(WKYT) – A Laurel County petition is asking a judge to remove London Mayor Randle Weddle from the primary ballot.
The suit alleges Weddle doesn’t meet the city’s residency requirement, claiming he spends most of his time at a home outside London city limits.
Nearly one month after the Kentucky attorney general announced campaign finance charges against Weddle, the mayor is facing renewed criticism over whether he meets the city’s residency requirement.
Plaintiffs’ attorney says mayor lives outside city limits
Brandon Voelker, attorney for the plaintiffs, said his clients maintain that while the mayor owns a property inside London city limits, he does not live there full-time.
“My clients have told me he hasn’t lived there the entire time he’s been mayor,” Voelker said. “I think that’s pretty well known in the community. I think they’ve finally said enough is enough. The law is clear to be the mayor of a city you have to reside in the city.”
Voelker said his clients claim the house sits vacant and that the mayor actually lives at a larger property outside the city, in Keavy.
“Their view is that there is a fraud is being committed on the electorate that somebody is certifying that they live in the city the year before the election and qualified to be the mayor,” Voelker said.
One neighbor who asked not to be identified near Weddle’s London property disputes that claim.
“That’s false. I know where he lives,” the neighbor said.
Voelker said now is the best and possibly only window to try to keep the mayor off the ballot. He said once someone is already in office, they can only arguably be removed by the Kentucky General Assembly.
But if the mayor is running as a candidate, Voelker contends there’s a clearer path to challenge his eligibility.
“I did ask if we could reach out to try to cooperatively get a hearing on the books with the judge’s availability, but I have not gotten a response back to that question yet,” Voelker said.
Weddle did not respond to a request for comment.
Debt collection complaint
A separate debt collection complaint filed Monday also lists Weddle’s address as Keavy. A credit card company says Weddle owes them more than $145,000. They say Weddle hasn’t followed the terms and conditions he agreed to, saying they’ve demanded payment from him, but he hasn’t followed through.
The Laurel County Circuit Clerk is giving Weddle 20 days to respond.