LONDON, Ky. (FOX 56) — Another special-called meeting in London couldn’t proceed after just one city council member showed up.
Mayor Randall Weddle canceled Wednesday’s meeting after too many community members flooded the room.
Controversial ordinances spark unrest in London community
“We are beyond capacity, and we are required to give adequate seating and accommodate everybody,” Weddle said. “We don’t want to be in any violations, obviously. There’s a lot of emotion in here and tension in here because of what’s on the agenda.”
It was rescheduled to Thursday and moved to a larger room to accommodate a larger audience. But the city council stayed behind and voted on two controversial ordinances following the mayor’s exit on Wednesday.
One would reset the pay scale for city employees and would appear to cut multiple positions. The other would prohibit the city from creating a city-specific EMS service. A third-party provider, Ambulance Inc., currently services Laurel County, and according to the ordinance, the area had been “adequately” covered.
LATEST KENTUCKY NEWS:
It would also cut payments to the city attorney for attending council meetings and funding Mayor Randall Weddles’ alleged use of London police for personal security, among others.
The council said the ordinances were necessary because the city could not afford the additional expenses the mayor has reportedly imposed.
“A quorum was there; they challenged the ruling of the chair. Your ruling, and they appointed their own chairperson. They took a vote, and that chairperson was selected, and they conducted themselves a meeting. That’s what they did yesterday. They had second readings. So I’m just going to take it upon myself to say for the other members here, we believe that meeting was legal. And those second readings are complete,” Councilman Anthony Ortega said.
(City of London)
(City of London)
“But the city employees that are going to be let go are here,” Acting City Clerk Ashley Taylor can be heard saying as Ortega leaves the room.
The London City Council issued the following statement.
The London City Council met yesterday and passed critical ordinances to correct unauthorized expenditures and restore the city’s budget and pay plan to compliance with Kentucky state law.
In August 2025, the council reinstated the official pay plan, notifying the mayor that hiring practices must conform to state law. Despite this, the mayor continued creating positions, setting salaries, and hiring without legislative authorization.
On Monday, Dec. 2, the council conducted the first reading of corrective ordinances. During that meeting, the mayor assured attendees that the ongoing state audit was proceeding well with no issues and the city’s finances were “excellent.” On Tuesday, Dec. 3, the city received correspondence from the State Auditor indicating issues had been identified requiring further investigation. On Thursday, Dec. 4, a class-action lawsuit was filed demanding refunds related to alleged illegal expenditures and inappropriate spending of garbage fund revenues.
We are not a large city. London cannot afford to sustain this fiscal irresponsibility. We have a fiduciary duty to ensure the legal spending of any/all public funds. We will not shirk from making difficult decisions to protect taxpayers and restore accountability.
State law is clear: the legislative body—not the executive—has budgetary authority. The mayor’s unilateral actions of creating positions, setting salaries, and making hires outside the approved pay plan violate Kentucky municipal law.
The council appreciates the widespread citizen support, welcomes resident input, and remains committed to transparent governance and compliance with state law.
In light of pending litigation, the council cannot comment further at this time.
Statement from London City Council
The mayor said the council’s actions will result in the loss of 51 city employees, many of them first responders.
Read more of the latest Kentucky news
He emphasized in Thursday’s meeting that the council’s meeting the day prior was “illegal,” and that the city plans to file an open meetings act violation through the attorney general.
Click here to watch the full meeting.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 56 News.