Fact vs. Fiction

Undoubtedly, throughout this campaign there will be misinformation and distortions of the truth about Mayor Newberry and his record. Here, you can learn what is fact and what is fiction.

Centrepointe

Fiction:Mayor Newberry is responsible for tearing down the structures on the Centrepointe block.

Fact:The block is privately owned. The decision to clear it was made by the owners. No public dollars are invested in Centrepointe. As a matter of private property rights, Mayor Newberry believes it is highly inappropriate for government officials to prevent an otherwise lawful development to occur on private property just because the politicians don’t personally like the design or the private citizens involved in the project.

Fiction: Mayor Newberry allowed the owners of Centrepointe to skirt city rules involved in tearing down the block or in designing the Centrepointe project.

Fact: The rules were followed. The block is privately owned. The buildings were documented by historic preservation. The Courthouse Area Design Review Board approved the project.

Fiction: Mayor Newberry approved the Centrepointe project.

Fact: Mayor Newberry does not have the authority to approve or deny development projects. Depending on the location, projects must receive permits from appropriate divisions or agencies according to existing laws. In some cases, like that of Centrepointe, projects also have to receive approval from boards with oversight authority such as the Courthouse Area Design Review Board.

Fiction: City tax-dollars have been invested in the Centrepointe block.

Fact: Not one dime.

Fiction: The proposed design for Centrepointe is “disproportional” for our downtown.

Fact: The center tower of the proposed Centrepointe design is about the same height as the “blue” building. The buildings that surround the central tower, where businesses will be located, are three stories tall, like many of the buildings on the surrounding streets.

Fiction: Tearing down the buildings on the Centrepointe block killed businesses.

Fact: Buster’s reopened in the Distillery District, better than ever; Mia’s reopened across the street from Fayette County Circuit Court, better than ever; Joe Rosenberg reopened on Main Street, better than ever; the Dame reopened on Main Street, but then closed. The Dame was a business that had loyal following, but it was not financially viable. Landlords for the Dame repeatedly said the business was not on firm financial footing when it left the Centrepointe block.

Fiction: The tax increment financing projects that are proposed with the Centrepointe block would line the pockets of Centrepointe’s developers.

Fact: The tax increment financing projects are strictly public projects made possible by the increase in tax revenue that would be produced by Centrepointe over the tax revenue generated by businesses formerly located on that block. Tax increment financing allows Lexington to keep locally-produced tax revenue instead of sending it to Frankfort.

Water

Fiction: Mayor Newberry is in Kentucky-American’s pocket and he supports the proposed rate increase.

Fact: Mayor Newberry is fighting Kentucky-American’s proposed water rate hike through an electronic petition drive. He has already collected over 4,000 signatures from citizens who oppose the increase. He also directed city lawyers to intervene in the rate case.

Fiction: Mayor Newberry has refused to get the leaders of Kentucky-American to come to Council and answer questions.

Fact: Mayor Newberry asked Kentucky-American representatives to appear before Council. They refused. The Mayor cannot force them to appear.

Fiction: Mayor Newberry could have stopped Kentucky-American’s plan to build a new plant on the Kentucky River.

Fact: The Kentucky Public Service Commission approved the Kentucky-American plan. According to state law, the Mayor cannot tell the commission what to do. The decision was based on a decision-making process that lasted 24 years.

Fiction: Mayor Newberry supported Kentucky-American’s plan to build a new plant on the Kentucky River all along and was unwilling to consider other alternatives.

Fact: Mayor Newberry supported the establishment of an adequate water supply for our city. The Louisville plan was too ambiguous. He did not think we needed to study the issue for another 24 years. He wanted to put an end to drought restrictions that inconvenienced citizens, even cracking the foundations of some homes, and hurt businesses.

Fiction: Kentucky-American’s plan was the most costly alternative before the Commission.

Fact: The Commission found that the Kentucky-American plan was “nearly identical” in cost to the Louisville Water option.

Fiction: Our rates would not have changed if we had condemned the water company in 2006.

Fact: Nope. Condemning the water company would have done nothing to address our need for an improved water supply. Our city needed access to additional clean water. Any plan to increase our access to clean water came with a price tag and that means higher rates.

Fiction: Mayor Newberry decided not to condemn and purchase the water company.

Fact: Voters decided not to condemn and purchase the water company in 2006 at the ballot box through a referendum, before Mayor Newberry took office. As a candidate in 2006, Mayor Newberry vowed to carry out the wishes of voters, and he has done so.

Airport, Library, Kentucky League of Cities

Fiction: Mayor Newberry is responsible for the scandalous spending practices at the airport, the library and the Kentucky League of Cities.

Fact: No. Although Mayor Newberry appoints members to the Airport and Library boards, the boards are independent, by statute. The Mayor has strongly condemned the spending practices at the Airport, the Library and the Kentucky League of Cities. He supported an independent audit of these facilities and, where possible, implemented an independent audit by city staff. He has strongly suggested that auditors be rotated each year by all community boards that oversee budgets. He has implemented training for volunteer community board members to improve their ability to provide oversight. He has appointed “new blood” to entrenched boards. As a board member of the League of Cities, where he does not appoint the members, he has led the fight for new financial oversight, new leadership and for hiring a national search firm to find that new leadership and he testified at the General Assembly in favor of legislation to require more transparency at Kentucky League of Cities.

Fiction: Financial scandal at City Hall has been part of Mayor Newberry’s administration.

Fact: Nope.

Fiction: Mayor Newberry opposed the audit of the airport conducted by State Auditor Crit Luallen.

Fact: No, he supported any independent review, including that of the State Auditor. His support of an independent review is well-documented in a letter to Vice-Mayor Gray on December 4, 2008.

Fiction: Mayor Newberry has had blind faith in the Airport Board.

Fact: No, but Mayor Newberry did oppose allowing a bunch of politicians – members of the Urban-County Council – to run the airport. The board has acknowledged that it made mistakes. Since then it has stepped up, fired staff, improved financial oversight and tightened internal policies. The board has complied with the recommendations made by State Auditor Crit Luallen, and in fact the board’s diligence and progress have impressed her as she and her staff have said publicly. In February 2010, the Council affirmed the reappointment of the Airport board chair by a vote of 13-2—a recognition of the progress made by the Board.

Fire

Fiction: Mayor Newberry has permanently closed fire stations around Lexington, jeopardizing public safety.

Fact: At a time when cities across the nation are laying off police officers and fire fighters, Mayor Newberry has worked hard to reduce expenses without compromising public safety. The City’s Fire Chief confirmed that temporarily taking a fire station out of service for 24 hours or less would not impact the safety of Lexington’s citizens. Therefore, when the City faced a significant revenue shortfall in December of 2009, overtime expenses in Fire needed to be reduced. Stations that were temporarily closed were within close proximity to other stations. By temporarily taking a fire station out of service and relocating the firefighters to other stations that were short-staffed, Lexington was able to achieve savings and avoid laying off firefighters and police officers.

Fiction: Mayor Newberry made the decision to temporarily take some fire stations out of service without talking to firefighters.

Fact: The staff reduction plan was actually developed by the Fire Department itself. In fact, temporarily taking a station out of service happens as a matter of policy from time to time for various reasons, such as training. The decisions of when to take a fire station out of service and for how long is the decision of the Fire Chief.