LEXINGTON, Ky. — Mayor Linda Gorton and challenger Raquel Carter traded attacks over Kentucky American Water on Friday and Saturday, after the city filed a formal complaint with the state Public Service Commission accusing the utility of two years of “unreasonable, unprofessional, and inadequat e” construction work in Lexington’s streets. Carter, a real estate broker making her first run for office, posted Friday evening that it “took viral videos and public outcry” for the city to act and that Gorton, “just two months before the election,” is “asking the Public Service Commission to solve Lexington’s problems rather than rolling up their sleeves and getting the job done.” Gorton’s campaign answered Saturday morning: “My opponent takes money from KAW so I’m not surprised she’s taking their side.” State campaign-finance records show one contribution from anyone connected to the water company: $100 to Carter on March 11 from an employee who listed her occupation as “External Affairs” at Kentucky American Water. Kentucky law bars corporations from giving to candidates, and no money from the company itself or a company political committee appears in either candidate’s filings through the May 19 primary. Carter raised about $238,800 through the primary to Gorton’s $96,500. Raquel Carter’s campaign post on Friday, Aug. 28, 2026 (left) and Mayor Linda Gorton’s campaign reply on Saturday, Aug. 29 (right). (Screenshots: Facebook / Raquel For Lexington; Re-Elect Mayor Linda Gorton) What the city actually asked for The 17-page complaint, filed Friday, Aug. 28, by outside counsel Sturgill, Turner, Barker Moloney and the city’s law department, does more than ask the PSC to referee. It asks the commission to order Kentucky American to adopt written construction and repair policies, including rules for communicating with local officials; to bar the company from recovering the costs of its construction problems in its pending rate case; and to open an investigation including a management and operational audit of the company. The complaint says the city already penalizes the utility with its own tools. Under city rules, permit fees are reassessed every 21 days when a project runs past schedule; the filing says Kentucky American has incurred almost $270,000 in reassessed fees since 2019 and more than $27,000 so far in 2026 — costs the city argues will land on ratepayers if the PSC allows them into rates. That bears on Carter’s pledge to “enforce penalties for unnecessary delays on any city bids.” Kentucky American is not a city contractor. It occupies Lexington’s rights-of-way under a franchise agreement adopted by Ordinance 155-14 in January 2015 — and, according to the complaint, renewed for five more years on Oct. 9, 2025, under Gorton, by Resolution 459-2024. That renewal also complicates Gorton’s statement that “utility companies are not beholden to local authority.” The PSC regulates the company’s rates and service, and the complaint itself argues construction practices count as “service” under KRS 278.010. But the franchise, the right-of-way permits and the 21-day fee reassessments are all city powers, and the complaint leans on all three. The record in the filing Appendix A of the complaint lays out timelines for five neighborhoods. On Fontaine Road, permits were approved July 17, 2025; the filing says trenches were in “very bad condition” by September, a subcontractor was terminated in March 2026 “without explanation” and not replaced for weeks, the contractor declared bankruptcy and abandoned the job in late April, “very little construction activity” occurred from late May through July while the replacement contractor worked elsewhere, and in late July the contractor damaged a sanitary sewer line the city’s Division of Water Quality had to repair. On North Limestone, the city says it learned in May 2026 that Kentucky American had started work without railroad approval to bore under the tracks, and that on May 8 an unsecured steel plate was struck by a car. On South Upper Street, the complaint says a cyclist was injured falling into a “poorly maintained and cordoned trench” during a University of Kentucky cycling event in fall 2025. Bell Court, it says, missed an entire paving season in 2024. The complaint also alleges that in April 2026 the company began shifting construction crews out of Fayette County “to address complaints of poor performance in those counties,” and notes Kentucky American’s pending rate case, No. 2026-00094, proposes to double its main-replacement pace by 2029 — most of it in Lexington streets. Where the “two years” line came from Carter’s post quotes the mayor saying, “For two years, this has been an issue.” The complaint’s own language is that “over the past two years” the company’s practices have been unreasonable. Gorton first publicly pressed the company on High Street and Fontaine Road on May 1, and on Aug. 5 criticized the company for declining her request for a public meeting with Chevy Chase residents. In Friday’s announcement she said the company’s president instead proposed “doorhangers or sticky notes.” Kentucky American, in a statement to WEKU, said it “firmly rejects the assertions made in LFUCG’s complaint,” that its work “is conducted under LFUCG oversight and permit requirements,” and that “the claim that we have not listened or engaged is simply false.” It said it would address the complaint “through the appropriate process.” The exchange Carter’s post, on her “Raquel For Lexington” page, ran over footage of loose gravel on a torn-up street. “As mayor, I would react more quickly, communicate more clearly, manage adherence to service contract agreements, and enforce penalties for unnecessary delays on any city bids,” she wrote. “Lexington deserves better.” Gorton’s reply, on the “Re-Elect Mayor Linda Gorton” page and signed by the mayor, said Carter’s claims “show that she does not have the experience in these matters to get things done,” and that it is “nonsense to suggest she would come in and be the first mayor in Kentucky history” to bend a utility to local authority. “You don’t run to the PSC after every violation,” the post said. “You go there when it’s clear all avenues have been exhausted.” Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Sources LFUCG v. Kentucky-American Water Co., formal complaint before the Kentucky PSC (filed Aug. 28, 2026) City of Lexington news release, Aug. 28, 2026: City files complaint against Kentucky American Water Raquel For Lexington (Facebook), Aug. 28, 2026 Re-Elect Mayor Linda Gorton (Facebook), Aug. 29, 2026 Kentucky Registry of Election Finance, contributor export, May 19, 2026 primary (Lexington mayor) KRS 121.150(18) — corporate contributions prohibited LFUCG Ordinance 155-14 — Kentucky American Water franchise (2015) LFUCG Resolution 459-2024 — franchise extension (Oct. 9, 2025) Kentucky PSC Case No. 2026-00094 — Kentucky-American Water rate application WEKU (Shepherd Snyder), Aug. 28, 2026: Lexington files PSC complaint against Kentucky American Water The Lexington Times, Aug. 5, 2026: Gorton calls out Kentucky American Water for snubbing public meeting The Lexington Times, May 1, 2026: Gorton pushes to expedite High Street, Fontaine Road repairs This article was drafted with AI assistance (Claude Fable 5) and reviewed by The Lexington Times. Quotations from the two campaign posts are transcribed from screenshots taken Aug. 29, 2026. The complaint’s contents are taken from the filed PDF. Contribution figures are from the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance contributor export for the May 19, 2026 election, searched by employer and organization name for “American Water” and “KAW.” View in feeds Republishing: This is original Lexington Times reporting, licensed under Creative Commons CC BY-ND 4.0. You may republish this article, in full and unaltered, for free — including commercially — with credit to The Lexington Times and a link to the original.The post Gorton and Carter trade barbs over Kentucky American Water; records show one $100 gift, not company money appeared first on The Lexington Times. ...read more read less