LONDON, Ky. (WKYT) – The City of London is no stranger to turmoil.
In the last year, the community has been outspoken about the death of Doug Harless, faced a more than ten-day manhunt for I-75 shooter Joseph Couch, a deadly tornado in Laurel County, and now, the City Council has impeached former Mayor Randall Weddle.
Now the question is, where does the city go from here?
We spoke to newly appointed Mayor Tracie Handley, who says she is honored and humbled that the City Council asked her to step in.
She also tells us London has been a divided town for a while now, and she wants to do everything she can to repair those rifts.
She also says she will be transparent and keep the public informed.
Handley says she wants City Hall to have open doors, but it is too much of a security risk at the moment.
However, many community members are not happy with the council’s decision, including Chase Carson, City of London Tourism Commissioner.
“I feel like if our Mayor truly did have allegations against him that would lead to his removal from office, I feel like it should have been in the hands of an unbiased jury or the voters who put him in office,” Carson says.
We also received an official statement from Randall Weddle on Monday.
His official statement is below:
“The London City Council ignored the evidence and testimony we presented on Friday, and it took a political vote that went against the will of the People of London in the last election. The Council has wanted to remove me for months, and it drafted its charges and took a vote to do just that. State law provides a right to appeal the City Council’s vote, and I intend to do just that. Right now, four of the seven people who lead the City of London the majority have never earned a single vote of the People of London to hold the seats they do, and half the Council members who voted against me were appointed to their positions. That is just not right. The People of London deserve better, and my appeal is meant to vindicate their voices as much as it is meant to overturn the Council’s unjust vote on Friday.”
Weddle also says he plans to appeal the City Council’s vote.
London native Roxanne Roberts tells us she believes the city council had its mind made up before the hearing.
“I just feel like it was very unfair and I feel like the council has really taken democracy out of our little small town here in London and more so now, it’s just being ran by a small group of individuals,” Roberts says.
While Carson says he disagrees with the city council’s decision, “I just hope that now that this hearing is over that we can finally start moving forward as a community, finally starting to heal, finally start to get answers about the Doug Harless case, ‘cause I know our community is still waiting for answers on that,” Carson says
But he says he doesn’t know if things will get better for the city since Weddle is planning to appeal.
“So, this isn’t going anywhere, right. This is still going to be something that stays with our community, we just have to see what comes out of it and I just hope that what does come out of it is that we all as a community come together and realize that at the end of the day, we’re still neighbors, we should still support each other,” Carson says.
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