Gorton unveils plan for jobs, growth; Bastin launches ads focusing on gun violence

With a month to go before the November general election, the two candidates vying for Lexington mayor unveiled more of their priorities and vision if elected to the city’s top job.

Linda Gorton unveiled a multipronged platform Tuesday that would focus on developing high-tech jobs, making infill development easier and strengthening neighborhoods and increasing diversity.

Meanwhile, Ronnie Bastin, a former police chief and public safety commissioner, released new advertisements that focused on gun violence and touted his public safety plan.

The campaign to replace outgoing Mayor Jim Gray, who opted not to seek a third and final term, has largely been quiet since the May 22 primary.

“We must ensure that all our citizens reap the rewards of our progress,” Gorton said. “This is a road map that tackles our large and small challenges and creates an environment for creativity, opportunity and enhancement of our many virtues.”

The plan, called “Linda’s Vision for the Future,” was released during a press conference Tuesday. The 27-page booklet includes the former vice mayor and long-term council member’s plans on everything from parks to traffic.

Gorton supports developing a long-term master economic development plan that focuses on the development of the University of Kentucky Coldstream Research Park, removing outdated regulations and unnecessary barriers to creating new businesses and expanding the city’s current workforce development office to address under-served businesses and neighborhoods. Gorton’s plan also includes targeting and expanding Lexington’s high-tech agribusiness sector and promoting agritourism.

Gorton has long supported protecting farmland but said she would also support and fund a public infrastructure program that the city created years ago and never funded. That program would use city money to help developers offset some costs of building inside the city’s growth boundary.

“If we want to encourage infill development, we know that it costs a lot more to develop than open farmland,” Gorton said. Gorton said she would also create a one-stop-shop to expedite approval of projects and eliminate delays. Gorton said after the press conference she would also support a long-stagnant proposal that would allow zone changes for development that have no neighborhood opposition to be expedited, decreasing delays for non-controversial projects.

Gorton wants to create a multidisciplinary task force on opioid addiction to help guide the city’s policies and priorities and addiction and also tap researchers at UK who have studied addiction. To address gun violence, Gorton’s plan includes looking at programs such as New York City’s Cure Violence program, expanding the work of an ongoing Lexington neighborhood anti-violence program and strengthening regional law enforcement partnerships to ensure the city is tracking and tackling organized crime and drug trafficking.

“I would also re-establish the position of neighborhood liaison in the mayor’s office,” Gorton said. Gorton said she also supports increasing diversity on all city boards and commissions, which has been an issue. She would keep an LGBTQ liaison in the mayor’s office to continue outreach efforts and look at whether there are inequities in development of infrastructure.

She also would back and encourage employers to look at flex-time policies to decrease traffic on roadways, explore investing in new traffic control devices that react to current traffic patterns and investigate incentives for employees who carpool or use public transit.

Bastin has previously said the city has some of those new traffic control devices but never purchased the software that would allow those devices to work properly.

In response to Gorton’s 27-page plan, Bastin said from “day one” he has spoken about all of the issues Gorton addresses in her plan including “expanding tourism (including agritourism) and improving traffic. I am glad to see that my campaign’s robust and well thought out plans have broadened the discourse in the race for mayor,” Bastin said.

Bastin unveiled a series of advertisements Monday on his campaign web site featuring endorsements from mothers and grandmothers whose children were killed by gun violence.

In the five “Survivors for Bastin” ads, mothers and grandmothers talk about the pain of losing their children or grandchildren to gun violence. In one advertisement, Deana Howard, whose son Sean Howard, 19, was shot on Aug. 5, 2017, said “Ronnie Bastin has cared and has shown interest in helping with gun violence awareness.”

Bastin unveiled a public safety plan prior to the May primary. That plan included adding 40 additional police officers over the next four years, appointing a person to oversee drug enforcement and intervention and increasing access to training and jobs to felons to stop the cycle of crime.

Sherelle Pierre, a spokesperson for Bastin’s campaign, said the ads have not yet aired on television.

There have been no public polls released in the nonpartisan race so far. Gorton finished first in the seven-way May primary with more than 42 percent of the vote. Bastin finished second with 25 percent.

But Bastin has led in fundraising in the primary and in the general election. Bastin had raised $273,544, including a $55,000 loan he made to his own campaign, according to reports filed with the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance. Bastin had $181,549.80 left to spend prior to the Nov. 6 general election. Gorton raised raised $91,985 and had $71,880 left to spend.

This story was originally published October 2, 2018 at 1:50 PM.