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Mayfield mayor who has led city through tornado recovery elected to second term

Mayfield Mayor Kathy O'Nan shared her appreciation of the work of Governor Andy Beshear and State Representative Richard Heath to continue to provide support to tornado-impacted areas.
Lily Burris
/
WKMS
Mayfield Mayor Kathy O'Nan standing next to Governor Andy Beshear and State Representative Richard Heath.

A western Kentucky mayor who led her city through recovery after last December’s deadly tornado outbreak was elected to a second term Tuesday.

Mayfield Mayor Kathy O’Nan, first elected in 2018, defeated challenger Johnny Jackson by a margin of over 600 votes – garnering 1,342 to Jackson’s 724.

O’Nan says she sees her reelection as a sign of support from her constituents regarding her leadership during the city’s recovery from the devastating tornado outbreak that hit the region last December.

“I'm just excited that people felt like we were moving in the right direction, and with their selection, and with the councilman– to head forward,” O’Nan said on the night of the election.

Demolition was recently completed on a pair of iconic structures that sustained severe tornado damage in downtown Mayfield – the Graves County courthouse and the American Legion building. This cleared the way for the continued reopening of roads in the city as recovery continues.

The Mayfield mayor says she continues to push efforts to further the rebuilding process and announced new plans that will guide the future of the community for the road ahead. She said one of the next big steps for the city will be a presentation from the Mayfield Rebuilds Committee – the community-driven group that’s steered some of the area’s recovery efforts – next month.

“Those plans will be presented to the city council on December the 12th. So I hope we have a really big crowd at that Dec. 12 council meeting so people can see what this group has been working on, as far as plans for our city,” she said.

O’Nan says she is proud of all the work in recovering that has been done so far in the last eleven months and is excited for the progress that she hopes can come during her term.

Zacharie Lamb is a music major at Murray State University and is a Graves County native.
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