NEWS: Kaler believes many residents underrate town BY LAUREN P. DUNCAN lduncan@paducahsun Midway through her four-year term, Paducah Mayor Gayle said one of the city’s greatest challenges has been convincing residents to be proud of their town. “Paducah has such a great reputation and name outside of Paducah, but I don’t think a lot of people in Paducah understand what a great community we have,” she said. “I hope in the next few years, working with the county fiscal court, that we can increase that awareness. The only way you can be successful is to think success. If you don’t think it, you won’t get it.” A few of the city’s successes over the past two years, Kaler said, have involved goals she established when first taking office. One priority she set when she was a city commissioner before being elected as mayor was to enhance Paducah’s reputation as an arts center. She said that goal came to fruition with Paducah’s designation as a UNESCO Creative City of Crafts and Folk Art last year. “When I was on the commission, we took a trip to Seoul, South Korea. We were applying for that UNESCO designation. I had a lot of criticism for spending taxpayers’ dollars to make that trip. So it’s very rewarding to know that, because of that trip, we did get the designation and we’ve connected with different cities around the world.” Another one of Kaler’s objectives when taking office entailed a more local task: making board appointments. She said she’s worked to increase the diversity on the city’s boards. She also came into office with plans to help Paducah’s homeless population, which she said saw success with the establishment of a permanent home for Community Ministries Inc. The past two years haven’t been struggle-free for the city. One difficulty the city’s had that the public doesn’t always see, Kaler said, is attracting city employees. She said it’s both hard to find qualified people to fill the city’s positions, and more jobs will be opening as senior staff members retire. “Some of the directors are getting long in the tooth,” she said. “That’s something we need to be thinking about for the future — a succession plan.” The issue of how to attract new employees and fill city positions falls in line with another struggle — the city’s loss in population. While the population decline began long before Kaler’s term, she’s been focused on one area she thinks has contributed to the decline: young people moving away. The mayor has been talking with young people about what attracts them to a community, and what can motivate them to become entrepreneurs. Kaler said the fact that fewer young people want to get into business for themselves is both a national issue and one that affects Paducah. “A lot of people in my age group started their own businesses, so when you walk away from those, what do you have? There’s a big void,” she said. Looking ahead Kaler cited one necessity for regrowing Paducah’s population: more jobs. “We’ve got to work really hard to get more jobs in this community. Living wage jobs.” Kaler said it’s difficult to attract employers to Paducah when competing with other cities, but she said the recent selection of Scott Darnell as the new president/CEO of Paducah Economic Development is one step toward attracting jobs. “I like Scott’s philosophy,” Kaler said. “It’s not always about how much money can you give them. I think he’s going to be really good at his job.” Cleanup at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant is critical to the community, Kaler said, because the presence of a major, large employer with good-paying jobs is essential to the rest of Paducah and McCracken County. “Fifty years ago, Paducah was just a sleepy, rural community, and (the plant) brought so many highly educated people with them. It was a cultural expansion here in Paducah,” she said. “So now, we’ve got to do something else. We’ve got to get another industry that’s going to have those jobs.” The city also has several pending projects and decisions to make. In coming months the city faces the decisions of what to do about the deteriorating City Hall, what route to take in updating the area’s E911 services and how to implement curbside recycling. Kaler also anticipates progress in development of the riverfront. With the seating of a new fiscal court, Kaler said she’s eager to work with the county’s new officials. “I’m looking forward to a lot of progress for the community,” she said. “I just think it will be really positive.
Posted on: Mon, 12 Jan 2015 21:45:01 +0000
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