Serving Beyond City Hall

Being a member of the community means more than holding public office. I believe in showing up, listening, volunteering, mentoring, and building relationships with the people and organizations that make our community stronger.

Serving on the Lexington City Council comes with defined responsibilities. Councilmembers attend Council meetings, work sessions, committee meetings, review legislation, vote on city business, and carry out the duties required of the office. Those responsibilities are an important part of the job, but I never believed that representing the 4th District should end when the meeting at City Hall was over.

I chose to take a different approach to the office. From the beginning, I proactively reached out to HOAs, neighborhood associations, PTAs, schools, businesses, senior communities, and other organizations throughout the district. I regularly attended their meetings and events, made myself personally accessible, and took the time to listen to residents face to face. Many of these organizations told me that I was the first Councilmember who had proactively reached out to them and consistently made the effort to be present from day one.

I did not consider that extra work. I considered it the responsibility that came with earning the privilege of representing my neighbors. The people of the 4th District elected me to be their voice, and I believed I needed to hear their voices firsthand. So when I was not at City Hall, I spent my time in the community, listening, volunteering, mentoring, solving problems, and building relationships.

I also did not do this for recognition. I rarely took photographs or publicized my volunteer work on social media. In particular, when I worked with children and young people, I did not want their personal experiences or the trust they placed in me to become campaign content. The value of that work was in being there for them, not in proving that I had been there.

I believe public service should be personal. A councilmember should know the neighborhoods they represent, know the people who live there, listen to their concerns, and understand the communities they serve. That is the kind of Councilmember I chose to be, and it is the kind of representative I intend to be again.

Reachable Means Showing Up

1. Southern Middle School: Ladies of Lexington Mentoring Program -

While looking for volunteer opportunities in the community, I was particularly interested in mentoring young people. I approached the principal at Southern Middle School to ask about opportunities to work with students. He connected me with the school counselor, and together we developed a mentoring group called Ladies of Lexington.

I wanted to use my platform as a Councilwoman to speak with and mentor young girls.

Every two weeks, I met with girls who had chosen to participate with their parents' permission. At first, the girls were understandably quiet and hesitant to share. Over time, they became comfortable opening up about their experiences. We talked about bullying, gossip, friendship, self-confidence, and the importance of standing up for one another. I encouraged them to lift each other up, defend someone who is being bullied, find their own voice, and speak up for themselves and others. I also shared some of my own experiences growing up and encouraged them to understand that they have the ability to shape how they treat one another.

The program was successful enough that Southern Middle School invited me to return the following year. I was honored by that invitation and by the trust the school placed in me to work with its students.

In addition to the mentoring program, I regularly attended Southern Middle School PTA meetings and participated in the school's annual Spartan Day.

2. Family Care Center: Mentoring Single Mothers -

I volunteered with the Family Care Center, mentoring single mothers who were working to complete their high school diplomas. Although I was not a teen mother and my circumstances were different from many of the young women I mentored, I was a single mother myself. I was fortunate to have an excellent relationship with my former husband, and we worked together to co-parent our children successfully. Even with that support, I understood the responsibilities and challenges that come with being a single mother, as well as the stigma and assumptions that can sometimes accompany it.

I shared my own story, including the challenges I faced, the choices I made, and the successes I worked to achieve. I offered encouragement and practical advice, but more importantly, I wanted these women to see that their current circumstances did not define their future. We talked about setting goals, continuing their education, believing in themselves, and creating opportunities for themselves and their children.

I wanted them to know that they had a voice, that their goals mattered, and that they were capable of building the future they wanted. I encouraged them to keep moving forward, even when the path was difficult, and to recognize the example they were setting for their children by continuing their education and working toward something better.

3. Southern Elementary: Showing Up for Students and Families -

I regularly attended Southern Elementary School PTA meetings, creating an opportunity for parents to have direct, face-to-face access to me in their own community. These meetings gave me the chance to listen to parents' concerns, hear directly from the school about its needs, and understand the challenges facing students and families.

When the school identified needs, I looked for ways to help. I made donations of school supplies and participated in the school's traveling Back to School Bash, which made three stops in one day to reach students and families in different parts of the community. Being there allowed me to connect with families where they were and support an event focused on helping students start the school year prepared and supported.

For me, being involved in the community meant more than showing up for a meeting. It meant listening, responding when I could, and making sure parents and school leaders knew they had someone willing to hear them and help connect them with resources.

4. Lansdowne Elementary: Staying Connected to Students and Families -

I regularly attended Lansdowne Elementary School PTA meetings, creating an opportunity for parents to have direct, face-to-face access to me in their own community. Being present at the school allowed me to hear directly from parents and school leaders about their concerns and needs, including traffic and pedestrian safety issues around the school and concerns involving the park that backs up to the school.

I also attended the school's Back to School Bash and looked for practical ways to support teachers and students. When I learned that classrooms needed basic supplies, I donated items such as Kleenex to help ensure that teachers had what they needed and that every classroom was stocked.

Being accessible meant more than answering questions at City Hall. It meant being where families were, listening to their concerns face to face, and following up when they brought an issue to my attention. My involvement with Lansdowne gave me the opportunity to build those relationships while supporting the school, its teachers, and its families.

5. Veterans Park Elementary: Building Relationships Beyond the District -

Although Veterans Park Elementary is located outside the 4th District, I regularly attended PTA meetings because 4th District students attend the school, and I believed it was important to maintain a relationship with the school community. Being present at PTA meetings gave me the opportunity to build relationships with school leaders, teachers, and parents and to hear their concerns directly and face to face.

I also stayed engaged when parents raised concerns about the West Hickman Wastewater Treatment Plant odor. Parents reported that the odor was sometimes noticeable inside the school and that some children were becoming sick. I kept the school community informed about what I was doing to address the issue and provided updates as the city worked toward improvements.

I also used 4th District Neighborhood Development Funds to provide a grant to the school's PTA for seating at an existing outdoor shelter, helping create an outdoor learning space for students.

Although the school was outside my district boundaries, I believed that 4th District families who attended Veterans Park Elementary deserved a representative who would show up, listen, and remain engaged. Building those relationships allowed me to hear concerns firsthand and work with the school community on issues affecting its students and families.

6. Tates Creek High School: Supporting Students and Families -

Although Tates Creek High School is located outside the 4th District, I made a point of staying connected because students and families from the 4th District attend the school. I regularly attended PTA meetings, building relationships with school leaders, teachers, and parents and creating opportunities to hear directly and face to face about the needs of the school and its students.

Tates Creek serves a high-needs student population, including a significant number of students from low-income households. I worked with the school and its PTA to provide grants supporting student needs and opportunities. One of those investments provided more than 600 bus passes to students, helping ensure that transportation costs did not become a barrier to participating in extracurricular activities and school events.

I believe being accessible means being willing to go where the people you represent are, even when that means crossing a district boundary. My involvement at Tates Creek allowed me to build relationships, listen to concerns directly, and help connect the school community with resources that could make a difference for students.

7. Showing Up for Our Seniors -

regularly volunteered at Sayre Christian Village, Legacy Reserve, and The Willows, all retirement communities in the 4th District. At least once a month, I spent time at each community, volunteering at activities, attending community events, and hosting social gatherings. I made a conscious decision to go to them rather than expect them to come to me.

These communities provide residents with many of the things they need and enjoy in one place, including dining, fitness facilities, pools, social activities, and a full calendar of events. While there are opportunities for residents to venture out into the broader community, I knew that if I wanted to truly hear from them, I needed to be willing to meet them where they were.

Our seniors have a lifetime of knowledge, experience, and perspective, and I wanted them to know that their voices still matter. I wanted to create opportunities for them to share their concerns, ideas, and opinions directly with me and to know that they could still contribute to and help shape the future of Lexington.

For me, this was about more than attending an occasional event. It was about becoming part of their communities, building relationships, listening face to face, and making sure the people who had spent their lives contributing to Lexington knew they were still heard, valued, and part of the conversation.

8. Building Relationships with 4th District Businesses -

I made a point of building and maintaining relationships with businesses throughout the 4th District. I regularly stayed in contact with business owners and managers, giving them an opportunity to speak with me directly about concerns affecting their businesses, employees, customers, and the surrounding community.

Those conversations covered a wide range of issues, including traffic and access, public safety and crime, severe weather response, utilities, and other challenges that can affect a business's ability to operate successfully. By maintaining these relationships, I was able to better understand the issues facing our local business community and help connect businesses with the appropriate city resources when concerns arose.

Those relationships also allowed me to celebrate the growth and investment happening in the 4th District. Business owners and developers invited me to be part of important milestones, including ribbon cuttings and new developments such as the opening of SpringHill Suites by Marriott at Fritz Farm.

For me, building relationships with our business community was about more than attending ribbon cuttings. It was about being accessible, listening to the people who invest in our district, and making sure they knew they had someone willing to hear their concerns and help when I could.

9. Building Relationships with 4th District Businesses -

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