A second candidate has announced they’re running to become the next mayor of Paducah. The local actor and arts instructor wants to make city hall more accessible to residents and wants to boost the city’s arts scene.
53-year-old Gregory Nanopoulus has lived in the Paducah region for about 10 years and graduated in 2007 from Bennington College in Vermont. He currently works as an arts instructor at The Rhythm Factory.
He said he wants to make city government more receptive to resident feedback, and one of the ways he plans to do that, if elected, is by working more at city hall.
“I wanna turn the mayor’s job into a full-time position. Instead of [current mayor Brandi Harless] being there twice a week, three times a week, I wanna be there from eight o’clock in the morning till six o’clock at night,” Nanopoulos said. “I wanna have a day where the city hall is open to the residents of Paducah where they can talk to me about whatever’s on their mind.”
He said he feels like it’s hard to be heard by the city government unless one has connections, and that he wants to break up the “cliquey-ness” to make government more fair and accessible. He also wants to give a boost to the arts scene in the city, utilizing his experience as an arts instructor.
“If New York is number one [in arts] and Los Angeles is number two and Chicago is number three, I think realistically we’re not going to beat them, but we can be number four.”
Nanoupoulos said his work as mayor would be unpaid, and that he donate the mayor’s salary to a local charity.
Paducah City Commissioner and Mayor Pro Tem Richard Abraham is the only other official candidate currently in the 2020 race. Current Mayor Brandi Harless hasn’t announced whether she will run for reelection.
