Why former Lexington Mayor Teresa Isaac wants the job back and what she's promising

Teresa Isaac left the mayor's office in 2007. Now she wants the people of Lexington to hire her back.

If successful, she would be the first former mayor of Lexington to return to office after leaving.

"So many people kept coming up to me asking me to run for mayor," Isaac said of her current mayoral bid. "I think one of the main reasons why people asked me to come back is that it seemed so much safer when I was mayor because I had such a good working relationship with the police. If the police trust you, they work with you, you are able to bring the rest of the community along with you; the faith-based community, nonprofits and you can solve more problems when you are working together."

Isaac, 62, refers frequently to her term as mayor from 2003 to 2007 and her previous six years as vice mayor.

Her two previous attempts to return to city hall have been turned back by voters. She lost her bid for a second term to Jim Newberry in November 2006. She came in third in the May 2010 primary against Newberry and eventual winner Jim Gray.

Background

Originally from Harlan County, Isaac moved to Fayette County when she was nine. A graduate of Bryan Station High School, Transylvania University and the University of Kentucky College of Law, she was a prosecutor in the Fayette County Attorney's office and also headed the Lexington Fair Housing Council prior to her stint in politics.

She now helps train mayors and city officials for the U.S. State Department. Since leaving office, she has also taught at various colleges and still practices law and serves on the boards of several nonprofits. She has two adult children.

Experience

Isaac's four-year tenure as mayor was contentious. She and others pushed for the condemnation of Kentucky American Water through eminent domain, but voters ultimately rejected the water company takeover in 2006.

"I don't think it took all of my time," Isaac said. "I was out in neighborhoods and working on public safety. The Herald-Leader wrote about it a lot."

Isaac said she's proud that pay for firefighters and police increased during her time as mayor. Police and fire had gone years without raises and many firefighters were living below the poverty line. The state legislature ultimately approved collective bargaining for police and fire during her tenure.

Isaac also had some dust-ups with the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council.

In her first budget, Isaac built in a new health tax on the assumption the council would pass it. They did not. The council substantially re-wrote Isaac's budget each year.

Isaac also offered domestic partner benefits to city employees without first notifying council, a move that angered some members at the time.

During her tenure, Isaac issued six vetoes. That's more than any other mayor in merged government history. The council overrode all but one.

One of Isaac's actions as mayor caused headaches in 2017.

In 2003, Isaac signed a petition by a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans to put two Confederate-era statues — John Hunt Morgan and John C. Breckinridge — under the control of the Kentucky Military Heritage Commission. Although the Lexington council voted unanimously to move the two statutes from the lawn of the former courthouse in August, the commission could have vetoed the council's decision.

Attorney General Andy Beshear, though, ruled in October that the council didn't have to seek the commission's approval because Isaac did not get the council's approval to sign over control of the statues. The two statues have since been removed from the former courthouse lawn on Main Street and will eventually be moved to the Lexington Cemetery.

Isaac insists she had a good working relationship with the council when she was mayor. She also said she depended on city lawyers to tell her what she could do as mayor without council approval.

"I was told by our legal counsel that I did not need council approval for domestic partner benefits and could do it ... the last expansion of health insurance benefits was done by executive order," Isaac said. "I was also told by city lawyers that I did not need council approval" to move the statues under the auspices of the military commission.

Isaac said she was not trying to save the statues or make them more difficult to move. State money paid for part of both statues, so "I wanted to make sure when they were moved, the state would also pay to move them," she said.

Jobs

Isaac said she supports Gray's Jobs Fund, which gives city money to businesses to create high-paying jobs. Isaac said she also thinks more needs to be done to help small businesses. "The city needs to ask them if their transportation needs are being met? Are their jobs training needs being met?" she said.

Isaac said the now-defunct Mayor's Training Center was a big draw for businesses looking to relocate to the city when she was mayor, but she stopped short of saying the program should be restarted. "I need to look at the reasons why it was stopped," she said.

Crime and drugs

Lowering the city's crime rate is a top priority, Isaac said.

A coordinated and targeted response to crime and the opioid epidemic is needed, she said.

"It has to be a total effort," said Isaac. "The faith-based community needs to get involved. I think they want to get involved. I think there needs to be more coordination between social service agencies. The pieces are all there but they just need to be better coordinated."

Gray had hoped to start a fourth police sector in Lexington in the fiscal year that starts July 1, but tight city finances meant delaying the hiring of 30 officers needed to start it, Gray said.

Isaac said she's not convinced a fourth police sector is needed right now.

"You can take the resources that we have right now and pair them with nonprofits and faith-based programs," Isaac said. "Within the police department, you have to have better cooperation between patrol and the narcotics officers."

Growth and development

Isaac said she supports the Purchase of Development Rights program, which uses taxpayer dollars to buy conservation easements to protect farmland, and thinks the current urban service boundary should remain.

"But I would want to make sure that the same money we are spending on PDR is the same as the money we are spending on affordable housing," Isaac said.

Isaac said she's concerned that many police and firefighters no longer live in Fayette County because they can not afford it.

Minorities

Isaac said she would do more to stay in touch with under-served populations as mayor. People rarely come to city hall during budget deliberations, which is why she held town hall meetings about the proposed budget throughout the city as mayor. She pledged to bring that back.

"I want to focus more on making sure that services are delivered throughout the city," Isaac said. "It's very easy to spend money downtown; downtown is everybody's neighborhood, but I want to make sure that the money is being spent equally."

She also said the city needs more recreational opportunities for people with disabilities. "They are now starting to put pavement up to picnic tables," she said. "You don't think about the fact that you can't get a person in a wheelchair to a picnic table until you have to push someone through the grass."

New city hall?

The city's main government building, the former Lafayette Hotel, has had long-standing maintenance issues, Isaac said. The city recently received proposals from four developers to build a new city hall, but no decisions have been made.

"It's something to look at," Isaac said. "But that would be a huge, huge expenditure. You would have to prioritize. It's about what the citizens need. Would the citizens need us to have a new building over say other services?"

This story was originally published May 18, 2018 at 10:16 AM with the headline "Why former Lexington Mayor Teresa Isaac wants the job back and what she's promising."