Gray has the edge on two Lexington mayoral candidates, political science professor says
By Beth Musgrave, Lexington Herald-Leader | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
Yet, the 60-year-old first-term mayor says he loves his job and wants to keep it.
"I enjoy problem-solving," Gray said. "I love complex, challenging issues that involve different points of view.
Gray has touted his problem-solving acumen and ability to get things done in campaign ads and in stump speeches in the weeks leading up to Tuesday's primary against challengers
"Incumbents historically have an advantage over challengers," Dugi said. "There were no major catastrophes during the Gray administration, there was no Watergate."
The top two vote getters in the primary will move on to the general election in November.
The former CEO of
Gray, who served as vice mayor before beating incumbent Mayor
Beatty raised more than
The primary campaign has largely focused on Gray and his first term.
No independent polls have been conducted in the three-way race. But a poll commissioned by the city administration in 2011 showed that Gray's approval rating was north of 75 percent.
Gray attributes those high marks to key changes he made early in his tenure to address the city's dwindling revenues during a revenue-crushing recession. He made changes to the city employee health insurance plans to control spiraling costs. The health insurance overhaul dramatically increased costs to city employees, including police and fire, and sparked a demonstration in front of city hall led by firefighters.
But a report presented to the
Gray and police and firefighters also inked a deal to make changes to the police and firemen's pension, which had an unfunded liability of nearly
"Past performance is the best indicator of future performance," Gray said of the reasons why voters should back him in May.
Renovating Rupp
During three mayoral forums, neither Beatty nor Mayer has attacked Gray about the changes he implemented to correct the city's finances.
Instead, Gray has spent much of the primary defending his plans to revamp
Beatty, 62, who served as police chief for six years before retiring in 2007 to take a position as an assistant vice president at the
"I don't oppose a renovated
Mayer, who teaches English at
"Economically it's a bad deal," Mayer said. "That has been demonstrated by the number of arena projects nationally that are costing their cities a lot of money."
Aesthetically it also doesn't make sense, because it's out of scale with the rest of the city, he said.
"We have a small, narrow downtown," Mayer said. "By reinforcing the
Rupp will also cost a lot of money and will eat up about
Dugi said he's not convinced that attacking the Rupp project will translate to more votes on Tuesday.
"I don't know how much traction that is going to get," Dugi said. "Anything that has to do with
Gray has defended the project, calling it a "game-changer" that will create thousands of jobs, transform downtown and will keep
Beatty and Gray have also sparred over public safety. Beatty, who spent more than three decades as a
"Perception is reality," Beatty said. "If you don't feel that it is a safe community, then it's not."
There are fewer police officers now than there were when he left in 2007, he said. That means police officers can't spend time in high-crime neighborhoods. They answer calls and then leave, he said.
"There is no presence of police to detract," Beatty said. "That's something that's got to change."
Gray did not lay off police or firefighters during his past three years in office. The city has had classes to replace officers who leave, but the city has not been able to hire many additional police officers during the past three years due to lean budgets.
That will change with the budget for the fiscal year that begins
"I have included money in my budget for 15 additional police officers," Gray said.
City numbers show that major crimes have actually decreased by 7.8 percent from 2012 to 2013, Gray said.
Establishing recognition
In stump speeches and in advertisements, Beatty also focuses on his deep roots in
Gray is originally from
Mayer was born in
Beatty is the first black to run for mayor and became the city's first black police chief in 2001. He pledges to be inclusive and frequently says he will make sure "all voices are heard."
Beatty's message of inclusiveness will help, Dugi said.
"Beatty has some name recognition because he was a police chief and he's an African-American -- in an age of diversity and inclusion, that does help him," he said.
Mayer often calls himself the "other, other" candidate and dresses the part. While Gray and Beatty favor dark suits and ties for forums, the married father of a 3-year-old wears tan pants, short-sleeve button down shirts and no tie. He travels without handlers and paid campaign staff.
Mayer has been teaching at BCTC since 2007.
It was an impulsive decision to get in the race, Mayer said. He has loaned the campaign about
"I'm learning a lot," Mayer said recently in an interview on the BCTC campus on
Mayer ran a community newspaper, North of Center, from 2009 to 2013. But he has no radio or television ads. His name recognition is low, Dugi said.
"Mayer is running an outsider campaign," Dugi said. "It's not that he doesn't have merit," but he's just not that well-known, he said.
Years spent in front of college students have made Mayer a savvy stump speaker. At a forum Tuesday night at the
While Beatty has given few specifics on issues he would like to address in the next four years, Mayer has a 10-point platform that outlines ideas such as legalizing marijuana, raising the minimum wage and improving the city's food economy.
Although Mayer says he supports legalizing marijuana, it is not his sole reason for running for public office.
"I'm not
He's an avid paddler and hiker and wants the city to implement a greenways plan that better connects the county's green spaces and its farmland to its urban core. Lextran should be expanded and improved, he says.
If he doesn't make it past Tuesday, Mayer said he hasn't decided if he will run again, perhaps for a different office.
Many attendees at the three mayor forums have asked Mayer to continue with politics regardless of what happens Tuesday.
"I look at this election as really a test case on whether I want to continue on with engaging in my community in this way," he said. "I am waiting to see how the community receives me to see if it's valuable enough for me to continue."
___
(c)2014 the Lexington Herald-Leader (Lexington, Ky.)
Visit the Lexington Herald-Leader (Lexington, Ky.) at www.kentucky.com
Distributed by MCT Information Services
Wordcount: | 1640 |
NNY Community Foundation names philanthropic council members
Advisor News
Annuity News
Health/Employee Benefits News
Life Insurance News