LEXINGTON, KY – The Rotary Club of Lexington held its weekly meeting Thursday, March 16, at the Mane on Main, Chase Bank building on Main St. The program’s guest speaker was Mayor Linda Gorton, City of Lexington.
This meeting was also be on Zoom. For the Zoom link please email, trafton@rotarylexky.org.
If you would like to have lunch, please contact Jenny@rotarylexky.org to reserve your meal.
Mayor Linda Gorton Nov. 6, 2020.
Photo by Amy Wallot
This week Lexington Rotarians will hear from Lexington Mayor and Honorary Rotarian Linda Gorton. In this eagerly anticipated annual presentation she will give us an update on the state of our community and some of the challenges we face in the year to come.
Mayor Gorton, the longest continuously serving member of the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council, is serving her second term as Lexington mayor. Mayor Gorton was re-elected in a landslide victory on November 8, 2022, winning 71% of the vote.
In her first term Mayor Gorton successfully led our city through the pandemic, protecting our health and safety during a challenge that may well rank as the most daunting in modern history. Throughout the pandemic Mayor Gorton focused her administration on three goals: keeping Lexington citizens safe by following state and CDC guidelines; continuing to provide basic services to citizens; and moving Lexington ahead, ensuring that our city continues to attract new jobs despite the pandemic. Even though the pandemic initially slowed down economic activity and triggered belt tightening in City Hall, Mayor Gorton accomplished those goals. Thanks to her conservative management of the budget, Lexington emerged from the pandemic financially healthy.
As if dealing with a pandemic was not challenge enough, Mayor Gorton was also presented with the challenge facing cities across America in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota in May of 2020. While Lexington was not faced with the turmoil seen in many cities, the concern of many in our town was evident on the streets and elsewhere. In response to those concerns, Mayor Gorton created the Mayor’s Commission on Racial Justice & Equality to root out systemic racism in the Lexington community. The results of that Commission’s work were the subject of a previous presentation to Rotary from the Commission’s leaders.
And she is not finished, as evidenced by a full agenda planned for her second term, during which she will continue her focus on public safety, economic development, affordable housing, and quality of life investments, among other initiatives.
A native of Ohio, Mayor Gorton has lived in Lexington most of her adult life. In addition to her sixteen years on the Council, including four years as vice mayor, Mayor Gorton has been a dedicated volunteer in our community.
Mayor Gorton and her husband, Charlie, a retired major general in the Army, have two children and five grandchildren. She is a registered nurse and a graduate of the University of Kentucky College of Nursing.