Pamela Smith-Wright is seeking to return to the Owensboro City Commission, saying she still has more to give after six terms in office and decades of community involvement.
Smith-Wright, 76, was first elected to the City Commission in 2011, serving five consecutive terms. She lost a bid for mayor in 2020, was re-elected to the commission in 2022, and unsuccessfully ran for mayor again in 2024.
Smith-Wright is the longest-serving female commissioner in Owensboro history and was also the City’s first woman to serve as Mayor Pro Tem.
“I’m running again because I feel that I still have something to offer to the commission after the six terms that I have served already,” Smith-Wright said. “And I also feel that our commission needs to kind of look like our community. This is my home, and I love our community.”
Smith-Wright said she believes the City is on solid footing but needs to plan ahead for future growth.
“I feel that the City is doing okay,” she said. “But for economic development, we would need to start doing something, because we are quickly running out of land. We have the river on the north side, so we don’t have a lot of space there, and I think that whenever we can find some property that we can use for economic development, it behooves us to do that.”
On addressing controversial or divisive community issues, Smith-Wright said she believes government leaders should approach each topic with empathy and an open mind.
“I think that city government, county government, they have to look at all sides of an issue,” she said. “I feel that I am not to judge who people say they are. … If you’re a citizen of this community and you pay taxes, then you should have all the same rights as anybody else.”
She said leaders must respect personal freedoms while focusing on the role of government, not parenting or moral judgment.
“We’ve got to stand up for everyone’s rights,” she said. “I respect anyone’s opinion, just like I want them to respect mine. But some things, you have to be very careful when you’re stepping on other people’s rights to do things that they want to do.”
Smith-Wright also said experience should be valued alongside youth.
“I’m proud to be 76 years old, but I hope that my thinking isn’t old,” she said. “I try to keep up to date with what’s going on in our world, in our community. People make too much of age. … Sometimes you have to know where you’ve been to know where you’re going.”
Beyond her elected role, Smith-Wright has long been active in local organizations. She currently serves as chair of the Senior Community Center of Owensboro-Daviess County, Owensboro Dance Theatre, and the Human Rights Committee at Wendell Foster — the latter a position she’s held for more than 30 years. She is also a board member for Friday After 5 and the Owensboro Museum of Fine Art.
Smith-Wright has also been a prominent supporter of local veterans. She is a past president of the Owensboro-Daviess County Veterans Organization, a life member of both AMVETS and the VFW, and was the first African-American to serve as the Kentucky state president of the AMVETS Auxiliary.
“To be involved in that many organizations with all different kinds of people, you learn to listen, you learn to respect other people’s opinions,” she said. “That’s what I feel you have to do when you are a City Commissioner. Those things have given me that kind of background where I can listen. It doesn’t always mean that I will agree, but I will always listen.”
Smith-Wright added that her years of community involvement and government experience continue to fuel her desire to serve.
“I just want people to know that I still feel I have a lot to offer this community, and I am ready and willing to move us forward,” she said. “We’ve come a long way, but we have a long way to go with a lot of things in our community, and I’d like to help see that happen.”
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