Metro Council begins each year by electing a new President, who then appoints committee chairs and vice-chairs. 

New President David James has appointed me to serve as the 2018 Chair of the Budget Committee, on which I have served for the last two years.  This year, the budget promises to be challenging, given the potential for a significant increase in pension obligations because of a change in assumptions imposed by the Board of Trustees of the Kentucky Retirement Systems.  I and others have urged the General Assembly to phase in the additional contributions required by those assumption changes.  Without that phase-in or other changes, Metro’s additional pension contribution this year would be $38 Million, which far exceeds the amount of additional revenue we expect to receive.  (Some background on the Frankfort decision to change the assumptions and not approve a phase-in is in this post from the Kentucky League of Cities).

The Budget Committee is Metro Council’s largest committee.  It meets regularly throughout the year and has a particularly busy schedule from the date of the Mayor’s budget address on April 26 until the budget is approved in late June.    

I will also be serving on the Government Oversight, Audit and Ethics Committee and the Planning, Zoning, Land Design and Development Committee, which acts on all zoning changes as well as other planning matters.  I served on both of those committees last year as well.

After serving for two years as chair of the Council’s majority caucus, I did not seek re-election to that post this year. 

Join your neighbors and police officers for coffee and conversation on Friday, January 26 at 9:00 a.m. at VINT, 2309 Frankfort Avenue. No agenda or speeches, just a chance to ask questions, voice concerns, and get to know the officers in your neighborhood. Questions, please call LMPD’s Fifth Division at 574-7636.

On Friday, January 26, enjoy an evening of free swimming at the Mary T. Meagher Aquatic Center, 201 Reservoir Avenue, at 7:00 p.m. Parent or guardian must attend with minor children.

The regularly scheduled January 26 Trolley Hop has been cancelled (but visit The Avenue even without trolleys). Please plan to attend the Friday, February 23, F.A.T. Friday Trolley Hop from 6:00 – 10:30 p.m. The F.A.T. Friday Trolley Hop, held year-round on the final Friday of every month, provides FREE parking and transportation to participating shops, restaurants and galleries. The free trolleys run along Frankfort Avenue from Cannons Lane to River Road and many businesses host special sales, live music and refreshments. For more information, visit http://www.frankfortave.com/.

Meet your legislators at the Louisville Free Public Libraries in 2018. The purpose of Café LOUIE is to provide constituents and their elected representatives a chance to engage and “get-to-know” each other in an informal setting. 

From 9:00 am to 10:00 am each Saturday morning from January 20 through April 7, participants are offered refreshments and conversation.  Elected officials will be given a brief time for prepared remarks and to answer a few pre-selected questions submitted by attendees.  The focus of these meetings is engagement through personal conversations.

Mark your calendars for two District 9 opportunities I will attend:

• Saturday, January 27 – St. Matthews Library, 3940 Grandview Avenue
• Saturday, March 10 – Crescent Hill Library, 2762 Frankfort Avenue

For a complete listing of Café LOUIE events, please click here.

My office is partnering with the Louisville Asset Building Coalition (LABC) to provide FREE tax preparation services again in 2018. The service is FREE if you earned $64,000 Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) or less in 2017 or if you qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Call the office today to see if you qualify and make your appointment! Appointments are available every Friday beginning January 26 through the end of tax season between 9:15 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. at United Crescent Hill Ministries, 150 S. State Street, in Clifton. Please call the office at 574-3908 to make an appointment and please share this with anyone you think may be eligible. Click here to view brochure.                                              

Do you instead file your own taxes? Through the LABC website there are two options to self-file online. The “Turbo Tax Freedom Edition” is available if you have $33,000 or less in income. The software has a well-designed interview process that guides you through the process of making decisions about your filing status, inputting your income and making decisions about deductions and tax credits for which you may qualify. The other option is “My Free Taxes”, which is available if you make $64,000 or less. This program is developed by H&R Block and uses an interview process. Please visit, http://labcservices.org/index.php/free-tax-filing-at-labc-services, for more information.

Good news for Louisville residents looking to dispose of household hazardous materials. The Household Hazardous Materials drop-off service, or Haz Bin, is expanding from a two-days-a-week operation to five days a week.

Beginning on February 13, HazBin will be open Tuesday through Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Haz Bin, located at 7501 Grade Lane, is available to all residents of Louisville/Jefferson County. It provides a safe and convenient way to dispose of unwanted household hazardous materials which are not accepted in household garbage collection or recycling centers. Learn more.

We’d like to feature your sustainability story - a resident or business doing good things for the environment.  Riding the bus, bicycling, walking, gardening and more - our eNews will feature practices which can benefit all of us.  Send your story to Bill Hollander or Kyle Ethridge. 

The Jefferson County Board of Education (JCBE) has named two finalists for the position of superintendent of the Jefferson County Public School (JCPS) District.

The two finalists are JCPS Acting Superintendent Marty Pollio and JCPS Chief Operations Officer Mike Raisor.

The Board is interested in hearing your priorities for the next superintendent and your thoughts to help inform the Board’s interviews and selection. Families in the district have two different ways to participate in the process - by survey and by attending a forum.

Please participate in an online survey by visiting www.JCPSYourVoice.com. The survey will remain open until February 2. 

You can also attend a public forum that will provide in-person opportunities to meet and hear from the finalists.  All of the events will take place at 6:00 p.m.

• Thursday, Jan. 25, Central High School, 1130 W. Chestnut St.
• Monday, Jan. 29, Gheens Auditorium, 4425 Preston Hwy. (adjacent to Louisville Male High School)
• Tuesday, Jan. 30, Ballard High School, 6000 Brownsboro Road
• Thursday, Feb. 1, Pleasure Ridge Park High School, 5901 Greenwood Road

As the second-largest day of food consumption in America, the Super Bowl is inextricably linked with food. In the weeks leading up to Super Bowl LII, St. Matthews Area Ministries (St. MAM) will be hosting a Soup-er Bowl Food Drive to help restock the canned soup in the food pantry for 2018. 

Soups needed are as follows:

• Beef Stew, Chili, Cream of Potato, Low Sodium Soups, Minestrone, Split Pea, Vegetable, Any broths/stocks

Call St. MAM at 893-0205 to schedule a donation drop off at 201 Biltmore Road.

I get calls on a daily basis regarding speeding on your neighborhood streets. Please use good judgment when you are driving and remember that traffic behind you will be forced to slow down if you do.

I also hear about motorists who fail to obey red lights and stop signs.

If you get caught running a stop sign or red light, you could get a fine and/or points on your driving record. Here are some reminders about stopping at red lights and stop signs.

• At a red light or stop sign, motorists must make a complete stop at a clearly marked stop line or before entering the crosswalk on the near side of the intersection.
• The law allows motorists to make a right turn after stopping at a red light unless there is a sign indicating the turn is prohibited. Before turning, the drive must yield to the right-of-way pedestrians and other traffic passing through the intersection.
• Remember, a yellow light is a warning that the light is about to turn red. Begin slowing down if you are approaching an intersection with a yellow light.
• Please don’t wait for an accident to happen before you slow down and start taking traffic signals seriously. 

Have 2 minutes to spare? Louisville Parks Foundation wants YOUR input!

The Louisville Parks Foundation invites you to participate in a quick survey about our parks.
Your feedback is very important and will be used to determine priorities for developing services for the community.

The Louisville Parks Foundation’s Vision is a City of Parks where everyone has the opportunity to Give. Plant. Play. Click here to take the survey.

The Louisville Parks Foundation is a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization which inspires donors to invest in our 120+ public parks and recreational facilities - for present and future generations. If you need more information about Louisville Parks Foundation, please visit lpfky.org or contact info@louisvilleparksfoundation.org.  

Metro Animal Services shelter is in need of blankets. They will accept all types of blanket, but fleece is the best! Used blankets should be WASHED before being donated.

The shelter is located at 3705 Manslick Road. Donations can be dropped off from Noon – 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday.