It's a three-man race for mayor in Lexington this year - with incumbent Mayor Jim Gray, former Police Chief Anthany Beatty, and independent candidate Danny Mayer all vying for the city's top administrative post.
To give voters a snapshot of the mayoral hopefuls, WUKY spoke with each candidate about his priorities, the Rupp Arena redesign, and other issues facing Lexington.
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JIM GRAY
On why he's running...
"What this is about today is recognizing that we're on the right path and we need to stick to it."
On what we could expect from another four years...
"I'll say it can be real simply: more of the same. When it comes to problem solving, I'll admit that we've had some tough problems, some real thorny problems to deal with. I believe in putting a bear hug around around a problem and just wrestling it to the ground."
On Rupp Arena...
"This is a solid, conservative plan. .. Why is the transformation, the reinvention of Rupp a game-changer? It will influence 4,600 jobs and as the arts, arena, and business district is built out it will create 3,000 jobs."
On Lexington's single biggest challenge...
"Sometimes the biggest challenge is channeling your focus and channeling your goals. And that's one of the reasons we created right at the beginning specific goals: create jobs, run government efficiently, build a great American city."
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ANTHANY BEATTY
On why he's running...
"I'm from Lexington. I did 35 years of public service and there were some needs that citizens expressed to me that need to be met and addressed. And so over a period of about one year, we had many conversations with folks about 'What the issues, what needs to be addressed, and how can we do it?'"
On what we could expect from his administration...
"My chief priority would be, number one, making sure the community is safe. certainly I have the background and the experience and knowledge and a proven track record to be successful at that, both at the community level and here at the University of Kentucky."
On Rupp Arena...
"It's something that we should really explore. I certainly think that it's something that can happen, but I am deeply concerned with the amount of funds, dollars if you will, that will be placed on the backs of the citizens of Lexington for a long period of time."
On Lexington's single biggest challenge...
"If we don't make sure we ensure optimum safety for not only our citizens but our visitors, anyone who's in the Lexington area... we've got to do that first to ensure that all those other things can happen."
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DANNY MAYER
On why he's running...
"I spent four and a half years covering the city in a number of ways through my work at North of Centre. And through that work I felt like there were a lot of conversations and things that weren't being addressed in the city. So I feel like my views are fresh and new."
On what we could expect from his administration...
"What I would like to do is to take what I see as the successes of the near downtown corridors, places like Jefferson Street and North Limestone, and to take what they are doing well, which is reinhabiting very small commercial districts, and using those reinhabitations to really spur development in nearby communities."
On Rupp Arena...
"I'm against public money for the Rupp Arena renovation. There's a long history now going back to the 1990s with renovations for sports complexes in downtown areas and overwhelmingly the results of those developments and those public subsidies for those developments has not been beneficial to larger cities."
On Lexington's single biggest challenge...
"We tend to recycle the same people and the same ideas so that Lexington's great ideas often seem to be presented to us as these world class ideas, ideas that come from somewhere else. And I feel like Lexington does a poor job of really cultivating our local talent."
