Brownsville Mayor-Elect Ricky Simon Discusses Plans, Outlook For City

Brownsville Mayor-Elect Ricky Simon is set to be sworn into office in December.

Darren Doyle, story and photo:
Brownsville will have a new mayor sworn in on December 23, 2024. City resident and lifelong county resident Ricky Simon will be the new mayor of the city in January,  2025 after a 16-year run from Jerry Meredith, who is just over a month away from his retirement. 

Simon, who grew up in the Sunfish community and later raised his own family in Chalybeate, moved to Brownsville about 15 years ago with his wife, Janis. We had the opportunity to have a conversation with Simon at Brownsville City Hall about his overall thoughts of the city, his plans, and some things he hopes to see.

"I never thought I'd end up being a city slicker in my older years," he joked, "but we had the opportunity to remodel a home and move here several years ago. It's been really convenient for us and I've enjoyed it."

Simon was first appointed to the Brownsville City Council in 2019 by Mayor Meredith to fill the vacant seat left by councilman Jeremy Spainhoward who had moved out of the city limits. Simon then ran for that same seat in 2020 during the regular election and won. He was re-elected in 2022. Mayor-elect Simon discussed his decision to run for mayor in the recent 2024 election.

"I started being approached by city residents that wanted me to run. I had several people talk to me and tell me they'd support me. I started thinking about it and then about a month before the filing deadline, Jerry told me he was planning to retire."

Simon said that Mayor Meredith had expressed his hopes of being able to do some other things in retirement and it felt like the right time to run. He had an easy path to victory, running unopposed.

"During my time as a councilman, I've enjoyed learning about our city government, the requirements of the business part of it, and really just the everyday matters of taking care of business."

While those matters revolve around the basics, like utilities, streets, and general needs of the residents, recent inflation also affects governments, even those as small as the City of Brownsville, which has around 890 residents, or about 7% of the county's total population.

"We want to continue providing our residents the services they need at affordable prices and there's a lot more to that than what lots of people think. You really have to see things like a business and manage it that way. Brownsville has a lot of positives. It's a senior-oriented place that's really laid back. We don't have much bad stuff going on here. We have good city law enforcement and it's just a quiet, country-type town that has the basics for everyone. We have drug stores, grocery, some retail stores, places to eat. Enough to keep you from having to drive into a bigger town lots of times."

We asked the mayor-elect what was on his wish list for the city and what were his immediate plans in his new role.

"I'd like to see us pick up a small business or two, I guess anyone would want that. We need an auto parts for one. That would really help local people. Now we have to drive to Leitchfield or Bowling Green for things like that. But I think some of the first things I'd like to see, we need some sprucing up around here. We've got sidewalks that need attention and we've got a pretty major drainage issue on Washington Street."

The street that goes past City Hall, past Patton Funeral Home, and all the way down to the river, is actually a state highway. Before the Brownsville bridge was constructed, it was the main highway through town. Any maintenance on Washington must be done by the state and Simon said after years of resurfacing, the drain in the road has been somewhat neglected. That causes water to flow away from the drains and toward homes on the street as well as the Heritage Centre, a popular event venue in the heart of "downtown."

"The state has been great on a lot of different things in the city," Simon added. "When we get snow, Washington Street is always cleared pretty quick. I think the drainage issue can be solved and I'm looking forward to working with the state on that."

The state part of the street ends near the bridge and the city then maintains the rest, down to the boat ramp and the city park.

"We've looked into adding primitive camping sites at the city park. That's really popular at Houchin Ferry so we're looking into that close to the river. I'd also like to see some other kids' activities and maybe some improvements to the pavilion."

He also discussed the gray area with some sidewalks and retaining walls in front of residents on Main Street and similar areas. It's common to see crumbling walls on the sidewalks.

"Retaining walls are private property. They belong to the homeowners. We have city ordinances for yard upkeep and things like that but the sidewalks are actually on state right-of-way. Yes, we can fix the sidewalks, but it's actually the state's. It can get complicated."

Simon said that fiscally, the city was in pretty good shape and he's open to working with everyone.

"I'm in a learning curve so I ask everyone to have patience with me," he said with a smile. "Everything's not always roses and cupcakes, but I'll do the best I can. We'll have to take care of the business parts of the city first, and I look forward to working with our council, the county, state, and everyone here. We'll do the best we can for the city."

The city council members for 2025 will be Melinda VanMeter, Jill Vincent (new member), Lloyd Blanton, Justin Meredith, Anthony Duvall, and David Campbell.

Simon is scheduled to be sworn in on Monday, December 23rd in the upstairs courtroom of the Edmonson County Courthouse at 6PM.