Week of September 27, 2021
The Highlights:
💡 - Big topic this week: How Council Advances Legislation
Have you ever wondered how exactly legislation advances through Council?
This week, we’re highlighting a recent graphic we produced as part of our Public Input study we’re working on with LFUCG. On its face, the legislative process is pretty straightforward, but it contains some minor caveats and exceptions that can make it confusing for residents.
We built this graphic to help residents understand the process more holistically and know when to give their input.
Do you have questions or want to learn more? Let us know at info@civiclex.org. You can download a .pdf of this image to read it in more detail here.
🏢 - This week in City Hall: Paying High-Income Remote Workers to Relocate to Lexington
This week in Council’s Budget, Finance, and Economic Development Committee, Council will hear a proposal for LFUCG to fund a $3.4M program to pay high-income remote workers to relocate to Lexington.
The program is based on an example in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and provides a $10,000 relocation incentive to individual workers with high-wage jobs.
The proposed pilot program would seek to attract around 200 workers to Lexington over two years; the estimated annual salary of these workers is $100,000.
The program would pay out $2M directly to these workers (at $10k each). In addition, the program is estimated to cost around $1.4M in overhead expenses, including staff salaries, coworking space, a website, marketing, and more.
The program is being proposed by Social Impact investor Lincoln Brown, Awesome Inc’s Brian Raney, and the Kentucky 2030 Project’s Hannah Conover.
Their estimates say that an Economic Development program of this nature could bring in $2.7M in annual revenue to LFUCG in 5 years and could foster $42M in local spending.
They are pitching the program as an alternative to traditional Economic Development programs that offer incentives to large companies to build headquarters or offices in Lexington.
They are asking for $3.4 Million from LFUCG.
Many other communities across the US have remote worker relocation programs - programs exist in Hawaii, West Virginia, Maine, Iowa, Kansas, Arkansas, Arizona, Georgia, and many other states.
Read more about the program in this week’s BFED packet. Commerce Lexington is also presenting a proposed Economic Development program this week, which would focus on increasing the talent pipeline for registered nurses.
🏃 - CivicLex Redistricting Reading Club
Monday, September 27 via Zoom
Do you live in The Second or Eleventh District? Do you care about the future of representation in Lexington?
If either of these things is true, you should attend our Redistricting Workshop tonight! We’ll be discussing where the Redistricting Committee is in the process, how Districts 2 and 11 have changed over time, and much more! It’s free, and you’ll have an opportunity to win a $25 gift card just for being there!
When: Monday, September 27 at 6:00 pm
Access the workshop using this Zoom link
Want to catch up on our past Redistricting Workshops? Check them out here.
🗞 Updates from last week: Sustainable Growth Task Force
Last week, Craig Bencz from the Mayor’s Office presented the Sustainable Growth Task Force’s recommendations to Council’s Planning & Public Safety Committee.
If you haven’t been following this issue, the Sustainable Growth Task Force has been building a new process to determine whether or not to expand Lexington’s Urban Services Boundary.
The Task Force intended to create a new process that would allow the Urban Services Boundary conversation to be removed from the city’s Comprehensive Plan update, which happens every five years.
The Urban Services Boundary is essentially a line drawn around Lexington that protects agricultural land and restricts development. The last time Lexington significantly expanded was in 1996 - much of the land became the Hamburg development.
The presentation focused on the history of the Task Force and its recent report, which generated what amounts to a formula and rubric for what growth conditions would necessitate expansion.
While the Committee took no action on the report, all attending Council Committee Members expressed concern and frustration.
Several Council Members suggested that the report and accompanying evaluation matrix focused too narrowly on real estate demand.
They indicated that several other important issues - including neighborhood concerns about redevelopment, gentrification, school growth, and more - also needed to be a factor.
Vice Mayor Kay, a member of the Task Force, said that the report did not deliver what they were looking for - a clear answer on how to approach the Urban Services Boundary separate from the Comprehensive Plan.
Planning Director Jim Duncan agreed, saying that while the Task Force attempted a“Herculean task,” it did not solve the issue they had hoped it would.
The Planning Commission will host a public hearing on the Sustainable Growth Task Force recommendations on October 28. The full Council will likely take up the recommendations in November.
🏢 This week in City Government
Monday, September 27
🪁 - No City Meetings
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Tuesday, September 28
🏢 - Budget, Finance, & Economic Development Committee
🕐 - 1pm on September 28
📍 - 200 East Main Street, 2nd Floor Council Chamber
📺 - Watch in person or on LexTV
📖 - Read the agenda
🗣 - Give input in person
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🏢 - Council Work Session
🕐 - 3:00pm on September 28
📍 - 200 East Main Street, 2nd Floor Council Chamber
📺 - Watch in person or on LexTV
📖 - Read the agenda
🗣 - Give input in person
🔦 - Highlights:
Life Cycle of an ARPA project
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Wednesday, September 29
🏗 - Planning Commission Technical Committee Meeting
⏱ - 8:30am on September 29
📍 - Digital
📺 - Watch via Zoom
📖 - Read the agenda
🗣 - No input option available
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🗺 - Redistricting Committee Meeting
⏱ - 10:00am on September 29
📍 - Phoenix Building - 3rd floor Conference Room (101 E Vine St.)
📺 - No viewing option available
📖 - No agenda available
🗣 - No input option available
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🏚 - Vacant Property Review Commission
⏱ - 10:00am on September 29
📍 - Digital
📺 - Watch the meeting
📖 - No agenda available
🗣 - No input option available
———
Thursday, September 30
🏘 - Planning Commission Work Session
⏱ - 1:30pm on September 30
📍 - Phoenix Building - 3rd floor Conference Room (101 E Vine St.)
📺 - No viewing link available
📖 - No agenda available
🗣 - Give input in person
—
🏢 - Special Committee of the Whole (ARPA)
⏱ - 4:00pm on September 30
📍 - 200 East Main Street, 2nd Floor Council Chamber
📺 - Watch in person or on LexTV
📖 - No agenda available
🗣 - No input opportunity available
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🏢 - Council Meeting
⏱ - 6:00pm on September 30
📍 - 200 East Main Street, 2nd Floor Council Chamber
📺 - Watch in person or on LexTV
📖 - No agenda available
🗣 - Give input in person
———
🎃 👻 Friday, October 1 👻 🎃
🚲 - Bicycle-Pedestrian Advisory Committee Meeting
⏱ - 12:00pm on October 1
📍 - Phoenix Building - 7th Floor Conference Room (Phoenix Building)
📺 - No viewing link available
📖 - No agenda available
🗣 - Give input in person
🏃 More ways to get engaged
City Committee Watch Parties at Cornerstone
Tuesdays, until October 5 from 12:30-3pm | UK Cornerstone
CivicLex is partnering with BBNvolved and UK Student Organizations and Activities to organize a series of LFUCG Council Committee Watch Parties at the UK Cornerstone every Tuesday until October 5 from 12:30-3pm. Join us to watch a live broadcast of local government committee meetings, and answer any and all questions you have concerning how local government works. There will also be optional crafting activities and food from Rolling Oven!
These watch parties are FREE and open to students & community members.
Please RSVP here.