Beshear picks former Lexington Mayor Jim Gray to be transportation secretary
Less than a year after concluding two terms as mayor of Lexington, Jim Gray has landed a new public office — secretary of the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet.
Gov.-elect Andy Beshear, in making the announcement Monday at a news conference in the Capitol, said he wants Gray to lead the office because he is honest, transparent and a great leader of Kentucky’s second largest city from 2011 to 2019.
Gray said the new role will be a “challenge” for him and considers it “an honor and an incredible opportunity.”
In addition to Gray, Beshear announced that House Democratic Leader Rocky Adkins, who unsuccessfully challenged Beshear in the May Democratic primary election for governor, will serve as Beshear’s senior adviser.
In other appointments, Beshear said Lt. Gov.-elect Jacqueline Coleman will add secretary of the Education and Workforce Development Cabinet to her title; Col. Haldane B. Lamberton will lead the Kentucky National Guard as adjutant general; and Lt. Col. Keith Jackson, former Lexington fire chief, will head the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Beshear said Gray has “vast knowledge of the state’s infrastructure needs.” Gray is board chairman of Gray Construction, an engineering, design and construction company in Lexington. As mayor, he was an adviser to the company’s board.
He will keep that same type of relationship with the company as state transportation secretary, said Beshear spokeswoman Crystal Staley.
Gray said he will run the cabinet of about 4,100 employees with integrity and transparency.
Coleman, a public educator, will be one of few Kentucky lieutenant governors to also serve as a cabinet secretary.
She said she will “make sure public education gets the attention it deserves.”
Teachers played a big role in Beshear’s defeat of Republican Gov. Matt Bevin in the Nov. 5 general election. Many were upset with him for his handling of a pension bill and his critical remarks about their missing school to protest at the Capitol.
Asked what type of relationship she anticipates having with Education Commissioner Wayne Lewis and the state Board of Education, Coleman said she will “put together a team of folks who value public education in the same way we do.”
Beshear has been critical of Lewis and the current board and has pledged to replace them.
Lamberton will be sworn in as adjutant general on Dec. 10 immediately after Beshear and Coleman are sworn into office.
A native of Louisville, Lamberton has more than 35 years of military service — 14 in the Army and 21 in the Kentucky National Guard. His service includes five operational deployments in Germany, Honduras, Panama, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and South Korea during eight years of overseas service.
Lamberton received his commission through the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program at the University of Kentucky, where he also graduated with a bachelor’s degree. He was one of 17 National Guard officers selected nationwide to attend the U.S. Army War College, where he earned a Master’s degree in national policy and strategic studies.
Jackson, a native of Lexington, has a bachelor’s degree and Army commission from the University of Kentucky. He had a 27-year military career in the U.S. Army Reserves and was deployed to Iraq in 2005 as operations officer and executive officer of the 352nd Combat Support Battalion.
Jackson was named chief of the Lexington fire department in 2012.
Beshear said he may announce more appointments Friday. In his inner office, he has yet to appoint a chief of staff and a legislative liaison.
No salaries have yet been set for his appointees, Beshear said.
This story was originally published December 2, 2019 at 2:21 PM.
