Paducahans voted to reelect incumbent Mayor George Bray to a second term Tuesday.
Bray beat out current city commissioner David Guess by a wide margin, garnering nearly 7,000 votes to his challenger’s total of just under 3,000.
In an interview Wednesday, the incumbent attributed his successful reelection bid to “leadership that people appreciate” and pointed to the city’s achievements during his administration, including the planning of the currently under construction Paducah Sports Park complex and approval of a state-of-the-art 911 system.
“Both of those projects have been partnered with the county, and, if you follow Paducah politics, you know that the City of Paducah and the McCracken County Fiscal Court have not always gotten along 100%,” Bray said. “Judge-Executive Craig Clymer and I have worked on our relationship, and we've worked hard to get these projects done together.”
During his campaign, Bray said he plans to focus on city infrastructure, housing and riverfront development during his second term. He hopes to improve streets and sidewalks and get new sidewalks on roadways that did not previously have any.
When it comes to housing, Bray said he hopes to focus on the issue though he knows it’s not a problem that can be fixed overnight in the city.
“It's really tackling housing and looking for more opportunities for housing development, not only on the south side – which has been one of our focus areas – but really, all over the city,” Bray said.
Another key piece of Bray’s agenda for his second term is pushing for the continued development of Paducah’s riverfront area.
The city was awarded over $10 million in BUILD grant funds to help unimproved ground near the city’s flood walls. The redevelopment process also includes a new riverport dock for cruise ships. All told, Bray said the project could cost the city as much as $20 million.
“We've had some budget overruns, and so we're working through some of those issues,” he said. “But, we hope to get started on that project very quickly.”
