Conder announces run for mayor

July 16, 2019 | 1:20 pm

Updated July 17, 2019 | 9:24 am

City Commissioner Larry Conder announced Tuesday that he would be running for mayor of Owensboro in 2020. The official announcement was made during Jeff Rhinerson’s “Live with Jeff” segment on WBKR. | Photo by Katie Pickens

City Commissioner Larry Conder announced Tuesday that he will be running for mayor of Owensboro in 2020. The official announcement was made during Jeff Rhinerson’s “Live with Jeff” segment on WBKR.

Conder said the “Live with Jeff” radio show was the perfect opportunity to announce his candidacy as he connects to the radio host on a personal level.

“I have a passion for people who are marginalized because of how they were born. I was born with a handicap — my feet were upside down and backwards,” Conder said. “I had multiple operations and had braces on my legs as a kid. I was picked on. I know how hard that is for someone with a disability. [Jeff] just wants to be treated normally — whether you see that handicap or not, most everyone with disabilities wants that.”

Conder said his work as a city commissioner show how he’d run the city should he be elected mayor. Addressing the budgetary shortfalls, the local pension crisis and helping Owensboro’s population surpass 60,000 people have been a few of Conder’s proudest successes.

“Those are the things we must build upon, while we never forget the people who struggle everyday,” Conder said. “We have to focus on those people as well.”

The northwest quadrant of the city is an area Conder would like to focus on improving. The area lies in an opportunity zone and is primed for development and growth, Conder said.

“It needs attention. I’m talking about going from Sycamore Street to Industrial Drive,” he said. “Instead of just giving it some lift service, let’s do something about it.”

Affordable housing and workforce development are two other issues Conder wants to see improved, he said.

“Our unemployment rate is so low that everybody is struggling for workers,” he said. “We need more workers for us to be able to grow that tax base. We need to advocate for bills that are coming at us from things that are out of our control. Pension costs continue to escalate every year. With that kind of money that’s going out to the state to pay for pension costs — it’s a needs versus wants issue. I would take it to the next level, the needs versus wants. I know it’s the right and fair thing to do for all citizens. It might not make everyone happy, but it’s the right thing to do.”

Conder said the City has issued no debt since he’s taken office as city commissioner, beginning in 2016.

“That’s something I’m very proud of,” he said. “The City of Owensboro is doing very well financially, and I believe it will continue to do so for the next five or six years, assuming the economy keeps up the way it is.”

Conder, who voted against the property tax increase in 2018, said residents shouldn’t see another tax increase anytime soon, as long as the state doesn’t begin pulling more money from the local economy due to the pension crisis.

“Whenever I came in as city commissioner in 2016, and seeing the financial situation, I made a conscious decision to not take a pension, health care, a cell phone plan [through the City],” he said. “The only thing I receive is part-time salary and a self-supporting dental program, and most of my salary I give back to social service programs. I didn’t think it was right for taxpayers to pay for a pension and health care for a part-time employee.”

Conder also said drug use and violence in the community must be addressed in order to keep Owensboro a safe place to live.

“This is a big priority for families and children. We owe it to them,” he said. “We have to make sure we’re a great, safe community to live, work and play.”

July 16, 2019 | 1:20 pm

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