Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton has the power and authority to stop the mass evictions that have plagued our city for the last 160 days. With over 1,400 people facing eviction filings since August 24, 2020, hundreds of Lexingtonians have been thrown out of their homes and onto the streets. Mayor Gorton has had the power to stop these atrocities the entire time.
Kentucky Equal Justice Center’s Ben Carter, an attorney specializing in housing law, has published a detailed argument explaining why Kentucky Mayors DO have the power to stop all evictions.
If Mayor Gorton cares for the people of Lexington, why has she refused to act in this crisis? Why has she continued to deny that she CAN help her most vulnerable constituents by using her expansive emergency powers to stop evictions? We’ve been very curious.
Interesting to find out that Mayor Linda Gorton herself is a landlord.
Since being elected Mayor, Gorton has repeatedly betrayed tenants to the interests of landlords and real estate. She tried to cut the Affordable Housing Fund, leading to a large protest in the middle of the pandemic–after she campaigned on a promise to support the Affordable Housing Fund. Then, she tried to cut desperately needed rental assistance while thousands of her constituents were struggling to pay rent, leading to viral online outrage and global news coverage. Aside from these horrendous measures thankfully stopped by public pressure, Mayor Gorton has quietly cut funding to housing assistance from the city budget, including money for non-profits fighting homelessness and the city’s Office of Homelessness Prevention and Intervention.
Linda Gorton, it is time to prioritize people over profit in this city. Use your expansive emergency executive powers to stop all evictions in Fayette County and use your platform to advocate for tenant protections. Your failure to do so thus far is all too telling… SHAME!
#LandlordLinda
Lexington Housing Justice Collective 
Shameful indeed. Conflict of interest much??
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She’s such a weasel. So fake and cowardly. Stop lying and help us already!
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#landlordLinda doesn’t care about Lexington
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Slumlord Linda needs to pay for that office she’s been occupying. She clearly has no desire to perform her duty as Mayor
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This is disgusting. Of all the times to be so callous towards the most needy, she does it during a pandemic and one of the coldest years Lexington has had in a decade. What an absolute disgrace.
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Seems callous
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