HEALTHY COMMUNITY

Imagine a First District with healthy people, healthy households, and healthy neighborhoods.

  • We will meet the physical and mental health needs of those living, working, learning, and sleeping in the First District.

    • Partner with existing organizations to provide more resources that meet people where they are in their journeys.

    • Increase funding for domestic violence, mental health, homelessness, and substance abuse resources.

    • Ensure productive use of the city’s financial resources by assessing effectiveness of healthcare programs.

    • Provide scholarshipped Mental Health First Aid training across the community.

    • Create opportunities for community members to use art to heal from trauma.

  • We will increase communication with and oversight of the police, while setting measurable, transparent goals to define and assess success.

    • Reimagine community policing.

      • Develop neighborhood-based safety plans with community leaders to reduce unnecessary calls to 911.

      • Fund a 911 Diversion Plan pilot program as recommended by the Mayor’s Commission for Racial Justice and Equality.

      • Work with police leadership to spend more time building relationships with all communities in the First District.

      • Work with police leadership to establish transparent and measurable goals for community policing and hold the police accountable to those goals.

    • Reduce over-policing in the First District.

      • Advocate to have police training spread equitably throughout Lexington.

      • Track the number of officers who respond to and the length of calls by type of call and district.

      • Develop appropriate criteria, with community input, to assess the effectiveness of FLOCK cameras and how data are used.

    • Connect with the Police Disciplinary Review Board regularly to ensure community needs are met.

  • We will do our part to build a resilient First District in the face of climate change.

    • Protect and develop green spaces, including planting more pollinator habitats, protecting our tree canopy, and increasing access to public green spaces for community gardens.

    • End code violations for natural- and native-plant lawns.

    • Ensure healthy infrastructure with access to affordable and working water, electricity, sewage, etc.

    • Explore programs to support climate initiatives, including county composting, more fuel-efficient city vehicles, and strategic zoning.

LIVABILITY

Imagine a First District with safe and enjoyable eating, sleeping, living, traveling, learning, working, and playing.

  • We will ensure that people are safe in the First District.

    • Support and fund programs that will reduce interpersonal and group violence, including gun violence, domestic violence, street harassment, thefts, and break-ins.

    • Improve signage, add speed bumps and crosswalk markers, repair streets and sidewalks, and add sidewalks where they are missing.

  • We will provide our youth with opportunities to express themselves, to develop skills, to play safely, and to grow.

    • Ensure our community centers have year-round, comprehensive, free, and scholarshipped programming for sports, arts, life skills, community health, etc.

    • Collaborate with local organizations to offer more programs supporting our youth.

    • Invest more in existing mentoring programs, like ONE Lexington, by paying permanent mentors to build long-term relationships with youth, and set measurable goals and assess results to determine future investment.

    • Advocate for the evidence-based Group Violence Intervention for Lexington.

    • Better fund community pools so they are less expensive or free for youth and adolescents.

  • We will live and lead in a way that allows people in the First District to thrive.

    • Reduce food insecurity, especially for children, by providing free and affordable food to people who need it through community gardening, food-share programs, and neighborhood-level grocery stores.

    • Improve housing access across the socio-economic spectrum.

    • For those in or near poverty:

      • Encourage more landlords to accept Section 8 housing by advocating for an easier process and offering incentives.

      • Reduce barriers to obtaining affordable housing by fully funding housing programs, and better coordinating housing resources.

    • For everyone:

      • Use zoning laws and public policy to aid with the diversity and affordability of housing, including incentivizing long-term rentals over vacation rentals (for example, Airbnb) and preventing investors from outside Lexington purchasing housing stock and driving up prices.

      • Host seminars for communities on how to keep their homes.

    • Invest in turning existing vacant buildings and lots into housing, in order to get people housed and, when possible, avoid encroaching on the Urban Service Boundary.

      • Meeting our needs for diverse and affordable housing must be the top priority.

      • We will work hard, be creative, and allocate resources to find housing solutions.

      • Once needs are met, we may be able to keep the Urban Service Boundary intact.

  • We will make it easier for people to get where they need or want to be.

    • Increase bus routing with multiple hubs.

    • Provide discounted rates for people on food stamps with the goal of eventually making buses free for all, incentivizing more residents to use them, and reducing traffic and emissions.

    • Increase alternative transportation by building more bike lanes and improving bike and walking safety.

    • Assess and update strategic plans to address traffic and transportation issues, especially at hot spots such as the north side of New Circle.

  • We will ensure the city and city programs contribute to ethical and life-sustaining employment.

    • Pay those working for the city and organizations receiving money from the city a living wage.

    • Provide job placement and training assistance in high-unemployment communities.

    • Explore ways to encourage local hiring in gentrifying communities.

WORKING DEMOCRACY

Imagine a First District where the people are excited to engage in local government and local government is excited to engage with them.

  • We will commit ourselves to working with one another towards a First District where we all can thrive.

    • Commit ourselves, as a city government and community, to work for and with one another, no matter where we come from, our past actions, what we believe, or our politics.

    • Make decisions, as a community, about what affects our lives.

    • Ensure a loving and just community by making sure that everyone’s needs are met.

  • We will intentionally welcome and listen to our whole community.

    • Promote equity in decision making by identifying all communities that could be impacted, ensuring that input is sought from these communities, and providing resources to facilitate participation of affected communities in the process.

    • Develop a plan to ensure that LFUCG, at all levels, reflects Lexington demographics.

    • Ensure that LFUCG offices, meetings, and other public spaces are multilingual and accessible, including scheduling meetings at times and locations that are more convenient for the community and providing childcare or food, as needed.

    • As the First District Councilmember, I will personally commit to listening to all communities of the First District.

      • Pay attention to the traditional and nontraditional ways that people speak including art, violence, protesting, showing up, not showing up, moving to other places, voting, and not voting.

      • Attend neighborhood association meetings.

      • Prioritize availability to all community members, for example through open office hours, informal meetings in public spaces, etc.

      • Create an advisory board of community members.