Kenton County Together

Kenton County Together: A Call to Action examines the structure of governance in Northern Kentucky’s largest county. The 205-page book is the result of a three-year process that began in early 2010 when elected leaders in Kenton County asked Northern Kentucky University’s Scripps Howard Center for Civic Engagement to explore how the county was governed and whether the governance structure might be improved.

The center was then, and remains today, a partner in the Northern Kentucky Forum, a nonpartisan entity established to examine public issues in our region. The center worked with the Forum to design an exploration of the question posed to us. The Forum’s purpose is to educate, not advocate. So the request aligned with Forum’s role in the community.

In April 2010, the Forum hosted a discussion: “How local governments in Kenton County can work better together.” The event, coupled with public polling, allowed the community to weigh in on whether the existing structure could be improved. A consensus emerged that new structures should be explored. From that, the Kenton County Government Study Group was formed with former Fort Wright mayor and businessman Tom Litzler as chair.

The group’s research and analysis led to Kenton County Together. The book, in turn, spurred a second study group appointed by the Kenton County Mayors Group to consider recommendations on how to revise local government. Both the book and the recommendations that followed remain resources for citizens and groups considering new models of governance in Kenton County and elsewhere in Kentucky.