‘COVID-19 has not stopped our progress.’ Key takeaways from Gorton’s state of city speech

Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton touted new investments in public safety, gave updates on key projects and pledged “COVID-19 has not stopped our progress” in her annual state of the city address on Tuesday.

The annual State of the City address, hosted by the Lexington Forum, was a virtual-only event as the number of COVID-19 cases in Fayette County and Kentucky continues to spike, spurred by the highly contagious omicron variant.

This was the second year Gorton’s annual address was held virtually due to the pandemic.

Gorton acknowledged the pandemic has complicated the city’s work as the pandemic enters its third year.

“It takes up lots of our time and saps a lot of our energy,” Gorton said. “Even though we have been riding a roller coaster of highs and lows, COVID-19 has not stopped our progress, and that’s what’s important. My focus today and every day is moving Lexington forward -- and we are.”

It was the first-term mayor’s fourth state of the city of address. She is running for re-election this year and faces three challengers —Lexington-Fayette Urban County Councilman David Kloiber, Adrian Wallace, a community development corporation CEO, and William Weyman, who has run unsuccessfully for mayor in previous years.

Addressing homicides, investments in public safety

Lexington has seen an overall drop in violent crime from 2017 to 2021 but the number of homicides continues to be troubling, Gorton said. In 2021, the city broke its previous homicide record rate with 37.

“I firmly believe that one homicide a year is one too many,” Gorton said.

Stil, she said, “In many ways we are headed in the right direction.”

The city has added six neighborhood resource police officers and continues to focus on increasing police officers and upping recruitment, she said. The city recently inked a four-year collective bargaining agreement with the city’s police union. That contract will cost the city an additional $21.9 million over the next four years.

Gorton said the city is upping its youth violence prevention programs through One Lexington, run by Devine Carama. Many of the city’s homicides involve young victims in their teens and 20s.

“They are working with partners all over town, including non-profits, public safety agencies and local residents,” Carama said. Carama works with youth, connects with gunshot victims and makes sure young people who live in more crime-ridden neighborhoods have a safe passage home, Gorton said.

The city is currently in a labor dispute with the union that represents most corrections officers at the Fayette County Detention Center. A new contract has not yet been signed. Both the union and the city have filed complaints with the state Labor Cabinet.

Gorton said the city has increased safety at the jail by investing in a new security system that has installed 600 new security cameras.

Unemployment down to 2.4 percent

“COVID-19 provided the ultimate test of the strength of our economy, which is continuing to recover,” Gorton said. Unemployment during April and March in 2020 skyrocketed to the double-digits. Gorton said the unemployment is now at 2.4 percent.

“However, we have ongoing concerns,” Gorton said. “We have businesses that cannot find enough employees.”

Still, the city has been able to lure new businesses including Rubicon, which announced it would move its global headquarters to Lexington in June.

Central Baptist Lexington is currently building a second campus in the Hamburg area. That project is expected to bring 600 new jobs when completed in the next few years, she said. The city is working to get a new Interstate 75 underpass in that area, Gorton said.

The city is also working with six other counties to offer high-speed internet to rural customers. MetroNet completed wiring the city for high-speed internet in 2020. However, homes and businesses outside the urban service boundary still do not have access to high-speed internet.

Gorton said a request for proposals will be issued in February for broadband in the rural areas.

Updates on Central Bank Center, Town Branch Park, trails

Gorton said the expanded Central Bank Center is expected to open this spring. The more than $300 million renovation and expansion will include 200,000 square feet of convention and meeting space.

“The winter and spring calendar is already busy with conventions, meetings and events,” Gorton said.

Town Branch Park, a proposed private park adjacent to the Central Bank Center, is expected to break ground later this year. Construction on the park cannot begin until the Central Bank Center is completed.

Town Branch Commons trail, a more than 2-mile section of Town Branch trail that goes through downtown, is mostly complete.

“The trail is mostly complete on Vine Street and Midland, with only two blocks remaining for construction and paving next summer,” Gorton said.

The city has more than $53 million in various trail projects in progress.

“We recently opened a new section of Citation Trail, a new section of Town Branch Trail, and the Brighton Rail Trail Bridge over Man-O-War, connecting Liberty Trail and Brighton Rail Trail,” Gorton said.

Changes to police accountability, addressing inequality

As part of its negotiations with the city’s police union, the city was able to increase oversight of police disciplinary actions. Those changes included adding two citizens to an internal police disciplinary board. The agreement also allows police to look back more than five years when deciding disciplinary actions, Gorton said.

Changes to police disciplinary actions was one of the recommendations of the Commission on Racial Justice and Equality, which Gorton appointed in 2020. The commission also issued more than 54 other recommendations to address racial inequality in Lexington.

Gorton said she plans to name a permanent Commission on Racial Justice and Equality. She recently named Tiffany Brown as Equity and Implementation officer to oversee implementation of the commission’s other recommendations.

One of those recommendations was to create a new division for housing. Last week, the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council confirmed the appointment of Charlie Lanter as the new Commissioner of Housing and Advocacy.

COVID-19 moving forward

The city will resume paper recycling in March, Gorton said. The city had to suspend curbside paper recycling in 2019 after the city could no longer find a buyer for its recycled paper. The city had hoped to resume curbside paper recycling in the fall of 2021 but that was pushed back due to an overhaul at the city’s recycling center.

“In March we will resume paper recycling from home carts. It has been a long journey, complicated by the pandemic, to restore this service,” Gorton said. “Now we are moving forward.”

Gorton said the city is poised and ready to face new challenges as the coronavirus pandemic continues. The city must adapt to meet those challenges.

“COVID-19 has left its mark on our city, but it has not touched us at our core, “ Gorton said. “We’re too strong. The bonds between people and partnerships within our community run deep.”