KFTC Blog

Members of the Rowan County Chapter of KFTC helped organize the record turn out for the first reading of the proposed Fairness Ordinance at the Morehead City Council meeting on Monday, November 11.  

Morehead State University President Dr. Wayne Andrews, who had been in contact with the Rowan chapter regarding the proposed ordinance, spoke eloquently for its need and thanked the council for its work in this matter.  Individual council members voiced their commitment to Fairness, and thanked members of the community for coordinating such an impressive show of support, before unanimously voting to approve the first reading. 

The ordinance will have its second reading at the council’s December meeting. If the second reading passes and the ordinance becomes law, Morehead will become the sixth city in Kentucky have a Fairness Ordinance on the books.

On September 30 a Townhall Meeting was held at Embrace Church in Lexington. There, residents of the First City Council District met and held a discussion with First District Councilman Chris Ford. The First District is in North Lexington and is historically a low income and largely a community of color. It was a broad and far ranging discussion with a number of concerns raised. Councilman Ford attentively listened and responded where he could. “I don't ever forget that I represent you,” he told residents.

Multiple issues and concerns were raised but the question of affordable housing figured prominently. There was also discussion on the revitalization of the community. While the revitalization has been good in a number ways as we see housing being repaired and new business coming in. It has also been a problem with low-income residents of the community being forced out. Some women from the apartment complex at 468 N. Limestone Street said they are being forced to move. The apartments are being remodeled, and rented out at a higher rate. Residents also talked about zoning issues, speed bumps, sidewalks and public safety.

At the meeting the residents also heard from Raymond Sexton, executive director of Lexington Human Rights Commission. He reported on a recent study the HRC, State of Fair and Affordable Housing Report for  Lexington-Fayettee County. Sexton stated, “We must do something about these problems, but they run deep. We need to address the root problem but also need to address the symptoms.”

Last Monday, October 28, the Madison County chapter invited state senator Jared Carpenter to Berea for a lobby meeting, where the senator and KFTC members discussed the upcoming legislative session, including the possibility of Carpenter’s support for KFTC legislative priorities. The meeting began with a brief talk by Carpenter about his own legislative priorities, which included encouraging the growth of industry and infrastructure in Madison County and stopping the heroin trade in Kentucky, which he believed could be done with “tougher punishments for the folks producing and selling heroin.”

Shelby County KFTC member Leslie McBride wanted to help get the word out to people in her community about signing up for the Affordable Care Act.  After being turned down by several grocery stores management to have an official table in front of the store, Leslie decided to just take large stacks of handouts and a clipboard to the parking lots of those stores.  Below is what she wrote about the experience.

"A couple of weekends ago, I handed out information about the Affordable Care Act to people in parking lots in Shelbyville. Nine out of ten people wanted the information; they were hungry for it, even though it was pouring down rain for the last half hour. I heard powerful stories of people who needed healthcare, whose children needed healthcare, who had been to the library to connect to the kynect link. People of all races, ages and walks of life approached me. I gave out everything I had, and could have given out ten times as much. People need this, and I urge everyone to support this movement." 

Click here for a link to the Kynect fact sheets that you can download and print from home and handout to your neighbors as well!