Letters to the editor: Lexington’s brand, community identity are a model for other cities

Kudos to Lexington

In mid-September, the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce brought more than 80 community, business, education and nonprofit leaders from Springfield, Missouri to visit Lexington for our annual community leadership visit.

This year marked the second time we have visited your beautiful city (the first was in 2003) and much has changed even since our last visit. We were thoroughly impressed by your focus on your city’s brand; in nearly every aspect of the city that we saw during our whirlwind three days, it was impossible to miss the theme of “bourbon, basketball and the blue horse.”

We know that a strong community identity doesn’t happen on its own – it’s an issue Springfield struggles with right now – and community leaders like Commerce Lexington President and CEO Bob Quick and VisitLEX President Mary Quinn Ramer should be commended for their work leading that charge.

Our group was also inspired by the strength of relationships in your community. These relationships founded on trust and mutual respect have clearly helped lay the foundation for difficult conversations and helped you tackle tough issues in a way that lets you grow together. It truly can serve as a model for other communities, including our own.

And we also learned about the many ways you continue to invest in your community. From the renovation and rebuilding of the Lexington Center and Rupp Arena to the innovations you’ve made in your K-12 education system, higher ed and workforce training, you clearly know the value of creating a solid foundation for the future.

We are grateful for the many people who went above and beyond to share your stories about what makes Lexington special. We’re particularly grateful to the talented staff of Commerce Lexington; their help in making connections with the community and their expertise were invaluable. It’s clear that their 2016 Chamber of the Year designation from the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives was well-earned.

Our community’s leaders want to say thank you for your hospitality, your candor, and your inspiration. We hope that someday soon we can return the favor for your community as well.

Matt Morrow, president, Springfield, Missouri, Area Chamber of Commerce

Winners, not haters

In a recent letter to the editor (“A Republican Cult”), the writer stated conservative evangelical Christians thrive with hate. I disagree wholeheartedly. We are too busy celebrating President Donald Trump’s win over Hillary “Benghazi” Clinton … who’s to hate? Trump won!

Ruby Wickersham, London

Sign is true

We walk in the neighborhood where the “vulgar pig” sign resides, and we agree with it. Yes, President Donald Trump fits the definition of “vulgar pig” with his own words and it is silly to try to deny it. It is very brave of E.J. Hurst II to speak the truth, regardless of the feelings of folks with guns. Even as I type this, I too am afraid of folks with guns, but we have to stand together if we are to avoid another “Crystal Night.” If any reader doesn’t know what that is, they should look it up.

Esther Murphy, Lexington

Allegiance to Trump, not nation

Nikki Haley, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said undermining the president is a dangerous thing. President Donald Trump is undermining democracy, undermining the rule of law, aiding and abetting our enemies, extorting vulnerable countries for his personal political gain, causing constitutional crisis after constitutional crisis, humanitarian crisis after humanitarian crisis, and genocide of an ally in the war on terror, and undermining who we are as a country throughout the world is more than dangerous — it is destructive of our country. It harms and injures our country and all free nations in the world. It is intended to diminish if not destroy democracy in favor of autocracy. That Haley would rather our country be undermined than the president who is undermining our country marks her as a complicit fascist loyal to a fuhrer and not our Constitution, not freedom, not equality, not justice, and not our nation.

Robert Moreland, Lexington

Proposal ‘affront’ to city goals

Trees affect the vitality of a community with tangible economic, environmental, and health improvements. Recognizing these benefits, the city of Lexington established a goal to increase the urban tree canopy from 25 percent to 30 percent. The 3rd Council District was identified as one of the city’s most heat-stressed in a recent city report. It’s no surprise that the existing tree canopy of the 3rd District is below the city average and the district was graded a “D+” in the Lexington Tree Canopy Report Card.

Therefore, it’s concerning that the City Planning Commission is considering a proposal to rezone a residential block of the 3rd District into a downtown frame, demolish 12 historic buildings, and remove all existing trees to build a 10-story high-rise to house 575 occupants. Under the current zoning, a tree canopy of 30 percent must be incorporated into new development; however, by inserting a downtown frame zone into a residential area, developers can sidestep the tree canopy requirement. No canopy requirement exists for downtown business zones.

The proposed development is an affront to the stated goals of the Imagine Lexington Comprehensive Plan. Infill and development should maintain the context of surrounding neighborhoods and shouldn’t sacrifice significant urban tree canopy.

Steven Buck, Lexington

Mural praise

I took three years of art at Henry Clay High School on East Main Street in the 1950s.

I want to thank the lady called ELLE for the beautiful mural she painted on Church Street in Lexington.

There is much truth in her mural.

Bill Manuel, Lexington

Trump in a word

I discovered a new word. It is “mythomaniac” and it means liar. Because fact checkers have pointed out that President Donald Trump has told the American people thousands of lies, he’s a mythomaniac.

I suggest that people running against him in the next election use a campaign slogan saying: “Trump the Mythomaniac” -- meaning “Beat the Liar”.

Gerry Burchett, Grayson

Stick to the facts

The most disheartening aspect of the latest Trump scandal is that congressional Republicans claim to believe that the absurd right-wing conspiracy stories are actually true. They pretend to believe that someone from Ukraine snuck into the office of the Democratic National Committee in Washington, D.C., stole the server without anyone noticing it was gone, and then smuggled the server out of the United States to the Ukraine where it still sits today. This was one more fantasy concocted by right-wing conspiracists without any basis in fact. Most likely they were Russian President Vladimir Putin’s hackers trying to convince gullible American conservatives that it wasn’t Russia that used social media to deliberately help President Donald Trump win the 2016 election.

If Republicans want witnesses, they don’t need Hunter Biden. They need to question Rudy Giuliani and demand to know his secret sources who concocted this improbable scenario. Those sources need to provide some proof that their conspiracy theory is true.

The real problem is that Trump and “Fooliani” are both so gullible they believe any right-wing conspiracy, no matter how absurd, while at the same time not believing real facts uncovered by the intelligence services of the U.S government.

Kevin Kline, Lexington