Vandegrift to Democrats: Progressive agenda can fit with job creation; leaders must take stands

In the wake of Democrats' landslide loss of the Kentucky House of Representatives, Midway Mayor Grayson Vandegrift sent the following letter to newspapers very early Wednesday morning.

By Grayson Vandegrift

    There will undoubtedly be autopsies performed of the Kentucky Democratic Party in the coming weeks, but I’d rather focus on a plan for the future, not a postmortem of what went wrong. The fact is, many people already know what’s been going wrong for some time: very few, including Kentucky Democrats, know if the KDP stands for anything that may be seen as controversial.

    In Midway, we’ve proven that a socially progressive agenda can perfectly coincide with a common sense approach to job creation, infrastructure, and quality of life. Despite passing what some opponents called a “job killer,” our fairness ordinance hasn’t resulted in the loss of jobs, but rather, a dramatic increase in them. We are experiencing a nearly 100% increase in jobs in our city since our civil rights bill was passed. That’s not to say that these jobs were created because of the ordinance, but they certainly weren’t deterred by it.

    Increased revenue has allowed us to begin to invest in programs that are resurfacing roads, fixing sidewalks, upgrading our water and sewer systems, and making enormous improvements to our city parks.

    I serve as the mayor of our city in a non-partisan office, and I’m thankful for it. But I am a registered Democrat, and proud of it, even if only because I find the Republican Party mostly unappealing. But I have many Republican friends, and today I’m telling them one thing they must be proud of – at least I know where they stand. If I understand anything about politics it’s this: you have to stand for something that might get you criticized before you can achieve anything worthwhile.

Voters in Midway go for Clinton, Gray and Kemper

City voters formed a line Tuesday afternoon at Northside. The poll for the smaller county precinct, at right, had less traffic. 

Trump precincts in red

The Midway city precinct was one of only three in Woodford County that Hillary Clinton carried in the presidential election. Clinton got 421 votes to 338 for Trump, with 28 voting for Libertarian Gary Johnson, 14 for independent Evan McMullin and 7 for Jill Stein of the Green Party.

In the rural Midway precinct, which extends to the city limits of Versailles, it was Trump 345, Clinton 225, Johnson 20, McMullin 10 and Stein 4. In addition to the Midway city precinct, Clinton carried two Versailles precincts, B103 and C102.

Countywide, the results were Trump 7,697, for 57 percent; Clinton 4,958, for 37 percent; Johnson 529, McMullin 246, Stein 217 and Rocky de la Fuente 13. Statewide, Trump got 62.54 percent of the vote; Clinton won 32.69 percent.

Paul precincts in red

The U.S. Senate race was closer, and much closer in Woodford County, as Republican Sen. Rand Paul edged out Lexington Mayor Jim Gray by 0.6 percent of the vote, 6,838 to 6,759.

Gray carried both Midway precincts, taking the city 489-316 and the rural precinct 309-303. Statewide, Paul won by about 14 percentage points.

The city precinct was the only one in the county won by the Rev. Nancy Jo Kemper, the Democratic nominee for Congress in the 6th Congressional District against Republican Rep. Andy Barr. The vote was 407 to 390. Barr carried the county 8,650 to 4,873 and easily won re-election. Both are from Lexington, but Kemper pastors the New Union Christian Church at the eastern tip of greater Midway, in the county precinct.

McDaniel, Simoff join council; Craig is odd man out

John McDaniel and Steve Simoff posed at City Hall last winter after
filing for city council. McDaniel signed Simoff's candidacy papers.

By Evan Merrill, Alexandra Kerns and Claire Johnson

University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media

The presidential election was not the only big race on election day for citizens of Midway, as seven candidates vied for six seats on the city council – a council that will have a new look come January, as Council Member Dan Roller did not seek re-election and incumbent Steven Craig was the odd man out. Newcomers John McDaniel and Steve Simoff were elected.

Incumbents re-elected were:

• Sara Hicks, 64, a family therapist who returned to the area just 12 years ago and was encouraged by friends to run for a council seat in 2014. She received the most votes, with 457, which will make her mayor pro tem.
• Bruce Southworth, 61, the former wastewater plant operator in Midway, who received the most votes in the 2014 election, will serve his third term after getting 438 votes.
• Nita Kaye Gallagher, a well-known food server in Midway and a state-government retiree, will return for a second term, receiving 426 votes.
• Libby Warfield, 64, the only council member besides Craig who voted against the “fairness ordinance” banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, finished in sixth, with 388 votes to win her second term. Craig got 355 votes.

McDaniel, 67, is the Midway correspondent for the Woodford Sun and a former police officer who served time for drug possession in the 1990s but just had his civil rights restored a year ago. He received 413 votes.

Simoff, 67, operates a bed and breakfast and is a racing official who has worked in the horse industry and lived in Midway for 15 years. He came in fifth with 408 votes.

Both spoke at length in their Midway Messenger profiles of a longtime dream or desire to hold a council seat. For both, that desire has been fulfilled.

Craig, 45, lost in the 2012 council race, when he finished in ninth of 10 candidates, but was elected in 2014.

Asked why he thought he lost, "Well, you know, I don't know. I don't think I have the answers to your questions. How about if I just make a comment? As far as going into how things feel and that stuff, is kinda irrelevant."

His comment was this: "I congratulate everyone that won. I'm glad they won; it is a good thing for them. I congratulate Sara Hicks on making vice mayor, and I want to see them keep doing good things for Midway and I think they will. I wish them all the best."

The new council of Hicks, Southworth, Gallagher, McDaniel, Simoff and Warfield will look to work with Mayor Grayson Vandegrift – who is in the middle of a four-year term – to address some of the issues in the election, such as repairing water and sewer lines, promoting tourism, and upgrading roads and sidewalks.

One voter for Simoff was Barb Wanner, 53, a Midway citizen for six years. She said in an interview that she voted for “the two candidates that came to the door,” including Simoff.

Wanner was one of several voters who said they did not really know the council candidates well enough to vote for them. Nathaniel Wyatt, 33, said he voted for only one candidate, McDaniel, because he knows him.

Geddy Walker declined to reveal his council choices. “I know most of those people because I work down at the drug store, so I did kind of find it hard to just exclude one,” he said. I think it would be better if there were more people running for that, because it’s almost a shoo-in that you’re going to get in if you ran for it.”

Information for this story was also gathered by Alexandra Kerns and Olivia Jones.

Anderson won't build housing at Midway Station; site to be industrial, commercial, professional offices

Midway Station will be an industrial park after all, without any residential development, Mayor Grayson Vandegrift told the Midway City Council tonight.

"We have just learned from Dennis Anderson that he is not going to build residential homes in Midway Station," Vandegrift said. Anderson is the Lexington developer who holds an option on most of the property, owned by the Woodford County Economic Development Authority.

EDA Chair John Soper told the council that the agency and Anderson would seek rezoning of the property back to industrial, except 37 acres near Georgetown Road where Anderson plans a commercial development, including 8 to 11 acres zoned for professional offices.

Midway Station was developed for industry in the 1990s. After it attracted only a handful of jobs, and the city and county were burdened by the debt incurred to buy and develop the property, and an attempt to relocate Bluegrass Stockyards to the site failed, EDA optioned it to Anderson and had it rezoned for residential and commercial use. Then the Great Recession hit, and Anderson agreed to make the payments on the debt to maintain his option.

Dennis Anderson (2014 photo)

When the economy bounced back, Anderson planned to redevelop the property with tax-increment financing, which pledges the increased tax revenue from a property to pay the debt for redeveloping its public infrastructure. After state officials said the property qualified only for use of revenue from property taxes, not payroll taxes, Anderson said he wouldn't use TIF after all.

Meanwhile, the property and adjoining land on Georgetown Road had attracted interest from industries, and American Howa Kentucky began building an auto-parts plant that will open soon, employing about 60 people.

Then Lakeshore Learning Materials decided to locate a 262-employee distribution center in Midway Station, and when it almost backed out for lack of natural gas, state and local officials arranged for a big gas line, which Vandegrift said makes the entire property more attractive.

Council Member Kaye Nita Gallagher asked, "How much are we going to charge Dennis Anderson to tap on to gas?" Soper said, "That's a question for Columbia Gas," which is paying one-fourth of the line's $2.8 million cost. The city is contributing $450,000 over five years to the project.

Vandegrift said of Anderson's announcement, "I think we sort of had an inkling this was coming. . . . One could reasonably argue that was never a good place to build homes to begin with," near factories and large electric transmission lines.

Soper said, "It just didn't make economic sense" for Anderson, but for industry, "Midway Station is at the right place."

Vandegrift said Anderson still wants to build homes in Midway, and later he said the city needs to encourage more housing. After the meeting, he said, "At some point, with all those jobs, we need to look at building a few more houses, and maybe they ought to be affordable houses," he said.

The mayor said some people in town don't want more residential development, but he would like to see the population of 1,700 "creep up to two thousand" with the help of some of the new plant workers, who would see advantages to living and working in the same city, to which they will be paying payroll taxes.

The council heard first reading of an ordinance to annex 33.485 acres behind the two plants, between Georgetown Road and the southwest corner of the property bought by Brown-Forman Corp. for new whiskey warehouses. Soper said part of the property is likely to be bought by Lakeshore for expansion, and "part is to control what's around them," perhaps a site for one of their suppliers.

Animal trap ordinance: The council also heard first reading of an ordinance on animal traps, designed to discourage more unfortunate incidents like the death of a pet cat in a trap set for groundhogs.

The proposed ordinance reads, "The means used in removing or evicting any animal, wildlife or pests . . . shall not result in the contemporaneous harming or death of a domestic animal or household pet," and says a copy shall be given to any animal-control business applying for a license in the city.

Stewart Surgener, whose cat was killed by the trap, told the council that it should allow only non-lethal traps. The ordinance, which could be amended, is scheduled for second reading and possible passage at the council's next meeting, Nov. 21.

Part of sidewalk to be replaced at 101 S. Winter St.

Sidewalks: Vandegrift reported that all three property owners offered city subsidies to fix their dangerous sidewalks have accepted and are getting bids. Five properties are involved: 100, 101 and 105 S. Winter St., 117 W. Bruen St. and 106 S. Gratz St.

Appointments: The council approved Vandegrift's appointment of Joanna Smith of Northridge Estates to the city's new Park Board, and of a new Trail Town Committee: Pam and Randy Thomas, Helen Rentch and Council Members Sara Hicks and Dan Roller (who is going off the council). Vandegrift said the committee would explore the possibility of connecting Midway with trails in Scott and Fayette counties.

Surplus property: The council approved a resolution declaring as surplus property the old house in the Midway Cemetery. That will allow the city to put the house up for bids, with the bidder to remove it. Hicks asked that the bidder be allowed a limited time to accomplish the removal, and city attorney Phil Moloney said that could be one of the bid specifications.

Event permits: The council approved permits for the next annual Iron Horse Half Marathon, to be run Oct. 15, 2017, and for a new 5-kilometer event, RaceRise, to benefit the Midway Ministerial Association, on New Year's Day.

Leslie M. Sharon, longtime builder and restorer, dies

Longtime Midway builder Leslie Murphy Sharon died Thursday at 88. For 70 years he built or restored hundred of homes, churches and businesses in Central Kentucky, first as partner in Sharon and Stone Builders, then on his own.

He is survived by his wife of 68 years, Jean Clifton Sharon; his daughters, Midway City Council Member Leslie “Libby” Warfield (David), Margaret “Peggy” Sharon, and Cynthia Jean Karrick (Philip); six grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren and a brother, Marvin Clay Sharon (Bessie).

Sharon was a native of Scott County. His visitation will be from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday at Johnson’s Funeral Home in Georgetown. The funeral will be held at 1:30 p.m. Monday at Midway Baptist Church, with burial in the Midway Cemetery.

Memorials may be made to the church, where he was a deacon, Sunday school superintendent, teacher, trustee and finance committee chair, and took a leading role in major restoration of the building during the 1960s.

"He gave of his time and talents where needed to help make a stronger community," and was "often seen working on something around town that needed to be fixed," says his obituary; read the full version here.

Firefighter leaders Armstrong, Price build city's department over 23 years of volunteer work

Story, photo and video by Leah Sharp

University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media

Midway Fire Chief Butch Armstrong and Assistant Chief Vincent Price make up a long-running team at the Midway Fire Department.

This summer, Armstrong and Price celebrated their 23-year anniversary of being chief and assistant chief. They took on their leadership roles in June 1993.

“The only way I was going to take on being chief is if Vince would serve as assistant chief,” Armstrong recalled.

Armstrong has been with the fire department since he was 20, in 1974. He said he joined “because it was a family thing on my in-laws’ side of the family” and his brother-in-law invited him to join.

Price joined the department in 1976. He grew up in Midway, he said, so “it was a calling” for him to become a firefighter.

Armstrong said that a little after he had joined the department, Midway made some changes by stopping “old habits of being unorganized.” 

“Before Midway organized the volunteer fire station, a siren would go off and whomever could come to the station would hop on a truck and go put out the fire,”  Armstrong recalled. Now a team is organized to come to the fire station if a call is made.

“What once started out to having just a helmet and rubber jacket to now having a full body suit,” Armstrong said. “A lot has changed since we have joined.”

Current regulations require all volunteers to have their own full body suit and accessories that come with it.

The department has 13 volunteer firefighters. Armstrong works at Lehman’s antiques store. Price has been retired for 12 years.

Armstrong and Price said they have no intentions of stepping down from their positions any time soon.

“Together we have stuck it out, and built it up with the city’s help,” Armstrong said. “I think we did a good job.” In 2015, the city bought a new fire truck, and they were able to customize it to fit their needs. Price talks about the "brotherhood" of the department:

Council agenda: annexation, animal traps, Midway Station, sidewalk deals and more

The Midway City Council has a long agenda for its regular meeting Monday evening at 5:30 at City Hall.

The council plans to hold first reading of two ordinances: one annexing more than 33 acres of farmland next to the Midway Station industrial zone, and one putting animal trappers on notice that they are expected to leave domestic animals unharmed. The farmland is in line for industrial development, and a citizen's requested a ban on trapping after her cat was killed by a trap set for a groundhog.

The agenda also includes an update on developments involving Midway Station, appointments to the new Park Board and Trail Town Committee, two event permits and a resolution declaring surplus the house at the cemetery, so it can be put up for bids for sale and removal.

Also on the agenda is an update on sidewalks. Mayor Grayson Vandegrift said this week that all three property owners who were offered a city subsidy of 50 percent, up to $1,000, for repair of their dangerous sidewalks, have accepted.

All meetings of the council and its committees are open to the public.