Lexington’s council districts need passionate, smart leaders. Here’s who we endorse.

The Herald-Leader Editorial Board makes the following endorsements in Lexington Fayette Urban County Council races:

District 1 — Tayna Fogle

The residents of District 1 have two good choices in Tayna Fogle and Rahsaan Berry. Fogle, a long-time community organizer, deeply understands the problems of poverty, criminal justice and affordable housing in the 1st, while Berry, a Lexington police officer (who would retire if elected) could bridge the gap between the area and law enforcement. But in a tight race, we give the nod to Fogle for her energetic and longstanding advocacy on behalf of our most vulnerable citizens, which will be a welcome addition to council.

District 2 — Josh McCurn

District 2 stretches from downtown Lexington to the growing suburban landscape of Citation Boulevard and poses numerous challenges on all the issues of Lexington. Shayla Lynch, executive director of the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning, clearly has a bright political future ahead. But we see no reason to unseat the incumbent McCurn, who has taken the difficult learning curve of his first two terms with deep involvement in the community on issues like trails and connectivity. He understands the tensions between rural land and affordable housing, which will be important as the council grapples with whether to open the Urban Services Boundary.

District 3 — Hannah LeGris

Hannah LeGris has been a good council representative for District 3, working on the traffic, trails and trees that are important to many of her constituents. She understands the problem of crime and has worked on affordable housing issues, while trying to improve town-gown relations between the city and UK. Her opponent, Kate Savage, is a valued advocate for the arts, but has similar views to LeGris and has not made the case of why LeGris should be unseated.

District 4 — Brack Marquette

The 4th District has a difficult choice to make in choosing Susan Lamb’s replacement. Brenda Monarrez has good ideas for improving infrastructure and seems intent on working on domestic violence issues, but said she would have voted against the no-knock warrant ban last year. That shows a lack of understanding of Lexington history and race relations but knowledge of what it takes to get the Fraternal Order of Police endorsement. She was also strangely disengaged from media and future constituents during the primary campaign. Brack Marquette’s career started in the administration of Martha Layne Collins, so while we appreciate that he understands Kentucky’s many bureaucracies, we’d like to see a fresher perspective. However, we will give the nod to Marquette because of his emphasis on cooperation and negotiation, two qualities needed in the Urban County Council.

District 5 — Liz Sheehan

Liz Sheehan has worked hard for District 5 and the issues its constituents care about, such as KU’s misguided tree-cutting plan, but she also works on citywide issue, including helping fund transitional housing with ARPA money. She understands the nuances of today’s crime problem, supporting the new agreements to use fund balance money to pay policemen more and foundational problems like a lack of youth activities and job training programs. Challenger Greg Ladd is an energetic campaigner with good ideas; we like the complexity of his thinking around land preservation and future development. But Sheehan has proven herself as a smart, hard worker who will do the best job for her district.

District 6 — Denise Gray

In this open seat, constituents have two good choices. Denise Gray is a lifelong resident of the Sixth District, a graduate of Bryan Station High School who is also a lawyer, educator and community activist, and understands the many challenges faced by so many of her neighbors. Attorney Charles Rowland worked in the Attorney General’s office under then AG Andy Beshear and in the economic development department. In particular, we like his ideas about ways the city could improve mental health and drug addiction services as part of the complex web in solving crime and housing issues. But Gray gets our nod because the Sixth District needs someone who has lived and truly understands its complex needs.

District 7 — Preston Worley

We will give a guarded endorsement to Preston Worley because he is a smart and effective council member who understands its complicated bureaucracy. We still disagree with his vote to keep no-knock warrants and his inability to see any other side but that of the police. Worley represents some low income areas like Woodhill and seems incapable of understanding the history of why some parts of the community don’t uniformly embrace police. We hope he will engage more directly on council with these issues, as well as using his expertise as a real estate lawyer to think about ways to find more ways to build housing without simply opening the Urban Service Boundary. Challenger Joseph Hale does exemplary work with youth in the community, but did not make a clear argument to us about what he would like to achieve as a council member.

District 8 — Kenya Williams

Council member Fred Brown has many years of public service in Lexington, but we feel the 8th District would benefit from the fresh ideas and perspective of challenger Kenya Williams. As the son of a police officer, he supports law enforcement, but also understands the Black community’s historic issues with overpolicing. His ideas on better community centers that engage our youth and police together deserve more exploration. As a businessman, he also wants to do more to bring jobs to Lexington, yet understands the balance between the need to preserve our rural landscape while finding ways to add more housing.

District 9 — Whitney Elliott Baxter

Baxter is a lifelong resident of District 9, who came to council as a new member in 2018, just in time for COVID. Nonetheless, she has worked to implement projects important to her constituents such as new school crosswalks. We don’t agree with her vote to keep no knock warrants or her enthusiastic embrace of Flock cameras, but she states clearly that these are the desires of her constituents. Baxter readily admits that she has learned much more about life outside the 9th District in greater Lexington and we see no reason to interrupt that work. J.J. Lombardi, a former police officer, is rightly worried about crime, but like several others this time around, seems to be a one-issue candidate.

District 10 — Dave Sevigny

This seat is left open by Amanda Mays Bledsoe, who is running for the state legislature, and both men trying to fill her shoes, bring interesting ideas to the table. We particularly like Dave Sevigny’s emphasis on economic development and jobs, and the ways that Lexington must focus on quality of life issues like affordable housing, bikability and walkability in order to attract the next generation workers who could live anywhere. We hope Ross Mann will continue his advocacy and ideas to fight crime, but would like to see more nuanced ideas about the rest of Lexington.

District 11 — Jennifer Reynolds

The 11th District is lucky to have Jennifer Reynolds and we enthusiastically endorse her reelection. As the only fluent Spanish speaker on council, she is attuned to a largely invisible sector of Lexington, the Hispanic population, along with other immigrants and refugees who have found safe haven here. She has also worked on nuts and bolts issues, like the Versailles road improvement project, more parking at the Distillery District and safer driving on High Street. Reynolds says she has come to a more nuanced understanding of development, and plans to do more education on the issues for people who want to save horse farms, but also oppose every infill or affordable housing project that shows up in their neighborhood. One of her opponents, Rock Daniels, is a well known figure in real estate circles; the other, Brittanie Price, is a write-in candidate. They want the best for Lexington, too, but we see no reason to unseat a effective public servant like Reynolds.

District 12 — Kathy Plomin

Kathy Plomin has been an ardent guardian of the horse farms and rural lands that make Lexington unique. One thing that has become very clear over the course of this general election is that candidates of all stripes have a more nuanced view of preservation and development, and that the conversation has evolved beyond simply opening the Urban Services Boundary or keeping it closed. In particular, numerous people have talked about some kind of targeted development around I-75 off Winchester Road and/or the last bit of Richmond Road into Athens. But it will be up to the next council to ensure both better infill and development inside the boundary or precision targeted development that includes affordable and accessible housing. We think Plomin is up to the task. We salute her challenger Raymond Alexander’s career of public service in law enforcement, but again, one issue candidates are not the best choice for Lexington’s myriad problems.