Right after Bill Nighbert was sworn in as president of the Kentucky League of Cities (KLC) in 2002, he called his then five-year-old son Benton to the stage, and hoisted him above the podium showing the audience of KLC staff and city officials what drove him to public service.
“This is why I do what I do … here is the reason I serve,” Nighbert told the audience recalled Kentucky League of Cities CEO/Executive Director J.D. Chaney in a Facebook post.
Chaney noted that this moment said a lot about Nighbert.
“In my opinion, that moment captured the Bill Nighbert we knew at KLC – dedicated to his family forever and always driven to pave a better way for the future generations that follow him,” Chaney wrote on Facebook.
WILLIAMSBURG â Former Williamsburg Mayor Bill Nighbert passed away on Thursday.
Nighbert served as Williamsburg mayor for 10 years during which time he also served as president of the Kentucky League of Cities. In 2004, Nighbert resigned from his position as mayor to take the position of Deputy Commissioner for the Governorâs Office for Local Development.
Nighbert was appointed to that position by former Governor Ernie Fletcher and was named Secretary of the Transportation Cabinet the following year.
Nighbert showed his love of the youth in his community as he was the president of the Optimist Club, coached little league football, baseball, and basketball, chaired the booster club and volunteered for countless other community activities.