Eleven men running for six seats on Junction City Council

JUNCTION CITY — Voters in Junction City have a full slate of prospective city councilmen to choose from. 

There are six seats on the city council and all of those currently holding a spot are running for re-election. Additionally, there are five more men running, with the hopes of grabbing one of the six seats.

Kenny Baldwin (Incumbent)

Kenny Baldwin is completing his fourth term on city council, and says he’s proud of the city he has called home since he was a young child.

“We want to make this the best city we can. We already have a good little city here; it’s a place to be proud of,” he said. 

One of the biggest examples he gives of community pride grew from the aftermath of the 2009 ice storm. He explains that the entire city, from councilmen to the mayor to the citizens jumped in to clean the place up and Junction City was back in shape about a week after it happened. 

Baldwin believes it’s important to maintain the status that the city has reached as far as safety. He says the council has worked, within the budget, to maintain city streets and sidewalks. However, he also feels the council is not there to dictate rules, but to serve the community. 

“Everyone that works for the city has an obligation to the city. That’s their jobs,” Baldwin said, explaining that they are more like city servants, not rule makers.

Lloyd Bowling (Incumbent)

Lloyd Bowling is a native of Boyle County, having lived in the Junction City area most of his life. He retired from ATR Wire and Cable and serves on the Boyle County Waste Management Board. If elected, this would be his second term on the council. 

Bowling believes the city has come a long way from five years ago, when they were borrowing money to make payroll, and credits most of that to the mayor. However, he stresses that there is still more to do.

“We would like to see the city grow,” Bowling said. He believes that one way to do that, will be to build a new municipal building that would be large enough for city offices and to serve as a shelter in case of bad weather.

Archie Coffman III

Archie Coffman III is a Junction native, residing in the area his whole life. While he’s never held a position on the council before, he believes that could be a good thing. 

“They’ve done a great job, but I think somebody new could step up and give them new ideas on what they could do,” Coffman said.

He says Junction has the potential to grow and draw in more businesses because of it’s proximity to Danville. For Coffman, encouraging families to move into the area is a big issue, because the city is a “great place to live” and somewhere that, he believes, could be a very family-friendly location.