By Brenna Angel
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Lexington Mayor-elect Jim Gray has made the first major appointment of his administration. Richard Moloney, who currently serves as the state's commissioner for Housing, Building, and Construction and was a city council member for 13 years, will be the city's Chief Administrative Officer. It's a position that Mayor Jim Newberry did away with, but Gray sees as essential.
"Runnin' the train, keeping the trains running on time is real important. And the 3,200 employees of our government, they expect good management. They expect someone who's approachable and easy to communicate with, but also disciplined, who understands what running the business of government's all about."
During his 13 years as a member of the urban county council, Moloney worked under four different mayors.
"Each mayor's had different styles. What I like about Jim, he's going to be a vision mayor that's going to go out and do things for this city that's never been done bringing jobs here, we've never had a mayor like that before. We've always had mayors who were attorneys, or they were political all their life. And this is the first time we've actually got a businessman here."
Moloney will continue to work his job in Frankfort through the end of the calendar year. He says he'll meet with current employees and work with Gray to form a transition team for the new administration.