In the basement of Maysville’s Utility Commission building, gray cinderblock walls and fluorescent lights give way to a bright orange room. With walls covered in her daughter’s artwork and photos of her four children, Nicole Brooks’ office glows. Nicole is the city’s code enforcement officer and is known across town for her bubbly personality, quick jokes and habit of greeting everyone by name.
“I knew Nicole before either one of us worked for the city,” said Walter Grayson, one of Maysville’s city bus drivers. “Nicole has always given 110 percent, be it to her family, job or community, and she has done so with compassion, kindness and respect. Great quality for a person trying to make Maysville a better place for its citizens of today and tomorrow.”
When she’s not riding her pink, black and white motorcycle, affectionately named Morticia, she’s making her rounds through the city’s neighborhoods, clipboard in hand and smile wide, looking for potential problems before they have a chance to become problems.
But behind that energy is a deep sense of responsibility. As the city’s only code enforcer and one of two people qualified to do residential and commercial inspections, she has her work cut out for her. Handling complaints, filing for condemnations and work orders, performing building inspections and countless other activities make up her daily tasks.
For Nicole, “firm but fair” isn’t just a phrase. It’s how she treats her neighbors. “Sometimes these old people will call you, you know, and they just want to talk,” she said with a laugh. “Even though they are kind of complaining about things, sometimes they just want to talk. So you just sit and you listen.”
She tells stories easily, such as those about “Miss Gloria,” who always greets her in a raspy voice over the phone, or the elderly man with dementia who hoards cans. “His sister takes him out to lunch in Lexington, and when he comes home, I have all his stuff cleaned up for him,” Nicole said. “It keeps him happy.”
Her appreciation for her city runs deep. After moving from California at age 17 for her father’s job, Nicole has called Maysville home for all of her adult life — attending the St. Patrick School and Maysville Community & Technical College before interning and eventually finding a job with the city. Now, she can’t imagine living anywhere else. “We do have a lot of historic, beautiful buildings, but we also have cute little, clean, quaint areas that are just kind of tucked away,” she said. “It is safe. I have four children, and I wouldn’t have wanted to raise them anywhere else but here.”
Whether she’s citing a landlord, helping a hoarder or accepting homemade soup from a neighbor, Nicole’s approach remains the same — listen, act and leave things a little better than she found them.
Because for her, Maysville isn’t just a map of properties — it’s home.
