe Meyer, Covington’s current mayor who will be leaving office by the time this would go into effect, supports the new model

Covington’s current form of government is rare among other Kentucky cities. It consists of four elected city commissioners, an elected mayor and a city manager appointed by the commission.

Richard Dickmann, owner of Covington restaurant Smoke Justis, said the current system is not conducive to business.

“One of the concerns I’ve had since I’ve been here is the amount of time it takes to get anything done,” he said. “It takes four meetings a month to run the city because everything has to be done in a public forum. If a company wanted to relocate their business, and they were looking at three different cities, it may take a longer time for the city of Covington to give them the nod.”

Dickmann is the chair of a committee of local business and political leaders, Covington Forward. It’s trying to get enough signatures to place an initiative on the November ballot that would change Covington’s government to the more common mayor-council form.

City councils can have up to 12 members. In contrast to the current form in which the mayor has equal voting power to commissioners, the mayor acts as more of the city’s CEO in the mayor-council format. That includes the power to veto and hiring city workers.

Dickmann said under this format, council members would have less on their plate than the current commissioners.

“You can be more focused on the needs of the community and not the everyday running of the government,” he said. “It’s obvious to a lot of cities that the mayor-council is a better form of government.”

Joe Meyer, Covington’s current mayor who will be leaving office by the time this would go into effect, supports the new model. Before it can go into effect, the group needs to get enough signatures on its petition. At that point, it would be up to the voters.

Covington is the only city in Kenton County with a city manager form of municipal government.

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Kentucky

Kentucky optometry board faces pushback on proposed reforms

Published

12 hours ago

March 25, 2026

Press Room

Kentucky optometry board faces pushback on proposed reforms

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) – Kentucky’s optometry board is trying to address a scandal after years of issuing waivers for optometry graduates who couldn’t pass their national exams.

The board reversed course earlier this year. But at a public hearing on the new rules, the national testing group said the reforms still carve out loopholes.

Nevada and New Hampshire say they will not accept the testing exceptions Kentucky has proposed and won’t recognize Kentucky optometry licenses as equivalent to their own.

21 Kentucky optometrists have been under scrutiny.

At Wednesday’s public hearing, the state gave the public under 15 minutes to make their case.

Public voices opposition at brief hearing

In the conference room of a Holiday Inn Express, two members of the public voiced their opposition to Kentucky’s proposed reforms. Both are from the National Board of Examiners in Optometry.

“The KBOE has not taken the straightforward and obvious path to ensure public safety,” NBEO Secretary/Treasurer Daniel Taylor said.

“The Kentucky optometry board has lost its way, putting patient safety at risk and placing a lower priority on public health than on upholding competency standards,” said NBEO Executive Director Jill Bryant.

Kentucky reversed itself after a series of reports about optometrists who were granted licenses with waivers. Some didn’t pass a single part of the national exams.

In February, the state said optometrists with these waivers would have to stop performing laser procedures and would be dropping a Canadian substitute test. But it did not prohibit these doctors from practicing and proposed other alternative tests.

Daniel Taylor said these tests have been standardized across the country for a simple reason.

“If you were to see an optometrist in Kentucky, and then go across the border and see an optometrist in another state or move to another state, you would have to check with the local standards to see what those levels of quality were,” Taylor said.

No one else spoke. The optometry board did not respond, saying it will file its response as part of the process, taking this feedback into consideration.

A letter from NBEO to the state revealed the group had questioned how 21 optometrists had gotten their licenses based on their lack of testing records.

The state board denied WAVE’s records request for another letter NBEO sent to the board in the fall. The attorney general’s office is currently reviewing our appeal.

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Kentucky

Keegan Brown hired by Kentucky Basketball, per report

Published

2 days ago

March 24, 2026

Press Room

Keegan Brown hired by Kentucky Basketball, per report

NCAA Basketball: Brigham Young at Texas Tech

Jan 20, 2024; Lubbock, Texas, USA; Brigham Young Cougars director of video & analytics strategy Keegan Brown on the bench in the second half during the game against the Texas Tech Red Raiders at United Supermarkets Arena. Mandatory Credit: Michael C. Johnson-Imagn Images

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