Hadi, Hale face off in race for 7th District seat on Lexington council
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Two political newcomers are running for the 7th District seat on the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council, the seat held by Preston Worley, who has served on the council since 2017.
Heather Hadi and Joseph Hale defeated two other candidates in the primary to make it to the general election for the 7th District seat, which includes areas off Richmond Road and Athens-Boonesboro Road, and neighborhoods around Woodhill and Codell drives, Squires Road and Hays Boulevard.
Joseph Hale
Hale, 45, is an IT coordinator for the Emergency Response and Preparedness Branch of the Kentucky Department for Public Health. He’s a graduate of Sullivan University.
Hale said he’s already working on issues in his district.
“You do what your working toward, so when you get there, you don’t have to figure it out,” he said. “I’m a huge believer in that.”
For example, Hale said he recently arranged a meeting with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet to get more information on the R-cut project that officials hope will reduce bottlenecks and collisions on the Richmond Road/Athens-Boonesboro Road corridor.
He said neighborhoods in the area wanted to know more about the timeline for the project, so he set up a meeting to get answers.
Traffic is among the top concerns for the district, he said, and something he wants to work on.
He said he’d like to see some sidewalks or bike lanes added along Old Todds Road between Palumbo Drive and the Liberty Road area.
“That is a dangerous little piece of road that we could easily put a bike lane in,” he said.
He said residents of the Woodhill neighborhood have talked to him about park beautification.
“That area should be just as beautiful as Chilesburg and Andover Hills,” he said.
He said he’s also interested in the possibility of adding a fire station in District 7.
“They’re getting stretched thin,” he said. “Let’s get that underway.”
On the issue of affordable housing, Hale said Lexington is experiencing a problem that is national in scope.
He suggested that the city use some of the land in the recent urban service boundary expansion for affordable housing.
He also pointed to a new apartment complex near Codell Drive that has more affordable rent as the kind of thing the city should be encouraging.
When it comes to short-term rental properties, which has been a hot topic in Lexington lately, Hale said, “there has to be some kind of regulation on that.”
“Too much of anything is bad for you,” he said, noting that having “new neighbors every other week” could affect property values for neighboring homes.
Hale, who has been active in leadership at The Gate Church and runs his own mentoring program, Boys to Men, said he thinks the city is headed in the right direction in its efforts to curb gun violence, especially the work the city is doing through One Lexington.
“We have to reach the next generation from boots on the ground,” he said. “This is a huge issue of mine.”
He said he’s seeing his own labor in mentoring boys pay off, and the data indicates that One Lexington’s mentoring efforts are working too.
While he said there’s always room for improvement, Hale said, “I feel good about where we’re going with it.”
Hale said his experience, including working in state government, sets him apart from his opponent.
“I’m going to work to make this city better, whether I’m elected or not,” he said. “The people deserve someone that’s already working for them.”
“I’m excited about this election season,” he said. “I’m ready.”
Heather Hadi
Hadi, 36, is an immigration and family attorney who opened a firm in Lexington in 2013. She was born in Lexington and graduated from Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, the University of Kentucky and St. Thomas School of Law in Miami, Fla.
“I have a vision for Lexington’s future,” Hadi’s website states. “One that is safer, stronger, and more inclusive. As a single mom, I am a voice for transparency, equity, and citizen engagement in city leadership.”
She said she loves that council races are nonpartisan.
“Partisan ideologies can really get in the way of true change,” she said.
Hadi said her work has given her empathy for the struggles people face.
“People’s legal matters really teach you a lot about what’s going on in the community,” she said.
Hadi said affordable housing is one of the top issues she’d like to work on if elected.
She said infill development is one option for increasing housing, but, she said, “we need to make sure that we’re doing infill revitalization in a way that’s responsible” and doesn’t cause gentrification of neighborhoods.
Like Hale, she said some of the urban service boundary expansion should be used for affordable housing, since “another shopping center or something fancy-pantsy” isn’t what Lexington needs most.
She said she’d encourage developers to set aside a portion of new development for affordable housing.
“Sometimes you have to make people do what’s right,” she said.
And when it comes to new development, she said serving people should come before any concerns about the increased traffic or having more housing in the area.
“You need to have empathy for others,” she said. “Empathy for others has really decreased.”
Hadi said she’d also like to see the city work on the process developers must go through to get their projects approved.
“Cut down some of the gray area and make it more of a black-and-white process,” she said. “We want to keep developers here.”
While she said she knows short-term rental properties are good for tourism, “it’s taking away from viable properties for community members.”
She said that perhaps a percentage of available properties should be permitted to be used for short-term rentals.
“We’ve got to find a balance,” she said.
Hadi said she’s also concerned about traffic congestion and “coming up with these creative solutions that some of these bigger cities have already done” to alleviate it, like the R-cut coming to Athens-Boonesboro Road.
Both she and Hale said they would not be in favor of a designated property tax for city parks, which is something Lexington voters will consider in a ballot referendum on Election Day.
Hadi said the city has higher priorities, such as providing resources for people without reliable transportation or outreach programs for youth in underserved communities.
As she campaigns, Hadi said she’s been going door-to-door and has been educating herself about they city’s needs through involvement in the community.
“I want to make an impact,” she said.
This story was originally published October 23, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
