Rock Daniels, Susan Lamb, and Steve Kay at 10/13/22 Council Meeting
Channel: The Lexington Times
Date: 2023-06-13

An audit was initiated in January after, according to the Herald-Leader, the Kentucky State Auditor received an "anonymous" tip concerning the council’s spending. The tip did not contain any evidence of wrongdoing but raised concerns about the potential personal use of public funds by council members.

In one public comment at a Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government Council meeting on October 12, 2022, a concerned citizen, Rock Daniels, likened council members’ spending of public money to theft, saying, “I found that council members are spending public dollars on themselves... This money is not to be spent on your own person. And you guys know that.” Daniels expressed his disappointment and appealed for greater transparency, adding, “I think we can do better. I think we can be more transparent. It just wasn't. It doesn't look good. And you can't spend money on yourself. This money is supposed to go to neighborhoods.”

Council Member Susan Lamb responded resolutely to Daniels’ comments, defending both her and the council’s integrity: “My integrity is everything to me, not only on this council as a body, on this council, but personally, and for someone to stand before me and everybody else that is watching or that everybody watches in the future and to insinuate that I have done anything illegal wrong or anything else in my 35 years with this city insults my integrity and I will not let it go without saying something.” She also praised the work of the council, saying, “We hold the city up and we do a good job and we try to represent our constituents in this community.”

Vice Mayor Steve Kay joined Lamb in responding to Daniels’ comments, expressing his agreement: “It’s really unfair to us. It’s unfair to the public. It puts a suspicion out there that’s not so far as I know, backed by anything substantial.” He stressed the importance of specifics in making allegations, saying, “I also normally would not take a moment to respond, but I agree with Council member Lamb to stand at the podium and with a broad brush, make a statement about unspecified council members.”