Shafer, Reynolds for District 11

District 11 voters are fortunate to have a strong primary field for the Urban County Council.

For the fall election, we recommend Sandy Shafer for her skill at building and strengthening neighborhoods and Jennifer Reynolds for her enthusiastic outreach among mostly Hispanic residents in the Cardinal Valley area.

Shafer, who spent 12 years as the District 10 council member, has the know-how to carry through on city plans to revitalize the Versailles Road corridor, Oxford Circle and Cardinal Valley neighborhoods. Her long list of accomplishments include various recreational projects and bringing people together in the Southland Drive area to have a say on how it is developed and to promote its assets citywide.

In District 11, into which her home was redistricted, she plans to former an Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and to organize a youth group to learn about civic action. A nose-to-grindstone toiler focused on constituent service, Shafer is most proud of the neighborhood activists she worked with who now have key roles on city boards and commissions.

Reynolds, outreach director with Bluegrass Youth Ballet, started a bilingual dance program in Valley Park in 2013. She is fluent in Spanish and works as a medical translator. Her priorities are to work with police to reduce crime, to work with landlords to make apartments safer and to work with city agencies to ensure tenants are not being exploited. Just as important, she wants to highlight and encourage positive community activities and housing development underway in the district. Her youth, positive attitude and ability to communicate with residents key to Lexington’s economy but often still in the shadows, would be assets on the council.

David Jones, owner of a property management and construction firm, has intriguing ideas of how to revitalize Versailles Road, such as live-work places for artists and antique stores, and promoting the district’s diverse culture citywide. Jones, vice president and treasurer of the Parkers Landing Neighborhood Association, also proposes a city program that would help police officers buy or rent in the district as a way to curb crime.

Bill Swope has 31 years of experience in state and local government, as a chief officer in the Lexington Fire Department and eight years as state fire marshal. He helped negotiate the first contract between the city and firefighters union in 2005. He's retired but works with at-risk youngsters at one of Lexington's alternative schools. He wants more community-oriented policing and a more aggressive focus on affordable housing.

Candidate Charles Lloyd, owner of a wine and spirits store in the district, has concerns about crime, bus routes and traffic lights but offers few ideas.

This story was originally published May 14, 2018 at 6:42 PM with the headline "Shafer, Reynolds for District 11."