Pam Smith-Wright is hoping to be Owensboro’s next mayor. She’s officially filed to run for the position in the 2024 election, saying she’s ready to use the experience and leadership style she’s developed as a City Commission to advance Owensboro.
“I want to use my leadership style to try to make Owensboro — not that it’s not a great place — but a better place for everyone to live,” Smith-Wright said Thursday.
One of the first ways to do that, she said, is to be more inclusive of all citizens when identifying and working to solve problems within the city. Smith-Wright said there is effort already to fix some problems, but she feels there are people who are currently being left out of the conversation.
Smith-Wright also wants to create a community board, comprising citizens from all walks of life, that can address problems while ensuring everyone is present and connected.
“We have to be able to listen to all of the voices of in the community because every person that lives here pays taxes, and they all deserve the same amount of respect and for the city to have an ear to what they are saying as well,” she said.
One of her main objectives, she said, is to help the public understand the functions of government and to remind people that an elected official serves all people.
“My job is not for one area in Owensboro; it’s for the entire city. That’s another thing that I think that we don’t get across to people,” Smith-Wright said. “We don’t have districts and wards and those kinds of things in Owensboro. When you’re elected as a City Commissioner, you don’t represent a certain neighborhood.”
Smith-Wright first ran for mayor in 2020, when she placed third with about 22% of the votes. Tom Watson won with about 40% of the votes, while Larry Conder received about 29% and Dracin Williams claimed about 9%.
Prior to her first mayoral campaign, Smith-Wright served 5 consecutive terms as City Commissioner. She was also elected to her current and 6th overall term as commissioner in the 2022 election. In her separate stints on the City Commission, she has served under two mayors, Ron Payne and Watson.
Smith-Wright said she is excited to campaign again for the City’s highest publicly elected seat. She said that even though she’s not always proud of things that happen in Owensboro, she’s proud to be a citizen and call this city home.
She said: “I just hope that when I become mayor, people will see maybe just a little difference in how this city moves forward.”
