EKY council member opposed to removing mayor resigns week before public hearing
The only council member to vote against a Kentucky city mayor’s removal resigned a week before the elected body is to conduct a public hearing on allegations of misconduct and failure to provide services brought against the city’s leader.
In a special meeting Aug. 29, the London City Council adopted a resolution amending its reasons to remove Mayor Randall Weddle and then setting a public hearing to review those accusations Sept. 5 at the Laurel County Judicial Center.
The council also accepted the resignation of council member Charles Stacy Benge. He was not present Friday at the special meeting. The council has 30 days to appoint a new member.
On Friday, council did not discuss details of Benge’s resignation, his reasoning or the timing of his departure.
Benge was the only council member to vote Aug. 5 against bringing impeachment charges against the mayor.
He won reelection in 2024 and was in his second term on a mission to ensure public services were deployed fairly, according to the Sentinel Echo. Benge retired from one of London’s probation offices and was working as a rental property manager and residential construction contractor while serving on council.
The city council this summer has sought to oust Weddle amid claims he is guilty of misconduct and willful neglect or an intentional failure to provide services.
Before the amended resolution was read, Weddle’s lawyer said the city council has demonstrated a pattern of shifting and revising its accusations against the mayor. That pattern creates a moving target, he said, which doesn’t give Weddle appropriate time for rebuttal and undermines the integrity of the process.
Among the allegations the council believes could be cause under Kentucky law for Weddle’s removal is his 19-month late appointment of members to the London Housing Authority.
According to the amended resolution for his removal, council members said it wasn’t until federal officials told Weddle in July the city was not compliant with funding rules did he finally appoint members to the housing authority.
However, Weddle did so without following the proper process so the city still isn’t compliant with federal rules.
Without an appropriate board acting with approval from council, members of the body said the city could lose federal housing dollars, and London residents may be evicted.
Other amended reasons for removal shared Friday during the special meeting detail how Weddle allegedly misused the city’s police department and its funds for a personal protection detail for himself that Weddle then used to intimidate residents.
According to council, he left an ethics commission seat vacant, failed to host meetings and publish enacted ordinances online and illegally signed a $5 million mortgage for a property on behalf of the city without council approval.
No criminal charges have been filed.
Previous calls for his removal have included claims Weddle continues to not live within city limits. Residents also have thrown a litany of scrutiny and defamation lawsuits at their mayor, who claimed three of his most outspoken critics were part of a pedophilia ring.
Those critics were vocally against Weddle after city police shot and killed 63-year-old Doug Harless while serving a warrant for stolen property at the wrong house.
Eyebrows in London and in Frankfort raised August 2023 about a year into Weddle’s term as mayor when a road project near his freight and logistics business had its construction start moved ahead of schedule.
At the time, Weddle was already under investigation for campaign finance violations when his family and business partners donated more than $200,000 to the Kentucky Democratic Party.
That same year, Weddle was also being investigated for sponsoring a free gas giveaway during his campaign. The June 2023 campaign finance violation also claimed he provided voters with limo rides to the polls and gave gifts to city and county department officials.
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