Originally broadcast live June 5, 2026. Transcript edited for length and clarity.
Karyn Czar, WUKY
Welcome to Third Cup Live this morning. Mayor Linda Gorton, you are our very first live guest on the show.
Linda Gorton, Mayor of Lexington
That's very exciting. Thank you.
Czar
First off, I wanted to ask you: What spurred you to run for a third term?
Gorton
Well, you know, I have a lot of things in the hopper. Of course, elected officials always have more to do, no matter whether they're finished or just in the middle of terms, but there are a couple big things that I want to finish, and I can finish them if I have a third term.
One of them is the big effort we're doing around our unhoused population. I have a task force working right now on homelessness and I've asked them to be creative and look at some different alternatives so we can lower our homeless numbers and help people in different ways.
I'd like to finish the government center - the new government center - and get that over and done. I'm the fifth mayor to try.
And, then, to continue to embed in our community the fabulous, fabulous efforts and partnerships around public safety. Our numbers are unbelievable, and we are building this in a deep way so that it's sustainable.
So, those are three pretty big goals to keep working on.
Czar
I was going to ask you next, "What were some of your priorities?" and you just covered that. You did touch on new city hall government center - that's something that's been talked about as long as I've been a reporter, which has been a hot minute. Do you think you can get that accomplished?
Gorton
Yes. We have worked hand-in-hand with the council since 2019, since I came into office as mayor.
As I said, I'm the fifth mayor to try to get a city hall, as opposed to staying in our temporary city hall. We have been very judicious about the money. We've actually saved money back in an account to do this.
We started with a space study to show us exactly what we need. This will be very accessible for the public, which we don't necessarily have right now. It will give us the opportunity to really serve Lexington well.
Czar
Were you concerned in this primary? There was a much tighter margin. It was still more than a 20-point spread, but in the primary of 2022, there was, I believe, a 60-point spread. Did that concern you, and how do you pivot now moving forward in your campaign?
Gorton
No, not at all. It didn't concern me.
When I first ran, I had fewer votes than this time. I think I was at 40 or 41 percent, so this was 46 percent, almost 50 percent, and I felt like it was not a very tight margin. I was very pleased with the results. And there were seven people running, which was a big field.
We are now revving up again for the general election on November 3rd, and we are just going to go full force. I'm always known for grassroots campaign with less money, and I think that worked again. I had less money, but I've always underspent my competitors because I think money isn't... You know, money's important, but you have to use it wisely and stretch it out and make it go far.
I am all about the people. I think everybody knows that now, and so I'm really excited. I have strong team going forward. We're going to get this done.
Czar
Your critics during this previous campaign - and this will be an argument moving forward - is the city's handling of cleanup during the three ice storms we had in the last two years. We've done stories with you talking about what you're going to do differently moving forward but, for those who are tuned in right now, what is the plan to make it better in the future?
Gorton
Well, as we've seen the weather patterns change, we know that we need to look at ice a little bit differently because, now, we're regularly getting it.
Weather patterns are changing all over the place, so I asked my team to do the in-depth after-action review, which we did. They interviewed 80 to 100 employees inside government, everybody from drivers up to supervisors and myself. Right now, I have an internal working group who are taking that information from the after-action review and they're discussing it through a lens of: how do we do better?
We have learned a lot, and it's really helping us move forward in a positive way. We'll have what I would call a draft plan, strategic plan, maybe around the end of August, somewhere around there.
And, of course, we're starting to circulate it to our partners. We have UK, Transy, LexTrans, [FCPS] School System - I'm sure I'm leaving somebody out! But it's very important that they all weigh in, too.
We're pretty excited. It's a good opportunity for us to move forward in a different way.
Czar
When you and I first met, you were on Council.
Gorton
Yes.
Czar
And the big ice storm we had - was it '03 or '05?
Gorton
2003.
Czar
2003. Oh my gosh, how can I forget? - in '03, and then we didn't see another one for several years, over a decade.
Gorton
That's right, yes.
Czar
Now, as you just said, we're seeing them more frequently. What other changes are you planning? I know there's equipment that we didn't need to buy before that you think is important now.
Gorton
Yes, we actually already put out a request for a proposal and got it back. We have eight contractors who have large equipment, a lot of which is too expensive for us to keep on hand, but their equipment will move ice; will help do the things that we don't have the equipment to do right now. They'll be on-call next winter and they'll be on-call for any kind of major, disastrous storm - for example: something that tears out the electric grid and takes down a lot of trees; we need people to help us get that cleared.
These folks will all be on-call. We've got all that ready for next year, and that will be a big help.
Some of these pieces of equipment are pretty impressive, and most cities - except for, you know, cities in Alaska and Montana and up in way north places - most cities can't afford to keep them on hand because they might only use them every few years. And we've put more money into our own trucks and salt and Beet Heet and all the things we need for storms.
Czar
Infrastructure repairs in Lexington, particularly street repairs downtown near UK's campus: how are we moving that forward and getting that done? Those who live in that area tell me it feels like it's gone on indefinitely.
Czar
It sort of does go on all the time. And, as you know, there's also a lot of big construction going on on UK. When there's big construction, there's big trucks and other vehicles moving back and forth, and there's an impact to the roads with that.
There's a lot of utility work going on. It's summertime. They can't do this work in the winter, so we see it start every spring.
One of the things that we've got going on right now is there was a lot of concern on High Street and Fontaine where the roads were opened up and utility work was being done. We are now in meetings with our utilities to tighten the coordination so that we only open up the street once.
The way it works is our sewers are the lowest, so we do our work first, then Columbia Gas is next, and on top is Kentucky American Water. We're tightening our conversations about how do we do this so that we all know what we're doing and we can open it and then get it closed and paved.
It's sort of a rush to get it done once late March, early April starts, when the weather's good and we can do this work.
We're a hustling, bustling city. Somebody said to me one time, "There are too many cranes. I don't like all the cranes in town." And I said, "Well, what that represents is financial investment and business growth. And that's a good thing."
Czar
I want to make sure I'm hearing you correctly. So, you're looking at better communication as far as being able to do all three levels at one time?
Gorton
Yes, and not open it and close it and have a rough patch and then open it again. You know, this was part of the issue on a couple of those roads this spring. So, we're always looking to do better. Everybody in the world can always do better, right? We take that to heart every time we have challenges. We say, "Well, how can we do better?"
Czar
You mentioned public safety earlier. I spoke with Devine Carama and he was telling me our statistics are that we have gone the longest period without gun violence in the city.
Gorton
Ever.
Czar
Ever!
Gorton
Yes.
Czar
In the history of the city?
Gorton
Today [June 5] is 120 days without a homicide. This is worth noting! That's four months. This has never happened, and it is not by accident. It's very intentional work that we do in a lot of ways.
So, we have this fantastic public safety team. Devine Carama and the ONE Lexington team work very closely with our public safety folks. They also work deep in the community. They have a lot of partnerships with nonprofits, with individuals who want to volunteer to help them. We work in the schools.
What we are doing, I think, is building a sustainable system where we can keep these crime levels down into the future. This is a big deal. This is the most important thing for a city to be: a safe city.
We are now one of the safest cities in the United States. When you have that, then people can go to the parks. They can go enjoy the arts. They can go to a play or a movie or whatever they want to do. And you see this reflected on our streets.
People come to town and they say, "Oh my gosh, there are people all over the place!" They're busy doing things they want to do, going to work, going out to eat, whatever. But it's all dependent on being a safe city.
Building that deep into our community is a really fantastic thing for people, and people recognize this. It's a change over the last eight years. In 2022, you may remember, we had 44 homicides. That was just unacceptable. It was a difficult time across the country.
Czar
And coming out of the pandemic.
Gorton
Yes. Yes, very difficult.
We took that to heart, and we said, OK, we've got to get creative and figure out how can we do this differently. And, by golly, it's working!
Now, we don't rest any day. There's no day we say, "OK, we're good" because we know that something can change.
I think that everybody involved should be really pleased with the efforts. It's a mammoth effort.
Czar
What would you consider your greatest accomplishments thus far as mayor?
Gorton
I think of maybe three or four things, the first of which is what we just talked about, the level of being a safe city. We're one of the safest in the country, and every city wants to be that. That would be number one.
I think that we are known across the country as a place that has a relatively low cost of living. Now, this doesn't come by accident either. We've kept taxes low. There hasn't been a tax increase on the occupational license fee, I think, for 25 years.
We put our money and our budget priorities into quality of life things that keep the cost of living low: Everybody can get to a park, free! Jobs, jobs, jobs. We just keep hammering on the work we do to keep that cost of living low and the quality of life high.
And that's why people are coming here. We have all kinds of people coming here: retirees, young people, families, people who've never seen us before, but they visit one time and they say, OK, that's the place for me.
The final one is we are making really good progress with our affordable housing - that is, housing for people who are low income, who are on the edge - and we are making really good progress. We're not giving up, but in this current budget, we have over $5 million dedicated to that. This is a big deal.
In everything we do, I tell people in government all the time, our focus is people. If we are not working to improve for people, we've got to pivot. And that's one of the things I love about my job is getting to work for people.
Czar
Insight is always 20/20, but if you could go back, is there anything you would do differently as mayor?
Gorton
Gosh, that's a big question. What would I do differently?
You know, I worked my heart out and we had great success in the pandemic. I'm just kind of progressing through the... You know, of course, I could always more add more hours to my day.
You know, we can always do better in everything we do. That's kind of how Americans look at things. I don't think of one thing in particular. I'm sure there's something.
If I could have waved a magic wand on that ice, I'd have banished it.
I'm a nurse. I always focus on people; it's all about people. I will, of course, continue that as long as I'm a mayo, because that's what you are all about when you become a mayor: leading and making the city better for people.
Czar
For people listening who are still on the fence - and we've got several months to go -what makes you the best candidate?
Gorton
Well, I would encourage them to look at my total record.
Of course, I do nothing by myself. I have a wonderful team of leaders in government - over 3,000 employees in government. We work as a big team.
So, I would say, look at my record. Look at what I've done for people who are marginalized with the things like the mobile food truck and the expungement clinics and the job fairs and the affordable housing and the parks we've brought - lots of new parks.
Czar
Gatton Park is gorgeous.
Gorton
Gatton Park. Kelly's Landing. Cardinal Run North. You can name it off. Yet, through all of this, we have remained one of the safest, best-led cities in the country.
I would just say, look at the record. It speaks for itself.
Czar
Mayor Linda Gordon, thank you so much for being with us today. We really appreciate it. Please come back. We would love to talk to you again before the election, but also to talk about all the things that are going to be happening this summer in the city.
Gorton
I would love to come back. And I'm happy to be the inaugural.
Czar
You are the inaugural, so thank you for being here! We appreciate your time,
Mayor Linda Gorton is seeking a third term. She led the May primary with 46 percent of the vote. She will go up against Raquel Carter, who netted 28 percent of the vote. We have reached out to Carter with an invitation to be interviewed.
