Growth, crime are issues in Lexington’s 2nd District Council race

Incumbent Lexington Councilwoman Shevawn Akers faces newcomer Sasha Love Higgins in the only contested council district race on Nov. 8.

Akers, who is completing her second term, said she has worked hard to get money for parks, trails and traffic improvements in the 2nd District. She said voters should re-elect her because she knows the diverse district well and is responsive to constituents’ needs.

“I have lived in the district for 14 years,” Akers said. “I understand the needs of the district and the needs of the residents in the district.”

Higgins, who is general manager of a Lexington Hampton Inn and does public relations for a religious nonprofit, has run on a platform that includes increased communication with 2nd District residents. She said her business experience is a plus.

“I feel like I bring so many different things to the table,” Higgins said. “I also speak fluent Spanish. I can understand and develop relationships with that population. I also am a business woman and I understand how to develop relationships.”

The 2nd District is one of the most rapidly growing areas of Lexington and includes Masterson Station, one of the state’s largest neighborhoods, and the Georgetown Street corridor.

Council races are nonpartisan. Akers, 43, is a Democrat. Higgins, 33, is a Republican, according to voter records.

Akers, a breast cancer survivor, spent 15 years working for nonprofits such as Volunteers of America and Prevent Child Abuse Kentucky before becoming a real estate agent.

According to campaign finance reports filed with the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance, Akers has raised more money. According to a report filed Oct. 24, Akers raised $12,475 during the general election race and had more than $8,753 left heading into Tuesday’s election. Higgins had raised $7,871 but had spent all but $902, according to Higgins’ late October report.

Akers has run and won twice before. Akers beat challenger Michael Stuart in November 2014 by 549 votes. Stuart tried unsuccessfully to get Akers off the ticket by alleging she lived outside of the 2nd District six months prior to filing for office. Stuart’s lawsuit also questioned if Akers had the required 100 signatures of voters in her district to file for office. Fayette Circuit Court Judge Thomas Clark ruled in Akers’ favor, saying she met both the residency requirements and had the required voter signatures.

Higgins, who has lived in Lexington for nine years, has been involved in many community, school and religious nonprofit organizations. But her voting record has been spotty. Voter registration records show she has been registered to vote in Fayette County since 2009. She voted only in the general election in 2014 and 2015 and the primary in 2009, according to voting records that show election voting history since 2011. Higgins said she had to move back to Florida, where her family is, in 2012 because her father had prostate cancer. She was there for a about a year before moving back to Lexington.

Akers said she has spent much of the last four years addressing long-standing infrastructure needs in her district. She pushed for the funding and completion of a new playground and bathrooms at Masterson Station Park, added walking trails in neighborhoods such as the Highlands and helped revive the Melrose-Oak Park Neighborhood Association. She worked with state and local traffic engineers to get a traffic signal at Citation Boulevard and Greendale. She’s advocated and spearheaded fundraising for public art projects such as a mural on Georgetown Street and the sculptures on the Oliver Lewis Way bridge. She also pushed an ordinance that would allow food trucks to operate downtown.

But there’s a lot left on her to-do list, Akers said. Masterson Station Park, which has no public pool, will be getting a splash pad soon. A long-awaited new fire station in Masterson Station is also in the works.

“My next focus is Coldstream Park,” Akers said. “It has a master plan but it has not had the funds to develop it.”

She also wants to put a small park for young children on land in McConnell’s Trace and continue to develop neighborhood trail systems, she said.

She has pushed for a library branch in her district and said she will continue to work with Lexington Public Library officials to try to get a branch in the district.

Higgins said she, too, would like to see a library branch in the district that has so many young families. Higgins has pledged to use social media and other means to keep 2nd District residents apprised of pressing issues. She also wants to hold more town hall meetings and let constituents help decide where money should be spent. Job creation and enhancing workforce training is also a top priority, she said.

Both agree that car break-ins, car theft and other property crimes are a top concern in the district.

The state legislature passed a bill several years ago that made minor property crimes such as car break-ins a citation.

“If the police catch them, they can only write them a ticket,” Akers said. She said she hopes to have a resolution before the full council soon that would encourage the state legislature to re-examine the punishment for those crimes.

Lexington Police Chief Mark Barnard said in late October that 260 vehicles have been stolen and there have been nearly 800 vehicle break-ins from July to September city-wide.

Akers said she also supports creating a fourth police sector. There are currently three police sectors. But those sectors — an area police patrol — cover large geographic areas. Creating smaller sectors will also allow the police officers to better know an area and the people who live there, Akers said.

Higgins said she thinks the uptick in car thefts and break-ins are connected to the increase in heroin and opioid abuse. The city has to address heroin addiction through greater outreach and new partnerships, she said.

“We need to develop more relationships with our faith-based organizations,” Higgins said. “I wouldn’t mind seeing needles or Narcan handed out at churches. We can create a support system that allows them access to resources.”

Narcan is the brand name of naloxone, a drug that reverses an opioid overdose.

One of the most controversial issues the council will tackle in the next two years is the 2017 Comprehensive Plan, which guides development for Lexington over the next five years. There is already a push by some to expand the city’s urban service boundary, which restricts where development can go. The last time the boundary was expanded was in 1996.

Akers said she wants to hear more before making a decision on the issue. The entire community — not just developers and farmland preservationists -— needs to be involved.

“Whether we need to expand it is still to be determined,” Akers said. “I still see plenty of green space and then we hear from the home builders that there is a need for more space. I just hope we can hear from more citizens. I would be interested in hearing more about what my constituents think.”

Higgins said she, too, wants to hear more before making up her mind.

“I think we have to build up first,” Higgins said. “But we are going to have to have some strategic conversations. We are going to have to have some sort of expansion eventually.”

This story was originally published November 4, 2016 at 8:58 PM with the headline "Growth, crime are issues in Lexington’s 2nd District Council race."