Wilson steps down from Council

Update: this story has been updated with the correct municipal procedure per KRS 83A.040

CITY HALL—Cora Jane Wilson has given up her seat on Berea City Council. She resigned on Tuesday evening, at the end of Council's second regularly scheduled meeting of this month. The Council is expected to announce its majority vote decision on who will fill Wilson's seat soon. By state statue, the Council must fill the vacant seat within 30 days from Wilson's resignation.

Wilson said she would be moving to a new house her family has built outside of Berea. Elected officials must live within the city limits.

While clutching a handwritten speech, Wilson made her announcement, saying, "I've enjoyed it. I'm a former employee [of the City]. I will still be watching. This is a good group. The mayor's great," she said.

Wilson was first elected to office in 2018. She was an incumbent until Tuesday when she resigned. Prior to her role in City government, Wilson worked for the Berea Municipal Utilities for the better part of two decades.

Councilmember Ronnie Terrill said he was waiting for Wilson to get teary-eyed, which she did not. He said he would miss her, and she replied "You should," which drew a laugh from the room.

Wilson was absent from multiple meetings during the last quarter of 2025. When asked by a reporter, Wilson said a family member had been unwell for an extended period of time, and that her family had been working on the house.

Wilson's most notable contribution to local law was the introduction in late 2024 of an ordinance to ban Jell-o wrestling, mud wrestling, and any form of nudity or simulated sex acts, in reaction to the Chestnut Street venue, Rebel Rebel, having hosted a performance by the group BurLEX, a burlesque troupe from Lexington.

Proprietor Ali Blair claimed the show conformed to an existing ordinance on adult entertainment, and that there had been no nudity at the show. No evidence of any Jell-o or mud wrestling at any Berea establishments was produced, suggesting that the only business impacted by the ordinance was Blair's. The ordinance passed 5-2 without public comment.

All members of Council were present at the meeting on Tuesday evening, and all thanked Wilson for her years of service, both as an elected leader and as an employee of the City. Fraley invoked executive privilege to speak during Council's time so he, too, could thank Wilson for her many years of service.

"Her heart is in what is right and best for the City," Fraley said about Wilson, adding that "none of us do this for anything other than the love of the City and it's people. Cora Jane has always been at the center of that."

Whoever is appointed to Wilson's seat will be expected to serve the rest of the term. The appointee is eligible to run for the November 2027 election to the seat.

Updated: The date of the next Council election was updated to 2027.