By Austin Ryan

[email protected]

Believe it or not, the citizens of Lexington have a voice in deciding the future of Lexington.

WUKY-FM, the University of Kentucky’s public radio station, is partnering with the Citizen Kentucky Project of UK’s Scripps Howard First Amendment Center to present, “This I Believe … is the future of Lexington,” in conjunction with the mayor’s race. The two candidates for mayor, incumbent Jim Gray and former police chief Anthany Beatty, have agreed to a debate to address the citizens’ agenda from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Oct. 28, in UK’s Worsham Theater as part of a live radio broadcast on WUKY.

Together with campus co-sponsors, and with outreach to the community, including Transylvania University, they are inviting citizens to create an agenda that focuses on two aspects — how to preserve what is special about Lexington and how to improve the community.

“I really want to have the students’ voice,” said Alan Lytle, the WUKY news director, adding that having the event on campus makes a discussion easier to achieve.

Nancy Cox, a WLEX-TV news anchor, has agreed to be moderator for the debate, which may feature a live webcast, said Buck Ryan, director of the Citizen Kentucky Project, which is designed to engage young people in civic life.

Ryan said Lytle reached out to him for help in organizing the debate.

“I know Chief Beatty’s campaign manager, Phil Osborne,” Ryan said. “And Mayor Gray hired my former student, Walker Mattox, as his campaign manager.”

Mattox was a student in Ryan’s freshman Discovery Seminar Program class at UK (where Ryan still teaches) when it focused on a Lexington mayor’s race eight years ago.

“I remember Walker stepped up to design our voter guide and have it printed,” Ryan said. “It’s a good lesson for my students today — dreams can come true if you get an early start and work hard.”

Gray, the city’s first openly gay mayor, is seeking his second four-year term as he faces Beatty, UK’s vice president of campus services and public safety, who hopes to be Lexington’s first African-American mayor.

Lytle, along with WUKY morning news anchor Karyn Czar and general manager Tom Godell, has hosted planning meetings for weeks to produce the infrastructure for the debate.

Among the partners for the event are the Gaines Center for the Humanities, UK’s student-run radio station WRFL-FM, the Chellgren Center for Undergraduate Excellence, UK’s Honors Program, the UK Student Government Association, the UK Student Activities Board, and the UK School of Journalism and Telecommunications.

“You can get registered to vote on Sept. 16 and 17 as part of Constitution Day festivities,” Ryan said. “WUKY is giving you a megaphone. Believe it, you can make a difference.”