# Council Work Session - February 15, 2022 > Auto-transcribed civic record · February 15, 2022 - **Permalink**: https://meetings.lexingtonky.news/meeting/5524 - **Source video**: https://lfucg.granicus.com/player/clip/5524?view_id=14&redirect=true - **Date**: 2022-02-15 - **Last revised**: February 15, 2022 - **Length**: 8,401 words - **Speakers**: Mayor Gorton > ⚠️ **Auto-generated content.** Audio from the official Granicus video was auto-transcribed with OpenAI's open-source Whisper large-v3-turbo model, run locally by The Lexington Times. Structured facts were extracted with GPT-4o; the narrative summary was written by Anthropic Claude. Verbatim wording may contain errors. See [methodology](https://meetings.lexingtonky.news/about/methodology) or [report a correction](mailto:editor@lexingtonky.news). --- ## Meeting Overview The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council convened on February 15, 2022, at 3:00 PM in the Council Chamber at 200 E. Main St, Lexington, KY 40507, with Mayor Linda Gorton presiding. The council addressed three significant agenda items during the session, all of which were approved through formal votes. The meeting included three public comments from community members and resulted in three motions and votes by the council. The council successfully approved three key initiatives: the Expanded Public Hearing Notification Pilot Program, Residential Parking Permit Amendments, and the establishment of a Permanent Racial Justice and Equality Commission. Each agenda item received thorough consideration and ultimately gained council approval, demonstrating productive legislative action across diverse policy areas including public engagement, transportation, and social justice initiatives. ## Attendance The following members were present at the February 15, 2022 meeting: **Present:** • Mayor Gorton • Kay • Moloney • Ellinger • McCurn • LeGris • Lamb • Sheehan • Kloiber • F. Brown • Baxter • Bledsoe • Reynolds • Plomin **Absent:** • J. Brown • Worley No members arrived late to the meeting. A total of 14 members were present and 2 members were absent. ## Votes and Decisions The meeting included three motions that were all approved by the council. **Expanded Notification Pilot Program** [timestamp: 00:30] Councilmember Ellinger made a motion to approve a one-year pilot program for expanded notification, which was seconded by Councilmember Reynolds. The motion passed unanimously. **Residential Parking Permits Amendment** [timestamp: 01:00] The council voted on an amendment to the resolution for residential parking permits. The motion passed unanimously, though the record does not indicate who made the motion or provided the second. **Racial Justice and Equality Commission Appointments** [timestamp: 02:00] Councilmember Ellinger moved to approve the appointment of members to the permanent racial justice and equality commission. The motion was approved by voice vote. All three items received unanimous support from the council, with no recorded opposition or abstentions on any of the measures. ## Budget and Financial Actions The council addressed one financial item during the February 15, 2022 meeting. **Contract Approval** The council considered Resolution 0167-22, which involves an agreement with Fayette Mall for recruiting kiosks totaling $4,375.00. This contract establishes a partnership with Fayette Mall to provide recruiting kiosk services, though specific details about the duration and scope of the recruiting activities were not detailed in the available materials. The $4,375.00 expenditure represents the total cost for the kiosk agreement with Fayette Mall under this resolution. ## Public Comment Three speakers addressed the meeting during the public comment period, all focusing on issues related to Kentucky American Water and ongoing labor negotiations. **James Kinder** [timestamp: 03:00] spoke first, expressing concerns about the negotiation process with Kentucky American Water. Kinder cited intimidation and unfair labor practices as key issues affecting the negotiations between the company and its workers. **Eric Mosby** [timestamp: 03:30] followed, discussing the need for fair wages in the Kentucky American Water negotiations. Mosby expressed dissatisfaction with the current negotiation process and the company's approach to reaching an agreement with employees. **Samuel** [timestamp: 04:00] concluded the public comment period by voicing support for Kentucky American Water workers. Samuel criticized the company's treatment of its employees during the ongoing labor discussions. All three speakers focused their remarks on labor relations and negotiation issues involving Kentucky American Water, suggesting ongoing tensions between the utility company and its workforce. The comments highlighted concerns about fair labor practices, wage negotiations, and employee treatment during the bargaining process. ## Appointments The meeting included appointments to the Racial Justice and Equality Commission. Two individuals were appointed to serve on this commission. The appointments made were: • **Sam Yukes** - appointed to the Racial Justice and Equality Commission • **Charlotte Turley** - appointed to the Racial Justice and Equality Commission Both appointments represent new additions to the commission's membership roster. The Racial Justice and Equality Commission serves as an advisory body focused on addressing issues of racial equity and justice within the community. ## Contested Items The February 15, 2022 meeting featured significant community opposition regarding Kentucky American Water negotiations. Multiple members of the public voiced concerns during the public comment period, expressing dissatisfaction with both the ongoing negotiation process and Kentucky American Water's treatment of its workers. The contested item centered on the community's frustration with how negotiations were being conducted between the relevant parties and Kentucky American Water. Public commenters raised specific objections to the company's labor practices and worker treatment, though the exact details of their grievances were not specified in the available meeting data. The nature of the opposition was characterized as community-driven, with residents taking advantage of the public comment opportunity to formally register their concerns with the governing body. The speakers appeared to be advocating for better treatment of Kentucky American Water employees and expressing broader dissatisfaction with the negotiation process itself. No specific outcome or resolution was documented for this contested item during the meeting. The opposition remained at the public comment stage, with community members using the forum to voice their concerns about the water company's practices and the ongoing negotiations. *Note: Specific transcript timestamps are not available for this contested item from the provided meeting data.* ## Expanded Public Hearing Notification Pilot Program [timestamp: 00:30] The committee approved a resolution to establish a pilot program for expanded notification of zoning changes. The program aims to broaden public notification beyond the current practice of notifying only property owners to also include property occupants. Samantha Castro served as the key speaker presenting this initiative to the committee. The discussion centered on improving public engagement in the zoning process by ensuring that renters and other occupants who may be affected by zoning changes receive direct notification, even if they do not own the property. The pilot program represents an effort to make the public hearing process more inclusive and accessible to all residents who could be impacted by proposed zoning modifications. Under current notification procedures, only property owners typically receive formal notice of nearby zoning changes, potentially leaving tenants and other occupants unaware of developments that could affect their neighborhood. The committee ultimately approved the resolution to move forward with implementing this expanded notification pilot program. The approval suggests recognition that broader community engagement in zoning decisions benefits from including all affected residents, not just property owners, in the notification process. This pilot program will allow the city to test the effectiveness and feasibility of expanded notification requirements before potentially implementing such changes on a permanent basis across all zoning proceedings. ## Residential Parking Permit Amendments [timestamp: 01:00] The committee considered amendments to residential parking permit programs for two specific areas: South Hill and Spring Street. This agenda item was presented as a resolution requiring committee approval. The proposed amendments addressed modifications to the existing residential parking permit systems in these neighborhoods, though the specific details of the changes were not elaborated in the available materials. The South Hill and Spring Street areas have established residential parking permit programs that regulate parking access for residents and visitors in these neighborhoods. The committee proceeded to vote on the resolution without recorded debate or discussion from committee members. No concerns or objections were raised during the consideration of this item. The committee approved the amendments to the residential parking permit programs for both South Hill and Spring Street areas. The resolution passed, allowing the proposed changes to move forward in the implementation process. This approval represents a routine administrative action to modify existing parking regulations in these residential areas, likely aimed at addressing ongoing parking management needs or updating program requirements for residents in the affected neighborhoods. ## Permanent Racial Justice and Equality Commission [timestamp: 02:00] The council approved appointments to establish a new permanent Racial Justice and Equality Commission during the February 15, 2022 meeting. Mayor Linda Gorton presented the appointments for council consideration. The agenda item focused on formalizing the commission structure and confirming the appointed members who will serve on this permanent body. This represents the transition from any previous temporary or ad hoc racial justice initiatives to a permanent commission with ongoing authority and responsibilities. Mayor Gorton served as the key speaker for this appointment item, presenting the proposed members to the council for their approval. The council voted to approve the appointments, officially establishing the commission with its designated membership. The creation of this permanent commission demonstrates the city's commitment to addressing racial justice and equality issues on an ongoing basis, rather than through temporary measures. The approved appointments will allow the commission to begin its work with a full complement of members. The council's approval of these appointments was the final step needed to launch the permanent Racial Justice and Equality Commission and enable it to begin fulfilling its mandate within the city government structure. --- ## Decisions - **Motion** — passed (0-0): approve the February 17, 2022 Council meeting docket - **Motion** — passed (0-0): approve the February 8, 2022 Work Session summary - **Motion** — passed (0-0): approve budget amendments - **Motion** — passed (0-0): approve new business (as amended) - **Motion** — passed (13-1): amend new business, removing item F and placing it into the General Government & Social Services Committee - **Motion** — passed (0-0): approve neighborhood development funds - **Motion** — passed (0-0): committee in February 2023 with a review of any issues that may arise - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Motion by J. Brown amend the Residential Parking Permit for South Hill New - **Motion** — passed (0-0): Motion by J. Brown amend the Residential Parking Permit for Spring Street - **Motion** — passed (0-0): approve the Mayor's report - **Motion** — passed (0-0): adjourn at 3:57pm --- ## Full transcript Music guitar solo Thank you. Thank you. Today is February 15, 2022, and I'd like to call to order the Urban County Council Work Session. Welcome back, everyone, in person. Nice to see everybody in the flesh. So the first item on our agenda is public comment for issues on the agenda. And I don't believe anyone signed up for issues on the agenda. So we'll move to rezonings and docket approval. And council members, I'll take a motion to approve the docket. Second. Thank you. Council Member Ellinger and then Vice Mayor Kay. And if you have a motion to make for the agenda, will you please log in? I see no one. So with that, all those in favor of approving the agenda, please say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? That motion passes. Now, next we have the summary table of motions from the February 8th Council work session. Could I have a motion to approve? Second. Council Member Sheehan moved. Council Member Plowman seconded. Are there any questions, comments? All right. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? Okay, that motion passes. Next are budget amendments. If I could have a motion to approve. Move approval. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Thank you, Council Member Reynolds. And if you have a question about budget amendments, if you'll log in, please. Anyone have a question? All right, I see none. All those in favor of approving, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? Okay, that motion passes. Could I have a motion to approve new business, please? Second. Council Member Plowman moved. Council Member Sheehan seconded. If you wish to comment or have a question, please log in. Okay, I see none. Oh, I'm sorry. Council Member Plowman. Thank you, Mayor. I apologize. I was looking in my packet. And I do, this would be for, I'm trying to find where it was. I thought it was F, and it looks like it's not F. It was on the arts. Was it not on F? It is F? Okay, great. And as you know, this item came up last week, just a week ago on work session. And I think we had questions and we had observations and such in not a whole lot of time. So what I would like to do is I would like to make a motion to go ahead and remove this item from the new business today and to place it into the General Government and Social Services Committee. So moved. Council Member McCurron. All right. Thank you. Is there any discussion of the motion? Council Member Sheehan, are you on to discuss the motion? Okay, Council Member Reynolds. Thank you, Mayor. I don't normally vote against things being put in committee, but I am going to vote no on this. Having spoken with a few people, I think some of people's concerns would be taken care of, and this has been going on. This committee has worked really hard for the past two years to come up with this plan. We gave them the initiative to do that as a council, and so I'm not in favor of revisiting this once again. So I will not be voting yes. Thank you. Thank you. Council Member Lamb, are you speaking to the motion? Okay. Yes, ma'am. Council Member Plowman had brought this to my attention, and in fact that I am the chair of General Government Social Services, I just wanted to let my colleagues know, obviously, I try to always support when somebody wants some further vetting of something, but I wanted to let you all know that we can have this on at the first opportunity in May, and I'll make sure that it gets on the agenda as soon as possible. Unfortunately, March and April are already full, and I do apologize. I would put it on sooner, but we'll have it on the agenda. If this motion passes, we'll have it on as soon as possible. So thank you. Thank you. Does anyone else wish to speak to the motion? Council Member James Brown. Thank you, Mayor, and thank you, Council Member Plowman, for the motion. I think after last week's presentation, there was just a lot of questions, and I think putting it back in committee will give us time to give clarity and answer some of the questions in regards to this. So I will support the motion, putting it back in committee. Thank you, Mayor. You're welcome. Anyone else wish to speak to the motion? No? All right. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? No. Okay, there's one no vote. All right. Anything else about new business? Council Member Sheehan, did you have something? Yes, thank you, Mayor. Commissioner Armstrong, I was wondering if you could come and speak about aye. This is about officer recruitment for corrections and kiosks in the mall. I like this plan, but in the past we've talked about having a combined recruitment effort for all of our public safety positions. Is this just for corrections or is it for all of the other public safety? First off, thank you for the question. Second off, this is actually just being funneled through corrections. It will actually highlight four divisions within the Department of Public Safety, Police Fire Corrections, and E911. So this just came through corrections, but with that being said, it will involve those divisions as well. Okay, thank you for that distinction. Thank you. Thank you. Council Member Lamb, did you have a new business item? Thank you, Mayor. Mine is item A. Commissioner Hensley, I don't know if your name is on the item. So I am appreciative of the information in the memo about the amended and restated management contract between the Lexington Bay-Durban County Government and the Lexington Center Corporation. And we actually got to tour the new Civic Center, the Center, excuse me, Central Bank Center this morning. and it's pretty amazing. But I just wanted to find out, you mentioned in the memo that this involved talking about the bonding, and is there any other information that not having had a chance to go and actually look at that contract, the amended through the stated contract, is there additional information in there in relation to between LFUCG and LCC? It doesn't actually change any terms. Our management agreement was just so old that when we needed to update all of our bond documents and information, it was advised that we take a look at that and provide an updated one that encompassed all of our new financing arrangements. Okay, so it's just particularly about the financing components then. All right, well, thank you so much. Absolutely. All right, thank you, Mayor. You're welcome. Anyone else have a question about new business? All right. All those in favor of approving new business as amended, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. Next is continuing business and presentations, and if I could please have a motion. Neighborhood Development Funds. And who seconded? Council Member McCurn. Are there any questions? All right. Seeing none, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. Next, I'll ask Council Member James Brown to give the Planning and Public Safety Committee update. Thank you, Mayor. The meeting was, sorry, the Planning and Public Safety Committee meeting, January 18, 2022, report out summary. The meeting was called to order at 1.01 p.m. The first item on our agenda was the approval of the November 2, 2021 committee summary. There were no additions or corrections, and the summary was approved without dissent. Our next item was the expanded public hearing notification ZODA. Samantha Castro with long-range planning explained the purpose for this is to move from notification of property owners within a certain radius of the subject property to notification of property owners and property addresses. if the property is not the owner's primary mailing address. And planning staff has agreed to take responsibility for this in the first year. Concluding the discussion, the committee decided the best course of action would be to create a pilot program and do this internally for the first year before moving forward with passing an ordinance. There was a motion and a second to approve a one-year pilot program for expanded notification and have it brought back to committee in February 2023 with the review of any issues that may arise. Motion passed without dissent, and on behalf of the committee, I so move. Is there a second? Second. Council Member Plumman seconded. Is there any discussion of the motion? All right. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right. That motion passes. Next on our agenda, we had a recommendation for ensuring the continuous operation for shared use paths, sidewalks, and bike lanes. This item was brought to committee when there were issues with the legacy trail being closed off with no detour option. Scott Thompson with the transportation planning explained that streets are meant to enable safe and convenient access for all road users, and access is maintained to ensure reliability during new construction. Redesigns and roadway improvements, he reviewed several measures that can be taken to ensure the transportation network is safe and reliable. This item was left in committee with the intent to form a working group to draft a complete streets policy. Next, we had two residential parking permit amendments for South Hill, New, and Spring Street, and the law had advised that we report these out as two separate motions. So there was a motion and a second to approve and move forward to the full council the amendment to the resolution for residential parking permits, South Hill New. Motion passed without dissent. On behalf of the committee, I so move. Is there a second? Second. Vice Mayor Kay seconded. Is there any discussion? All right. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? Thank you. There was a motion and a second to approve and move forward to the full council, the amendment to the resolution for residential parking permit, Spring Street. Motion passed without dissent, and on behalf of the committee, I so move. Is there a second? Second. I heard one. Okay. You know, I don't see the yellow Zoom box anymore. To see who spoke. Council Member Baxter seconded. Is there any discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right, that motion passes. Finally, we have the Division and Program Review 2022 Evaluation Selection, and this committee selected Purchase of Development Rights and the Division of Emergency Management for the 2022 evaluations. contingent on availability of each division to participate in this process. The meeting adjourned at 2.32 p.m. and that concludes my report out. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you very much. Does anyone have a question for Council Member Brown? All right. And with that, then the very next thing that we will do is have a public hearing on those residential parking permit programs for South Hill and Spring Street. And I will go ahead and declare the meeting open and ask if there's anyone here who wishes to speak to the issue. Anyone in the public? All right, I see no one, so I'll go ahead and declare the hearing closed. Now, we are ready for council reports. And first we have, I saw, I did see you log in. The machine does its thing. Council Member Lamb. Thank you, Mayor. It is really good to be back today in person. I just wanted to let my colleagues know that to expect an email. Some of you all might remember that we started working on a public inputs survey with Civic Lex and they've been working on this process for a while through the pandemic and everything. And it's coming out of the General Government Social Services Committee. But I just wanted to let you all know that Mr. Young is going to be sending out an email to my colleagues and mayor for the elected officials they've received input down from the community and they are now seeking input from several internal lfucg employees and then the last uh part of the information they're trying to receive is input from the elected officials and so mr young will be sending out an email either tonight or tomorrow and i would appreciate it if you all would respond to that i think that we will have some good information from this process and i do look forward to a healthy discussion. I believe we're going to have that in May as well. So thank you very much, Mayor. Thank you. Council Member Baxter. Thank you, Mayor. I just want to make an announcement that I am pleased to say that the Toyota Bluegrass Miracle League baseball program is returning to Shillitoe Park this spring. And for a little bit of background, it has been on hiatus throughout the pandemic. So this is exciting for a lot of people. It's a baseball program for youth and adults with special needs and the players play on a specifically designed field at Sherlatoe Park and it's the only all accessible field in Kentucky. So it's very important to the 9th and to our community as well and I'm really looking forward to welcoming them back to the city. Thank you Mayor. Thank you. Council Member Ellinger. Thank you Mayor. I want to talk about what's the West High Street and the dangerous intersection that was there and we've had numerous fatalities there and the neighbors have asked us to do something to make this corner safe and i want to thank my colleagues um handle agree and and mr mckern and mayor and administration because i think we actually have something that we're going to make some improvements there and if if the commissioner albright could come up and kind of tell us what what's going to happen and when because it's been a a very dangerous area and i think we're finally going to have some something that we can actually get some good things results from. Welcome, Commissioner. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Mr. Ellinger. We are pretty excited with the results of the report that we received, and we've been able to go through that with several of you all and internally to make sure we are in agreement with the findings, and we feel like this is a great step forward to help slow people down before they get to that curve. So hopefully we'll start design on those four raised crosswalks that will also act as speed tables here in the next month or so. And then we'll be able to, that should go pretty quickly. And then we'll be able to move those towards construction by this spring. So we're pretty excited. And we are continuing to monitor the area just in case. Well, thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Council Members that worked hard on this because this has been a big issue. I think there's been four fatalities there, and hopefully that this will help correct that, because I know the neighbors are really looking forward to the changes. And then the second thing is I want to thank Richard Polk and Jason Dunn and many of my colleagues who showed up today to get a tour of the Central Bank Center today and get to see what our new convention center is going to look like. It's exciting. I think it's going to be open and on the ground have the ribbon cutting in April, and it's going to be exciting for the public. It's over 100,000 square feet now that we can host over 90% of all the conventions here, so it should be really good for Lexington, and it's almost there, so it's really looking good. And then as they said when we were going around today, that we're free in Rupp Arena, so it's going to be by itself, and it's going to look very nice when it's done. So everybody should be very proud of what we're going to have. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Good things coming. Council Member Maloney. Thank you, Mayor. I too want to follow up on an article that was written over the weekend. It was about the jail situation where someone abused the overtime. And I kind of heard a little bit about this over the last couple months. And I heard the police investigated this issue and found out there were $27,000 stolen from the overtime. and I asked at the time why we haven't asked the Commonwealth to step in and they said well this person is on medical leave and we're not. I said well that's true. The police found some problems here. We need to go on and hit the Commonwealth. So now I've heard the guy and I read an article in the paper that the gentleman used up all his time and we let him resign And I'm just hoping that we are going to file charges on this gentleman. I'm asking you, are we planning on filing charges on this gentleman? That's $27,000? As you know, this is a personnel issue. And so as soon as I learned about it, I asked the police to investigate. Right. Now, you mentioned in the beginning the police had investigated. They did investigate it. I believe, Commissioner, I don't believe it was the police who they are investigating now. Well, they've investigated before. Well, I'll let him speak to this. Personnel issues don't start with the police. If you could explain just basically. And to answer the question, I'm not sure where that information came from. I apologize if it was inaccurately reported. But the police department had not investigated this matter until it was requested just yesterday. So I'm not sure where the $27,000 comes from or that the police department did that investigation. Okay. There was an internal investigation related to a personnel issue that the community corrections did. And they identified some discrepancies. And that's been referred to the police department for investigation. where I got this was at the Christmas dinner and all, not one, but four or five people told me that there was an investigation but that the police officer investigated it and they found $27,000 worth of charges on it and that's why I'm trying to get but even if you don't, anything I'm still hoping y'all do press charges on this person because it sounds like we were, some issues were developed and from a story that I've heard it's terrifying what I've heard how he abused the power and that does concern me you all should have HR should have this information as you know I have an open door policy people come in and tell me their things and it was pretty accurate what they were telling me and it seemed like I couldn't get the correct but I just want to be sure if it's true that this person has done what they're saying at least part of the information that you reported here today as best as I know it is inaccurate. One, again, the police department has not conducted an investigation. If officers from the police department advise you of that, I'm not sure why they would have done that. I'd be glad to sit down with you and talk to you about that. I'd be glad to get the approval. And the other thing, Mayor, when I was commissioned a CAO many years ago, we had a shortfall of about 35 to 40 correction officers. And as a typical person, I would ask this question, how many do we have to have before we call it a crisis? And at that time, it was 115. As of yesterday, we hit the 115, I've been told. And if that is true, when I say crisis, sometimes you have to bring in the state or you have to look at doing something with the jail. And I'm just wondering if that is true. You may come back, it was 125, It may have changed, but it was 115. And that's why I've been asking these questions a lot lately. I am really concerned about where number we are going to finally realize that we have a crisis and it's serious. And when I heard 115, that to me, I was educated many years ago, 115 was a number that we don't want to mess with. I would say a couple of things. We are not at a crisis. I meet regularly with Director Farmer and our public safety team, and I don't know what year or who said. 115 is the number. We don't use that as a number right now. and we monitor, just like we do every public safety division, their vacancies and what they are thinking as to what they have to do to be able to function properly. We are not at a crisis out there. Yes, we do have issues, and we work on them regularly. And so I guess that is what I would tell you is we are well aware of the vacancies. Corrections is working very hard to do their job fairs. It's very good that we just passed the bargaining agreement with the very good financial incentives. We think they will address not only the recruiting but the retention, which was very important. It's a difficult job to do. And so, you know, we keep a very close monitor on this, and we're doing everything we can to bring people back in. So thank you all for passing that bargaining agreement. We think that will have a big impact on hiring. I've got to follow up after they all finish so I come back with a bargain. I did want to say one more thing. I typically don't get involved in personnel issues in a government that has 3,000 employees. But all of you know that within each division there is a process for following up on personnel issues, and there's a chain of command, and that's where that starts. All right, thank you. Were you going to come back? You're going to come back? Okay. Council Member McCurn. Thank you, Mayor. I'd also like to follow up on West High Street and the progress that's been happening here. I'd like to start off by saying, you know, this is, I share the same sentiment with the rest of the council, the administration that the community's safety is first and foremost, and this has been a hot topic for a long period of time. So starting off, I'd like to say thank you to the Historic Woodward Heights Neighborhood Association. They've had a lot of diligence, persistence, that's to say the least, and patience with us as we've gone through meetings, site visits, communication, text messages, There's phone calls, emails, et cetera, and then more meetings on top of it. So I appreciate all of their patience. But I'd also like to give a shout-out to Council Member Legree for her sticking through all of it with me, too. And she put out a presentation, guys, that was absolutely phenomenal. I thought she'd been working on it for months. But Council Member Jake Gibbs, late former Council Member Jake Gibbs, actually started bringing this to my attention. a few years back. And, you know, obviously we came into a pandemic, so it kind of put a halt on things because you weren't having accidents. You didn't have as frequent travels or anything happening on the curve. And unfortunately, you know, he's, you know, he passed since then. But since Councilman Legree has come in office, she's taken the reins and she ran with that one very firm. So I'm very grateful for her work on that as well. And I also like to thank the administration, CO Hamilton, Deputy CAO, Glenn Brown, Commissioner Albright, Director Neal and Director Burton, and then Commander Newman as well. There's been a lot of work and a lot of hands on deck that came into this process. And it's very appreciated to see some work coming from this. I'm excited to see changes. I know this is just the beginning of what we will see to come in the future, but I'm very optimistic that this is going to have a lasting and long impact. So, thank you. Very nice. Thank you. Council Member Sheehan? Thank you, Mayor. Last night, I had the opportunity to meet with the Weblos troop. It's a Cub Scout Pack 34 that meets at Emanuel Baptist Church. They had some great questions for me about environmental issues, what we work on as council members, and how to get more involved in issues that are important to them. And I expect to see some community leaders come out of this group based on their engagement and their interest in public issues. So that's very exciting and fun to meet with them last night. And then Council Member Plowman had brought this up prior, but I wanted to remind everyone that they should sign up for Lex and Homelessness. Or go to LexAndHomelessness.com to sign up to be a volunteer for our Lex count for 2022. It's happening on February 23rd, so coming up quickly. But this is a very important program for us to be able to take account of those who are experiencing homelessness in our county. And that count allows us to assess what resources and services we need to be providing to the public. And I'd like to thank our LexTV staff because we recorded a video with the Office of Homelessness Prevention and Intervention and Polyuretic just late last week. And that we'll be sharing around that video that talks all about LexCount. So thank you. Thank you. Councilmember Legree? Thank you, Mayor. And I think that I'm going to continue this thread of conversation about West High Street. Thank you. Council Member Ellinger, Council Member McCurn for your comments thus far. I think sometimes when we see a press release, we think, there it is. But what I can share and what my colleagues have shared thus far is that this has been a really long process for getting these speed tables, these pedestrian raised crosswalks, kind of secured for our West High Street neighbors. And Council Member McCurn mentioned many key players in that process. It took a lot of people gathering ideas, talking to the neighbors, the neighbors advocating, the administration engaging, our staff members coming in, consultants being a part of the process to get us to the place where we're able to have this next step. And I think as Councilmember McCurron mentioned, this is about safety for the community, for pedestrians, for cyclists, for drivers, for people who are visiting our city. And those who live in the Woodward Heights neighborhood and the affected neighborhoods. And it's been quite the collaborative process. And now I know that under Councilmember Reynolds, because it's now solely in her district, Councilmember McCurran and I split it previously, that we have the opportunity to make even more of an investment in safety in that area. We have so many good things. We were just at kind of this special tour of Rupp and the convention center. And we know people want to be here and be part of our community and visit our community and be safe in that process. And I know we have our town branch park that we're all looking forward to as well. So I guess what I'd like to share here is that I'm so grateful for the progress that's been made. And I know that the neighbors in the neighborhood and many advocates here in this room have been a part of that. And I hope that that's just the beginning. So thank you to everyone who's been involved and thank you to my colleagues who've spoken. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, and I would just ask our residents to be patient as they drive over those new speed tables because they will be driving slow. Councilmember Plowman. Thank you, Mayor. An announcement. Fayette Alliance has a new program that they've just announced, and it's called the Smart Growth Ambassadors Program, and it's about smart, sustainable, and equitable growth in Lexington. So if you have an interest, you can go to the website, and there's a two-evening orientation on Tuesday, March 1st, and Tuesday, March the 8th from 530 to 7. But it's a new program and probably a very timely program for folks to learn about the growth arena. And I was also going to share last week we lost a community leader, Joey Maggard. I don't know how many of you know him, but he was the executive director for the American Hearts Association for many years. And he'd been fighting cancer, and he passed, I believe it was last Tuesday or Wednesday, So keep the family in your thoughts and just wanted everybody to know that that had happened. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Thank you for mentioning Joey. He was the president of the Lafayette Band Association. I'm looking at Council Member Brown because he's had children and grandchildren in the band. He was a great community member. Council Member James Brown. Thank you, Mayor. I'd like to take the opportunity to wish Council Member Bledsoe a happy birthday. I think today is actually her birthday. So do we all want to join in and sing? No, we don't have to. You could sing a solo. Only one I sing is the Stevie Wonder version of Happy Birthday. Well, I think we need to hear that. All right. And then I'd like to ask Director Monica with Park and Rec to come. I think last week I asked about some information about what Park and Rex is doing to honor Black History Month. And I'll say before they get started, not just them. I think other divisions are doing a great job of sharing information and honoring Black History Month, social services, our police department, and other divisions I see posting things. But I know Parks has a real focused and intentional effort. So, Director. Welcome. Thank you, Council Member. Thank you, Mayor. thank you for bringing attention to our Black History Month campaign with Parks and Recreation. Commissioner Ford came to us in early January and said he would like to see an intentional really campaign focused on Black History Month and the history of our parks and the folks who have been instrumental. I took that to our experts and today with me I have Adrienne Takur. She is our Deputy Director of Recreation and Paul Hooper who is our Marketing Manager. They worked together with our team to come up with a campaign that has been picked up locally as well as nationally. So I'm going to turn it over to them real quick. Welcome. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Council Member Brown, Director Conrad. This initiative started in a way that I think it's important as we address a lot of issues in our community that our young people, especially our people of color, our African-American youth, have a strong connection to the storied and significant history that we have. And so we started looking at our parks and recreation facilities and outdoor spaces. And you can see on this slide there that we decided to highlight this year the Dunbar Community Center, Martin Luther King Park, Frederick Douglass Park, the artworks at Carver School, and William Wells Brown Community Center that are named after very significant historical figures in the African American diaspora. And at the same time, we wanted to highlight the significant contributions and the storied past of parks employees and significant local citizens who also have shaped these environments for people in the past and continuing to do so today. And the reason being is that a lot of times the black history, and that's the reason for the monthly observance, is underrepresented in our shared history. And parks is a great time that's accessible to all of the public. It's a great place to highlight how it's a very important part of American history, as well as here in Lexington. Thank you very much. Thank you. We appreciate your presentation. That was very nice. And Mayor, I just want to add, one of the key elements of what they're sharing on social media is the first post just highlights the space or the center. And then the following post throughout the week are highlighting employees. And I think that's a strong way to connect to those spaces and the history and the stories that they're sharing. So it's pretty innovative, so thank you. That's great, thank you. Councilmember Maloney. Thank you, Mayor, I appreciate it. And I do agree with you, we did pass the collective bargain. I went on record saying I don't think $20 is enough. and I've told my colleagues that job where you're sitting there at night watching 96 people in one cell, that to me is about the toughest job I ever heard of. And you have to go down there, you've got to give them medicine, you've got to count them, you've got to make sure you're by yourself. And what does concern me, and Commissioner, you may want to look into this, but not only they're doing one by themselves, I've been told now it's so short of help, they're looking at two other 96 by themselves. So you're looking over 300 people by themselves. And to top that all off, it's a woman looking in the man, working in that man's department, I mean in that area. And I understand I don't want to leave anybody by themselves, a male or female. But when you have a female sitting there looking at 300 people by their cell, going out counting them, going into those cells individually, that concerns me. A safety issue. As we know, gangs are starting to pick back up, and all we need is to have one gang in that jail with another gang, and then you just get totally out of control. And that's my worst fear. And the gangs are picking back up, I think, in some of y'all's district, especially in Cardinal Valley, that I've worked many years because we had some tough gangs, and I think they're coming back. But my worst fear, if we ever get a gang in there at the same time, and you have this situation with one person by themselves, we can have some serious problems. And that, to me, is the biggest crisis I have. And I just hope that you look into that, because if there's a lady doing it, I've heard the lady is great, she's wonderful what she does, but she's by herself in the men part, going in there and counting these employees every night. That really concerns me. And I think everybody should have two or three people with them at all times. And that's why I go back to my colleagues and you, Mayor, that we need to hire a consultant. And I've been not saying this for a year or two. I've been saying it for five, six years. We've got to bring somebody in there and look to revamp and see what we can do there. And because you had your transition team, and the number one problem in your transition team was the jail. And we need a plan how we're going to fix this problem. And to me, I think we need to bring a consultant in here to look at this whole thing. Because if it's true, I hope it's not true. But if it is, we need to fix this problem. And I know we're having an offer meeting Thursday. With this kind of numbers that I'm afraid may hit us, we may want to put some of this money back because this jail is affected by the pandemic. This jail will qualify for the money from the offer money from this pandemic. And we need to be prepared to have some money set aside if the consultant comes back and says we've got to make changes. because this is a crisis that's been going on. It's not you. For previous mayors, it's everything. It's really starting to have a snow effect. And my worst fear is happening right now. And it's not like I've come out of the woods and started this. I started this under Jim Gray. Started it under Jim Newberry. We've got to fix the jail. And the jail has continued to be. Now it is turning into a crisis, in my opinion. And 115, they're not here. So I ask that you hire a consultant. I beg you to hire a consultant. There may be a transitional team report. Probably said that we need a higher consultant to look at these problems and be sure if we have to use the offer of money because the pandemic did have an impact on this. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you. Does anyone else have a council report? No? All right. We do have a mayor's report, and I would like to say a couple words about it. This is the Permanent Racial Justice and Equality Commission, the 15 members who are coming forward to you for approval. This is a new commission, which we don't stand up a new commission very often. so it's a big deal and so with the new commission i am appointing sam mucs as the chair you noted this on your report and charlotte turley as the vice chair and then at their future meetings they will elect their own chair and vice chair and the 15 members are listed here i was very intentional about going through the applications and looking at the right mix of people to start this commission. So we're really looking forward to their work. Their work will not be to implement the original 54 recommendations of the Commission on Racial Justice. That job is Tiffany Brown in my office. They will have a different focus for the larger community to look at our community through the lens of racial justice and equality and bring any recommendations, discussions, research that they want to look at. So with that, I will ask if there is a motion to approve this. it's it's it's looks like this if you want to do you want to show that it's a separate no it's not the fact it comes through digitally yeah oh okay did you get the list of the members we got an email did you yeah council member Mr. Ellinger says you received the list of the members through an email. Is that correct? Mine has all the resumes that I've attached to it. Okay. If you would like that, I'm happy to send that to you. So you did receive the list of members. Okay, very good. So we'll have Tiffany send you those applications. All right. Very good. Well, Council Member Ellinger says you did receive that item. Was it through an email? Okay. All right. Well, what is your pleasure? you would need to walk it on the docket and that would be fine that would work apparently some council members did see the email that had the applications and some did not And so the question is, could it be brought Thursday night? And I said it could be walked onto the docket if you are not comfortable approving it today. I'm asking for a motion. So it was sent out Thursday of last week. So I believe there is a motion on the floor to approve. I don't think we have a motion yet. There's no motion you were just describing. Yes, I'm asking for a motion to approve it. Okay, thank you. Council Member Ellinger seconds. Do you mind? I can forward it to everybody, but it was sent out on Thursday. that you also can go in. Will you speak on the microphone? It was sent out on Thursday, and if you just open up the mayor's report, it's in there. It's all there. It's got the names on the top, but then if you go scroll down, then it's got all the resumes and all the information. Because I went there and read them all, so I've seen it. I'll forward it to everybody, too. So did everyone hear that? It's on your Thursday email, and if you click on it, you can scroll down and see every application. Are there other questions? We have a motion and a second to approve. All right. All those in favor of approving, please say aye. Aye. Is anyone opposed? All right. That motion passes. Thank you very much. Council members, I also would like you to know that as of today, we are up and running to accept applications for our residents to serve on the Police Disciplinary Review Board. As you will remember, this was a recommendation of the Commission on Racial Justice. It was my highest priority when we went into collective bargaining with the police, and the police had it on their priority list. So it was approved in collective bargaining. We have the criteria and the applications if folks in the public would like to apply to serve. And there are some requirements. you have to be a resident of Fayette County the entire time you serve you have to be 21 years of age you may not have a felony conviction and you may not have a misdemeanor conviction within the past five years I will recommend to the council two members and we will have a third as an alternative, an alternate So if some of your constituents want to apply, they can go online to the boards and commissions and look for that. So that is just for information. All right. Next, we have public comment for issues not on the agenda. And I have two people signed up. And our process here is that we ask you to come to the podium when you speak, give your name and your council district where you live, just the district, and you'll have three minutes. And first is Jamie Kinder. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Council, for letting us come and speak. I don't live in Lexington anymore. We moved last year. We actually live in Brandon Crossing now. Okay. Still kind of Lexington. And your name for the record? My name is James Kinder. Thank you. I'll do the best I can. I'm not a great public speaker. So if I mess up, excuse me. Again, my name is James Kinder. I've worked for Kentucky American Water for almost a decade. As many of you know, we've had some trying times with negotiations lately. And they stalled again today. We had negotiations this morning up until about 10 a.m. They stalled again today. So I kind of wrote down some stuff to read to you. So, you know, 10 years ago when I started with this company, as a working person, it was a great company to work for. They took care of their employees. Everyone knows you by name. They provided us all the gear we needed. We're always there for you if you needed something. It's not the same company as it was 10 years ago, I can assure you. The last couple of years, we've all seen a major change. We don't know if it's from the top down. We have no idea. We've seen a major change in the way they conduct business towards labor. During this negotiation, we've been intimidated. We've been surveilled by a company, kind of listening to members talking about what's going on in negotiations. We had a threatening letter mailed to each employee, except for me. I did not receive that letter. But I'm the chief union steward, so I don't know if that was on purpose. This letter, we took it as threatening. They laid out plans for a safe shutdown, they called it. So if we did happen to go out on a lawful strike, what would happen? And some of that stuff was, here's what will happen. If you get to keep your insurance, we haven't decided that yet for health insurance for your families. We don't know. They asked for our badges to be turned in, our uniforms to be turned in, any company property. And federal law says if you have to turn a badge in or a uniform in, that's termination. So all of my members kind of took it as threatening. So we've asked them to bargain in good faith. They haven't. We have filed unfair labor practices on them through the National Labor Relations Board for some of these incidents. They've cornered some of my people and said some things that they shouldn't say, intimidating things to certain people. And again, like I said, today, we're not asking for a lot. We're asking them to negotiate fair. We've got guys, we're very understaffed. We have guys that are working 400 or 500 hours a year overtime. They don't want to hire any help. And I know it's that way across the country, but, you know, work right now is hard to get people to work. Mr. Kinder, I'm so sorry. I'm the timekeeper. It's okay. So your three minutes is up. Thank you very much. And we appreciate your comments. All right. Thank you. Thank you very much. Next is Eric Mosby. Welcome. If you'll state your name and your council district. Yes, my name is Eric Mosby. I'm in James Brown's district. I just want to read off the paper. Good afternoon. My name is Eric Mosby. I live here in Lexington. I've been living here for 41 years. 19 of those years I spent working at Kentucky American Water. When I first started at the company, it was a company that cared about its employees. It was a company that cared about the community. But now I don't know about that anymore. Now it's a publicly traded corporation. It's willing to go to great lengths to stop my coworkers and I from bargaining a fair contract. They claim customers are at the center of everything that they do. But what about me? What about my family? We've been customers for 41 years now. customers are at the heart of everything that we do me and my co-workers commitment to our community we got our jobs done safely and provide the services to this community when during the pandemic when other people were staying home we came to work when you went to the tap and you told everybody to wash your hands we were the one who provided that water our operators 24 hours a days, seven days a week, 365 days a year. We came to work every day. And now all we're asking is that we don't fall behind in our wages. Tomorrow we want our wages to count tomorrow the way that they do today. That's what we're asking for. We just want to, we just deserve to keep up. Believe me, any push that we've made to increase our wages shouldn't fall on the rate payers. Those rate payers are me. They're my family. My mother, my father, my cousins, my uncles. I was raised here. I was born here. I live here and I will continue to live here. We're not trying to push the money on you guys. We're not trying to do that. We just want to get a fair contract. And but why should the workers who allow the company to maintain a high water quality standard and reliable service sit back and watch the wages at the top flourish while the wages at the bottom stay flat. In 2003, I started at about $16 an hour. Almost 20 years later, it's only gone up $2 to $18 an hour. The company is so desperate to bully us into accepting their proposals, we believe that they violated federal law. That's how bad they want to just bully us and do what they want to do. They refuse the bargain in good faith. We just want to let you all know about our experiences and what we've experienced sitting at the table with Kentucky American Water. Thank you very much. And I understand there was one more of you who didn't get to sign up but wanted to speak. If you'll state your name clearly for the record and your council district. Thank you, Mayor. My name is Samuel Lockridge. I live in District 1. I just wanted to come here and support our Kentucky American water workers. Just as a resident, I'm a customer. I'm a paying customer. and I want to express my gratitude for the work that these workers do every day that keeps the water flowing through my tap. And to say that the lives of Lexington's 300,000-plus residents depends entirely, literally depends on the labor of about 68 workers every day to keep the water flowing. But I know that nearly every penny I pay each month does not go to these men. and to their families goes to New Jersey to line the pockets of the wealthy investors. So I guess I just want to encourage these men to know that if Kentucky American Water does not treat these workers with the respect and the dignity that they deserve, that the broader community, Lexington, will stand behind them all the way as they fight for their rights. That's all. Thank you. Thank you very much. that takes me to the end of my list and so the next item is a motion to adjourn second thank you very much all those in favor say aye we are adjourned thank you so much Thank you.