I want to clarify an inaccuracy in the Kentucky Kernel’s editorial on Jan. 30 regarding Lexington Mayor Jim Newberry. The editorial suggested that the mayor has not lobbied the General Assembly on behalf of UK.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Mayor Newberry has been the most ardent, vocal supporter of UK and our Top 20 Business Plan since the moment he decided to run for office. On many occasions since being elected, he has publicly stated that full funding of our Top 20 Business Plan during the current biennium is the city’s top priority.

The mayor has delivered the same message to Gov. Beshear, legislators, business leaders, community advocates, educators and anyone else with whom he has come in contact. He even took time out of his busy schedule in early January to attend a UK Advocacy Network meeting — a meeting that featured 109 Kentucky legislators — in Frankfort to show his steadfast support for UK.

In a Business Lexington interview that was published on Jan. 25, 2008, Mayor Newberry said the following:

“We have some real substantial challenges confronting the University of Kentucky right now. Dr. Todd has made national news with his Top 20 Business Plan. And he has already established remarkable momentum, especially in the last couple of years, with that business plan. As a community, there’s nothing more important that we can do that will help create the kind of economy and the kind of cultural environment and the kind of overall positive feel about Lexington as making sure that business plan comes to fruition. So I think, as a community, we need to do all that we possibly can to support the university’s efforts to obtain full funding for those initiatives.”

I think Mayor Newberry’s record on this issue speaks for itself.

Lee T. Todd Jr.

UK President