Political Opinion: Mayor Jason Hayes' Letter to Voters

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Jason Hayes has served as the mayor of Lexington since July 2022. {Contributed photo}

It has been a privilege to serve the city of Lexington as Mayor these past eighteen months and I would like to ask for your vote to serve another term to continue the tremendous momentum. Our City Council, under my leadership has had numerous positive announcements in the last year and a half that point toward an extremely positive future for Lexington; 1) Siemens Mobility’s decision to locate in Lexington with a $220 million dollar investment and 500+ living wage jobs, manufacturing state of the art passenger rail cars, contributing $1.4 million to our annual city tax revenue, and infusing billions of dollars in revenue to this region for decades to come; 2) reaching an agreement with the Davidson County Commissioners granting additional sewer allocation, a $5 million dollar payment for our infrastructure, and sewer access for the Samet 750+ acre industrial park; 3) approximately 1500 approved housing units and 1500 more in planning discussions that will yield a minimum of $2.8 million in annual city tax revenue; 4) continued Depot District redevelopment that is moving the Lexington passenger rail stop forward, more destination location developments, and a recent Council approval of up to 130 multi-family units adjacent to the Breeden Amphitheatre; 5) a recently restructured EDC led by the county that has yielded over $5.0 billion dollars of interest in the annexed Samet site through Requests for Information (RFI’s) from the NC Department of Commerce, the Economic Development Partnership of NC, and other avenues, all with the potential of yielding $3.0+ million in annual tax revenue and 1000+ jobs; and 6) the successful recruitment and hiring of an extremely experienced City Manager with the distinct skill set to move Lexington forward.  I would venture to say that there has not been a 16-month period of time in Lexington’s recent history when so many positive things have happened!

As a City Council, we do have more work to do to continue to lead Lexington in the right direction and I am ready to lead us forward. We have asked our new City Manager, Mr. Johnnie Taylor to critically evaluate every decision and process made over the previous several years, with a goal of finding opportunities for improvement, efficiencies and cost savings within the city organization and services that we provide as a municipality. We need to continue on our present path of economic development to raise our tax base and create living wage jobs for our citizens, partnering with Lexington City Schools and Davidson-Davie Community College for workforce readiness and certifications to ensure that we have Lexington citizens ready for gainful employment. We will have to address our aging infrastructure needs in water and wastewater treatment, identifying opportunities for grant funding, developing potential regional solutions by partnering with other municipalities, the county, and private stakeholders. We will need to maintain our funding of street resurfacing in the $1.2 million to $2.0 million range per year to address the city streets that are currently rated “poor”. In addition, we will need to continue to focus on equity throughout our community and city workforce, giving everyone an opportunity to succeed in a city that can work for EVERYONE. I know that we have several citizens living at or below the federal poverty level in our community. In my second term, I would like to formalize a poverty plan specific to Lexington, partnering with the county, and non-profit organizations that provide the much-needed support for this segment of our population.

There have been some negative narratives floated by the opposition to discredit me and the current Council in order to seed doubt and divisiveness in our community: high tax rates and planned increases, lack of jobs, low median wages, stagnant population, over commitments on spending, building a $27 million dollar recreation center, no commitment to economic development, etc., etc. etc. Our current reality does not reflect these false accusations; 1) the combined tax rate for Lexington City residents of 1.31 (inclusive of Davidson County rate, municipality, and special School tax) per 100 valuation is similar to most municipalities in NC with a similar population, 2) the Council has not discussed or approved a tax increase- EVER, 3) with Siemens, Nucor, and Egger coming to Davidson County and Lexington, job opportunities and wages are increasing, 4) population growth will come with jobs, housing developments, and amenities that prospective citizens feel drawn to, and 5) Council has NOT approved a $27 million dollar recreation center, and 6) economic development is continuing in a major way (please see above).

I have had a highly successful 30-year career in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical communications fields, growing multiple companies and leading diverse, highly functioning teams. My last position, before I retired six years ago, was as the Chief Operating Officer of Conisus, a Medical Knowledge Group affiliate. Our team grew this company from a $12 million dollar entity to a $195 million dollar operation in twelve years, leveraging private equity and a teams’ tremendous desire to succeed as shareholders. Candidly, I do not talk about my success often, but I do know wholeheartedly that the key to my success has been in building relationships. I have found that being Mayor of Lexington relies on those same skills that resulted in a high level of success for me professionally. I am still the same kid that grew up off of Boaze Rd with two deaf parents that worked in furniture factories. I believe that humility is my superpower. Please let me work for you, Lexington!!!