London City Council meeting canceled after several councilmembers no-show
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Meeting canceled after majority of council absent; mayor allowed public comment.
- Agenda included minutes, housing board appointments and property tax reading.
- Impeachment, court reversal and ongoing appeals deepen conflict between mayor and council.
A London City Council meeting was canceled Monday night after several councilmembers opted not to show up.
London Mayor Randall Weddle began the meeting at 5:31 p.m., and only Councilmembers Jim Baker and Donna Gail Wilson-House were in attendance. Councilmembers Judd Weaver, Kelly Greene, Anthony Ortega and Justin Young were not present.
The meeting was then canceled due to a lack of a quorum, and no action related to city business was taken. A majority of the members of a legislative body are needed for a quorum, which in the London City Council’s case would be four, according to the Kentucky League of Cities.
Ortega told the Herald-Leader he could not attend the meeting because of an event at his daughter’s elementary school. He also said he did not collaborate with other councilmembers regarding attendance and did not know why they did not show up.
On Wednesday, Greene told the Herald-Leader she skipped the meeting because she did not want to be part of “grandstanding.” She added that it’s her responsibility as a council member to do what is best for London, and she felt like she accomplished that.
“I am only interested in doing the business of the city at this time. If that means removing myself from meetings that are set up to attack individuals, that is what I will do,” Greene said in an email.
Weaver and Young did not immediately respond to a request for comment on their absence. Conrad Cessna, an attorney representing the council, told the Herald-Leader in an email he had no comment and was not privy to the reasoning for the absences.
Items on the meeting agenda included approving minutes from previous meetings, appointing housing authority board members and reviewing an ordinance about levying the property tax rate.
Weddle still allowed members of the public to speak despite the meeting being adjourned, including President of the Lexington-Fayette County chapter of the NAACP Whit Whitaker and former Kentucky state representative and U.S. Senate candidate Charles Booker.
Whitaker, Weddle, Booker and other residents called for the resignation of Young, who recently admitted to using a racial slur during an argument with his girlfriend in open court.
Weddle, who was recently removed as mayor by the council and later reinstated by a judge, said he expected councilmembers not to show up.
“The public needs to be heard, whether it’s for me or against me, or for council or against them,” Weddle said. “We’re elected to be here, to hear the voices of those that vote us in or don’t vote us in. We need to take accountability, and that’s for both branches of this government.”
Tuesday, Weddle sent a letter to the council asking members to provide availability for a special-called meeting about the property tax ordinance. The mayor wrote in the letter the city cannot legally collect taxes without action on the ordinance, and people are increasingly contacting city hall about their tax bills.
The special called meeting was later scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday at the London Community Center.
The mayor also called the absences at Monday’s meeting unacceptable.
“Avoiding public meetings and not addressing the city’s business does not shield you from accountability,” Weddle wrote in the letter. “Our constituents expect and deserve better. They deserve leadership that shows up, takes responsibility, and conducts the people’s work.”
The move is the latest chapter in an intense feud between the council and Weddle. On Sept. 5, the council impeached Weddle after members unanimously agreed he committed misconduct or willful neglect on five of the 11 charges he faced. Of those, the council voted unanimously that three of the counts warranted removing him from office.
Immediately after the hearing, the council appointed Tracie Handley, a London resident and retired trial science consultant, as acting mayor. Weddle appealed the impeachment ruling Sept. 11 in Laurel County Circuit Court.
On Sept. 29, Judge David Williams ruled the council failed to present sufficient grounds for impeaching Weddle and thus reinstated him as mayor, effective immediately. The council has appealed Williams’ ruling.
This story was originally published October 6, 2025 at 6:21 PM.
