Mayor Gorton names UK professor as replacement for late Councilman Jake Gibbs.
Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton has appointed a University of Kentucky professor to fill the unexpired term of late Lexington-Fayette Urban County Councilman Jake Gibbs.
Gorton named Mark Swanson, a professor at UK College of Public Health and a longtime-friend of Gibbs, to the 3rd District seat that includes much of downtown and many neighborhoods surrounding the University of Kentucky.
“I’m honored by the confidence Mayor Gorton has shown in me with this appointment and I look forward to serving my neighbors in the 3rd District in these unprecedented and challenging times,” Swanson said at a press conference Monday. Swanson said he was friends with Gibbs for more than two decades and will honor his legacy during the next eight months.
Swanson has worked with stores in Lexington’s low-income neighborhoods to improve access to healthy food options. He also worked to improve access to healthy food at Lexington pools.
He is also no stranger to city government. He is a member of the Lexington Environmental Commission and has served on other community boards including the advocacy committee of the American Heart Association.
“Mark is well prepared to be the council member for the 3rd District,” Gorton said. “He has worked to improve economic opportunity in our downtown neighborhoods. And he is a faculty member at the University of Kentucky, which is another important part of the district.”
Gibbs died unexpectedly of natural causes in early March. Gibbs, who taught history and logic at Bluegrass Community and Technical College, surprised many when he announced last fall that he would not seek another two-year term on council.
Swanson is not running for the seat in the June primary. Swanson will serve until Dec. 31.
Four candidates have filed for the seat: Hannah LeGris, a recruiter of top academic students for UK; Jessica Mohler, the communications and marketing director for the Carnegie Center for Literary and Learning; Christine Stanley, a lawyer; and Charles D. Smith, a retired workforce development specialist who has previously worked for the city’s traffic engineering department.
The top two vote getters in the primary will move on to the November general election. The race is nonpartisan.
The council is currently on a two-week break but is scheduled to return April 9. The council does not have to ratify Gorton’s appointment but it can overturn it with a super majority vote — 10 out of 15 council members have to vote Swanson’s appointment down.
Gorton said Monday that Swanson won’t be sworn in for 15 days, which would give the council time to meet Swanson.
Swanson and his wife, Nancy Schoenberg, a professor at the UK College of Medicine, have two adult children.
