Mark Castlen announced he will be running for reelection after serving his first term as an Owensboro City Commissioner.
He said a single term has been too short to be able to accomplish everything that he wishes, so he wants to retain the seat and continue the work.
“There’s just a lot of stuff that I know I’m not going to be able to finish [in just one term], and I would like to go ahead and see them completed,” Castlen said.
One project he hopes to help accomplish is the York Neighborhood’s flooding issue. The issue was one he had a passion for before being elected. Now that he has been involved both as a commissioner and a citizen, he hopes to be able to give the community the comfort they’ve been wanting.
He also hopes to work alongside some of the youth in the community to find ways to lower the amount of gun violence in the city. A few ideas he has involves further developing partnerships with schools and introducing new programs to them — especially at the middle and high school levels.
Castlen said he has been involved in conversations with youth, as well as programs that have introduced city functionality to teens to engage in civic conversations.
“I would like to do to be more hands-on with our youth and get them involved in the government,” Castlen said. “Especially our Black youth, our Hispanic youth. There’s really not any representation hardly at all for them — not just in government, but in many areas.”
By using people in the city that are from similar backgrounds, he thinks it’s possible to get the youth inspired to turn their dreams into reality.
Castlen also wants to get the city and Friday After 5 to collaborate on ways to include more diverse music on the stages during the summer weeks, such as R&B or Hispanic bands.
Outside of his commissioner role, Castlen said he has been involved in different ways throughout the community such as serving two terms on parish councils, coaching youth ball teams and volunteering his time to many important causes around the city.
“I’m trying to implement some positive change and the bottom line is this first year has flown by and it’s been a really long process,” he said. “And I’m hoping that if I get elected over the next three years, I can get everything accomplished.”
