Incumbent Bowling Green Mayor Todd Alcott and mayoral candidate and WKU history professor Patti Minter met face-to-face Monday night for a public forum at Bowling Green Junior High hosted by the Bowling Green Daily News.

The forum was moderated by Bowling Green Daily News’ Managing Editor Wes Swietek.

Swietek said moderating forums such as the mayoral one is part of the Daily News’ 150-year-old mission of providing information to Bowling Green.

“I think it’s just an opportunity for the voters to see the people, the candidates, in person, hear their responses to questions that are pertinent to the community,” said Swietek.

Both candidates had two minutes to provide opening and closing statements and three minutes to respond to each question asked by the moderator.

In opening statements, Minter spoke first and promised to, “lead by listening,” and highlighted her past work with Governor Andy Beshear during her time as a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives.

Minter said the ultimate decision was between, “a politician who caters to insiders or a mayor who fights for us.”

Alcott’s opening statements focused on the work he’s done since his election as mayor in 2020.

“We’ve come through a lot the past few years. Come through COVID We’ve come through mask mandates. We’ve come through tragedies. We’ve come to tornadoes,” said Alcott.

Alcott also worked to distinguish himself as a leader, claiming Minter was an “activist.” Alcott said a leader gets fired if they make a mistake while an activist blames others.

When asked by the moderator what they believed the most pressing issue in Bowling Green is, both candidates pointed to infrastructural issues.

Minter said the biggest infrastructure issues in Bowling Green relate to housing and traffic. 

“The housing plan tells us that we needed to be adding 3000 units of housing in order to keep up with the pace for what we’ll need by 2025,” Minter said.

Minter said her housing plan would involve applying for grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. She also said she would work with organizations such as Habitat for Humanity and the Homeless and Housing Coalition. 

Minter also said multiple citizens have complained about the traffic in Bowling Green. Specific complaints have been about traffic jams on main roads, such as Scottsville Road and Nashville Road, and unsafe roads through neighborhoods and near the 31-W bypass.

Alcott said that housing and traffic have gotten better under his mayorship. 

“I have worked hard for affordable housing. I work hard to get a homeless center. We have worked hard to build roads and to support police and to build new infrastructure.”

Alcott also said that as mayor he has expanded police infrastructure. “We have actually increased their [police] pay to 63k with benefits, and we have closed those 24 [vacant police] positions and then added 16 more positions on top.”

Minter said that during her time in the Kentucky House of Representatives, she also worked to better police pay and benefits.

“I prioritize paid high pay for state troopers and making sure that our first responders had mental health leave after a trauma panic event like our tornado,” said Minter

The topic of infrastructure led candidates to the topic of the tornado that touched down across Bowling Green, in December 2021. 

Minter leveled accusations against Mayor Alcott saying that while she was working with the state legislature she was unable to contact him about financial aid efforts.

“I was not able to deal directly with the mayor during the tornado recovery, relief and recovery process, because you didn’t respond to my emails, and I had money that the governor had made available through the state fund,” said Minter.

In response, Alcott said, “When you’re answering about 30 texts and 30 conversations about every 30 minutes during the crisis, email is not a priority.”

To Alcott’s response, Minter pushed back and said that the funds she was referring to became available in March of 2022 after the initial crisis.

Swietek also asked the candidates how they plan to vote on Amendment 2, a constitutional amendment allowing laws to be passed to provide state funding to private schools.

Alcott answered, “I know personally what I’m gonna vote, and that’s between me, God and a voting booth.”

Minter said she would be voting no, claiming the amendment would defund schools and transfer wealth from poorer regions of Kentucky to the more wealthy ones.

“[Amendment 2] is just a transfer of wealth to Covington, Lexington and Louisville,” said Minter.

Candidates were asked to provide their thoughts on a Bowling Green “fairness ordinance.” Swietek said the ordinance is a proposed addition of sexual preference and gender identity protections to the city’s civil rights legislation. 

Alcott outlined a case between Lexington and a T-shirt company after the implementation of a fairness ordinance. Alcott claimed that this case cost the city of Lexington $500,000.

“It was unconstitutional because it was not fairness, it was critical and an illusion that lost their constitutional rights because of a city fairness ordinance,” said Alcott.

Minter said she was in support of a Bowling Green Fairness ordinance. She said that since 1999, 24 cities, towns and counties in Kentucky have implemented fairness ordinances with no issue.

Minter also told Alcott, “You don’t want to pass a fairness ordinance because you clearly don’t want to stop discrimination.”

The candidates concluded the forum with their closing remarks.

Alcott emphasized service to Bowling Green. “Serving this community has been the greatest experience of my life.”

Minter emphasized change and new ideas, “I’m offering a different path.”

News Reporter Anthony Clauson can be reached at [email protected].