Jim Gray (American politician)

Jim Gray
Jim Gray
Mayor of Lexington, Kentucky
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 2, 2011
Preceded by Jim Newberry
Personal details
Political party Democratic
Residence Lexington, Kentucky
Alma mater Vanderbilt University
Harvard University
Profession Businessman

James "Jim" P. Gray II (born 1953) is the current mayor of Lexington, Kentucky (Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government). Gray served as the city's vice-mayor from 2006 to 2010 before being elected mayor in November 2010. Gray handily won re-election to another 4-year term on November 4, 2014.[1]

Gray is formerly Chairman and CEO of Gray Construction, a nationally ranked engineering, design, and construction company headquartered in Lexington.[2] Once elected, he took an advisory role as Chair of the Board of Directors to focus on his role as Mayor.[3]

Early life and education

Gray was raised in Glasgow, Kentucky, the second oldest of Lois and James Norris Gray's six children.

Gray started his college career at Emory University in Atlanta but returned home to help out with the family business when his father died in 1972. He then enrolled at Vanderbilt University, commuting between Glasgow and Nashville while earning a degree in history.[4]

After graduating in 1975, he joined the family construction business full-time.

In 1996, after more than 20 years in the construction industry, Gray accepted an offer to become a Loeb Fellow at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design.[5] The Loeb Fellowship program is created for accomplished practitioners "to pause, study, and reflect at a great University [to] enable those who designed and built our cities to return with renewed insight and energy."[6]

Family business

Gray's father started the family construction business in 1960, and it has since grown to become one of the twenty largest design-build firms in the country.[7]

Located in the historic Wolf-Wile Building on Lexington's Main St., the Gray Companies include Gray Construction, WS Construction and Gray-I.C.E. Builders, with offices in Anaheim, Birmingham, Bowling Green, Ky., Versailles, Ky., Lexington, Ky. and Tokyo.[7]

The Gray Companies specialize in the design, construction and renovation of enormous facilities—automotive plants, distribution centers and manufacturing plants—as well as retail and mixed-use developments both in the U.S. and abroad. Among the clients for whom major projects have been completed are BMW, CVS, Dollar General, Hitachi, Hyundai, Pepsi Beverages, Procter & Gamble, Siemens and Toyota.[7]

Gray Construction was an industry pioneer in offering, under one roof, both the design and construction of buildings, a practice now widespread in the construction industry. To promote this new concept, Jim Gray co-founded the Design-Build Institute of America in 1993.[8]

After supervising the sales and marketing operations of Gray Construction, Jim Gray became president and CEO of Gray Inc. and the Gray Companies in October 2004, serving until 2009.[8] During his tenure, revenue grew 38%.

Political career

Early career

In 1972, at the age of 19, Gray became the second youngest person ever elected as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, which was held in Miami.[8]

Gray's next foray into politics came two decades later when Kentucky Governor Brereton Jones asked him to chair his Committee on Quality and Efficiency. The committee produced the "Wake-Up Call for Kentucky Report," an audit of executive branch spending that included recommendations to eliminate $1 billion in wasteful state spending.[9]

Gray's first run for office was a bid for Lexington Mayor in 2002. He lost the primary and endorsed Teresa Isaac, who was elected.[10]

Vice Mayor of Lexington

In 2006, Gray ran for one of three Council-at-Large seats in the Lexington City Council and was elected. As the largest vote-getter among the council-at-large candidates, Gray became Vice Mayor and served from 2007 to 2010.[10]

In his role as Vice Mayor, Gray positioned himself as a guardian of rate-payers and tax-payers, challenging Mayor Jim Newberry on overspending at the Blue Grass Airport and potential water-rate hikes.[11][12] He opposed the Owen County Kentucky-American water treatment plant that cost Fayette County rate payers $164 million.

Mayor of Lexington

In 2010, Gray entered the race for mayor, challenging the incumbent Jim Newberry.

During the campaign, Gray developed the "Fresh Start Plan," containing a pledge to run the government like a good business, with increased transparency and efficiency and with reduced spending and debt.[13]

In November 2010, Gray defeated Newberry 53% to 46%.[14]

Before his first day as mayor, Gray had the entire mayor's office moved from the 12th floor of Lexington's government center to a first-floor ballroom, creating an open office atmosphere that was inspired by his own office at Gray. To learn about operations of a city government, the newly elected mayor paid a visit to Mayor Michael Bloomberg.[15]

Gray has publicly stated that his administration is focused on three areas: creating jobs, making government more efficient, and building Lexington into a great American city.[3]

Since taking office in January 2011, Gray has addressed budget deficits totaling $35 million. Savings came through tough cuts and innovative solutions: eliminating non-essential positions … contractual concessions from union groups … asking employees to shoulder more of the cost of their health insurance … and smart investments leveraging private, state and federal grants.

Recently, with the help of police and fire representatives, Gray tackled the city's most pressing financial issue, the underfunded police/fire pension. The compromise agreement they forged allows the city to reclaim its financial strength, while saving the pension to ensure a dignified retirement for police officers and firefighters.

With Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer, Gray launched a joint Lexington-Louisville economic-development initiative in conjunction with the Brookings Institution. The Bluegrass Economic Advancement Movement (BEAM) project is aimed at building the bluegrass region of Kentucky as a global center for advanced manufacturing.[16]

Personal life

A lifelong collector of modern art, Gray, in 2000, created and helped endow the Gray Art Experience, an annual art-appreciation trip to New York City for University of Kentucky Gaines Fellows.[17]

Gray was married for seven years and has no children. In 2005, Gray publicly announced that he was gay.[10]

References

  1. ↑ "Gray, Gorton inaugurated as Lexington mayor, vice mayor". Kentucky.com.
  2. ↑ "Gray Construction - History of Gray Construction | Gray Construction". Gray.com. 1960-10-11. Retrieved 2013-12-03.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government Lexington, Kentucky : Mayor Jim Gray". Lexingtonky.gov. 2013-09-13. Retrieved 2013-12-03.
  4. ↑ Mead, Andy. "Jim Gray: Points to empty block downtown, controversies | Mayoral Election". Kentucky.com. Retrieved 2013-12-03.
  5. ↑ "January-February '98 Issue - Life by Design". Harvardmagazine.com. 2007-11-05. Retrieved 2013-12-03.
  6. ↑ http://www.gsd.harvard.edu/#/academic-programs/loeb-fellowship/index.html
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "About Gray - A Top-20 Industrial Construction Design-Build Firm | Gray Construction". Gray.com. Retrieved 2013-12-03.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Gray: Building on a Legacy, Documenting 50 years of Gray Construction. Self-published, 2010.
  9. ↑ The public papers of Governor ... - Brereton Jones, Penny M. Miller, Kentucky. Governor (1991-1995 : Jones) - Google Books. Books.google.com. Retrieved 2013-12-03.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Mead, Andy (2009-12-28). "Vice mayor will try to unseat Newberry | Mayoral Election". Kentucky.com. Retrieved 2013-12-03.
  11. ↑ Herald-Leader Staff Report. "Airport audit argued at mayoral forum | Mayoral Election". Kentucky.com. Retrieved 2013-12-03.
  12. ↑ Mead, Andy (2010-07-29). "At hearing, Lexington mayoral candidates air views about water plant, rate hike | Latest Local, State News". Kentucky.com. Retrieved 2013-12-03.
  13. ↑ Mead, Andy (2010-08-19). "Gray releases 'Fresh Start Plan' for Lexington | Mayoral Election". Kentucky.com. Retrieved 2013-12-03.
  14. ↑ "Lexington, Ky., voters elect 1st openly gay mayor". Washingtonpost.com. 2010-11-02. Retrieved 2013-12-03.
  15. ↑ Nocera, Joe (2010-12-10). "Jim Gray, Mayor-to-Be, Looks to Bloomberg for Governing Insights". The New York Times.
  16. ↑ Fortune, Beverly (2013-09-25). "Mayors of Lexington and Louisville team up on initiative to boost jobs | Business". Kentucky.com. Retrieved 2013-12-03.
  17. ↑ http://www.uky.edu/OtherOrgs/GainesCenter/Gray_Endowment_for_web.doc

External links

Preceded by
Jim Newberry		 Mayor of Lexington, Kentucky
2011- 		Succeeded by
Incumbent