Crime, housing top issues in Lexington 2nd District Council race

The two candidates vying to represent the 2nd Council District share a common trait — both come from political families.

Lexington-Fayette Urban County Councilwoman Shayla Lynch’s father was a council member and the first Black mayor of Hopkinsville. Challenger and former Councilman Jacques Wigginton’s father was a former Lexington councilman, too, and a citizen’s advocate for the city.

Lynch, a lawyer and Hopkinsville native who has served on council since 2023 and lived in the district since 2011, said voters in the district, which includes the Georgetown and Leestown Road corridors should return her to office because she has worked to make improvements to the 2nd District. Lynch beat incumbent Josh McCurn in the 2nd District Race in November 2022.

“I have a proven track record of getting things done,” Lynch said.

Lynch, who worked in fair housing and served as executive director of multiple nonprofits, said she is passionate about community service.

“I’ve done this work for more than 20 years,” Lynch said. “I”m passionate about it.”

Wigginton, who served on the council from 2000 to 2006, when he was defeated by Tom Blues, said he likes Lynch but she’s still green. The 2nd District needs experienced leadership after high turnover in the seat for the past decade.

“I think she’s good, but I’m better,” Wigginton said. “I grew up in the 2nd District.”

Wigginton has worked for several departments in state government, served as a minister for more than in decade in addition to serving three terms on council. He has two children in college.

According to Kentucky Registry of Election Finance reports, Wigginton has not raised any money for the campaign. Lynch has raised $10,647, according to Oct. 8 finance reports. She had more than $5,000 left to spend heading into the Nov. 5 general election.

All council races are nonpartisan.

Shayla Lynch

Lynch, 45, said she is a quick study and an effective council member, passing multiple pieces of legislation in her first term.

She co-sponsored an ordinance banning discrimination based on hairstyles and co-sponsored legislation banning landlords from discriminating against potential renters based on how they pay their rent, including the use of federal Housing Choice vouchers, commonly called Section 8. The legislature later passed a law in 2023 prohibiting local governments from passing such bans.

“But other parts of the ordinance are still in effect,” Lynch said. “Even my colleagues have said it’s very rare to have a freshman have so many ordinances passed so quickly.”

Lynch said she also helped secure $5 million to replace the Douglass Pool, which has faced repeated closures over the past several years due to longstanding maintenance issues. She has also helped get $950,000 for repaving at Masterson Station fairgrounds. She has worked with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and city officials to address multiple traffic issues, including new stop lights and other traffic fixes.

And she’s worried about pedestrian safety in the Georgetown and Leestown Road corridors.

During an October event that urged people to go a week without driving Lynch, a runner, ran from her home to city hall to see what types of challenges pedestrians face in her district. She has supported complete streets, an overhaul of the city design guidelines that includes bike lanes and other pedestrian enhancements.

Affordable housing and housing affordability are also another key issue facing the district and the city, she said. Lynch said the city has implemented multiple programs including a mediation program for people facing eviction from the Lexington-Fayette County Housing Authority, she said.

“These programs are working,” Lynch said. “We hope we will have money to continue them.”

She’s also pushed to get tenants on housing-related city boards. She has also advocated for a review of all boards and commissions to make sure they reflect the city and its diverse population.

Jacques Wigginton

Wigginton, 59, said the city needs to do more to deal with gun violence. It’s one of the reasons he decided to run after being out of politics for nearly two decades.

“The city is defining the issue by body bags or the number of people who are seriously injured,” he said. “But it’s a lot more than that.”

Wigginton said he has seen repeated instances where there were multiple rounds of gunfire but no one was injured. That’s problematic and affects people in those neighborhoods, he said.

Wigginton said he would like to see neighborhood ombudsmen who don’t have to be sworn police officers but can act as liaisons between police and neighborhoods. The Lexington Police Department is struggling to attract new police officers, so expanding police to neighborhoods may not be possible, he said.

Both Wiggington and Lynch say the city’s gun violence prevention program for people ages 13 to 29, called One Lexington, appears to be working. But both said more needs to be done to address gun violence outside that age range.

“I also don’t like the narrative,” Wigginton said. “It’s targeting young black males.”

Lynch said the city also needs to expand services for victims of gun violence. Neither the state nor federal government is providing enough services in that area, she said.

Wigginton said he would also like to see the city help subsidize smaller home builders so they can grow that sector. A lack of home builders has also caused the housing shortage, Wigginton said. Allowing builders to have vacant or abandoned property would also help put a dent in Lexington’s housing shortage, he said.

Wigginton said when he was previously on council he helped spearhead a lot of affordable housing efforts.

Questions about travel and a lawsuit

Wigginton’s prior stint on the council was not without controversy.

Wigginton got in trouble for failing to provide travel receipts promptly and failed to reimburse the city for travel funds, leading to a garnishment of his wages. At the time, Wigginton said it was a miscommunication and all travel expenses were repaid.

In an interview, Wigginton said those trips were part of his work as a board member with the National League of Cities, a nonprofit. Wigginton said those trips were important and helped the city advocate at the state and national level for funding, including for U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Community Development Block grants, which typically go to agencies that serve the homeless or for housing programs.

Wigginton said those trips brought money, like the federal community block grant program, to the city.

“At the time, that was $5 million a year,” Wigginton said of the federal block grant program.

Wigginton later sued former Vice Mayor Mike Scanlon for defamation in 2004 after Scanlon made comments about Wigginton’s travel and other issues. The defamation lawsuit was dismissed in 2012 after both Wigginton and Scanlon had left office.

This story was originally published October 23, 2024 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Crime, housing top issues in Lexington 2nd District Council race."

Beth Musgrave

Lexington Herald-Leader

Beth Musgrave has covered government and politics for the Herald-Leader for more than a decade. A graduate of Northwestern University, she has worked as a reporter in Kentucky, Indiana, Mississippi, Illinois and Washington D.C. Support my work with a digital subscription