LONDON, Ky. — Tensions were high at a city council meeting in London on Wednesday, where several controversial ordnances, including city staff layoffs, were set to be discussed. But before that could happen, London Mayor Randall Weddle canceled the meeting, believing moving forward would likely violate the state’s open meetings act.

What You Need To Know

  • A special city council meeting in London was canceled by the mayor Wednesday night

  • Mayor Randall Weddle expressed concerns that it would have opened the city up to legal action, as the crowded room was overcapacity and could be in violation of the Kentucky Open Meetings Act

  • The council was set to discuss a number of ordinances, first passed during a nearly four-hour meeting Monday

  • Those ordinances affect potential city staff layoffs and the fire department performing “basic life support and advanced life support services

Mayor Weddle stated an over capacity crowd would open the city up to legal issues as state law dictates everyone at the meeting must be able to hear what’s going on.

“I know you all are in a hurry to get everybody standing in this room, but it ain’t like you can’t wait until we can get the upstairs to do this,” Weddle told the city council as Wednesday’s meeting began.

That meeting was held in the council chambers, which Weddle said holds less than 100 people. A larger room, where meetings are often held, was not available at the special meeting’s noon start time.

Over the span of about eight minutes, a city livestream of the council meeting erupted into shouting accusations, and the mayor canceled the meeting and walked out of the room.

“How many are y’all getting ready to fire two weeks before Christmas?” a person in the crowd yelled out.

“The tension is getting really, really bad down here because council refuses to answer basic questions,” Weddle told Spectrum News on Thursday.

He explained ordinances proposed by the council during the nearly four-hour long meeting Monday are why many in the community are upset.

One ordinance would reevaluate employee pay scales. Weddle said this would lead to approximately 50 city employee layoffs and wage cuts for others. 

“Council cannot control the amount of employees. So that’s what they’re trying to do in this ordinance, essentially,” Weddle said.

Another proposal targets the city fire department and threatens fines and jail time if first responders perform “basic life support and advanced life support services, with the exception of mutual aid requests.” 

Weddle said the city contracts out EMS services to a company called Ambulance Inc.

“How can you threaten to imprison firefighters for saving people’s lives?“ questioned Weddle.

Not long after Weddle, the city attorney and one councilman left the meeting, the remaining five councilors appeared to conduct business according to videos posted online.

“It is invalid,” Weddle said. “That meeting is illegal.”

The London City Council is scheduled to meet on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in a larger space for the second reading of those ordinances. After that happens, Mayor Weddle said he intends to veto them.

On Dec. 2, the state auditor informed Mayor Weddle of their intention to perform an audit of the city.

“On Sept. 4, 2025, the Auditor of Public Accounts (APA) notified you of our intent to perform a preliminary assessment of concerns expressed to our office regarding certain activities in the City of London (City),” A letter from Deputy State Auditor Shari Scott to Mayor Weddle said. “Based on this preliminary assessment, we have identified issues for which additional examination procedures are warranted.”

The audit will look at records from Jan. 1, 2023, to Aug. 31, 2025.

On Sept. 5, the Council removed Weddel from office. After an appeal, he was reinstated as mayor.