Our Big Rocks

In the literature of high-performing organizations, "Rocks" are the specific measurable activities that move an organization forward.  These are the areas we are focused on and for which you, as our constituents, can hold us accountable.  Because I have a terrible sense of humor, and Big Rock is in our district, ours will be called “Big Rocks"

Our Big Rocks are: Communications, Constituent Services, Legislation, Innovation, and Social Infrastructure.  We will be building transparent dashboards and reporting structures so you can easily see how we are doing on each.

Listening, Connecting, Communicating

Engaging the community and listening directly to concerns is a key priority for the D8 team. Check out some of the ways we achieve that goal!

Issue Focused Meetings

Because CM Reno-Weber took office in the midst of budget season, his first three events were special community meetings to discuss the Mayor’s proposed budget with constituents. Three of our community meetings were held to create space for constituents to share their concerns and feedback.

Public Meeting to Address Violence on Bardstown Road

In the wake of a shooting incident near Bardstown Road, D8 hosted a meeting at Douglass Boulevard Christian Church to discuss the situation, the response, and solicit community input. CM Reno-Weber moderated the discussion asking questions submitted by the public to a panel consisting of Major Jason Grissom with LMPD’s Fifth Division, Director Paul Callanan with the Office for Safe and Healthy Neighborhoods, and Director Brad Silveria with Alcoholic Beverage Control.

Over 500 community members attended the meeting, and the momentum from that meeting led to the announcement of concrete policy changes and initiatives by both ABC and LMPD, as well as additional support from the Mayor's Office and other Council offices. Other initiatives to address the issue of both violence and excessive late-night noise are discussed below.

Civic Data Meetup Revived

In partnership with the Community Foundation of Louisville, CM Reno-Weber has brought back a gathering of community members interested in leveraging data to make Louisville a better place. The first meetup featured networking, a presentation, and a minute from each attendee on the coolest thing they/their organization is working on alongside the opportunity as well as the magic answer they would like to have to any data question in our community. More than 50 civic data “nerds” attended this first meeting. The next is scheduled for December 5th.

To learn more contact Harrison Kirby at harrisonk@cflouisville.org

Won't You Be My Neighbor

D8 is a community alive with energy and dedication. CM Reno-Weber's first six months in office were filled with incredible leaders and passionate advocates who are working hard to make the district an even better place to live, work, and play. Here are a few of the organizations we have been lucky to meet:

Neighborhood Association Meetings

Recognizing that D8's abundance of active neighborhood associations and small cities are one of our most valuable assets, CM Reno-Weber set a personal goal to attend meetings of each neighborhood association in the district.

So far we have attended:

• Tyler Park Neighborhood Association
• Alta Vista Neighborhood Association
• City of Strathmoor Village
• Highland Douglass Neighborhood Association
• Bon Air Neighborhood Association
• Upper Highlands Neighborhood Association
• Seneca Vista Neighborhood Association
• Cherosen Hills Neighborhod Association
• Bonnycastle Homestead Association
• Original Highlands Neighborhood Association
• Cherokee Triangle Neighborhood Association

As we plan attendance for the following, if you have a specific meeting date you prefer please have a representative from your organization reach out to abigail.cheek@louisvilleky.gov

• Hawthorne Highland Neighborhood Association
• Hawthorne Neighborhood Association
• Deer Park Neighborhood Association
• Braeview Association
• Belknap Neighborhood Association
• City of Strathmoor Manor (scheduled to attend the December 5th meeting)
• City of Kingsley

D8 Advisory Board Monthly Meetings

The D8 Advisory Board convenes the many neighborhood associations of the district to discuss everything from budget priorities to long-term strategic planning. The opportunity to participate in these meetings has been crucial to CM Reno-Weber's first six months in office. Engagement with the D8 Advisory board keeps our office connected to the issues that matter most, and more importantly the dedicated constituents who are the driving forces behind participation in local government.

These meetings are held the last Monday of every month at the Highlands-Shelby Park Library at 7pm and are open to the public.

Highlands Commerce Guild Monthly Meeting The Highlands Commerce Guild meets to bring together key players in the bustling world of business in our district. They engage in networking, community problem solving, ensure safety, and work to keep The Highlands a beautiful place to work, shop, and live. In addition, the group hosts and sponsors events in the Highlands ranging from guest speakers to art and photo contests. These meetings take place on the fourth Wednesday of the month at 8:30am. For more information check out the HCG website here.

Constituent Services

Constituent Services reflects responses to inbound issues raised by constituents to the office. We are in the process of upgrading our system for tracking those (thank you Metro IT!), and we hope to have a dashboard by the end of the year.  In the meantime by our back of the envelope math, in the trailing 90 days (July 15 through October 15), we have responded to 500+ constituent issues, more than 70% of which were responded to within 48 hours (we had two tech outages in that time which impacted those numbers).  Of those, ~80% have been successful resolved, ~15% are in process, and ~5% we could not get resolved.   Huge shout out to the D8 Legislative Assistant Betsy Foster who effectively tends to a majority of our constituent services! The biggest issues raised in that period have been were 1. roads, sidewalks, and alleys, 2. trees and parks 3. animals, 4. homelessness, 5. noise, 6. violence. Speed Bumps Since taking office in April, we have been a part of evaluating, engaging community on, and financing speed humps on Dundee, Hepburn, Highland Tremont, Rufer, and Everett.  You can find the forms for engaging your neighbors on our website here. A total of 16 speed bumps have been approved and funded with 6 more in the works! Alleys Good news: We have more money for alleys as a city than we have had in many years! Bad news: The priority is based on historic underinvestment, which means we are not high on the list right now.  We can fix anything that is dangerous (e-mail betsy.foster@louisvilleky.gov), but do not have resources for broader investment at this time.

Government Innovation Initiatives

Much of the power of this office is not direct power, but the indirect ability to convene, accelerate, and support.  To that end, we are using it to push on some important and impactful issues.

Metro Government Medicaid Billing

CM Reno-Weber has become known around Metro Government as "Mr. Medicaid." He is working with the Mayor's Leadership team to compile a report for the city to improve services that are reimbursable by Medicaid and Medicare. Some low-hanging fruit might be EMS, Homeless Services, Vaccinations, Substance-use treatment at the jail, and others, with the a budgetary impact in the millions of dollars By creating an infrastructure with the capacity to bill medicaid and medicare for existing services, city funds can be better utilized. 

Non-Profit Medicaid Billing Coalition

During his tenure so far, CM Reno-Weber has met with an abundance of non-profit leaders doing important work for our community and subsequently learned that medicaid billing is underutilized in the non-profit sector. In response, CM Reno-Weber’s office has partnered with Maryhurst, the Community Ministries, and ChooseWell to convene a coalition of stakeholders working to bill Medicaid for their eligible services. Last week, representatives from over twenty organizations came together to frame the problems associated with medicaid billing, map the current landscape, discuss a vision for the ideal reduction of barriers, and create an action plan. Next month, the group will reconvene and take concrete steps to start billing Medicaid for eligible services.

CRM & Targeted Communications

D8 has begun implementation of a CRM software called Hubspot which allows us to track issues of interest for individuals our office engages with. We can then easily communicate with audiences interested in specific components of work we are doing.

Project Management System

D8’s is piloting a project management software called Monday.com that has allowed our office to efficiently organize events and initiatives. This system integrates with the Hubspot CRM to ensure engagement with the right audiences throughout the processes of planning events and initiatives.

Deflection

Over-reliance on 911, the criminal legal system, and emergency departments (EDs) for behavioral health crisis response has resulted in delays for appropriate treatment and increased stress on responders, particularly police.

Based upon the Crisis Now system developed in Alaska, the Community Crisis Response System currently being piloted downtown provides Louisville with a fresh, alternative way to address behavioral health crises in our city. 

When a behavioral health crisis occurs, an individual may call either 911 or 988 between 10am – 10pm (the hours most issues occur). If the crisis is nonviolent and requires a physical response, a Mobile Crisis Response Team will be sent to the location. Depending upon the nature of the crisis, the Mobile Crisis Response Team may resolve the issue at the scene, or they may send the individual in need to a safe crisis residential location, a 23-hour stabilization site, or a place designated as safe.

There are lots of parts of this process that still need to be refined based on the pilot (call criteria, the stabilization site, increased awareness, and increased staff capacity).  But this is a good start, and we welcome its expansion.

Entertainment District Detail 

After feedback received during community meetings, LMPD created a pilot program with increased patrols through the Baxter and Bardstown Road entertainment corridor. During the two-week pilot they made multiple arrests, confiscated guns, and saw an uptick in traffic enforcement.

Check out this story on the initiative.

LMPD Fifth Division Fitbit Challenge 

There is a large body of evidence that "community policing" leads to lower crime and a higher level of trust between police and community members.  One of the elements of that is physically walking the neighborhood.  In order to incentivize officers to walk during their shifts, Councilmembers Reno-Weber, Mulvihill, and Owen have provided twenty Fitbit watches for police officers in the Fifth Division to be worn on duty tracking steps accumulated during their shifts. Each week, the officer with the most steps will be awarded a gift certificate to a local restaurant or store.

This initiative provides an incentive for Police officers to get out of their vehicles and walk the streets, becoming a presence engaged with the community.

Thank you to everyone who has donated a gift card for the weekly giveaway so far!  If you are willing to sponsor a gift card, please contact abigail.cheek@louisvillleky.gov.

Here is some nice media coverage. 

Coming Attractions

In the next newsletter, you can expect to hear more about:

• Policy Groups
• Funds for Tree Planting
• Diversion from the Louisville jail
• Noise on (and off) Bardstown Road
• Events around D8 (to have your event featured, email jasmyne.moore@louisvilleky.gov)

Dad Joke of the Month

If you made it this far, you deserve a laugh or a groan.

Why did the Lemon get kicked out of the chorus? 

He kept hitting sour notes.

Councilmember Ben Reno-Weber  |   Louisville Metro Council   |   District 8

601 West Jefferson Street, Third Floor

Louisville, Kentucky 40202

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