139 Scroggin Park
Georgetown, KY 40324
502-863-3773
fax 502-863-3771
SECTION 8

Board of Commissioners


Mayor Tom Prather

Mayor Prather served as President of the NewCities Institute and was a four term magistrate on the Scott County Fiscal Court.  He holds a life-long appreciation and respect for responsible public policy and community development.

Prior to joining the NewCities Institute, Mayor Prather was President of Central Bank, Georgetown and still serves as a Board member for the bank.  Previously, he was Vice-President of the Association of Independent Kentucky Colleges and Universities, working with Kentucky’s 19 independent colleges.  In this role he led the Kentucky Independent College Foundation, performed an advocacy role to the state’s business community on behalf of independent higher education, assisted with cooperative programming among the colleges and raised over $4,000,000 for need-based scholarships for students attending the member colleges.  He initiated the KICF Named Scholars Program, through which corporations continue to support scholarships benefiting many students. 

Prather has had a long history of public service with 10 years as a member of the Georgetown City Council and eight years as mayor of Georgetown.  His years as mayor coincided with the critical first eight years of Kentucky’s Toyota experience, helping develop lasting relationships between the corporation and Georgetown, as well as the broader Kentucky community.  While serving as mayor, Prather guided Georgetown through a period of great change and growth, negotiated the voluntary annexation of the Toyota Motor Manufacturing - Kentucky facility into the city limits of Georgetown, established the Sister City relationship with Tahara Cho, Japan, and presided over numerous public facilities projects. 

Prather has spoken extensively throughout Kentucky, as well as nationally and internationally, on community and economic development and Georgetown’s Toyota experience

Prather has served with the Scott County United Way, a board member of Georgetown Community Hospital, member of the Georgetown-Scott County Community and Education Foundation, and current member of Scott County United.  He also has served as President of the Georgetown-Scott County Chamber of Commerce,   

Prather has been recognized as Citizen of the Year by the Georgetown-Scott County Chamber of Commerce and inducted into the Scott County Education Hall of Fame,

Prather is a 1973 graduate of Centre College, the General Motors School of Management and KBA Banking School.  He completed Leadership Kentucky in 1990.  He and his wife, Maureen, reside in Georgetown.

 

Chairperson of the Board James E. Arehart

Chairperson Areheart has served on the GHA’s Board of Commissioners for over 9 years.  He was Chairperson from 1999-2007 and was reappointed for a second tenure in April, 2014.

He is a graduate of Georgetown College and the University of Kentucky College of Law.

He is an Assistant United States District Attorney, located in Lexington, and has over 40 years of service.

He and his wife Linda reside in Georgetown.  They have 3 children.

 

Vice-Chairperson Bobby McDowell

McDowell has lived on Georgetown his entire life; is a 1977 graduate of Scott County High School and 1981 graduate of Georgetown College.  He served as Chairperson of the Scott County Democratic party from 1980 – 1988 and 2014 – present.  He also was a member of the Georgetown City Council from 1982 – 1988 and 1991 – 1993. 

McDowell served 27 years in Kentucky State Government with the Administrative Office of the Courts and the Kentucky Department for the Blind.  He retires in 2014.  McDowell is a member of  the Committee of 101 and the Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity, where he received the Order of Merit in 2008, the fraternity’s highest award.
 

Commissioner Tim (Chip) Foley

Commissioner Foley has been on the GHA’s Board of Commissioners since early 2011, serving a Chairperson since early 2013.

Commissioner Foley is one of the leading real estate professionals in Georgetown/Scott County as he owns and operates the Foley Auctions & Realty, Co., LLC.  He is a graduate of the Nashville Auction School, and has attended numerous educational classes. He is one of a very few auctioneers in the area to receive a designation from the Certified Auction Institute and one of the few in the state to have completed and received a designation for the Accredited Auctioneer of Real Estate courses. He is the only auctioneer in the area to be trained in the multi-tract bidding system. He is a Certified Estate Specialist.

He and his wife Lynn reside in Georgetown.

 

Resident Commissioner Shirley Hall

She has lived in Scott County all her life. She comes from a family of nine children, being the middle child; she has five sisters and three brothers.

She has lived in the Housing Authority for almost sixteen years, and has served as President of the Resident Council.   She has also been involved in delivering commodities to all the elders.

She has worked in factories and on the tobacco farms all of her life.

Shirley has two children, Shawn and Clayton, whom are both grown, with three granddaughters; Brianna Alcorn, Kassandra Alcorn, and Nina Hall.