Months of planning and seven meeting sessions have led to a set of proposed changes aimed at changing how Lexington’s city government operates.
Members of Lexington’s first-ever Civic Assembly presented their recommendations on changes to council member compensation and the city’s charter review process to the Urban County Council’s General Government and Planning Committee on Tuesday.
Following that presentation, the committee voted to move the recommendations forward, bringing them to the full council at a work session on June 2. If approved there, the proposals could ultimately appear on the ballot for public consideration in November.
The assembly, made up of 36 randomly selected Lexington residents from a wide range of backgrounds, first convened in March with a clear goal: to develop potential changes to the city charter (the document outlining how the city governs itself) and compensation for Urban County Council members. Those ideas took a step closer to becoming reality on Wednesday.
Currently, Urban County Council members earn around $40,000 per year. The assembly is proposing raising that figure to nearly $60,000 annually, aligning it with the average wage in Lexington, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. (...)
In addition to compensation, the assembly is recommending changes aimed at transparency and accountability. Specifically, members want the city charter amended to require publicly viewable attendance records and clearer expectations for council member accountability.
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