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Dear Friends and Neighbors,
This week the Metro Council conducted two extremely disappointing budget hearings. Tuesday we met with Metro Facilities Department and Wednesday we were updated on the state of the Louisville Free Public Library. If you have not already heard, the Mayor has made the decision to close the Middletown library this weekend. Further, he has decided to terminate the lease with the East Government Center which will take effect in one year with no plan on where to move the headquarters of the LMPD 8th division or the other important agencies working within the East Government Center.
I was only informed a few hours prior to the announcement of his decisions via a phone call from his legislative liaison. Further, after attending the library budget meeting today, the Mayor’s library Director made it clear that even if Metro Council restores the funding for the library system, his priority would be to extend the hours of the branches he isn’t closing before he considers reopening Middletown. When we pressed him about that, he couldn’t commit to ever reopening the Middletown branch under any circumstance. Unfortunately, these actions by the Mayor prior to the budget vote make it even more difficult for the Council to save Middletown Library.
This decision isn’t just about libraries. In the Mayors haste, they failed to plan for how the move of the 8th Police divisions will occur, which the administration admitted to at yesterday’s meeting. This morning, our 8th division police officers all put on their bullet-proof vests, their uniform, and their duty belt and went on patrol, risking their lives to keep our area of the city safe. While they are patrolling, the administration is telling them that they have no plan on where to give them a headquarters within the year. This decision should have been known prior to any announcement and the announcement been held until we had a firm plan in place to give our officers the support they need.
This decision was entirely made by Mayor Fischer with no consultation with other representatives including myself, bordering Metro Council members, or our local suburban city Mayors. I am tired of not being treated the like the co-equal branch of government that we are. The lack of communication or respect for citizens throughout Metro Louisville is unacceptable.
There is significant bipartisan agreement from the Metro Council that we need to increase funding for libraries, and we need a headquarters for the 8th division. I am meeting with LMPD and other government leadership to work on a long-term plan that should have already been in place. I am also working on incorporating the library leadership into these discussions to see how we can finally execute the library Master Plan which includes a government owned Middletown library branch. I am extremely disappointed that the Mayor chose to make these decisions before Metro Council has approved a budget, but you should know that I and my colleagues on the Metro Council will continue to fight for these priorities.
Thank you for your engagement!
Humbly Yours,
Anthony Piagentini
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