From crime to historical hamlets, Urban County Council 12th District has challenges

In Urban County Council District 12, incumbent Kathy Plomin, who has worked for various nonprofits and was a former executive at WKYT, faces Raymond Alexander, a retired Lexington police officer.

Plomin was first elected in 2016.

District 12 includes the Bluegrass Airport, the Kentucky Horse Park, Paris Pike, Athens and some portions of Tates Creek Road.

Plomin is currently in the sixth year of three consecutive two-year terms. That experience is valuable to the district but also to the council, she said.

“There is a challenging learning curve when you serve on our city council. It has to do with procedure, processes and institutional knowledge. So having a ‘veteran’ remain on the council is important and is a benefit to the district and to the overall effectiveness of council efforts,” Plomin said.

She feels she has represented the 12th District well and has the knowledge and experience to provide the vision and leadership for a “most important district” for the city and county of Lexington, Kentucky.

Plomin said crime, including homicides, is one of most prevalent issues facing Lexington. She said city officials are trying to hire more police officers. Access to guns and gangs are problems, she said.

She would like more discussions and focused leadership on the increase in homicides and shootings.

Plomin said she had several ongoing initiatives she wants to complete.

One area has to do with efficiency of council meetings. Some procedures and processes are redundant, she said. She’d like to see the agendas “tightened up” to allow for time to address community issues.

The 12th District is home to historical hamlets, Plomin said. These rural neighborhoods were created after local slaves were freed in the mid 1800s. These clusters of over 25 rural neighborhoods, or hamlets, should be recognized and celebrated for their historical impact on the evolution of the city.

She is working on a project of collecting artifacts and memories from families inhabiting them and using a central location for that recognition.

One of the most significant needs and challenges in the 12th district is broadband connectivity in the rural areas of Fayette County. The 12th District is 70% of the land mass in Fayette County, so all rural areas are located in the 12th.

In the district, the lack of dependable internet was greatly accentuated during the COVID pandemic, she said. Residents who needed to work from home did not have the connectivity access that was vital for their work. Children that were attending school online were also seriously impacted, she said.

Because of the lack of density in the rural area of the county, connectivity via fiber optics is very expensive and providers are unable to make that large of an investment. On the horizon is the federal funding for infrastructure. There has been recent progress to engage the internet providers with the help of federal funding.

Hopefully in the near future this issue will have some resolve. But it has been and is the number one issue that she continues to receive questions about from rural constituents, Plomin said.

Another issue and challenge for the 12th District is the ongoing pressure on the expansion of the urban services boundary. The Urban Service Boundary was created in 1958 to protect rural assets that are recognized world-wide and reflect the important brands of thoroughbred horses, farmland and natural resources that translates into significant economic impact.

The council will be approving a 5-year comprehensive plan in the next few months and an expansion of the Urban Service Boundary is always on the table for consideration. The 12th District will be greatly impacted by the expansion, and Plomin opposes that decision at this time.

Lexington’s famous brands operate largely outside the Urban Service Boundary “and we can’t be reckless about that,” she said.

A workgroup of which Plomin is a member is looking at specific areas that could one day be included in the boundary.

An October 12 Kentucky campaign finance report for Plomin showed a beginning balance of $4,879.25; total receipts of $2,500.00; total expenditures of $34.74 and an ending balance of $7,344.51.

Alexander has no reports due because he has has raised less than $3,000.

Raymond Alexander

Alexander is an eight year Marine veteran and was a Lexington police officer for 16 years, including a stint on the mounted horse patrol and 13 years on the bomb squad.

He thinks the Urban County Government would benefit from more careful spending.

“I just feel there’s a lot of wasted money,“ he said.

He said his style as a council member would be “commonsense, live within your means.”

The increase in crime in Lexington has to be curbed, said Alexander.

He said there are fewer police, 911 operators and detention center officers in Lexington than even two years ago.

Those workers “need the backing of the city” so they won’t be “hung out to dry,“ he said.

Improving public safety would be his number one goal.

Constituents in the 12th District live both inside and outside the Urban Services Area.

With officers tied up with shootings inside the Urban Service Area, those outside might not always get their fair share of police attention, he said.

The city needs more proactive policing instead of just taking police calls. He said he is in favor of moving the number of years an officer must work before retiring back to 20 from 25, as it had been in the past.

That would help in recruiting, Alexander said.

He said people don’t want to move to an unsafe city.

After a career in the military and on the police force, “I still have the urge to help people,” said Alexander. In bringing commonsense to government, Alexander said he would look at the big picture, instead of the issue of the moment.

Alexander said he just wants to answer to 12th District constituents and not special interests.

“I’m just a regular person. All I want to do is help people across the district,” he said.

Alexander said the Urban Service Boundary should be expanded because Lexington needs more housing between Winchester Road and the southern split of 1-75.

He said horse farms shouldn’t be touched but the Urban Service Boundary should be expanded, because people are looking for more housing in Lexington.

He said more affordable housing should be built in Lexington and he thinks building more housing in general would help that.

Raymond Alexander

Age: 59

Previous work experience: 1983-87, United States Marine Corps, Active Duty, served two-years overseas; 1987-89 - 1st Military Police Company in Lexington, KY; 1987-91 - Reserve Duty. Telecommunications Industry - 1989 to Present; 2001-2017 - Lexington Division of Police - Retired. Served in Patrol, Mounted Unit and Bomb Unit. Currently employed as the Safety Coordinator at Infinium Integration, LLC.

Offices currently held: Cumberland Hill Neighborhood Association - At-large member; State Trustee of FOP Bluegrass Lodge #4.

Family: Wife, Tracey; Son, Trey, 33 (and Megan); Daughter, Brittany, 29 (and Eric); Granddaughter, Emerson Rae, 2.

Kathy Plomin

Age: 68

Previous work experience : WKYT-TV Vice President of Sales and Marketing 1979-2000; President/CEO of United Way of the Bluegrass 2000-2009; Independent Contractor for Non-Profits Capital Campaigns 2010-2015.

Any offices currently or previously held: LFUCG 12th District Councilmember 2016-present

Family members: Husband, John Plomin; Sons, Kyle and Sam Plomin