Dan Holman

Thank you very much to everyone who voted for me.

1196 votes is a good showing. Unfortunately we didn't make it through the primary, but were within striking distance. For example if only 250 voters of the second place finisher had switched over to me, I would have finished second and continued on. If and when I run again, we'll have to make sure to reach out and better connect with those 250 voters.

Congratulations to the other candidates for stepping up and running, as well as to everyone who participated in the process by voting or by supporting a candidate.

I've been inspired by members of the community I've met, and have been impressed with the ideas and visions people have. The smart ones of our community are not always the people entrenched in long-term positions of power, but are more often ordinary common sense citizens who are all too often ignored. Our government needs better processes of listening and engagement in order to more effectively harness the collective intelligence of us all.

I'll keep working alongside anyone who's interested in achieving the best opportunities for our community as we grow and change. Solutions for affordable housing, good paying jobs, entertainment and cultural activities for kids and adults, safe and non congested traffic and pedestrian flow, and preservation of a unique and flavorful town character and surrounding rural heritage are priorities worth fighting for.

I believe two strategic means for best long-term results are: (1) Consolidating the city and county governments into a single entity that serves us all, and (2) Adding the practice of small area plans to our comprehensive planning process, where instead of generic zoning being applied to parts of town, specific features and layouts are defined with guiding input from citizens.

Best wishes to all remaining candidates as well as to voters and residents as the rest of 2026 unfolds.

Different Direction for Mayor Needed

In the first week of the current mayor's administration he fired the town's chief administrative officer, and the police chief.

He explained the CAO firing by declaring he was abolishing the position entirely since he didn't need any managerial help. However, within days, he realized he didn't know what he was doing, and reestablished the position, giving the job to the young city attorney at the time. She's been running the town ever since.

For the police chief firing, the mayor gave no explanation except to say he wanted to go, “a different direction.” The truth is almost certain the firing was personal retaliation for not having scratched his back and hired his stepson as an officer at GPD a few years previously. At the time that the current mayor requested the favor of the hiring, his stepson was already under suspicion of nefarious activity at previous law enforcement jobs. He later pled guilty to sexual abuse of minors while on the job and was sentenced to 25 years in prison. The mayor knew his stepson had issues, but attempted to get him assigned to the Georgetown Police Department anyway.

Another early letdown by the mayor was the water rate increase. The, “October surprise” in his election had been the wastewater treatment plant engineering and finance errors. The mayor campaigned that he would get the situation straightened out. However, as soon as he came into office he turned 180°, and rammed the rate increase through. During his term it's been clear he doesn't understand the engineering or finances of GMWSS and is perfectly content to roll over and allow them to do what they want without oversight or comprehensive guidance from the city.

The mayor's big initiatives have all failed and have wasted the time and resources of the people of Georgetown. He worked as secretly and non-transparently as possible to push through the regional business park scheme on behalf of commercial real estate developers and politicians based in Lexington and Madison County who kissed up to him and used him as a puppet. He had every advantage in the world to make that happen, but the plan was so poorly conceived and detrimental to the people of Georgetown that thankfully even the rubber stamping city council at the time voted it down in the end.

His multi-year long push for developer impact fees failed because he chose the wrong consulting advisor and the wrong convoluted structural approach to pursue.

He's been attempting to solve stormwater issues since day one, but so far has gotten nowhere. Without tangible engineering plans, he proposed throwing money at the issue via a stormwater utility fee. Luckily for citizens of Georgetown, that poorly conceived tax increase scheme also failed.

Again, in his generic search for money to waste, he pushed for a restaurant tax, which also fell flat.

He continually tries to squeeze money out of citizens, rather than having the guts to address the tax imbalance issue that has occurred with the county government ever since a harmful state tax law involving local political favors was passed in 2003. In his relationship with the judge executive of the county, the mayor is the follower rather than the leader.

Capital projects that he’s had money for, he's bungled. The overpriced City Hall project is currently a year behind schedule. GMWSS continues to mismanage projects. The Water Street sewer project and Royal Spring Park cabin issue unfolded as a debacle of failed communication and lack of due diligence. For the past three years the future water supply expansion conversation has been kept as behind the scenes, and citizen-uninvolved as possible. The mayor knows GMWSS is envisioning another significant rate increase to pay for water supply changes and doesn't want public conversation to occur that would bring that fact to light.

In our fast-moving town the opportunities that have been missed are too many to count. Affordable housing strategy has been non-existent. Pedestrian sidewalks and trails that both the comprehensive plan and the parks and rec master plan identify as high citizen-ranked priorities have not been tangibly addressed. Children and adults still walk between school activities and work risking their lives on narrow road shoulders. The latest comprehensive plan was completed in 2024 with multiple community initiatives named. Yet the implementation committee that the mayor is supposed to take a lead on has never been formed.

Traffic and parking in Georgetown are only getting worse and need to be comprehensively addressed. The mayor displays apathy, continually citing that traffic issues are largely a state problem and not his business. When someone tragically died at the end of Lexus way where it meets Cherry Blossom due to the dead end road not being adequately marked for night time travel, pleas to the mayor's office as well as the traffic committee fell on deaf ears. A citizen activist (myself) had to reach out directly to district seven transportation cabinet department to get a yellow reflective dead end marker sign installed.

Cultural venues, as well as activities for kids have not been addressed. The city government simply doesn't involve itself in recruiting services that come here. The mayor views city planning as above his pay grade and is content letting developers control the town for their own profit.

The mayor has been bad, but the good news is his term is coming to an end. Election season is upon us with primary voting ending Tuesday, May 19th. There are alternatives for mayor. Dan Holman is the best one with the strongest comprehensive view of the town, and the sharpest ability, drive, and boldness to get things working better for citizens.

The decision however belongs to all of us as voters. Whoever you vote for, at least show up to the polls and participate in the process of moving the town forward together.

Paid for by Dan Holman

City Needs Real Estate Strategy

There are different views about how to classify Georgetown and its primary drivers of identity.

One view is it's a bedroom community of Lexington controlled by developer desire to sell suburban neighborhoods, gas stations, and chicken restaurants.

Others might say it's a factory town driven by manufacturing interests.

Another perspective is it’s an interstate exit town driven by hotels, regional grocery shopping, and again, chicken restaurants.

An additional way to describe it is as a not-so-long-ago rural small town surrounded by agriculture, that in just a few blinks of an eye has turned into something hard to recognize.

All these classifications have validity, but when it comes down to it, Georgetown is a real estate town. State and federal policies as well as geography and history have caused Scott County to be an alluring location for about whatever you can get approval to do.

To truly have control over our town's identity, the city government and the people it serves need to have leverage when it comes to land.

Instead of only investing long-term savings into stocks, bonds, and bank accounts, the city should own some amount of local property as part of its investment portfolio. In addition to being a secure and productive place to put money, it would provide leverage for the community to have more oversight control of the type and style of development that takes place.

Properties the city should acquire are: The “Sharp” property at the northwest corner of Payne's Depot Road and the bypass where the development plan to put nonaesthetic apartment buildings and road connections was recently rejected, and the industrial property near the bottom of Sims Pike along the railroad tracks where there was also a recently rejected development plan.

Additionally, the city should purchase anything it can get in the Bridge Street area of the Boston neighborhood in order to facilitate revitalizing that area and to best deal with the salvage yard that's illegally overspilling its boundaries, and needs to be moved to a more suitable location.

For these areas, as well as the area the city does own behind the cemetery, baseball fields, and housing authority, a “small area plan” led by community input should be conducted. This would define specific features and forms people would like to see.

For whatever development or preservation ultimately takes place, people of the community, rather than random outside developers, would have key strategic and design stakes in the process.

Personality Types of Mayoral Candidates

Myers-Briggs four letter personality types are a good way to understand where people are coming from. My personality type is INTP which means I like to analyze things. Here's an analysis of Georgetown's four mayoral candidates.

The incumbent's type is assessed here as ESFJ. This puts him in the famous person's category with Joe Biden, Prince William of England, and Steve Harvey. Like William and Harvey, he enjoys the celebrity aspects of the job. Unlike Biden, he lacks experience and a true interest in governmental policy. However, he's good at fumbling calls such as when he fired the police chief without being able to explain.

A going opinion is he doesn't have a handle on managing and leading our fast moving town and needs to be replaced.

Two alternative candidates are Toyota manage-ment retirees assessed as ISTJ types. They're dis-satisfied with the incumbent's process oversight skills. Famous people in their category are Henry Ford, Queen Elizabeth II, and George H.W. Bush.

A problem with one of them is an attitude of elitism. He comes off as believing others around him as beneath his level. In reality though, his view of the deficient one might be backwards. At a recent council meeting he made extended mention of a news article about Rumpke garbage delivery, but appeared confused about the fact it's actually Republic who services Georgetown.

The other of them has a leadership weakness of being private and secretive. While serving on city council simultaneously as being vice chair of the comprehensive plan steering committee, he leveraged his political positions to create a paid consulting job for himself with the planning commission. The reason he dropped out of the 2024 council primary at the last minute was to start collecting consulting money. However once the previous planning director resigned and the new one came in, the job scheme fell through.

A refreshing fourth candidate is yours truly, Dan Holman. Famous paradigm shifters in my category are Abraham Lincoln, Charles Darwin, and Albert Einstein.

My weakness is, as a citizen activist I've ruffled feathers by challenging status quo practices by speaking up for ordinary people who weren't being listened to. As mayor, empowering citizen voices will continue to be my focus. Everyday diplomacy and empathetic listening will be an important communication framework.

Goals of citizens are: finding the right balance of growth and small town character; rural land preservation; affordability of housing, utilities, and taxes; activities for kids and adults; desired shopping services; efficient traffic, pedestrian, and parking flow; and a strong parks and recreation system.

To achieve our goals it'll take leadership who understands where people are coming from, and who has the creative boldness to bring us together to where we want to be.

Paid for by Dan Holman

Yard signs available!

If you'd like one it would be greatly appreciated, and would help get the things done in Georgetown we're all wanting. Just message me with your address and I'll drop one by. Thanks!

Paid for by Dan Holman.

DETAILS OF DAN HOLMAN

Governmental Approach

* Local government and its money belongs to the people.
* Transparency, fiscal responsibility, and thorough analysis of decision alternatives are of primary importance.
* I'm passionate about listening to people and harnessing the collective common sense intelligence of our community.
* Well managed growth that focuses on quality of life for citizens is crucial.
* If elected, I'll humbly dedicate myself to working collaboratively to build a Georgetown to be proud of.

Background

* I've lived in Georgetown for 20 years, having grown up in Lexington.
* I studied business management and worked as a computer programmer, project manager, and technical strategist.
* I've been a citizen activist speaking up for well managed growth, affordable housing, water company reform, activities for kids, and transparency.
* My wife works on the line in quality control at Toyota.
* I enjoy outdoors and building things

NEEDED ATTRIBUTES OF OUR NEXT MAYOR

Georgetown isn't a one horse town that stays the same. It's dynamic, growing, and facing outside pressures of change.
The performance of the mayor matters. If elected leaders are ineffective, then the people they represent end up with no power or control over what happens as the winds of change blow us through the years.
Our current mayor was elected because he was viewed as the best candidate at the time to avoid the fate of corruption and selling the town down the river. Nobody voted for him because they thought he was a sophisticated manager, strategist, or innovative thinker.
He hasn't delivered any surprises by producing or learning quality organizational skills. Instead he's disappointed by displaying arrogance, authoritarian behavior, and a lack of transparency. Even people who supported him previously are recommending his political career as being a, “one and done.” His best value is as a transitional mayor to a time when there's a better set of choices.
For the next mayoral cycle, we need someone who can truly understand the complex pieces of the puzzle of our community and pull us together into a cohesive whole working towards the visions and goals of the people who live here.
The right choice is someone who's open, collaborative, caring, creative, and empowering. Persistence, boldness, and a willingness to ruffle and readjust some feathers when needed are also traits that would serve Georgetown well.
Well managed growth with a focus on quality of life and good city planning is critical. Key issues are: affordability of living; maintaining our unique town character; preserving our surrounding rural heritage; recruitment of desired commercial and shopping services; creating good job opportunities; efficient and safe traffic and pedestrian flow; a strong parks and recreation system; and activities for kids and adults.
Of the three alternative candidates who believe the current mayor has to go, two are Toyota retirees who when it comes down to it offer more of the same of the ailing status quo system we already have.
DAN HOLMAN stands out as the different one who will bring a fresh perspective of working effectively with the people to promote intelligent and creative common sense solutions that focus on a better quality of life for our community.

Dear Fellow Georgetownians!

My core belief about local government is that the people are the ones in charge. Elected leaders are public servants whose job is to transparently work with citizens to address concerns and find creative common-sense solutions for reaching our goals.

Quality of life focus is important. Key issues are: affordability of living; maintaining our unique town character; preserving Scott County's rural heritage; recruitment of quality commercial and shopping services; good job opportunity; efficient and safe traffic and pedestrian flow; a strong parks and recreation system; and activities for kids and adults.

Georgetown is growing and faces outside pressures of change. Steps we take now will have lasting impact. Well managed growth and good city planning are critical. I look forward to working with all of you to build a community we can be proud of.

Are any candidates different? Paid for by Dan Holman.