The two people seeking to replace Jim Gray as mayor of Lexington have a great deal of experience in government, just in different capacities. Linda Gorton is a retired nurse who spent some 16 years in a legislative role as a council member. Ronnie Bastin worked in law enforcement for four decades including time as police chief and public safety commissioner.
Linda Gorton came into public office in 1999 when Pam Miller was heading Urban County government. She served on the 15 member council with three other mayors, Teresa Issac, Jim Newberry, and Jim Gray. She finished her fourth term in 2015. The break from local government lasted for just two years when Gorton announced she would seek the office of mayor in 2017.
Through all those years on the council, Gorton called the current city hall at the corner of Main Street and Martin Luther King home. Gorton recalls attention given to building a new city hall under mayors Issac, Newberry, and Gray. But, it’s not happened and most recently a proposal to convert the Herald-Leader building into a government center failed. Gorton thinks a slightly different approach is called for. “My feeling is that the council needs to just take a step back and look at the big picture on this and make some decisions before we go back to another RFP,” said Gorton.
With millions of dollars in deferred maintenance found in the current city hall, the Lafayette Hotel in a previous life, Gorton says a new city hall is needed. She says it needs to be functional and well planned, but not too fancy.
In addition to the cost associated with a new government center, pension obligations, public safety, and social services are three other primary budget items. Gorton says tax dollars coming into the government are not going up right now. “Right now the revenues within the city are fairly flat and we thrive on jobs. Our occupational license fee is what funds most of city government. It’s not property tax. So, we’ve got to continue our focus on bringing in new jobs, bringing in new jobs, always,” explained Gorton.
With that said the loss of jobs is always a concern. Trane, a heating and air conditioning firm for decades in the Lexington community, is making a move to South Carolina. That prompts a challenge. “How can we get these Trane employees who are going to get laid off in 2019. How can we keep them here? What kind of jobs will they be able to get? That kind of thinking.”
A manufacturing facility that’s not into producing new products is also attracting attention. China’s decision to stop taking certain recycled items has carried an impact in communities all across the country. Gorton doesn’t expect recycling to go away in Lexington, but it may mean creativity as it relates to the end use of recyclables.
Lexington has had a long standing arts scene.
The city owns several performance venues including the Moon Dance facility, the downtown arts center, the Lyric Theater, and Arts Place. Gorton sees a need for more cohesion.“I think it will be really important to look for ways to partner to be talking to be collaborating among those venues,” explained Gorton.
During her time on council, Gorton played a key role in the development of dog parks in Lexington. There are three primary dog parks currently at Masterson Station, Wellington, and Jacobson. Still lacking she says is a dog park of sufficient size downtown. “We’re looking at a couple of sites with the council member and parks. The thing about dog parks is there are some real best practices that we like to follow and best practice for a heavily used dog park is minimum of three to five acres.”
Gorton admits finding room for a dog park downtown will be challenging but she believes it can be done.
With political division such a big talking point now, the former vice mayor says the city leaders who created the Lexington charter for the merged government got it right. “By having non-partisan seats, we all work together. We don’t have to worry about caucusing with republican or democrat or any party. We just go about looking at what’s best for the people and government’s all about people,” Gorton said.
And in less than a week, voters in Kentucky’s second largest city who will choose between Gorton and Ronnie Bastin to lead the local government for the next four years. ?
