Monday night’s Board of Commissioners meeting was the first of 2023, and while it primarily focused on reviewing the last quarter of 2022 for various city-affiliated agencies, updates from the Frankfort Police Department and Kentucky Capital Development Corporation showed that the needs of the city continue to grow beyond current capacities.
Updates from municipal staff also detailed a cyber security grant in cooperation with Kentucky State University and a recap of the 2022 special events calendar.
KCDC President and CEO Terri Bradshaw walked the Board through the program’s fourth quarter, including 66 active development projects that have either already begun in Frankfort/Franklin County or are have filed Requests for Information (RFI) with KCDC.
“We’ve had 12 RFIs in the last three months, and that is a lot,” Bradshaw said. “This tells you that we have active projects and interest in this community, and a lot of it.”
She also mentioned three development projects that will be announced within the next two months, all of which are connected to the bourbon industry. According to Bradshaw, these projects will “completely eliminate every single piece of industrial property we have in the county.”
Bradshaw also announced the start of a collaboration with Bluegrass Community and Technical College and county high schools in both Franklin and Anderson counties that would provide CDL-A training for students, which would be the start of the certification process for bus and larger-scale commercial driving opportunities.
Frankfort Police Chief Dustin Bowman laid out needs for the department going into 2023, including their plans to expand their community outreach programs and recruiting budget, and reestablishing the KSU intern program.
The FPD also is investigating the potential for starting both a cadet program for qualified candidates who don’t meet the age requirement to join the department and an auxiliary officer program that would see retired cops returning to patrol special events, as well as implementing a revised E911 fee schedule no longer charged only to landlines.
Bowman presented a breakdown of crime stats for Frankfort, which shows that the department received over 81,000 calls and responded in-person to more than 38,000 of those in 2022 alone.
“We have less total crime when compared to cities of a similar size, but we have to do something to decrease the amount of vehicle thefts and burglaries.” This comes at a time when the department is running at a staffing shortage, with only 51 of 55 officers on active duty. Five new recruits are set to join the department next week upon completion of training and testing.
“This means a lot more calls per officer, and less time for proactivity. This explains why we have less-visible officers, because we’re having to bounce from call to call. When this happens, that is when you’ll see a lot of these ‘crimes of opportunity’ increase.”
The chief also credited Assistant Chiefs Lynn Aubrey and Derrick Napier for all of their work in leading the officers, as well as Community Policing Advocate Shelley Hearn for her work in the community.
In 2022, the first full event season since the pandemic began, there were 48 individual special events in Frankfort, with 21 of them fully or partially sponsored by the city, including 17 that required extra staff for street closures and traffic control.
In her presentation to the board, City Grants Manager Rebecca Hall announced that communication to both businesses and residents needed to be more consistent, and that event permits for 2023 are open on the city’s website.
I think we need to reiterate with the commission that they need verification of Terri Bradshaw’s claims. Because she has been known exaggerate about them before. Funny, but when I drove out to the industrial parks recently, it still looks the same… Empty!
State-Journal.com’s comments forum is for civil, constructive dialogue about news topics in our community, state, nation and world. We emphasize “civil” at a time when Americans, in the words of the current president, need to “turn down the temperature” of political debates. The State Journal will do its part by more carefully policing this forum. Here are some rules that all commenters must agree to follow:
Absolutely no attacks on other commenters, on guest columnists or on authors of letters to the editor. Our print and online opinion pages are sacred marketplaces of ideas where diverse viewpoints are welcome without fear of retribution. You may constructively critique the ideas and opinions of others, but name-calling, stereotyping and similar attacks are strictly prohibited.
Leeway will be given for criticism of elected officials and other public figures, but civility is essential. If you focus your criticism on ideas, opinions and viewpoints, you will be less likely to run afoul of our commenting rules.
Keep comments focused on the article or commentary in question. Don’t use an article about the Frankfort City Commission, for example, to rant about national politics.
Hyperpartisanship that suggests anyone on the other side of an issue or anyone in a particular particular party is evil is not welcome. If you believe that all Democrats are socialists intent on destroying America or that all Republicans are racists, there are lots of places on the internet for you to espouse those views. State-Journal.com is not one.
No sophomoric banter. This isn’t a third-grade classroom but rather a place for serious consumers of news to offer their reactions and opinions on news stories and published commentary.
No consumer complaints about individual businesses. If you’ve had a bad experience with a private business or organization, contact the Better Business Bureau or the government agency that regulates that business. If you believe the actions of a private business are newsworthy, contact us at news@state-journal.com and we will consider whether news coverage is merited.
Absolutely no jokes or comments about a person’s physical appearance.
No promotion of commercial goods or services. Our outstanding staff of marketing consultants stands ready to help businesses with effective advertising solutions.
If you state facts that have not been previously reported by The State Journal, be sure to include the source of your information.
No attacks on State Journal staff members or contributing writers. We welcome questions about, and criticism of, our news stories and commentary but not of the writers who work tirelessly to keep their community informed. Corrections of inaccurate information in news stories should be sent to news@state-journal.com rather than posted in the comments section.
Post a comment as anonymous
Report
Watch this discussion.
(1) comment
I think we need to reiterate with the commission that they need verification of Terri Bradshaw’s claims. Because she has been known exaggerate about them before. Funny, but when I drove out to the industrial parks recently, it still looks the same… Empty!
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
State-Journal.com’s comments forum is for civil, constructive dialogue about news topics in our community, state, nation and world. We emphasize “civil” at a time when Americans, in the words of the current president, need to “turn down the temperature” of political debates. The State Journal will do its part by more carefully policing this forum. Here are some rules that all commenters must agree to follow:
Absolutely no attacks on other commenters, on guest columnists or on authors of letters to the editor. Our print and online opinion pages are sacred marketplaces of ideas where diverse viewpoints are welcome without fear of retribution. You may constructively critique the ideas and opinions of others, but name-calling, stereotyping and similar attacks are strictly prohibited.
Leeway will be given for criticism of elected officials and other public figures, but civility is essential. If you focus your criticism on ideas, opinions and viewpoints, you will be less likely to run afoul of our commenting rules.
Keep comments focused on the article or commentary in question. Don’t use an article about the Frankfort City Commission, for example, to rant about national politics.
Hyperpartisanship that suggests anyone on the other side of an issue or anyone in a particular particular party is evil is not welcome. If you believe that all Democrats are socialists intent on destroying America or that all Republicans are racists, there are lots of places on the internet for you to espouse those views. State-Journal.com is not one.
No sophomoric banter. This isn’t a third-grade classroom but rather a place for serious consumers of news to offer their reactions and opinions on news stories and published commentary.
No consumer complaints about individual businesses. If you’ve had a bad experience with a private business or organization, contact the Better Business Bureau or the government agency that regulates that business. If you believe the actions of a private business are newsworthy, contact us at news@state-journal.com and we will consider whether news coverage is merited.
Absolutely no jokes or comments about a person’s physical appearance.
No promotion of commercial goods or services. Our outstanding staff of marketing consultants stands ready to help businesses with effective advertising solutions.
If you state facts that have not been previously reported by The State Journal, be sure to include the source of your information.
No attacks on State Journal staff members or contributing writers. We welcome questions about, and criticism of, our news stories and commentary but not of the writers who work tirelessly to keep their community informed. Corrections of inaccurate information in news stories should be sent to news@state-journal.com rather than posted in the comments section.