A Lexington city councilmember who voted to create a new senior government position later accepted that same job, interviewing for it during the same week she cast the decisive vote to advance the administration’s $152 million City Hall project. Hannah LeGris, who represented the city’s 3rd D istrict, voted in October to create the Access and Engagement Officer position within the Chief Administrative Officer’s office. She applied for the job in November and was hired in December, according to city records. Interview panel documents show interviews were conducted the first week of December — the same period when council narrowly approved the City Hall project by an 8–7 vote, with LeGris providing the deciding vote. Councilmember Liz Sheehan, who voted against the administration’s City Hall project, also interviewed for the position. Property records reviewed by The Lexington Times show that LeGris closed on a $555,000 home in the Kenwick neighborhood two days before voting to create the position. She began work in the new role in January, at a salary more than double her council pay. The timeline The following sequence of events was reconstructed from city records, property filings, and internal correspondence. September 9, 2025: The Access Engagement Officer position is formally presented at a Council Work Session. LeGris, as a sitting councilmember, is present and receives the presentation materials detailing the role, its purpose, and its salary range. September 24, 2025: HR Director Glenda Humphrey George signs the official “Bluesheet Memo” establishing the position’s salary at $82,838.08. October 7, 2025: The ordinance creating the position receives its first reading before Council. October 17–21, 2025: LeGris and her partner execute the purchase of a home on Richmond Avenue. The sellers sign the deed on October 17. LeGris signs the $555,000 deed and the $444,444 mortgage with UK Federal Credit Union on October 21. October 23, 2025: Council votes to pass Ordinance 088-2025 on final reading, formally creating the Access and Engagement Officer position. LeGris votes yes. October 31, 2025: The job posting goes live. November 23, 2025: LeGris submits her application at 1:17 PM — one day before the deadline closes. She had known about the position for 75 days. December 2, 2025: Council votes 8–7 to approve the controversial $152 million new City Hall project. LeGris provides the decisive eighth vote. First week of December: Interviews are conducted for the Access Engagement Officer position. Both LeGris and Councilmember Liz Sheehan interview for the position. Interview panel forms are dated December 3. December 5, 2025: LeGris announces she will not seek an additional term in office, citing the need for a more financially sustainable career path. December 12, 2025: LeGris publicly announces she will resign from council to serve in the new role. January 9, 2026: LeGris’s last day as a councilmember. January 12, 2026: LeGris begins her new job. A position created mid-year The Access and Engagement Officer role was introduced outside the city’s normal budget cycle. The job was formally presented during a September 9, 2025, council work session. The position, housed within the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer, was described as providing leadership on workplace practices, accessibility compliance, including ADA matters, and employee experience. Human Resources documents classify the position as Grade 526E, with an annual salary of $82,838. Including benefits, total compensation exceeds $110,000. In an October 21 email, city staffer Hilary Angelucci noted that the position “doesn’t technically have to be advertised but we … told the council we would.” The position was publicly posted on October 31. Council votes and a home purchase When LeGris announced in early December that she would not seek re-election, she was candid about her reasoning. “I need a more financially sustainable job,” she told local media, noting that councilmembers earn approximately $40,000 annually. In addition to her Council pay, in 2025 LeGris earned $4,500 teaching part-time at the University of Kentucky, according to payroll records released by the school. Property records provide additional context for her financial circumstances. Between October 17 and October 21, LeGris and her partner completed the purchase of a single-family home on Richmond Avenue, according to Fayette County Clerk records. The sellers signed the deed on October 17; LeGris signed the mortgage and deed on October 21. Two days later, on October 23, council approved Ordinance 088-2025, formally creating the Access and Engagement Officer position. LeGris voted yes. LeGris and her partner signed a $440,000 mortgage on October 21, 2025. (Fayette County Clerk) Based on the Freddie Mac average 30-year fixed mortgage rate of 6.2 percent for the week of October 23, 2025, the $444,444 mortgage on the Richmond Avenue home would require monthly principal and interest payments of approximately $2,720. Adding estimated property taxes and homeowner’s insurance, the total monthly housing cost would approach $3,300, based on Fayette County’s effective property tax rate and typical homeowner’s insurance costs for the area. At LeGris’s council salary of approximately $40,000, the Richmond Avenue housing cost would far exceed affordability on her income alone. Even combined with her partner’s state employment income — approximately $70,000 based on the Kentucky.gov employee compensation transparency database — total housing costs would represent roughly 36 percent of gross household income. At the Access Engagement Officer salary of $82,838, the math shifts. Combined with her partner’s income, total housing costs would drop to approximately 26 percent of gross household income. There is some additional financial flexibility. Property records indicate that LeGris and her partner each retained their prior homes as investment or rental properties. LeGris continues to own a duplex in Kenwick that she purchased for $210,000 in 2015, while her partner owns a single-family home in the Castlewood area that he purchased for $92,000 in 2011. The records reviewed do not indicate how much rental income, if any, the properties generate each month. The timing raises questions about whether LeGris’s financial obligations and her council votes overlapped in a way that warranted additional safeguards or disclosure. Hiring process The job posting went live October 31. According to records produced by the city, 56 people applied — eight internal candidates and 48 external. Eight candidates were interviewed. LeGris applied for the job the day before the posting closed. (LFUCG) LeGris submitted her application on November 23, one day before the deadline. Interview panel forms are dated December 3. According to interview notes released by the city, Councilmember Liz Sheehan — who voted no on the administration’s City Hall project — also interviewed. Notes from Liz Sheehan’s interview for the Access and Engagement Officer position. (LFUCG) The interview panel policy distributed to evaluators contains a notable provision: panel members “are not required to take any notes.” However, the policy also states that “if a panel member takes notes during the interviews, these will need to be collected and sent to the HR Generalist as they are subject to open records.” The records request produced handwritten interview notes from only one of the seven panel members. This means six of the seven people responsible for evaluating candidates — including deciding to hire a sitting councilwoman for a position she had voted to create — left no documented record of their assessments. The interview panel members were “not required to take any notes.” However, “if a panel member takes notes during the interviews, these will need to be collected and sent to the HR Generalist as they are subject to open records.” Only one panel member out of seven took notes. (LFUCG) The first week of December On December 2, council voted 8–7 to approve the administration’s $152 million public-private partnership to build a new City Hall on West Vine Street — one of the most controversial votes of the year. LeGris cast the decisive eighth vote in favor. That same week, interviews were conducted for the Access and Engagement Officer position. The records do not establish a direct connection between the two events. They do show, however, that LeGris voted on the administration’s signature project while being evaluated for employment within that same administration. Rendering of Lexington’s new $152M City Hall on West Vine Street. (LFUCG) That Friday, December 5, LeGris announced she would not seek an additional term on Council. A week later, she announced she would leave her council seat early to become the city’s new accessibility officer. Her last day as a councilmember was January 9. She began her new job at city hall on January 12. Ethics framework Lexington’s Ethics Act prohibits officials from taking discretionary actions to obtain improper financial benefits. Voting to create a position is a discretionary act; obtaining a higher-paying job is a financial benefit. Whether the benefit was “improper” is a determination that would rest with the Ethics Commission. The records provided do not include any advisory opinions, disclosures, or findings by the city’s Ethics Commission related to LeGris’s votes or hiring. It is not clear whether LeGris sought guidance before voting on the ordinance. Questions submitted to the Ethics Commission by The Lexington Times on February 2 went unanswered. What the records show — and what they don’t The documents establish several undisputed facts: LeGris closed on a $555,000 home on October 21, 2025. She voted October 23 to create the Access and Engagement Officer position. The position pays more than twice her council salary. She applied November 23 and was hired in early December. Interviews occurred the same week as the decisive City Hall vote. What remains unanswered includes whether LeGris should have recused herself from votes related to the position, and whether informal conversations about the job occurred before the posting went live. Nothing in the records suggests LeGris lacked qualifications for the role. She served on council since 2020 and has been involved in initiatives related to accessibility, engagement, and sustainability. The timeline raises questions not about her qualifications, but about process — including whether appropriate safeguards were in place as she voted to create a position she would later accept and voted on an administration-backed City Hall project while interviewing for a role in that administration. The Lexington Times contacted LeGris, the Mayor’s Office, and the Ethics Commission for comment on February 2. Responses, if received, will be included in future reporting. Editor’s note: This article is based on documents obtained through open records requests and supplemental public records from the Fayette County Clerk’s office. This story will be updated as additional information becomes available. 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