Here’s where the 3 candidates for the 5th district council seat stand on top Lexington issues

As the May 17 primary approaches, three candidates running for the Urban County Council 5th District seat agree more needs to be done to address affordable housing and public safety in Lexington.

Liz Sheehan is seeking reelection. Newcomers Greg Ladd and Ami Hillenmeyer are running against her for a spot on the council.

District 5 includes several Lexington neighborhoods like Kenwich, Chevy Chase and Ashland, and parts of the 40502, 40505 and 40517 zip codes.

Each of the candidates addressed issues they see in Lexington, and how they would work to solve problems if they are elected.

Who are the candidates?

Sheehan, who beat incumbent Bill Farmer Jr. for the seat in 2020, is a senior lecturer in psychology at the University of Kentucky. She has received endorsements from Vice Mayor Steve Kay, former Lexington mayor and current Kentucky Transportation Secretary Jim Gray and several former council members.

Sheehan said her experience on council gives her an edge over her competitors.

“I know I’ve been effective,” she said. “I have been able to work for my neighborhoods to resolve some of the long-standing issues that they have had before them. Whether it’s street repairs, or code enforcement, or wanting to even do something as simple as organize a neighborhood association, the things that I have been able to work on are the things that affect people’s everyday lives.”

Ladd, a lawyer and owner of health shake company Shake It, and Hillenmeyer, owner of a real estate company and former business executive, are both seeking elected office for the first time.

Ladd has raised the most campaign funds of the candidates, nearly $80,000 from both Democrats and Republicans, according to financial records. Ladd said he sees that as an endorsement from both political parties of his 7-point plan for Lexington.

“It’s a very clear plan,” Ladd said. “It’s intended to move the needle and enhance the lives of everyone within the entire community, especially the 5th district, with issues-oriented solutions, and I feel really good about that.”

Hillenmeyer said her background in business will help with managing Lexington’s budget.

“I’ve spent 25 years in a business environment in the corporate world. My strong suit is problem-solving, reducing costs and increasing revenue. I was a problem-solver, and I feel like I can apply that to our budget,” she said.

Expanding the urban service boundary

Hillenmeyer said she supports expanding the urban service boundary in Lexington, while Ladd said he does not. Sheehan said she is waiting on more data before deciding, but supports “preserving our rural and agricultural land with policies” like the current urban service boundary.

The boundary should be expanded to make more room for businesses and affordable housing, Hillenmeyer said.

“I think it’s important that we bring businesses into our city and right now, there’s no land available,” she said. “Even the land that they’re counting as (able to be developed) in the circle, a lot of it isn’t for sale or can’t be developed, so there’s a lot of limitation there.”

Ladd said more information is needed, and he would request a feasibility study before making a decision.

“If we’re going to talk about this issue seriously, we need to talk about it in a way that puts the taxpayer first and ensures that those dollars are well-spent,” Ladd said. “A feasibility study that says ‘this is where we’re planning to expand and this is what we think should go there, and this is how we’re going to pay for it,’ is needed.”

Sheehan said she also needs more data about the impact of expanding the boundary.

“I’ve supported the urban service boundary in the past and I believe in that as a policy, but I think we have to take a careful look at the data, and the data might go either way,” Sheehan said.

Affordable housing and economic development

Hillenmeyer and Sheehan said affordable housing in Lexington needs to be created through development.

“I think we need to expand,” Hillenmeyer said. “I think we need to allow development. I think we need to figure out ways to build homes that are in the city that people can afford.”

Sheehan said housing in Lexington needs to be addressed through creating more housing, and supporting the affordable housing fund.

“We’ve created over 3,000 units since that fund was created, and we just put an influx of money into that. ... We have to continue to create those units, and we have to think about then how and where we create those units to make sure we are meeting people’s needs in those spaces,” Sheehan said.

Ladd said his approach to affordable housing has three parts: using Housing and Urban Development funds to create more affordable housing, addressing tax policy in Lexington so it is fair and approaching local banks to create a high-risk portfolio that would be set aside for low income families and individuals. Doing those would create opportunities for more affordable housing in Lexington, Ladd said.

“We need a good, proactive policy to alleviate these things,” Ladd said.

The candidates said Lexington should work to attract new jobs to the area, as well. Hillenmeyer said that can be done through giving businesses financial incentives for moving to the area.

Lexington should get creative when attracting new businesses, Ladd said. In addition to large companies, it should also be a place for small business. He would introduce an ordinance to suspend occupational tax for one year for any newly incorporated business in Lexington to help them get their feet off the ground.

Sheehan said the best way to attract new businesses is to improve the quality of life for people who live here, and make sure the needs of employees who live here are being met.

What is the top issue in the 5th district?

Hillenmeyer said the top issue in the 5th district is crime, which can be addressed by better supporting the Lexington police force.

“We are not doing a good job of building a police force and maintaining a police force that can take care of our city,” Hillenmeyer said.

Hillenmeyer would start by creating a culture that publicly praises officers for their work, as well as working to increase the pay for the police force, she said. Hillenmeyer also wants to find ways to retain more officers in Lexington’s police force.

“I just feel like we need to be respecting them and taking care of them just like they take care of us,” Hillenmeyer said.

Ladd also said the top issue in his district is public safety, and wants to incorporate more community outreach to make sure Lexington’s youth have places to go. Lexington needs a proactive approach, he said, including examining current laws and their effectiveness.

“Lexington is the noun, community is the feeling,” Ladd said. “There’s been an erosion of that feeling of community based on public safety as the fulcrum of that debate, and what we need is someone who is proactive and thoughtful and puts an emphasis on positivity and kindness when addressing that.”

Sheehan said the top issue in the 5th district is “making sure we are addressing everyone’s basic needs,” including housing, access to food, public safety and mental and physical well-being. Those are among the issues she has worked to address as a current council member, she said, and will continue to do so if re-elected.

“We have a lot of variety in the types of neighborhoods we have (in the 5th district), so I think the issues that the 5th district is facing is very similar to what we see as a city,” Sheehan said. “For me, that is making sure that we are addressing everyone’s basic needs.”

Ami Hillenmeyer

Age: 49

Previous work experience: Co-owner and Chief Operating Officer of Ash AirBnb LLC (2017 to present). Senior Director, North America Professional Services Manager, Market Technology of NASDAQ BWISE (2017-2018). Co-owner of Scout & Molly’s Womens Clothing Store (2015-2018). Senior Manager at Lexmark (2003-2017).

Any offices currently or previously held: None.

Family: Husband, Stephen; Children: Grace, 19; Max 17; Ben, 11 and dog Kali, 4.

Greg Ladd

Age: 36

Previous work experience: Owner, Shake It, LLC. Health Shake Company with five locations and 30 employees headquartered in Lexington. Owner, Ladd Law, PLLC, a bankruptcy and commercial lending law firm. Previously general counsel for the Department for Local Government and Kentucky Infrastructure Authority where he worked on economic development, affordable housing and public infrastructure across the commonwealth.

Any offices currently or previously held: None.

Family: Wife, Kelsey Ladd, MD. Children: Gregory, 7; Laura James, 3; Archie, 1.

Liz Sheehan

Age: 42

Previous work experience: Currently a senior lecturer in Psychology at University of Kentucky. Previously a senior lecturer in Psychology at Georgia State University, and a PhD student at Emory University prior to that.

Any offices currently or previously held: Incumbent 5th District Councilmember.

Family: Husband, Daniel Sheehan. Children: 14-year old daughter.

This story was originally published April 29, 2022 at 9:19 AM.

Monica Kast

Lexington Herald-Leader

859-334-0595

Monica Kast covers higher education for the Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com. Previously, she covered higher education in Tennessee for the Knoxville News Sentinel. She is originally from Louisville, Kentucky, and is a graduate of Western Kentucky University. Support my work with a digital subscription