Castle says city spending is 'excessive'

Sharon Castle, manager of Will Creek Apartments on Burlew Boulevard, said she would take major steps to control spending if she is elected Owensboro mayor.

Castle, who previously ran for city office, said an example of spending she would curb can be seen downtown, where city officials approved the lighting of the Glover Cary Bridge.

Castle said the money allocated to for bridge lights should have been spent “repairing the bridge.”

“There’s a reason we are looking at closing the bridge for two months,” Castle said.

The city allocated just under $2 million to lighting the bridge in 2020. The state road budget contains $8.9 million in state dollars to repair the bridge deck. The date to start the project has not yet been set, and officials do not have a timeline for how long the bridge will be closed.

Castle said curbing “the excessive spending” would be a priority.

“The city (commission) have put lights on that bridge; they spent a lot of money on Smothers Park and the (parking) garages, and the convention center,” Castle said. “Who benefited from that?”

Castle said “keeping the debt low is a good thing.”

“I’m a businesswoman. I know how to run a business,” Castle said, and that “the city is making enough taxes to pay down a lot of this debt, but they are not doing it.”

The city commission, Castle said, does not include business people except for Mayor Tom Watson. Commissioner Sharon NeSmith is general manager of the Hampton Inn and Suites Downtown Owensboro Waterfront, and Commissioner Pam Smith-Wright has owned a restaurant and has a catering business.

Castle said she would call out commissioners who tried to block her agenda as mayor.

“If I was getting resistance from these commissioners, there would be names called,” Castlen said. “If the commissioners didn’t want to go with what the people want, their names would be on my lips.”

Castle said she would also consider getting private business into city-owned buildings.

“My thoughts are the city owns too much downtown buildings,” Castle said. “This is what I think (the city) should do: Sell them for a buck a piece (to developers) and collect the taxes” on the properties.

Castle said she would work for efficiency in city government.

“You need to go through the system and see the qualified people who are doing a good job, and try to hang on to them, and make sure they answer their phones,” Castle said.

People who need city assistance “need to be able to come in without an appointment.”

When asked about her qualifications for the position, Castle said, “I recognize when things are going haywire pretty fast.”

“I suppose there are people better qualified, but I don’t know them,” Castle said. “I’ve not had anything fail that I’ve attempted to do. I have been in several businesses, and I think I can do this.”