KENTUCKY — We're kicking off a multi-week series, sharing interviews from mayors across our state as we highlight individual communities here in the Commonwealth.

Over the course of several weeks, mayors will share some of the progress their administrations have made in their cities and also talk about some of the challenges they face and hope to overcome in the coming year.

During this In Focus Kentucky segment, Linda Gorton is our guest. She was elected in November 2018 with 63% of the vote to become the mayor of Lexington.

Before that, Gorton set a record as the longest continuously serving member of the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council. She’s now running for re-election to continue leading Lexington for another 4 year term.

According to recent Lexington police data, it shows that Lexington recorded more homicides in the month of May 2022, than it had in any calendar month since at least 2007.

Mayor Gorton explains that gun violence is a multi-prong issue and the whole community needs to be a part of the solution. 

"One of our biggest programs inside government is called One Lexington. And this is directed by Devine Carama and it is a violence prevention program. And he especially works for with youth and young people and it is a lot of different things including mentoring. It includes mediation. He's partnered with Fayette County Public Schools where if there are a couple of students who seem to be having a disagreement that they're willing to take outside the school, the schools can call Devine and have a trained mediator come work with the students," Gorton said.

You can watch the full In Focus segment in the player above.