Jacques Wigginton
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Jacques Wigginton ran for election to the Lexington City Council to represent District 2 in Kentucky. He lost in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Wigginton completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Jacques Wigginton was born in Lexington, Kentucky.
He earned a high school diploma from Bryan Station Senior High School, an associate degree from Kentucky State University in 1986, a bachelor's degree from Kentucky State University in 1987, and a law degree from the University of Kentucky College of Law in 1991. His career experience includes working as a grant writer, grant administrator, public administrator, homebuilder, recruiter, instructor, and clergyman.[1]
Elections
2024
See also: City elections in Lexington, Kentucky (2024)
General election
Nonpartisan primary election
The primary election was canceled. Incumbent Shayla Lynch and Jacques Wigginton advanced from the primary for Lexington City Council District 2.
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Wigginton in this election.
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Jacques Wigginton completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Wigginton's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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A native Lexingtonian, I graduated Bryan Station High before receiving degrees from KSU in Leadership Studies as well as English & Political Science. I earned my law degree from UK and worked for the Governor's Office (for a Drug Free KY) ultimately becoming Executive Director of agency dealing with OSHA cases. I and my dad both represented the Second District - no one alive has served as such longer than I have. After leaving office, I focused on raising my two kids and being pastor of a small rural church. I have served as a community voice and volunteer for over 40 years with many knowing me for starting ADE - a company created to create affordable housing in underserved parts of Lexington, heading up the Roots and Heritage Festival as its executive director, co-founding and chairing the Affordable Housing Alliance, co-chairing Fayette Schools' redistricting committee, serving as a PTA president and SBDM member, on the mic for the Father's Day initiative, and parenting two beautiful, smart children as a single dad.
- Safe & Secure. The primary goal of government must be to ensure that its citizens are safe in their person and secure in their property. From West Leestown to Westend, the concern is about being safe and secure. During my tenure, the District was the least crime ridden in the city. Today? Gun fire heard routinely? Addicts panhandling on corners likes its their job? Cars being rummaged through regularly? This is not the Lexington I grew up knowing or the District as I left it. Problems come, but we must have a plan to fix them. My problem with our problems is I don't see a plan in place or one that's working. Together, we can bring back what worked while working on all that's needed to ensure long term peace and security.
- Youth Development. Our future is our children and every child matters. It is the responsibility of my generation to see that the next generation is rightly positioned to pursue their inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of their happiness.
I have mentored in 3 mentoring programs, led as a PTA president, served on a SBDM council, co-chaired FCPS' redistricting committee, taught entrepreneurship to youth for the Mayor's Training Center, created the Essence of Sisterhood conference empowering teen girls, and headed the city's summer youth employment program. I am now a single dad that has had a lifelong commitment to our kids, all of our kids.
- Good Government & Equity. Westend residents are frustrated overburdened with a disproportionate number of rehabilitation facilities being dumped into their neighborhood while Masterson Station is fighting amongst themselves over the nearly doubling of HOA fees need to keep their own undersized pool. West Leestown will be the size of a Kentucky city yet despite its great tax base, it doesn't have an aquatic center, tennis courts, neighborhood parks system, library or police call center. Meanwhile Westend feels left to fend for itself dealing with problems it didn't create and no sense that help is on the way. North Lexington deserves what the rest of Lexington expects and gets from its city government.
Justice, youth development, affordable housing, investment budgeting, comprehensive planning, inclusive democracy, government transparency, responsive government, and good government.
Historically, it’s the King Family and more recently it’s the Obama Family. Families are important. Families that withstand the pressures of public life and public service without crumbling under the weight of it all are especially noteworthy.
The ancient Books of Nehamiah, Ester, Exodus, and Joshua. As for more contemporary books, consider A Testament of Hope by Rev. Martin L. King, Jr., The Shack by William Paul Young, and Restoring At-Risk Communities by John M. Perkins as well as the various writings of Napoleon Hill and John C. Maxwell. As for movies, it’s Star Wars, The Matrix and Avatar.
A heart that's pure and dedicated to service. A conscience that's clear. A faith that yields an endless supply of hope. A mind that can see beyond what is and problem solve. Thick skin and the ability to do what's right when its unpopular. A listening ear hearing not only what is said, but what is meant as well as what is not said. The humility to surround yourself with brighter lights and minds than yours. Work ethic combined with a love for what you are doing. Personal ethics that keep you when no one sees or knows what you are doing. A commitment to being the voice and advocate of all you represent. A memory that reminds you to never forget whose money it is, who you work for, why you started, and what's important.
Experience. Homegrown. Experience. Public speaker. Experience. Single parent. Experience. Faith-based. Experience. Grant writer. Experience. Grant Administrator. Experience. Truthful. Experience. Flexible schedule. Experience. Proven effective. Experience. Caring. Experience. Empathetic. Experience. Thoughtful. Experience. Intuitive. Experience. Innovative. Experience. Connected. Experience. Collaborator. Experience. Listener. Experience. Decent writer. Experience. Honest. Experience. Passionate. Experience. Hopeful. Experience. Forgiving. Experience. Adaptive. Experience. Human. Experience.
To represent those who elected you knowing you are their voice.
To represent those who elected you knowing they won't know what you will come to know and are expecting you always to operate in the best interest of them, the city and what is good and right.
To serve faithfully with a measure of class, dignity and decorum that is in keeping with the honor bestowed upon you by those who sent you to represent them. That I fixed some things, set some things up and left some things behind that made Lexington, if not the world, better than I found it and a blessing for our children.
The birth of my sister at around the same time that man first stepped onto the moon. I was 4.
Like a quarter of America’s workforce, I was employed at McDonald’s! My first job was at the McDonald’s on International Highway in Austin, TX where I was charged to deep fry a new menu item that corporate was trying out there called Chicken McNuggets. I worked there for the summer while staying with family.
Bible. It's my "Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth"
Best of My Love by The Emotions/My Lil Boo Thang by Paul Russell
The idea that people lie.
It is the legislative branch of government that is to create laws and determine how tax dollars are spent. The part of government that has the power to effect change, is the voice of the people, and gives direction to government is the legislative branch. For our local municipal government, that is the Council. Much focus and emphasis is placed on the executive branch and its Mayor. However, the job of the executive branch is to "execute" what it is told to do, and it is told what to do by the Council who directs through the laws it passes, the directives it gives and the money it allocates.
A District councilmember representing a district or part of the city directly has the same vote and thus the same voice as a councilmember who was elected at-large.
Experience matters. You can't buy it, fake it or replace it. In the 18 years since I left office, the Second District has had 6 novices to represent it. That is an average of 3 years per person. If you assume that the learning curve for a new councilmember is 18 months, then arguably the District has the equivalent of 9 years of green representation. To put that into perspective, in the previous 19 years, only two occupied the seat.
While there is a time and place for on-the-job training, that time should not and cannot be when the times are most turbulent and time matters. We are arguably seeing the effects of long term inexperience with the lack of equitable services as seen in West Leestown (i.e., no major pool, no tennis courts, no neighborhood parks system, no completion of Citation as designed, and no neighborhood policing or police call station) and in Westend (i.e., with the lack of youth programming, inundation of rehabilitation facilities, ineffectiveness in closing drug trap houses, homeowner-rental ratio imbalance, rise in shootings, growth of gangs, and failure to rally community to help address local woes).
When you are busy trying to just figure things out, it is hard to be visionary or creative. Unfortunately, some of the problems facing the District need visionary leadership, creative problem solving and a connection with the community that comes over time. It can take time to develop a strong bond between representative and community. If that bond was not forged by having spent time working in and for the community prior to running for office, then its more than the learning curve that will likely slow how effective a councilmember can be in being not just an advocate but a leader in the community. The District needs effective leadership and needs it now. I served as the Second District Councilmember longer than anyone alive having a proven record of fixing problems and being an effective voice of its residents. Education. It would be ideal to have a Councilmember that has an education that has prepared him/her for the job of being a legislator and leader. I have three college degrees with them being in the areas of leadership studies, political science, English and law.
Experience. I have served on the Urban County Council and have the most experience serving as its Second District representative. I was elected by local elected officials from all over the nation to represent them on the National League of Cities' Board of Directors. I have also served on a university's board of regents.
Effectiveness & Initiative. When the Icestorm of 2002 hit, I organized 2 of the city's first 4 major emergency shelters. When the tornado hit Masterson, I organized the citywide relief effort to help with clean up. When the city did not own Jacobson Park, I worked with its previous corporate owner to have it donated to the city. When Spurr Road had the hazardous RR crossing, I worked with the state to get it mitigated and the road fixed. When crime was a concern, I vowed that the Second District would be the least crime ridden district in the city during my watch. According to police records, it was. As a Councilmember, I saw my role as being a trustee of the city having a fiduciary duty to the citizens of the city to be a good steward of the public coffers. One of my mottos then and now is "We Never Forget Whose Money It Is" It is important that people see and be able to understand how their tax dollars are being used. Checks and balances, audits, open meetings and open records are but some of the ways we make sure government is an open book to the citizens that fund it. One goal in my return to Council is to help make the city's books not only accessible, but easier to understand.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
External links
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 7, 2024
