Don’t paint Gainesway with broad brush on crime

The firestorm that occurred when Councilman Fred Brown and Police Chief Weathers presented “The Gainesway Community Forum on Gun Violence” on Sept. 6, 2022, began as a discussion on issues in Lexington.

The only problem is there is only one distinct area which is the Gainesway subdivision. Gainesway comprises 38 streets, boundary lines are Tates Creek Road, Armstrong Mill Road, and Pimlico Parkway. We currently have 1,963 residents.

As I have followed the rhetoric discussed within the Forum, WKYT reported on its website, “Tempers flared as a Lexington neighborhood tries to address the violence in their community.”

But I asked: Where is the data?

Councilman Fred Brown and Police Chief Lawrence Weathers failed to incorporate any statistical data to substantiate the allegations that the Gainesway Community has an issue of gun violence.

This was reckless, and as a result, our subdivision of 1,963 residents is distraught. We see this misinformation as slanderous, giving all of Fayette County the impression that Gainesway isn’t safe, thus endangering our current property values.

As former President of the Gainesway Neighborhood Association, one who is very much invested in my community, I submitted a open records request asking for data on all misdemeanor and violent crimes committed using a firearm in all subdivisions.

GIS and the Lexington Police Department compiled the data only for Gainesway, stating they didn’t have the manpower to produce all of the subdivisions in Fayette County.

Between Sept. 8, 2021 through Sept. 8, 2022 there were 67 misdemeanor and violent crimes in which a firearm was present in .... one.

Just ONE incident out of 67!

That means Gainesway subdivision does not have a gun violence issue.

Unfortunately, our subdivision has felt “the fallout of negative comments directled towards our our community. Councilman Fred Brown has responded to my email regarding these issues and has apologized for using the name Gainesway. WKYT TV responded by contacting me and altered its report by deleting the name Gainesway and inserting Lexington or City instead. Unfortunately, the damage to the name Gainesway has already been done by their media coverage on television, but this was a gesture acknowledging “the data wasn’t present during the Forum to substantiate the implications that the Gainesway community had any gun violence issues!”

I have reached out to Police Chief Weathers on three separate occasions by telephone, asking him to return my telephone call regarding the Forum. He has yet to return my telephone calls.

In closing, the Forum was ill prepared, failed to prove or provide any data on any subdivision, and gave the distinction impression that the Gainesway community has a gun violence issue, which it doesn’t.

On behalf of the Gainesway subdivision’s 1,963 residents, I would ask that all persons involved in this forum find a quick solution to repair the reputation of our community.

Claudia Green is the past president of the Gainesway Neighborhood Association.