Mayor asks for patience, says his actions have been in the city’s best interest

An Open Letter to the Citizens of Bardstown

MAYOR JOHN ROYALTY

To the people of Bardstown, I am aware of your concerns and know that many of you are confused about all that has happened with the changes in Police Department recently. Many of you are in the dark on what has gone on and why it was necessary. That is unfortunate, but I do not believe in airing our dirty laundry in the public and I am also constrained by law and other personnel regulations from going into depth on the reasons for some of the actions I have taken.

You elected me to look out for the best interests of the citizens of Bardstown and our city government. That, I promise you is what I have done since day one. I simply saw problems in areas that were not being adequately addressed, I consulted with experts both within and outside of Bardstown and I acted in the best way I saw necessary. As Mayor I saw problems, studied them tirelessly, consulted with many others and took action – exactly what you elected me to do.

On other issues such as the Fire Department, and Recreation Department, Bardstown is better off today that it was when I took office. The agreements that the City had made in the past had become unfair to the City of Bardstown taxpayers and needed to be either re-negotiated or ended. Ideally, we could have continued to partner with the county on these programs, but we were not able to arrive at a fair agreement with the County and chose to go it alone. In both cases, the City is in a stronger position and can now proceed with what is truly in the best interests of our citizens.

Dispatch is another area where the City has paid much more that we should have, over the past years. We have actively been pursuing alternatives to the present arrangement, and hope to reduce our costs there significantly. I will be presenting this matter to the Safety Committee of the City Council soon, and hope to see those savings in the next Fiscal Year’s budget.

When campaigning I told you that you may not always like the way I do things, but if you study what I have done, you will know I have not misled you or harmed the City of Bardstown in any way. Sometimes doing the right thing is not pretty. Hard decisions that have been kicked down the road for years have to be made at some point, and I am not afraid to make those decisions.

I rest comfortably knowing that I am doing my job well and thoughtfully – maybe not as neatly as I would prefer, but doing the dirty work and making tough decisions comes with being a leader. I could have ignored many of these issues, and left them for others, but that is not me.

I am confident that my reasoning was sound although my approach may be seen as impatient or hard headed. I am guilty on both those two counts. But my love for Bardstown is without question and if I am only a one term Mayor, so be it. I did my job and did it well.

I have been accused of going off half-cocked. When the dust settles and all is known, I am confident that you will see that my actions were well thought out, and were in the best interests of the citizens of Bardstown.

Protesting is fine, it is your right. But please withhold final judgement until all the facts are known.

As I have said before, anyone, and I do mean anyone, citizen, council member, or just someone concerned about our city is welcome to meet with me to discuss any of these matters. I will go into as much detail as I can to explain what I am doing and why I am doing it. Please come see me. My open door policy is more than just a slogan.

John Royalty
Mayor, City of Bardstown