10 Questions for Kathy
Candidate Forums 2010
1. What is your general assessment of LFUCG’s interaction with and support for low-income individuals and families?
I think it could be better. With that said it is a challenge for the city to have a thorough understanding of all the complexities that are involved with this population. In my years as President at United Way 2000-2009 I did witness a growing collaborative approach looking at sources,approaches and resources and LFUCG was at that table
2. Elected officials play an important role in determining utility rates. Would you consider the cost to low income residents as a part of LFUCG’s intervention of utility rate increase cases? How would you lessen the impact?
Yes, that must be part of the discussion as the lower income individual and their families are members of our community and that voice must be at the table and part of the overall conversation. There are programs in place (CAC) and we must look at additional ways to enhance and grow that type of support to lessen the impact of increasing energy costs.
3. The unemployment rate in Lexington is comparably low compared with the rest of the state; however, the disparity of who is unemployed is weighted toward minorities. How will you work to decrease the disparity?
Obviously with my past experience I recognize this disparity and have worked on decreasing it. As we know unemployment is not an an island unto its own. There can be many factors influencing this unemployment status and when the economy takes a downward turn as we have been experiencing our most susceptible population is the most at risk. My web site and stance is based upon a Plomin listens platform which is what we as community must do as we address the needs of our low income community members. We need to listen to them,their challenges and their ideas and engage them in the process of solutions. One of the most recent projects I have worked on was the creation of the Street Voice Council. Working with the Catholic Action Center we saw a great need to give our folks experiencing homelessness a unified voice and a central source for voice and organization. One of our first outreach accomplishments was the recent performance of “Please don’t call me Homeless I don’t call you Homed” and capacity filled crowds could “listen” to the voices of homelessness.
4. Nationally, we are experiencing a “Great Recession.” Research tells us that those with the least resources are the first to feel a recession, hit the hardest, and the last to recover. What are your plans to turn around this recession locally and specifically how to plan to help the low-income people recover?
I have always been a big proponent of a day center for our homeless and others in need where resources could be centralized into a one stop place, user friendly and accessible. ( I suggested this to Southland Christian when they hosted the community forum for the Lexington Mall space) It could provide computers, job related communication and overall environment of support and a recognized process of empowerment. Transportation accessibility is a must. With my knowledge of the United Way 211 information and referral we can have all the resource out there but they must be accessible both physically and in usage. This center would play a critical role in mobilizing our low-income out of the downward spiral of the recession.
5. In the last year there has been a lot of local press on the issue of availability of affordable housing in Fayette County. The data confirm that there is a very limited supply in Lexington. How do you plan to address this great and growing need for low- to moderate-income families to find and sustain affordable housing? Do you support the recommendations of the Affordable Housing Commission
Yes, I do support the recommendations .I believe there is a lot of good work being done in the recognition of the affordable housing needs of our community. But the recognition will not be enough. As a council member I would keep an agenda of meeting this documented need as we move forward in looking at existing and open spaces within Fayette County
6. Recently local social service providers have experienced some NIMBY ism (not in my backyard) in Lexington. The Vineyard Church has faced strong opposition and Southland Christian church has already started receiving some negative feedback about taking the long-standing vacant Richmond Mall off of the tax roles. What is your opinion about these reactions and how would you respond in elected office?
First of all that site has sat empty for so many years without the realized tax benefits so I totally discount that argument. What ever Southland does with that property (and I totally applaud their inclusive approach of discussing with the community!) will be a welcomed visual and functional addition to our community. I am not sure Vineyard would have been a good fit especially when there would have to have been restrictions that went up against the spirit of their mission. NIMBY ism in unfortunate but it exists and always will … we need to listen more to each other and work closer in consensus building and understanding.
7. How would you work in your elected office to improve LFUCG’s effectiveness as a partner with Lexington’s independent non-profit social service community to best meet the needs of Lexington’s low-income individuals and families?
I have had a lot of experience in that area. When Commissioner Helm came into her position as part of the Mayor Newberry team there was a recognition that the city funding to major health and human service non profits needed a more comprehensive allocation and measurement process. She approached United Way who has a very defined and thorough funding process and we worked together to assure that allocations were qualified and accountable to the needs within the community. I believe that this collaborative approach could be expanded into a more community need approach on a city level to assist in recognizing duplication and to maximize our resources especially when those resources are declining.
8. Racial inequity in all aspects has for years been spoken about in Lexington. How will you work to help highlight the various cultures, uplift them and decrease disparities in various quality of life aspects?
Inclusiveness must be an integral part of our city’s culture. We hear about transparency but what about access? Transparency reminds me of looking through a glass partition. Yes, you can see what is going on but there is glass in between you and that particular conversation. How do you get through that glass and that is called access .We need to do a better job of giving access. From the 80 board and commissions that the city makes appointments we need a better and more inclusive process. Expanding the landscape of voice with an accessible, inclusive and recognized process will mobilize voice and help to decrease skepticism of “They” making all the decisions. As a result of the Racism Summit held in our community over 8 years ago I led UW in launching the Get on Board program which gave access and trained voice to now over 400 individuals who wanted to get to the board table and didn’t know how to “access.” We need to do this on a city level and I believe disparity will be addressed
10. How do you propose to engage Lexington’s Hispanic community and what role do you see them playing in determining Lexington’s future?
Again we need to do a better job of listening to this segment of our population. There is the challenge of the non-legal issue and their reluctance to be visible and accessible for these type of conversations. This same challenge also impacts their presence on the census data thereby skewing their real numbers and impacting the available financial resources back into the community. I would like to see a non threatening process on engagement of the Hispanic population. But there are issues bigger than our community that need to take place such as uncomplicating the legalization process that is a root cause of this unidentified community segment.
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