Plaza Possibilities Overlooked

If the architects who were illegitimately chosen for the plaza design had made more of an attempt revitalize downtownthis kind of thing could've happened [see photo]however as it stands we are left with a city debt of over 1.5 million dollars to pay back through taxation and we (downtown dwellers and other interested people) never had any input for this investment in pavers.

My only regret stems from the exclusionary process by which our city "ramrodded" their plaza design through. However, since someone at the DLC and the specially formed city committee (of mostly city employees) approved of it they believed their job was done. My take on it is, we have to pay for something we never had a chance to have any impact on. This I believe is representative of an exclusionary process. Civic architecture ought to consider people, function and place seriously. Revitalization is about people and not things like pavers and water walls.

One final note to anyone who wishes to be heard by our city council. Remember, if you work very hard, you might get on their docket or you might not.

This depends on how well you understand the process, their process no doubt. Be sure and contact more than one council member and not just the one who represents your district.This way they can fit you nicely into their agenda.

Jere Sullivan


Mostly Tricks

HAPPY,uh, HALLOWEEN !

There they are on our doorstep-and what a scary bunch they are! I'm not talking about Halloween trick-or-treaters; I mean the political candidates.

Repugnicants, Democrackheads, In-dope-indents, LiberContraryTarians-as usual it's a sketchy batch, but somewhere out there's a non-professional "powertitian" (possibly named Lester O'Touevals) who might actually do some good.

Try to find that one and then exercise your right to later regret having the wool pulled over your eyes-who knows, it may not happen this time!

See you at the other end of the hall of mirrors!

Daryl Weaver


In other UK teams

In response to the article on the UK Solar car team, we would like to introduce you to the UK quarter-scale tractor team. The attached photo is of the 2002 tractor taken at John Deere's world headquarters in Moline, Il. We placed third overall in the ASAE international quarter-scale design competition this year.

WTVQ anchors Alexa Gromko and John Dobken will host a half hour round-table discussion with mayoral candidates Teresa Isaac and Scott Crosbie. It will not be a formal debate, but rather an informal discussion of the issues at the heart of the race. The candidates will answer questions submitted via email at 36OnYourSide@wtvq.com. You can check it out on Friday, November 1 at 5:30pm.


Lenny

Wondering what to do with those pumpkins leftover from Halloween? Well, hopefully you made some delicious pies. But, for disposal, you can place the pumpkins on the curb on your recycling day starting November 1, and continuing until the 27th. Also, you can place the old pumpkins in your Lenny recycling bin.


Click to it

If you should any confusion of where you are eligible to vote on Tuesday, 5 November, now you can find out online. The city has put up a page on its site, lfucg.com, that allows users to key in their home address, and the result is the voter's polling place, and the easiest route to it. But, you can still get the info on where you can vote by calling the county clerk's office at 255-VOTE.


Let it FLOW

On October 23rd, The Kent-ucky Public Service Commission delayed a review of the proposed restructured purchase of the Kentucky-American Water Co. (KAWC) by German company RWE, due to the request by Bluegrass FLOW for additional time to prepare its testimony. The review originally scheduled for Monday, October 28, has been postponed until Thursday, November 21, and the decision deadline in the case has been extended to Friday, December 20. Also, Bluegrass FLOW held a press conference Tuesday, October 29 to detail their plan for how they wish to see the local water company operated.

To submit an advocacy/activism activity or event for Quickies, email rkirkland@aceweekly.com, or editor@aceweekly.com.

Sold American

-Demosthenes, to the Greeks

No endorsements for mayor this week.

Not from Ace. Not from the Herald-Leader.

That's a break from tradition.

The last presidential election was not easy, but at the end of the day, we all held our noses and did our job.

This year's mayoral race seems to have precipitated some sort of unique strike.

It would be irresponsible for any newspaper to suggest avoiding the polls, so we don't.

While everyone's going around quoting the Rolling Stones: "Spare a thought for the stay-at-home voterEndless parades of gray-suited grafters-a choice between cancer and polio," a boycott of the process makes no statement beyond one of childishness and impotence.

An endorsement of apathy is an endorsement of sustained mediocrity.

And yet, despite the individual civic commitment and responsibility we might all feel, personally, to vote next Tuesday, to publicly endorse a candidate in this year's mayoral race? Also irresponsible.

Now, is that bitterness talkin'?

Uhhhhhhh..yeah.

Ya think?

In the primary, the city had in Jim Gray a mayoral candidate who ran for all the right reasons and none of the wrong ones.

His campaign made some key strategic errors-none of which had the slightest thing to with his ability to run the city-but which, combined, lost him the chance.

Enough said. This isn't his eulogy, and it isn't meant to be (for one thing, everybody feels sure he'll be back).

And it all got uglier after the primary.

Things that were common knowledge about both candidates from the day they announced they would run were cranked into public-friendly form, "leaked," and then spit back out in ads (which is not surprising), and then by the press as if it was really "news" (which is an easy thing for any campaign to accomplish in a town where most media outlets pride themselves on a lack of institutional memory and few local roots-instead, functioning as training factory/mills for new grads hoping to gain enough experience to move to a "real" city-this phenomena is presented as bringing in "fresh" and "outside" perspectives, and it certainly isn't unique to Lexington media; and it pervades and compromises coverage of any city issue).

So yeah, the candidates each bear a fair share of blame-but a lot of other people were certainly complicit if not outright guilty.

"Muckraking" is actually a fine, time-honored tradition, but Lexington has no Mencken. And nothing close.

So don't let anybody kid you that the last few months of sow's ears are now silk purses.

In The Stuff of Heroes, General William Cohen praises leadership and integrity, "The ultimate test of character is the willingness to do the right thing despite the costs and risks and to do it not with any expectation of approval or advantage, but simply because it is the right thing. In these cynical times, it's easy to think such leadership is unattainable, yet in every community there are hundreds of men and women-parents, teachers, coaches, civic activists-who fit the mold. We should do a better job of finding and honoring them."

He notes that real leaders often don't depend on the power they get from their formal authority.

You'll meet a few people like that in this Annual Power Issue. (You'll meet more in the year-end edition, "This Year's Models," profiling model citizens.)

As for the election, the Herald-Leader concluded their mayoral non-endorsement with "We urge you to vote your conscience for the betterment of Lexington and pray that whoever wins turns out to be a better leader than our worst fears." That's worth repeating.

We can only add, as you approach the voting booth, that time-honored admonition that Puritanical mothers used to advise their bridal daughters about their forthcoming (assuredly unpleasant) conjugal duties, "close your eyes and think of England."

Sorry we can't do any better.

Kinky Friedman wrote, "everything's been sold American, The lonely night is mourning for the death it never dies. Everyone's been sold American," and, at the end, just "don't let me catch you laughing when the jukebox cries."

It's a dark, dark week here.