University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media
In its first meeting Friday morning, the Midway City Council’s Equity and Equality in Policy Committee discussed plans for moving forward, and agreed that the inviting the police department to speak would be a good starting point.
The committee and Mayor Grayson Vandegrift also agreed that the committee could be a place to have community conversations and public forums.
“I think community conversation is going to be a big aspect of this,” said Council Member Stacy Thurman, chair of the committee, which also includes Sara Hicks and newly elected Mary Raglin, the council’s first Black member in six years. (Hicks said she was unable to attend due to an unexpected family obligation.)
Thurman said earlier in the meeting that she thought the committee was “very important” and could address “a lot of issues that are current right now.”
Vandegrift said he created the committee partly because he wants Midway to “be a place that is literally for everybody,” and suggested that the committee start with inviting guests. Thurman said she thought the Versailles police, who patrol Midway and the rest of Woodford County, would welcome the opportunity. Raglin and the mayor nodded in agreement.
“I have the utmost faith in our police; I think they do a wonderful job,” Thurman said. “I do think they would appreciate the platform to reach out to the community.” She added that transparency is important to them and they wanted to “have good community relations.”
As for others to invite, Vandegrift suggested Pastor Rick Smith from Second Christian Church because he is “a great resource” and “has done a lot of work with groups such as BUILD,” which stands for Building a United Interfaith Lexington through Direct action.
The mayor said, “I think there’s a lot of guests in the region” who can “come in and talk to the committee about ways to think about how to shape policy to make sure that it is inclusive.”
The committee and Mayor Grayson Vandegrift also agreed that the committee could be a place to have community conversations and public forums.
“I think community conversation is going to be a big aspect of this,” said Council Member Stacy Thurman, chair of the committee, which also includes Sara Hicks and newly elected Mary Raglin, the council’s first Black member in six years. (Hicks said she was unable to attend due to an unexpected family obligation.)
Thurman said earlier in the meeting that she thought the committee was “very important” and could address “a lot of issues that are current right now.”
Vandegrift said he created the committee partly because he wants Midway to “be a place that is literally for everybody,” and suggested that the committee start with inviting guests. Thurman said she thought the Versailles police, who patrol Midway and the rest of Woodford County, would welcome the opportunity. Raglin and the mayor nodded in agreement.
“I have the utmost faith in our police; I think they do a wonderful job,” Thurman said. “I do think they would appreciate the platform to reach out to the community.” She added that transparency is important to them and they wanted to “have good community relations.”
As for others to invite, Vandegrift suggested Pastor Rick Smith from Second Christian Church because he is “a great resource” and “has done a lot of work with groups such as BUILD,” which stands for Building a United Interfaith Lexington through Direct action.
The mayor said, “I think there’s a lot of guests in the region” who can “come in and talk to the committee about ways to think about how to shape policy to make sure that it is inclusive.”
Vandegrift said he created the committee to implement the resolution that the council passed June 1, in the wake of killings by police in Louisville and Minneapolis and resulting Black Lives Matter protests.
The resolution says the city will examine “the racial biases embedded in our city” and “the racial impacts of city polices,” encourage people of color to participate in government and try to “improve the quality of life for all residents of Midway by asking these questions: Who benefits? Who is burdened? Who is missing? How do we know?”
Thurman said “People get very defensive” about such issues, “like we don’t need to have those conversations in Midway.” She said the committee needs to be brave, open-minded and “challenge the status quo.”
While the committee “absolutely applies to racial bias,” Vandegrift said, it can also consider things such as “poverty [and] all the unseen things in [the] community.”
Raglin said, “I’m honored to be on this committee. “If I could just figure out what direction I’m supposed to go in to help, I’m ready to just do whatever it is I can to make it all work.”
Thurman said “People get very defensive” about such issues, “like we don’t need to have those conversations in Midway.” She said the committee needs to be brave, open-minded and “challenge the status quo.”
While the committee “absolutely applies to racial bias,” Vandegrift said, it can also consider things such as “poverty [and] all the unseen things in [the] community.”
Raglin said, “I’m honored to be on this committee. “If I could just figure out what direction I’m supposed to go in to help, I’m ready to just do whatever it is I can to make it all work.”
Raglin said she knows there are issues but she “doesn’t really know what they are,” so “I need to be more out there and talking with people.”
That’s hard to do right now, Vandegrift said, because of the pandemic. “Unfortunately, those conversations are happening solely on social media,” which he said is a problem.
“People are very quick to talk about what they are frustrated about on social media,” he said, “but they’re slow to come to a city council meeting and say it.” He said the council has tried to be as welcoming as possible and “to say that anybody has a seat at the table [to] say whatever they feel,” but no one has asked to speak to the council since it started meeting online due to the pandemic.
The mayor said he hopes the committee can help give advice “in almost the thousand-yard view” on some of the policies and their effect on those in the community who are overlooked. “The sky is the limit for this committee.”
That’s hard to do right now, Vandegrift said, because of the pandemic. “Unfortunately, those conversations are happening solely on social media,” which he said is a problem.
“People are very quick to talk about what they are frustrated about on social media,” he said, “but they’re slow to come to a city council meeting and say it.” He said the council has tried to be as welcoming as possible and “to say that anybody has a seat at the table [to] say whatever they feel,” but no one has asked to speak to the council since it started meeting online due to the pandemic.
The mayor said he hopes the committee can help give advice “in almost the thousand-yard view” on some of the policies and their effect on those in the community who are overlooked. “The sky is the limit for this committee.”
The meeting was held via Zoom; a recording is on the Midway Government Streaming Meetings page on Facebook.