LEXINGTON, Ky. — Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton released federal funding plans for the $120 million dollars from the American Rescue Plan Act, and now The Black Faith Leaders of Lexington & Vicinity are submitting their recommendations for the funds.

It's been a week since Mayor Linda Gorton released proposed plans for federal ARP funding including rental assistance, COVID-19 assistance, capital infrastructure, homlessness prevention and several other plans for the funding.

Gorton was able to propose plans based on community input; Mario Radford and the Black Faith Leaders of Lexington & Vicinity feel the funds could be allocated differently.

“As we have said repeatedly that housing, health, employment, education, and justice disparities, all stem from economic disparities,” said Radford.

The Black Faith Leaders of Lexington & Vicinity feel they're repeating themselves with the recommendations they are asking for, as they've continued to push for safety and close gaps in economic disparities from the city. Ultimately they said this is why they're submitting new recommendations for the $120 million dollars in federal funding. 

“In the three months since the last public statement, we have continued our efforts to push for policies and programs that will improve community safety, address economic disparities and increase racial equity," said Radford.

The group of leaders are asking the city of Lexington to reserve 10% of its American Rescue Plan funding for the programming they have recommended.

The recommendations from the faith leaders include: increased summer programming for young people, business development officers for minority businesses, addressing violence and redrawing school district lines. Rev. Clark Williams said they should be redrawn to where they do not decrease the Black percentage.

“There is a whole lot more that needs to be done to address equity, to address justice and to address disparities, and we continue to say that all of these disparities that we are dealing with are rooted in economic disparity, and that really has not been addressed yet,” said Williams. 

The leaders feel their recommendations are more specific for what areas of Lexington need the most assistance.

“We felt that it was important we provided some specific input, we are not seeking to receive funds as the Black Faith Leaders, but we wanted to put these recommendations in place around programming that was essential to the things that we have been calling for,” said Williams.

The group wants their recommendations to be transparent to the community of Lexington, which is why they say they will continue to voice it.

“We were compelled not only to submit our funding recommendations, but to also make them known to the public. And we hope that Mayor Gordon, and the city council, will hear this urgent call for action,” said Radford.

The Mayor’s office declined to comment on the Black Faith Leaders recommendations.