# Council Public Safety & Public Works & Development Committee - January 18, 2011 > Auto-transcribed civic record · Council · January 18, 2011 - **Permalink**: https://meetings.lexingtonky.news/meeting/1845 - **Source video**: https://lfucg.granicus.com/player/clip/1845?view_id=14&redirect=true - **Date**: 2011-01-18 - **Body**: Council - **Last revised**: June 18, 2026 - **Length**: 2,019 words > ⚠️ **Auto-generated content.** Audio from the official Granicus video was auto-transcribed by OpenAI Whisper-1. Structured facts were extracted with GPT-4o; the narrative summary was written by Anthropic Claude Sonnet. Speaker labels and verbatim wording may contain errors. See [methodology](https://meetings.lexingtonky.news/about/methodology) or [report a correction](mailto:editor@lexingtonky.news). --- ## Meeting Overview The Public Safety & Public Works and Development Committee met on January 18, 2011, beginning at 1:00 PM, with the Vice Mayor presiding over the session. The meeting covered four agenda items, two of which resulted in formal action and two of which were informational in nature. The committee conducted its organizational business, successfully approving the election of a Committee Chair and the appointment of a Committee Vice Chair. Members also received informational items regarding the committee's meeting schedule for the upcoming period and a list of items referred to the committee for future consideration. A total of 2 votes were taken during the meeting, no presentations were given, and no public comments were heard. ## Attendance All council members were present at the January 18, 2011 meeting. The following members were in attendance: - Ellinger - Lawless - Farmer - Crosbie - McChord - Martin - Henson No members were recorded as absent or late. ## Votes and Decisions Two votes were held during the January 18, 2011 Council meeting, both concerning the nomination of committee chairs. - **Nomination of Doug Martin for Committee Chair** [timestamp: 0:07:27]: Motioned by McCord, this nomination passed by voice vote with 6 ayes and 1 nay. Voting in favor were Ellinger, Lawless, Farmer, Crosbie, McChord, and Henson. Crosbie was recorded as the sole vote against the nomination. - **Nomination of Lawless for Committee Chair** [timestamp: 0:08:01]: Motioned by Crosbie and seconded by Ellinger, this nomination passed unanimously by voice vote with 7 ayes and 0 nays. All members voted in favor: Ellinger, Lawless, Farmer, Crosbie, McChord, Martin, and Henson. ## Appointments The Council made the following appointments during the January 18, 2011 meeting: - **Lawless** was appointed to serve as **Committee Chair**. - **Crosbie** was appointed to serve as **Committee Vice Chair**. ## Contested Items - **Election of Committee Chair:** This item produced a split vote after two nominations were put forward for the committee chair position. Candidates Doug Martin and Lawless were both nominated, requiring the Council to proceed to a vote to determine the outcome. The structured data does not include the final result of the vote or the margin by which either candidate prevailed. ## Election of Committee Chair [timestamp: 05:24] The committee took up its first order of business: electing a chair for the Public Safety & Public Works and Development Committee. Two nominations were put forward during the proceedings — Doug Martin and Lawless were both nominated for the position. Key speakers during this agenda item included McCord, Crosbie, and Ellinger. The item was approved, though the structured record does not detail the specific vote count or the identity of the member ultimately selected to serve as chair. ## Appointment of Committee Vice Chair [timestamp: 16:19] Under this agenda item, the committee addressed the appointment of a Vice Chair. Lawless, who had been elected as chair, appointed Crosby to serve as Vice Chair. The item was approved. ## Committee Meeting Schedule Agenda Item 3 covered the committee meeting schedule for the year. The Council reviewed the schedule of upcoming meetings as an informational item. No specific speakers are recorded as having contributed to the discussion on this agenda item, and no transcript timestamp is available for this portion of the meeting. The item was informational in nature, with no vote or formal action taken as a result. ## List of items referred to Committee The committee reviewed the list of items referred to them for consideration during the January 18, 2011 Council meeting. This agenda item was informational in nature, providing members with an overview of matters directed to the committee for further review and deliberation. No specific speakers are recorded as having contributed to the discussion of this item, and no debate or concerns are noted in the available record. The item served as a standard procedural step to ensure committee members were informed of the referrals pending before them. --- ## Decisions - **Motion** — passed (6-1): Nomination of Doug Martin for Committee Chair - **Motion** — passed (7-0): Nomination of Lawless for Committee Chair --- ## Full transcript ... 斯 蒂斯蒂斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯 斯 蒂斯斯蒂斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯斯 斯 蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯斯斯蒂斯斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂 斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂部 斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂 斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯 斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂 辛蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯 斯蒂 斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯 斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂 斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂 斯蒂斯 斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯�蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯 斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯 斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯fish �蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯 斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蒂斯斯蘭 chopped 丁丁丁丁丁丁丁 丁丁丁丁丁丁丁丁丁丁丁丁丁丁丁丁丁丁多虫 上西班牙大邱若小冰点 葱 生姜 冰糖 食用油 生姜 生姜 生姜 色辣 生姜 青椒 辣椒 辣椒 辣椒 辣椒 辣椒 辣椒 辣椒 辣椒 辣椒 辣椒 辣椒 And we'll go ahead with the public safety and public works and development standing committee. And this is the first meeting. So the agenda is to elect the chair, and the chair will select the vice chair. So as in the past committees from today, for those of you who have nominees, if you'll go ahead and nominate them, and we'll do our voting. And I see Council Member McCord is logged in. Thank you, Vice Mayor. This, this committee, one of the things that is probably going to get overshadowed is you've got the words public safety in there. And that may comprise 55% of the budget of this government. And obviously, this is an extremely important committee because of that. But equally important is the other side of this committee, which is public works. And with streets and roads being what they are, and all the things that we hear on a daily basis from constituents, I think that piece is as critical, if not more critical sometimes, to the day in, day out life of folks as public safety. So with that said, I want to nominate Doug Martin for this role. And I want to nominate Doug for a couple reasons very specifically. Since Council Member Martin has been on this council, you have championed a couple things very loud. And we know exactly where you stand when it comes to roads and infrastructure and so forth. And you've been a solid champion. That's something that I certainly agree with you on and believe that we need to put as much focus on that as possible. But secondarily, you're one of the only people that recognizes one of the bigger problems that we've got coming, and that is with some of the retirements in public safety. We have a number of folks who are reaching their 20th years of service. That is going to put a new twist on to some of the issues that we've got. Council Member Martin has also been very vocal about the pension funds and the disability issues. And so it's something that I know is very important to him, but something that he is taking a very long, hard look at. And so that's why I nominate Doug Martin for this chairmanship. Is there any discussion about the motion to put him on our ballot? All those in favor of the nomination going on the ballot, say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? Council Member Crosby. Thank you, Vice Mayor. I'd like to nominate Ms. Wallace. And I know you're going to let them give a 60-second speech on their qualifications and possibly might make follow-up comments at that time. Thank you. And Council Member Ellinger has seconded. Is there discussion about the motion to put Council Member Lawless on the ballot? If not, all those in favor, say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? Okay. Is there any other nominee to be made, nomination to be made? Okay. If not, I'd like for each of the nominees to make a brief statement about why you would like to be chair of the committee. And the voting members are Council Member Ellinger, Council Member Lawless, Council Member Farmer, Crosby, McCord, Martin, and Henson. So, Council Member Martin. Thank you, Vice Mayor. I appreciate the nomination of my colleagues. I think the Public Safety and Public Works Committee will really be one of our most important committees for the long-term solvency of Lexington as we move through this economic crisis. You know, as a lawyer, I've worked on just hundreds of projects. And also through my lifelong involvement with economic development, I understand how important our infrastructure is to the economic prosperity of Lexington. Companies just don't come to towns that have poor infrastructure. And our infrastructure acts as a long-term liability. And what we don't fix today, we have to spend twice as much and twice the effort tomorrow to fix. And so I do understand the importance of that. More recently, I've led the effort to sort of bring attention to the looming crisis with our public safety pension. And I think we have to work with the leadership of the police and fire departments as we work together to solve this sort of runaway pension, and so that we can put together a long-term solution so that our police and fire workers have a dependable and reliable long-term solution for their retirement. So I appreciate the nomination and I appreciate your support. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Council Member Lawless. Thank you very much for the nomination. Public safety and public works both have been of great interest to me. In my 30 years as CEO, executive director of the Blue Grass Rape Crisis Center, while I'm a social worker, many people don't realize that an enormous part of my job over the 30 years was dealing with the divisions of government that have to do with public safety, police, fire, 911, and it's something that's very near and dear to my heart. Also, I've had a great deal of dealings with code enforcement, helped get the ordinance passed that increased the escalating fines on code enforcement, which has done a great deal to stop the demolition by neglect and the people who just ignored code enforcement violations and chalked them up as a cost of doing business because they were so low. So I've worked very hard on that. As far as public works, because of all that has gone on in the third district with the streetscape projects, et cetera, I have also had probably would have at least a Ph.D. in public works at this point after the last two years. I'm very passionate about both public safety and public works and have extensive experience over the last 30 years, plus my time on council with public safety. And I would appreciate your support to chair that committee. Thank you. Is there any other comment? Before we vote. Okay. Council Member Crosby. I didn't say anything during the introduction, like Council Member McCord, on why I was making the nomination because I wanted to hear what both candidates or both people running for chair had to say. And once again, I find myself in a situation where we have two very qualified good council members running for the same position. And as a female council member, I find it interesting so far that we're on our fifth committee and this is the first opportunity we have to elect somebody, a female as a chair. That's, I think, important when we're looking at our committee structure and how it's made up and there aren't as many of us and clearly we're spread pretty thin on these committees. So I appreciate that and also the experience, I believe, that Council Member Lawless brings. This is her second full term and she has had tons of in her private life with her occupation, experience with public safety. She's been very active meeting with all levels of public safety. So when it comes to pension issues that we're facing and hiring situations and things like that, I think she's very well versed. And on the public works side, clearly we've done a lot of streetscape things in her district and she too has been, I think, on the same page as Council Member Martin with some of the paving issues and so I'll just leave it at that, but thank you. Thank you. Is there any other comment? All right. We will vote the way that we voted in the last, the other committees that had more than one person running. So Vicky, thank you for staffing this. And if you will call the names of the voting members and we'll have them say who they're voting for. Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you were repeating what he said. She's calling your name for your vote. Lawless. Thank you. Council Member Doug Martin. Martin. Martin. Martin. Lawless. So Council Member Lawless is elected chair. Do you have someone you want to ask today to be vice chair? Yes. I had, I didn't know until we came in here that Council Member Martin had any interest in running for this. I had intended to name Council Member Crosby as my vice chair and I made that commitment and so I'd like to keep that commitment. No. Okay. Then I will name Council Member Martin as my vice chair. Would you like that, Council Member Martin? Sure. Okay. So Council Member Lawless is the chair of Public Safety and Public Works and Development and Council Member Crosby is the vice chair. And in your packet for your information is the committee meeting schedule. Thank you. And the list of items referred and there's no other business for today. So do I hear a motion to adjourn? All those in favor say aye. Anyone opposed? Thank you very much. Environmental quality will meet at three o'clock. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. 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