Budget Committee - Regular Meeting

Okay, good. Good. I'll just have one more taste to make sure that it's not poisonous. Absolutely.

Now, Kirby, we're going to make a fruit salsa, and we're going to make it so it can be done as a dessert.

Oh, yeah.

Now, you can buy pita chips already made with cinnamon.

Cinnamon.

Or you can take some flyer tortillas, butter each side, cinnamon and sugar one side, throw them in the oven. and then cut them and use them. Oh, I love it. Or why not just put it over vanilla ice cream or chocolate chips?

Yeah, why mess with something wimpy when you go for vanilla ice cream?

Absolutely. Well, how do we make it? All right, so we're going to start out. Normally, two big peaches are fine, but we're going to start out with one. Now, if they're really big, you might want to peel them. Okay, but what we're going to do is we're going to do this like we're going to do the avocado. We're going to take it, and I'm trying to hold this up so y'all can see it.

Not easy.

And you're going to cut it around, turn it, and this comes out. Now, then what you do, you take the side with the seed, go again, and the seed should come out. All right, now, see I'm sawing so I don't bruise it. And I'm gonna cut, and you could even use the serrated knife if you wanted to.

I'm just really doing well with this tiny one now.

I've gotten the hang of it. It's called a paring knife. The paring knife. And then we're going to do an avocado. And like the peaches, this avocado is really small. Oh, I wanted to show y'all something. How do you tell if an avocado is ripe? How do you? You press right there and see if it's soft.

Oh, that's soft.

Okay. You don't have to squeeze the whole damn thing and bruise it for the next person.

You know how I always tell if they're ripe?

You ask somebody.

Well, I just buy them and take them home and then I cut it open.

Well, I mean, that's the way to do it. Now, see, you twist it, and then with this, you're going to get your hand out of the way. Go like that, twist it, and it comes out.

Oh, I'm moving slowly. I was watching your lesson. No, you're fine. You know, you teach me to do things, and I go home, and I do them for a while, and then I move on, and I forget. And then a month later, I come back, and we cook again, and I need a little refresher.

Well, anybody having any parties, winter or summer, these three salsas together are great. And remember the show we did with all the bean dips?

Oh, yes. I think I'm going to use those for a party I'm having soon.

Don't forget to cut that one off. Okay. They would be good because everything's different. It's a different mouthfeel. And with the beans, you don't have to make the dressing from scratch. You can just buy some. Not with the corn and black beans.

The dressings on those bean salads were really good.

Well, they were real pungent, which is nice. I want you to squeeze that lemon. All right. And what we're going to need to do, I'm going to grab a bowl over here because the seeds, you can't squeeze the lemon right over it. No. And just like television magic, here comes the bowl. Oh, what a cute bowl. It is a nice bowl. All right. If you will do that. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to get a fork. now you may say avocado avocado but oh my gosh it's so flavorful and if it's a little hard that's okay with this because as it sits in the center it sit sits in this sits in the citrus the citrus all kind of cook

Oh, right. That's right. Citrus cooks things. Right. This is a nice lemon. I know. It's easy to squeeze with this fork.

Oh, I bet it'd be easy to squeeze with my spoon, too. But easier with the fork. Maybe. Maybe not. We'll find out, won't we? Never. All right. Now, I've got this. And Kirby, if you will hand me my blueberries and my raspberries.

These are giant blueberries. Aren't they beautiful? Not bad looking raspberries either. You want all of them?

Now, I'm going to use all of them. I want like a pint of blueberries.

Where did you get those big blueberries?

Value. And look at these raspberries. Lovely. But I'm going to wait to put the raspberries in so I don't tear them up.

Did you know I'm growing raspberries?

Oh, my neighbor is and they came over the fence. Well. And I stand there and Elizabeth's favorite thing is raspberries. So I'm going to pick them and they never make it in the house.

I'm not getting any.

We need to get a strainer. Hang on. Here you go, Kirby. And you can just pour it through that into there. Is that the whole lemon? That's the whole lemon.

No, I got every little ounce of that out.

I'm going to stir it up. Also, what I'm going to do. Yes. Recycling. is I'm gonna add three diced green onions. Now don't be crazy. It just does something to it to pick it up.

How long did that take us to make? We were chatting along the way, but. And now some fresh mint. Very quick.

Oh, that's mint. That I got from my garden.

Do you need that chiffonade? Chiffonade. Chiffonade? I would like for you to chiffonade and then chop. You'd like to watch how I do this? I just twist it. Wait a minute, I didn't give them all to you yet. First I wait for Nancy to give them all to me, and then, did you grow this? Yes.

This is beautiful. Yeah. These make the best mint julep in the world.

Is it a particular kind of mint?

Yeah, and don't ask me what it is. I know what it looks like. And it's really good. It's pineapple mint. And if I had some, I would use it in here. Now, let's do some more. And instead of chopping it, we're just going to keep it long.

You want me to keep it long, you say?

No, do exactly what you did. You chiffonaded it. You didn't chop it.

I want a t-shirt that says, I can chiffonade. Can you? Wouldn't it be great? Yes. I don't know. I have no idea how to spell chiffonade.

C-H-I-F-F-O. It's French. Let's do it. Let's make those up. Oh, that would be funny. We could do a chiffonade show.

We could give away T-shirts that say, I can chiffonade, can you? If you're a regular viewer of Family Friendly Cooking.

Foods. Foods. We don't even know what the name is. No. Oh, my God. all right i think we can put this in a smaller bowl well have we tasted it yet no that's why i think we're going to be able to put it in a smaller bowl i need that please it has chips in it yes oh we've got an intern here today and i love her except for she doesn't understand sign language well it takes a little while to understand what in the world you're talking about

I can't. Uh-oh, chips down. Chips down. Chips down in the salsa.

Chocolate chip ice cream. It would even be good on pineapple sherbet.

It would be good on just like that.

Oh, well, I know. With a fork.

That's really, really nice. Thank you for teaching us how to make that. It's going to be a summer staple for me. I adore this.

And you can use strawberries. instead of raspberries. It's just right now, those raspberries, oh my gosh. Okay, let's clean up, eat up, and make some grilled vegetable salsa. Let's make some grilled vegetable salsa. Now, I've already cut the yellow squash up, and I'm gonna show you how to do that when I cut this zucchini. But first, I'm gonna cut what's on my cutting board. I'm gonna take some red onion, which you see I've peeled and cored, and I'm gonna cut it, and this one isn't too big, so I'm cutting it in three rings, okay? Now, I don't wanna put this directly on the grill because if I do, it gets all burning and I don't want it to be all burning. So I'm gonna take my Reynolds wrap and spray it with a little pan spray. And I'm gonna put down my onions. After I've done that, I'm gonna spray them again. Little salt, little pepper, little salt, little pepper for everything. You know that. You got to season it or don't make it. I'm going to close her up. Now, I'm going to take it. And I'm going to fold it one way. I'm going to fold it back under that way. I want the steam to get out. So I'm going to take a knife and punch some holes in it. Now I'm going to do something similar with the garlic. I got my foil. I'm going to take my spray and spray this. And I'm going to take my garlic and cut this end off. Not the root end, but the other end. that was sticking up out of the ground. And I'll spray it again. A little salt, a little pepper, cover it up, and it's going to be ready. Now I didn't need quite all this wrap. I shouldn't do this. I'm going to be sorry later when I use that knife and it's dull. All right, now what I'm gonna do again is punch some holes in it so the steam gets out. Now I've got those ready for the grill. Now I'm gonna get my tomato ready. Now usually when I cut a tomato, I use a serrated knife. I'm gonna cut this core out. And you cut it an angle like a V. You can, I always like to do a little X on here. make it peel faster i'm going to cut this in half again like this and i'm going to spray well my hands slippery little salt and pepper now i've got my zucchini i'm going to cut each end off now remember salsa you want to fit on chips Therefore, you don't want humongo bites. So I'm going to cut this in half long ways. Then I'm going to julienne it into bite-sized pieces. Now, I'm going to go like this. And you see how it's nice pieces. Now, this is going to fall through the grill unless I have a vegetable basket for the grill. And I do. And you all will see what I'm talking about. Now, I'm going to put this in here. with a little spray of salt, a little pepper, and I'm gonna put my tomato on top of here to carry it out, and I'm gonna put spray on that, because I want to grill it that side down. So I got what I'm gonna grill right here. Let's go. Okay, my grill is ready to rock and roll. Now, I've got my garlic that I'm gonna put on it first and my onions. And I'm gonna let these get started because they take a little bit longer than everything else. All right, I'm gonna take my tomatoes and I'm gonna put them skin side down. And remember, I cut the core out of the one and put an X in the other one. Now while I've got those started, voila, I got my vegetable grill pan and I've got some spray. Always spray it before you put it on the grill or I gotta tell you, you're gonna be having a bonfire. I mean, it's really dangerous to spray it afterwards. I'm gonna let my grill pan get a little bit hot. Oh, did y'all, I don't know if you could hear that or not. Sizzle, sizzle. I'm gonna go on and take these off. My onion and my garlic, they're starting to feel soft. Let's see how we're doing here. Oh, now see how this is starting to do, cook, and where I split this one, it's starting. I'm gonna leave those like that for just a few more minutes. Now, when you bring this in, you're gonna have to cut it some more, obviously. Whoa, baby. All right, I'm gonna put this in here. And this, clean my grill up a little bit. And then, as soon as these start getting brown spots, we're gonna be fine. And I don't need to lower the top, because I don't want it to like cook. I just want it to get brown. What we're gonna do here, or what I'm gonna do, is take my, oh, look at that, my squash and zucchini off the grill. You could do eggplants. You can really do whatever you want. Get it a little brown. You don't want it to cook too much. And I'm gonna close the grill, let it burn off, turn it off, and we're gonna make some salsa, baby. Okay, we have got our vegetables off the grill, okay? And no, Kirby wasn't out there with me. Well, it was too hot. Exactly. Poor, pristine Kirby. And here I am sweating. You do it so well. I am going to cut up this stuff. Our Kirby is going to juice half of an orange and chiffonade. Once again. Yes. And this is fresh sweet basil. Now I'm going to take this and trying to see. Some of this is kind of thick, so.

Nance.

Yes, ma'am.

You've got the largest tomatoes and onions and oranges and everything's just jumbo size today.

I know, isn't that amazing? Thank you, Value Market. What are we making? We're making a vegetable, grilled vegetable salsa. Oh, okay. Okay, now I've got my tomato cut up. that I've grilled. Okay. And it didn't get like real mushy. And remember, I did it until the skin started popping. Now, if you let this garlic and onion sit for a while, it's not so hot when you want to use it. And I'm going to take it and... Is it all right if I put this on there now or should I... Oh, fine.

It's fine. Absolutely fine. There was not one single seed in that. How about the juice? Would you like the... the pulp the pulp i mean sure now this onion smells good i know and any juice in the package i'm adding you know all these cooking shows keep coming to louisville to shoot their shows here uh-huh but we've had a cooking show here in louisville for quite a while gosh 10 years we've been doing this for 10 years uh-huh

Have I? No. Okay. I don't remember the last eight. No, you and I have been doing this, Kirby, for about three or four.

Well, yeah, since my children were in... Middle school.

One of them was in middle school.

One of them's getting ready to get out of college, and the other one's... Graduated from high school, so it has been a while.

It has been a while.

You can learn how to cook from Nancy, Chef Nancy. And Ms. Kirby. I don't think you learn. Well, you get a lot of your questions answered. You ask good questions. You get a lot of your questions answered. Yeah, you ask good questions.

That's why I like doing this.

The questions that you don't want to ask, I will ask for you. That's right. Okay, now, chop this up. Yeah. Using this French knife? Yes. Mm-hmm.

Only slide it a little bit more. But you'll see, we're just trying to cut the onion up. And now that it's cooler, it's easy to cut. That's why we say do it on the grill first.

Oh, and then wait while you're doing the other things and let it cool off? Yeah.

That's very smart. Because otherwise, you're going to be an unhappy camper. And it feels chiffonade. You want all of these chiffonade? Most of it. Okay. You want to end up with a couple tablespoons. Saw. Around the edges. Saw. Saw.

When you chiffonade, then do you go through it again, or is that enough?

No, that's enough. Okay. Unless you want it really chopped. And I said on the recipe, chopped, but you can do it. You can just chiffonade it if you want.

I think I'm going to do a little bit more. Is that all right, or is that too much? Oh, no, that's fine. I'm a big fan. Oh, we all are. Of the chiffonade.

And here we go, ladies and gentlemen. So this is a grilled vegetable salsa. And you can use whatever vegetables you want. If you want eggplant, if you want carrots. Carrots are good on the grill. I mean, you can just go down the produce line. You could add fennel to it, fennel ball.

Oh, that'd be good.

Yeah, I mean, anything you want. I'm just doing some basics here because lots of times in the summer, people end up with all this squash, zucchini that they don't want. And I'm telling you, this is amazing. Now, we don't have any chips to try this with.

But through the magic of TV again, thank you. Hey, someone's eating all the chips. All they're left is little, it's called hog head. Who's behind that camera with that salsa dripping off their chin? Let's see, let's give it a go. Into their beard. All right, here we go. I don't know if I've ever had a grilled vegetable salsa. That's good.

Mm-hmm. Mm. Yummy.

Oh, I really like those grilled tomatoes.

I know. Mm-hmm. I have this smoky flavor. Mm-hmm. Okay, we're going to put this in a nicer bowl. Okay. And then, guess what we're going to do?

We're going to clean up. Okay. and um sit and eat some salsa all right let's do that maybe we need some margaritas to go with these salsa all right i'm going to get to work on that thanks for watching the salsa show

It's it's up Curtis. Thank you. Regan just letting you know we're starting about 5 minutes late.

Thank you.

Metro TV 30 seconds please. Sorry Metro TV one minute please.

This meeting is being transcribed and summarized.

Metro TV, 30 seconds please. good afternoon welcome to the regular meeting for government oversight accountability i am the chair councilwoman donna purvis i am joined virtually uh by councilwoman mccraney councilwoman hawkins uh councilwoman hawkins would you please turn your camera on i'm also been joined uh virtually by councilman piagetini councilwoman Marie Warbridge, I'm sorry. I'm joined in chambers by Councilman Owen, Councilman Reed, Councilman Kramer, Councilman Bratcher. And I said, somebody's. My camera's on.

I don't know why y'all don't see me, but it's on.

Okay, we can see you. Mary, would you please read the disclaimer?

This meeting is being held pursuant to KRS 61.826 and Council Rule 5A, read in full.

Thank you. We're also joined in chambers by Councilman Herndon. First item on the agenda will be held. The second item on the agenda is an ordinance amending section 50.24 of the Louisville Metro Code of Ordinances to amend the debt service adjustment. I'm going to pass this to Councilman Reed, who has an amendment by substitution he wants to talk about. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. So, just a little bit of background. People are concerned about their, you know, the rates, their MSD rates, their LG&E rates, Louisville Water Company rates, grocery bills, price of gas, et cetera. I'm sounding like a broken record here, but what we decided to do was we wanted to get some accountability from MSD with regard to what seemed to be yearly rate increases up to the predetermined Metro amount of 6.9%. So my thought at the time was, let's limit them to the CPI plus 1%. And then if they wanted to do anything more than that, then they would have to come to Metro Council and make a case for a higher amount. We asked Tony Parrott and his team to come in and speak to us, which they did. And I thought they made a pretty compelling reason as to why they needed the flexibility to go up to 6.9%. And they cited the federal consent decree. We asked them a lot of really good questions. And the fact that everything that they do is predicated on a certain amount to be in compliance. So we tabled this and I want to just go and read a statement that I put together. We asked many questions regarding the consent degree penalties for noncompliance projects and what exactly goes into requested rate increase. My goal was to provide Jefferson County residents with clarity on their MSD rate increases. I believe we achieved that goal. Since that conversation in committee with MSD, I thought it was very productive, and in an effort to provide consistent oversight and transparency, I've worked with the county attorney to draft the proposed amendment by substitution. This amendment would require MSD to deliver an explanation of any rate increase to the Metro Council, and gives Council the ability to ask MSD to come before the Government Accountability Oversight Committee, this committee, and address questions regarding any rate increase. Like two weeks ago, the executive director and a board member would be required to come in, just like two weeks ago, come before council and explain why it's needed. I believe that this will allow MSD to continue improving our infrastructure while also providing the residents with the assurance that the rate increases are necessary and also it gives us some credibility to go back to our constituents and explain. So I don't want to give MSD a blank check. I think they need to come to us and be very transparent and open and say, we need this to go to this project. We need it for this project, this project, this project. We all understand. I'm off script here, by the way. We all understand that our infrastructure is very, very old. Some of it dates back to the Civil War. So, you know, these consent decrees are national. It's not just Louisville that has them. Would I prefer not to have a consent decree? Yes, absolutely. Because to me, once you're in a consent decree, it just keeps on forever. But I also believe that what we don't want is we don't want an aging infrastructure forever. We don't want flooding. We want good water. So I felt like... Director Parrott made a good case, and I don't want to hamstring him, but at the same time, I want accountability. So with that, I ask for your support.

Councilman Reed, I think this amendment is very reasonable. I was really impressed when they came a few weeks ago and their presentation was very informative. There were things that we learned that we just did not know or did not realize how this could impact the whole operations and making sure that they were fulfilling the agreement with the federal government. Bottom line is, I think he made the statement that someone would go to jail. So I'm like, yikes. But I was really concerned about... capping it at the CPI with 1%. I felt like that would put some of the projects way behind and hard to catch up, and so I think this amendment is a reasonable amendment, and so I would definitely support it. Thank you. Councilman Ornn.

Thank you, Chair. I agree. I think when they came in a couple of weeks ago, it was great. And I think maybe, I can't remember, maybe Councilman Reed, I think you and I maybe spoke afterwards. And I don't see any reason at all why they, so actually, let me take a step back. So just for the record, what we're asking them to do now that's different than what they were doing before is before, if they went up to 6.9% increase, that was allowable, they didn't have to come in front of us to make that request. That's correct, right, Laura?

Yeah, Laura Ferguson, Assistant County Attorney. So to get a rate increase of more than 6.9%, they had to go to Metro Council. The other thing they had is if they had a rate increase above 3.9%, but less than the 6.9, they had to give Metro Council a written explanation. in this amendment by substitution, and it's really just an amendment by substitution because deleting all the CPI and adding all the other stuff in just got so messy. What this would do is any rate increase, no matter how small, now they have to provide a written explanation. They still only need to get approval of a rate increase above 6.9%, but it doesn't matter how small the rate increase is. Going forward, if this is adopted, a written explanation would be required, and then if this committee, if council had questions, they could request that the chair and one of the board members appear before this committee to answer questions regarding that written explanation.

Great. That's great. Thank you for that. I appreciate that. So I think one of the things that you, Councilman Reed, and I think what we talked about a little bit is I think there was so much good information that was provided to not only to council, but anybody that was watching that meeting. I think it was informative, and it was really great information. So I think asking them to come over and just provide that information, which is pretty much what we're doing, I think is a good service both to council and to the community. So I agree that this is a really good compromise, and I don't think it's punitive. I don't think it's asking too much of MSD to come over and just give us an explanation and provide that information. So I'll be supporting this as well. Thank you, Councilman Reid.

Councilman Piagetini.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I just want to also express my support for this amendment. I want to be quite clear on my intention here, though. Two things. First of all, I think we discovered why, particularly myself, am so reflexively against any federal government intervention of local initiatives. I'm not saying that the federal government has no role in certainly ensuring that we are abiding by the Clean Air Act, clean water, and all of these federal standards. And at the same time, I do not believe that the consent decree itself has actually been the catalyst or is the right way to then execute how we do it. And I think that this is a perfect example of how This federal consent decree has now hamstrung us in what we can do. I want to be clear for myself. If it were not for the consent decree, I would only be voting to move forward with the original idea that we put forward. I think Metro Council needs to have more direct oversight of this piece of critical infrastructure and the bills that get sent to our constituents as a result of it. with that said because of that consent decree it would be it would be a complete malpractice on our part and put us and when i say us i mean taxpayers at tremendous risk if we were to pass the original version so i think councilman reed has done the exact right thing here which is pivoted to provide to provide transparency and to give us the ability to have this greater dialogue. But I do think, I just want to say though, that I think it's a shame that that is all we are allowed to do at this point. And I am not convinced that the consent decree and the federal government is as invested in getting this done the right way as we would be. as more direct representatives of the people we serve and that we see every day in the public. So, but with that said, you know, we have to live within the reality that's handed to us. So appreciate this amendment and looking forward to continuing to give transparency to the public about the critical work that MST does for our community. Thank you, Mr. And thank you, Madam Chair.

Councilman Bratcher.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I would not vote for this if it wasn't that they're being audited right now by an auditor that I greatly trust, state auditor. I think MSD is good people, but I don't think they understand the management, and I don't think they understand that Louisvillians do not have a bottomless bank account. I know for a fact, because it's the first time I was ever, only time I was ever on the front page of the Courier-Journal, they tried to to raise it 21% one year. That was like 97 or 2017 or 2018. They want to raise it and raise it and they don't ever come back with any cost cutting measures. Like a good colleague asked during that meeting last week, did they talk about cost cutting measures? What are they doing to, like every other company and family in America is trying to find ways to cut during this economy. what was their cost cutting plan? I didn't hear it. Maybe it was there and I was remote. Maybe I didn't hear it, but I had another colleague say there was not one. So I'm just gonna be very interested to see, and I know if you go back and look, Uh, there's a 6.9 every year after in Frankfurt, we said this 21% is crazy. So they went 6.9 County attorney. What's the magic word? What's the magic number? 6.9%. Is that a magic number?

So for purposes of the ordinance, if they want to increase the rate by more than 6.9, essentially 7% or more, they need to get Metro Council approval. I do believe that this year, though, they did 3.9, which is under the 4% required to provide a written explanation.

Okay. So they go right up to the ceiling. And I don't. you know i have a very good friend out here on the board and he's getting ready to get re-nominated i asked him to be re-nominated wholeheartedly i just wish they would look at the whole picture and remember yes you got a consent decree if some judge might do something if we don't raise taxes on everybody and i understand that it still aggravates me and uh i just want them to be ready to answer some questions when that audit comes out. So I will vote for this, but I don't want to vote for it. Thank you.

Councilwoman, excuse me, Councilwoman, one second please.

I'd like to make a motion for Ordinance 161.26.

All those in favor say aye. Aye. Any oppositions? The ayes have it, thank you.

No, I think we just voted yes, okay. It was a horrible, okay. No vote, yeah, take the vote back, right.

At this time, I'm making a motion for Councilman Reed's amendment.

Second. Second.

Thank you. All those in favor, say aye.

Aye.

Any opposition?

Aye.

Aye. Let's start this again.

No, no, you're good. We're all good. You have adopted his amendment, and now you're just discussing the whole thing.

Okay, sorry.

No, no, thank you.

Councilwoman Woodridge.

We were already voting, but I was just going to agree with what others said. And the fact that we did learn a lot when others came in, when MSD came in, I would encourage those to go back and listen to that. If you were not able to be part of that, share with your constituents as well. I agree with what Councilman Piacentini said, that we can't put ourselves at risk due to the fact of what federal oversight put us in the position of. But I do want to say that I do support this. I think that it's important to allow ourselves and our constituents an explanation for a rate increase that is coming our way. So again, thank you for putting the time and effort into this. Thank you for calling them two weeks ago into this committee. And again, I do fully support this.

thank you are there any other comments any other discussion in regards to this we are now ready to vote on this so all those in favor of the amendment or the ordinance we already voted on the amendments right okay i'm gonna do a roll call vote we're gonna do a roll call vote all those in favor aye

McCraney? Council Member McCraney?

Aye.

Council Member Anthony Pacentini?

Yes.

Council Member Hawkins? Yes. Council Member Mulvey-Woolridge? Yes.

Okay, the vote is unanimous. It will go to Old Business.

Madam Chair, point of privilege. I wanted to thank Mark Ferguson for keeping me straight on this. Thank you very much.

All right. So, we are now going to our apartments. Are you ready, Ms. Jackson? Our first apartment is the apartment of John Neese to the Greater Louisville Lodging Management District Board. Term expires May 1st, 2029. I need a motion and a second. Ms. Jackson.

Ms. Jackson, the mayor's office. We are asking to move forward with Mr. John Neese for this appointment, the Greater Louisville Lodging. The purpose of this board is to provide financing economic improvement that especially benefits certain designated properties, lodging properties within Louisville Metro, with 51 rooms or more within the district. This board has no more than 15 members. And the board members serve three-year terms. Mr. Neese was unable to be with us today. However, we do want to move forward with his appointment. He is the chairman of Neese Ventures. He's the chair of Blue City Football. Excuse me, he is also the founder of Lew City Foundation. He is, of course, he is an entrepreneur. He has a passion for revitalizing and developing real estate, has his master's in public administration from Xavier. He is, of course, an active member in the community, and we would like to move forward with his appointment. This seat is the mayor's seat on this board. So he has two, I think it's two seats that he can appoint to on this board. The others are hoteliers. And so we are asking to move forward with this appointment.

Is Mr. Neese present?

No, he was unable to come to chambers tonight at a conflict.

Councilman Reed.

Thank you, Madam Chair. What district does he live in?

He is in District, I'm sorry. Hold on one second. I can tell you. District 8. Got it. Thank you. 8.

Councilman Kramer.

Thank you, and I regret that Mr. Neese is not here, but I'm assuming he will catch this meeting at some point on tape, so he'll know what we had asked of him as he's being appointed. If not, if you would please pass along my comments to him. Certainly. I was very directly involved in some conversation as we created this board about what might be possible and how this board might be helpful to us beyond just filling hotel beds, which I get is important. Again, I'll refer to the Derby. Everybody thinks that Louisville is great because the Derby comes. I love the Derby, don't want to do anything that causes that not to be true, but I think most Louisvillians don't realize that the Derby costs Metro Louisville money every year. It doesn't generate revenue for us because all of those taxes that all of those folks come in and pay, they pay restaurant taxes, they pay taxes, they pay taxi, they pay hotel. Every dime that they spend in Louisville there's a 6% sales tax. And everybody thinks that Louisville has this great benefit from all that sales tax. The truth is, all that sales tax money goes to Frankfort. We never see that. Thankfully, Frankfort's being kind to us here lately. But that money goes to Frankfort. There was a conversation several years ago about working with the tourism bureau to see if we could find a way to work together to capture some of the revenue that's generated through the transit room tax. That didn't go forward, but this movement did. And I asked them then if they would please consider ways that they could help Louisville offset some of the expense that we take on with tourism. At that time, they agreed that they would look into it and see what they could do. The first couple years were somewhat challenging. More recently, they've done a much better job of trying to find ways to actually work together with the city of Louisville. And I'm grateful for that, so I'll make sure I'm saying that out loud so that everybody hears, I'm grateful for that. But as we appoint another member to the board, I just want to make sure that this new member hears that my concerns have not gone away. I'm still hopeful and looking forward to opportunities for this board to work together with Louisville, not just to get people renting hotel rooms, but instead to help us offset some of the costs that Louisville takes on as a result of that. So again, Mr. Neese, good luck in your work there. I'm going to vote yes, I'm gonna encourage my colleagues to do the same, but just with that word of caution to this particular board, thank you.

Okay, if there's no other discussion on this apartment, we're ready to take a vote. All those in favor, say aye.

Aye.

Any oppositions? The ayes have it. Thank you. I am going to skip to number seven. Someone who wants to combine seven, eight, and nine. I'm going to go ahead and read them. The reappointment of Jeff Mosley to the Metropolitan Sewer District Board. Term expires July 31st, 2029. The reappointment of Lonnie Wright to the Metropolitan Sewer District Board. Term expires July 31st, 2029. The reappointment of Christopher Burkle to the Metropolitan Sewer District Board. Term expires July 31st, 2029. I need a motion and a second.

Motion to approve.

Ms. Jackson. Ms. Jackson.

So we are asking to move forward on all three of these reappointments. Mr. Mosley could not be here today, but will present on his behalf. We all know that MSD's purpose is to provide adequate sewer and drainage facilities. The mayor appoints eight members to this board. They do serve a three-year term. Jeff Mosley was appointed in 2023. He is an attorney. He got his Juris Doctor. From UofL, he currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel with Hollenbeck Oakley. He's a former Director of Transportation and General Counsel with Metro. So again, we are asking to move forward. He's been a great board member. We'd like to get him reappointed. Lonnie Wright was appointed in 2023 as well. He is a retired engineer from GE. certified master with, excuse me, master belt with Six Sigma. He is skilled in execution of business strategies, programs, which all of these skills make him a great fit for MSD. He has been a committed board member as well. He's here in chamber, so I'll ask him to come up and reintroduce himself to you.

Hi there, I am Lonnie Wright. I thank you for the last term that you appointed me to, gave me the permission to be a part of, and I look forward to answering any questions you might have on the possible reappointment for the next term.

Councilman Piagetini.

Thank you. I just want to thank Mr. Wright and all of the appointees here, the reappointees for the MSD board. I want to say something broadly for all three of them, that we thank you all for your service. If we have any, you know, when we hear the debate or we had a little earlier about MSD, I want to be super clear. Nobody should hear that as a complaint about the very important and hard work that you all as board members have to do and the tough decisions you have to make. It is more a discussion around what we need to do and our thoughts on how we can improve things. So, I mean, there's many other boards that things come to us for review. The planning commission is a perfect example. We agree with some decisions, we disagree with others, but we thank everybody that works on those boards. So for all of the reappointees here for the MSD board, I just wanted to express certainly my sincerest appreciation for the very, very tough work and tough decisions that you all must make for this important entity in our community. And I didn't want you all to, anybody to misinterpret our desire to see things improve with any complaint about your all's service in the role that you're playing here. So just wanted to express my appreciation and make sure that there's no misinterpretation about some of the discussion we had earlier. So again, thank you all for your service. Looking forward to voting for you, Mr. Wright, but all of the re-nominees. And thank you for your service. Thank you very much, Mr. Pagentini.

Councilman Reed.

Thank you, Madam Chair. And echoing what Councilman Pagentini said, you know, we had Director Parrott in here, and it must have felt like a tribunal to him. He came very well prepared and answered a lot of questions. And I think what we're trying to get here is just a little bit more transparency and openness with regard to some of the issues that the public has. I have no problem whatsoever with MSD and their service. I think they do a wonderful job in sort of challenging times because we have had far more weather events over the past six or seven years than probably the six or seven times three years combined. So again, what we're trying to do here is just to get a little bit more openness and transparency. The work is very, very important. The work that you guys do is very, very important. And nobody here is, I think no one has an ax to grind, let's put it that way. So thank you for your service and I'll be supporting.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The next person is Mr. Christopher Burkle. He was appointed last year. He is a former VP of Commercial Lending. He is a business owner. He graduated from UofL. skilled with many business acronyms. He is skilled with managing businesses. He is here in chamber to reintroduce himself to you, but again, we are asking to move forward with his reappointment.

Hello, I'm Chris Burkle. I'm being reappointed. Been on the board a little over a year and a half, I believe, which has really been a learning experience for me, kind of probably what you guys went through with everything. I came in as just a local businessman, previous banker. but own a lot of different businesses and I was really amazed at all that MSD does and what they do. So anyway, I appreciate the reappointment and are being considered. Answer any questions you might have.

I would like to say that we all learned a lot a few weeks ago.

And I think what y'all are, what you talked about in the transparency, from my experience on the board, they seem very open for that. They feel like they're very misunderstood and something the board has really pushed towards is you need to educate what you're doing. And I know you mentioned about they're not trying to cut expenses or do whatever, but these are sincere people. I'm really surprised how much they care about trying to improve and so much of what we do we, you know, it's a big debt load, and so much of the rate increase has to deal with, we have to keep our moody and standard and poor ratings really good, because if they fall, then the cost of our borrowing goes up significantly, and so we think we're saving money by doing a low rate increase, but we could be really hurting ourselves, so there's a lot can be done, I know speaking on behalf of Lonnie, we support the transparency. We think it's wonderful. I think it's only gonna benefit everybody, so.

Thank you. I appreciate you and the other ones, what you all do as board members, so thank you. Councilman Reed.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Can we get the districts that the nominees are living in, please?

So Jeff Mosley, Metro Council District 7. Lonnie Wright, Metro Council District 22, and Chris Burkle, Metro Council District 9. Thank you. Sorry.

Thank you, Mr. Burkle. I think that's all we have. Okay. Looks like we're ready to take a vote on these reappointments. All of those in favor, say aye. Aye.

Aye.

Any oppositions? The ayes have it. Thank you. 10, 11, and 12 will also be combined. They are the reappointment of Amy Brooks to the Nulu Review Overlay District Board. Term expires February 26, 2029. The reappointment of Vadim Kaplan to the Nulu Review Overlay District Board. Term expires February 26th, 2029. And the reappointment of Douglas Owen to the Newloo Review Overlay District Board. Term expires February 26th, 2029. I need a motion and a second, please. Motion to approve. Thank you, Ms. Jackson.

Did I miss it? Did you say Amy Brooks? I'm sorry, did I miss that?

That was item number 10 on the agenda. Yes, ma'am.

Okay, thank you. So the Newloo... uh, review overlay board, um, is a board that meets with applicants who want to develop projects that are non expedited projects in the new loo area. So they go and they, uh, what this board does is they review their applications and then they, um, They prepare procedures set forth in the chapter, finding final findings of facts and conclusions on non-expedited development applications, so that permitting process. And then they review decisions of the urban design administrator. on non-expedited development applications upon request. And so we are asking, and then they make recommendations to Metro Council. This board has certain seats that have to be filled on this board as well. There is a landmarks commission representative. There's architect, there are, somebody from COPA, there's somebody from the Downtown Development Corporation. So we have various seats to be filled. Today we're asking for... Amy Brooks, Amy is filling the, she is the representative for the planning and design team, which is in statute that they have a rep on this board. She is a supervisor within planning. She's out of Metro Council District 25. She has her master's of urban planning and master's of public administration. She is here in chambers to just reintroduce herself to you.

Hello and good evening. Amy Brooks, Office of Planning Staff. I'm here to answer any questions that you might have about my reappointment to the NULU Overlay Board. Nice to see you all in person again. I haven't been over here, I think, since my appointment.

I don't have any questions. I don't think anyone else does. So thank you so much for being here. Oh, who has a question? Oh, oh. Councilman Ornn. Thanks.

I just was curious. So are all the overlay district boards have a requirement to have a planning staff member on them? And if that is the case, how do you guys determine who does what?

I'm not 100% certain on the requirement for the other overlays. I know that people in our department have served on them before. I know Julia Williams was on the Bardstown review overlay district for a while, but I would be remiss if I answered your question without 100% knowledge. seat on the NULU overlay board has always been by the person who's the planning resources supervisor, has always been filled by the planning resources supervisor, which I am.

I understand. Thank you. Appreciate it. But I can find that. No, it's okay. I was curious if you guys rolled dice or what you did to figure out who does what. So it sounds like this one is tied to a particular position within planning and zoning. It is. And maybe they're all like that. So thank you. Appreciate you doing it.

Excuse me. The next one, reappointment, we're asking to move forward on is for Vadim Kaplan. Vadim was appointed in 2023. He is filling the architect role. He is at a Metro Council District 9. He is an architect with Studio A Architecture. He has his Master's of Architecture from Moscow Architectural University, and he has worked on many projects around the US. He is here in chambers as well.

Thank you very much, appreciate being invited and appreciate being considered for reappointment for the new overlay board. I'm here to answer any questions you may have.

I don't really have any questions, I'm just impressed with the fact that you were educated in Moscow, so I guess you had an opportunity.

It's not in vogue anymore, right? I'm sorry. It's not very popular right now.

This is true, but I've always been intrigued with the architecture of the buildings there. And so, I mean, that's really impressive. So I thank you for volunteering your talents to the local boards here in Louisville. So thank you so much. Thank you, ma'am. Councilman Owen.

I just want to acknowledge that you're in District 9. Your business is in District 9. That's correct. Do you live in District 9 as well?

No, I live in Prospect.

Okay. I knew your business was there. Thank you for having me.

We've been part of your district for 10 years.

Yes, I know. I appreciate you having your business on Frankfurt Avenue, and I appreciate you serving on the board. Thank you.

Thank you, sir.

Are there any other questions? Thank you, sir.

Thank you.

Our next person is Douglas Owen. Douglas represents Landmarks Commission on this board. He came to this board in 2023. He is with the JLL Commercial Real Estate where he is the Senior VP. Doug directs the Louisville Office Services Group for JLL. Also serves on the National Agency Leadership Committee. He is out of Metro Council District 16.

Thank you, I'm Doug Owen. I do not have a nearly as impressive resume as Vadim, but I appreciate your consideration for my reappointment.

I'm sure your history is nothing to sneeze at. So do not discount yourself. Councilman Herndon.

Yes, thank you, Madam Chairman. I do know Mr. Owen well, and beyond this board, he has a long history of commitment to the community, and I want to acknowledge that and thank him for that and for this as well. And then also, Newloo is in my district, and it's very successful, but within that success, and for future success, it's important to have thoughtful oversight, and I think that this board provides that, including Mr. Owen, so I support their reappointments. Thank you.

Thank you. Councilman Owen.

I think we've established the fact that we're not related, despite the fact that we have the same last name, so I don't think I have to abstain from this vote, but I appreciate you being willing to serve.

I don't see any fiscal resemblance. Councilman Piagetini?

Yes, thank you. If I could just say for all the nominees or the re-nominees here, largely, again, appreciate your service. And I just want to say that NULU, particularly as we're all looking at urban development, there's a lot of projects the mayor's working on that this council has supported, that the state, Frankfurt and the General Assembly has supported. I will say that... Every year when I go to Nulu and hang out and go to a restaurant or a bar, just see what's going on, it really is like a shining example of urban development and how it can be done well and done rather rapidly, right, and how we've seen that. So I just want to thank everyone there, and I think we should take that example to many other areas of the city and see how we can... have an oversight board that is doing their job, but also helping expedite and giving reasonable expectation of development for the people that want to invest in this community. So thank you to everybody for your service.

There aren't any other questions or comments. We are ready to vote on these apartments. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Any oppositions? The ayes have it. Thank you, sir. The next apartment is number four on the agenda. the apartment of Meredith Benz to the Landmarks and Preservation District Board. Term expires November 30th, 2028. Ms. Jackson, I need a motion and a second.

Motion to approve.

Ms. Jackson.

So... The landmark's purpose is to preserve and protect our historic landmarks. There are 13 members that served a three-year term. The mayor appoints 10 members. The council appoints one member that is a non-council member. Then there are two ex-officio members from Code Enforcement and Planning Design Services. There's an architect. So there are prescribed seats on the board. There's an architect, a architect or landscape architect, a historian, a registered professional archeologist, a licensed real estate broker, an attorney, and a member from the area chamber of commerce. Miss Meredith Benz is filling, will be filling the architect role. She is out of Metro Council District 8. She graduated from Pratt Institute with an MA in architecture. She works with GBBN as an associate project architect since January of 2022. She also worked with Luckett and Farley as a senior designer, and she has planned and designed and coordinated projects from concept through construction. She has overseen lots of project development, met with clients and coordinated engineers and consultants. She is a prime candidate to be on Landmarks with all of the work that Landmarks does. She is here in

Before you call Ms. Benz to the podium, and I probably should have asked you this in the beginning, can you tell me what is the difference between the Landmarks and Preservation District Board and the Architectural Review Board?

So I don't have anything to do with the Architect Review Boards. I think they're more neighborhood-based. The Landmarks are more metro-wide. Okay. Okay. That's my understanding.

OK. Thank you.

Good. So I'll call Ms. Benz up to the podium.

Good evening, everyone. My name is Meredith Benz. Thank you for your consideration. And I will take any questions.

I don't have any questions. I don't see anyone in the queue. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you for your continued service.

We're ready to take a vote on Mrs. Ben's apartment. All those in favor, say aye.

Aye.

Aye. Any oppositions? The ayes have it, thank you. The next one is going to be the appointment of Elizabeth Piper to the Landmarks and Preservation District Board. Term expires November 30th, 2028. I need a motion.

Motion to approve.

Second. Thank you, Ms. Jackson.

So Ms. Piper is the founding partner of Element Designs. She has 15 years of experience. She graduated from U of K as well as U of L. She has worked on several projects around Louisville, such as Elliott Park renovation project, New Walnut Street Park, AB Sawyer Park, and others. We are asking to move forward with her appointment. She is here in chambers to introduce herself.

Good evening. My name is Liz Piper. I'm a landscape architect. And thank you for having me here today and considering me. And I will take any questions that you may have.

The board that This is for landmarks.

Does anyone have any questions for Mrs. Piper?

I do.

Councilman Bratcher?

Can I have a meeting with you soon?

There's something going on in Fern Creek I'd really like to talk to you about.

Sure thing. Absolutely.

Thank you for your service.

Thank you.

Yeah, no, just, again, we really appreciate you doing this. Landmarks and preservation is important, but it's a thankless job in a lot of ways, so we really appreciate you doing it. Thank you.

Thank you. Okay. If there aren't any other questions, we're ready to take a vote on this appointment. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Thank you. Any oppositions? The ayes have it. Thank you. Our last apartment of the evening is the apartment of Broomhilder Williams Carrington to the Landmarks and Preservation District Board. Term expires November 30th, 2028. I need a motion and a second. Motion to approve. Motion to appoint. Okay, thank you, Ms. Jackson.

So Ms. Brunhilde Williams-Currington is filling the role of member at large. She is out of Metro Council District 5. She is an experienced team leader. She is skilled in analytical thinking and decision making. She has her Master's of Science in Applied Information Technology from Bellarmine. She's very interested in historic preservation and is looking forward to being part of this board. She is here in chambers to introduce herself.

Good evening, council members. My name is Brunhilde Williams-Currington. I thank you for the opportunity to serve in the appointment and I'm here to answer any questions that you have.

Ms. Carrington, thank you for being here. I am glad to have the opportunity to talk with you. when I saw that you were going to be one of the ones seeking apartment on this board, I felt like this would be a good time to talk with you about some things that have been coming my way in regards to a certain neighborhood. So first I'd like to ask you, without identifying your address or anything, what neighborhood do you currently live in?

I live in the Westover Association.

Do you know the boundaries of Westover?

The boundaries of Westover are 34th Street to the east, Broadway to the north, the river to the west, and the railroad tracks going towards Algonquin to, I'm sorry, I'm doing Chickasaw. The end is Greenwood for Westover.

And where is it, where did you say Westover started?

Westover starts, I'm sorry, Westover starts at about 40th Street. I live in both Chickasaw and Westover, so I was getting the two of them confused.

Westover's under the Chickasaw Federation umbrella.

Yes, Chickasaw Federation does start at 34th Street, but Westover Association starts at about 40th on the east. Okay.

If you ever look at the original deed, the Westover starts at 45th. So just an FYI.

Okay.

Thank you. So are you involved in the block watch in Westover?

No.

No, you don't go to any other meetings or anything?

I go to the Westover Association meetings.

Okay. Is it a neighborhood association or homeowners association?

It is a neighborhood association incorporation.

Okay, okay. So do you hold an office there?

I do.

You do? And what position is that?

I hold the office of secretary.

Secretary. And how long have you held that office? I've held that office for about the last two years. Okay, did you, prior to that, did you hold any office? I did not. You did not, okay. The reason that I'm taking this opportunity to ask you these questions because throughout the last six years, we've had many constituents calling us from the Westover neighborhood wanting clarification on this neighborhood association or is it a homeowner's and we can't get anyone to answer any questions for us. We also, Westover is one of the neighborhood associations that we are not in attendance at any of the meetings because we are not being included in the invitation of coming to the meetings, okay? And so I wanted to make that clear and put that on the record. I attend Portland Now, Shawnee Neighborhood Association, Chickasaw Federation. Any neighborhood meetings that there are going on in District 5, I do attend. Westover is one of the only ones that I don't attend because I am never, ever invited or told when these meetings are. And so I've talked to several... concerned residents that shared some things with me that they wanted to be included in the meetings, but they're being told that they have to pay dues to be included in the meeting. And I have here a list of dues. It says $50 per household per year, $100 for apartment buildings per year, for commercial buildings per year. And so I'm told that without paying these dues, you are not invited to the meeting. And I'd like to get some clarification from our county attorney that is present today, please. I'd like to get some clarification from you. Is this legal?

I'm sorry, I was in another conversation. Can you ask that question again, please?

Okay, I'll repeat that. I have had, throughout the last six years, several residents call me concerned about not being inclusive in the neighborhood association, not being included in the neighborhood meetings. Allegedly, it is stated that if they don't pay dues, they cannot be invited, they cannot come, and I have one of the residents sent this to me, talking about the dues that are due, and I just want to know, is that legal? that you have to pay dues in order to be included in your neighborhood association.

Madam Chair, may I have a point of order?

Let me get this question answered, please.

sitting right here and not looking up the answer and doing legal research, I cannot answer it, but I'm happy to take that question back and look into it for you and get back to you with an answer. Okay, all right, Councilman Kramer.

Thank you, Madam Chair. My question is to the relevance, this line of questioning as it's being relevant to the Landmarks Commission. Are these two, are there questions that you're asking overlapping? Is there something that's happening in the Westover association or neighborhood association that is having an adverse effect on the Landmarks Commission Preservation District? Or I'm just, I'm asking.

Yeah, so let me explain it. Thank you. Chickasaw has just become a historic preservation district newly. And a few years ago, unbeknownst to a lot of the residents in Westover, illegally a homeowners association was formed. it really upset a lot of the homeowners. They were not aware that they had a deed restriction. and so we had to go through a lot uh to get that removed and i want to make sure that uh miss carrington is going to be objective as being on this board saying that she is an officer with westover i want to make sure that she is the right fit for this board and that she will be objective and open-minded to people that are seeking out people that want to she has the best interest at heart. And so yes, this is why I'm asking her these questions because I have been trying to get answers to these questions for six years. As I've stated, my office is never invited to the meetings. I'm never told about the meetings. I don't receive any notifications about the meetings. I have tried to reach out to different people and I get no response, so I'm sorry that you have to be the one to answer these questions, but I'm going to get an answer because I have too many residents in that neighborhood that feel like it is not just that they are not included in these neighborhood meetings because they do not pay dues.

Thank you. So your concern is that the Landmarks and Preservation District Board, the Landmarks and Preservation District, you believe, made a decision about the Westover neighborhood and you're trying to get to the bottom of that.

No, they did not. I wanna make sure that Ms. Carrington does not have a subjective mindset being a officer of Westover and going onto this board that we are appointing her to. I wanna make sure that she's gonna be fair-minded. Make sense? I know this is irritating to you.

No, ma'am, I'm not irritated at all. I'm trying to get my head around it. The Landmarks and Preservation District Board, or Landmarks and Preservation District, they made a decision about Westover a number of years ago? No. Who made the decision that affects, how does the Westover neighborhood and the Landmarks Preservation District, how do those things collide is my question.

As I just stated, Chickasaw is now deemed as a historic preservation.

And that was done through the landmarks?

That was, well, it started with the stakeholders, what have you, but now she has been suggested to be appointed to that board that made this decision.

The landmarks, right. Right, to that board that made the decision about Chickasaw Park.

No, no, no. I want to make sure that she has a fair... objective mind, since she's saying that she is an officer at Westover, which tells me that if she's an officer of Westover, then all the things that I see on here that people have questions about, this is something that she's not challenging and she's condoning. I wanna make sure that she's gonna have a fair, objective mindset serving on this board right here.

So your concern is that her past experience with Westover may indicate that there may not be an openness to consider what's going on within this board.

I want to make sure that she's going to be fair-minded and that she is not under the influence of anything wrong before she goes onto this board, saying that she is a participating officer at Westover.

Okay, thank you.

I think I have it. So... May I then ask a follow-up of?

Sure.

Thank you, Ms. Williams-Carniton. In light of the conversation, I'm just going to ask you point blank. Going into this position, recognizing the importance of what the Landmarks Commission does, do you feel like you will be in a position to objectively respond to the issues that are brought before you on this board?

Yes, sir, I do.

Thank you.

Okay. So can you confirm that if you're not a dual-paying member that you are not included in the Neighborhood Association? This is what's been told to me. Can you confirm that to be true or not?

I do not have any documents in front of me to say whether that is true or not. So you're not being invited to meetings. As the secretary, I will make sure that I have your email address and you are invited to every future meeting that we have, including the fact that there was a meeting that started at six o'clock this evening at Westwood Presbyterian Church. I am so sorry, I did not know, but that meeting is open and you may attend that meeting once we leave here.

Yeah, we've never been invited. And the one time that we did come, you all were not really nice. I had to go to a meeting. My aide came to your meeting, and it was an embarrassing moment for her. And so, you know, I represent everyone. And like I said, I've received many calls throughout the last six years, but I couldn't get anyone to answer me. So, I mean, I've been very busy, as you know, but I couldn't get anyone to respond to some of the concerns that I've had. So, I tell you, at this time, and I don't know if I'll get this vote, I would like to make a motion to hold her appointment at this time. Postpone it, yeah, I'd like to get up. I'd like to make a motion to postpone her appointment. And can I get a second? Okay. Can't get a second. Councilman Piagetini.

Yes, Councilman Kramer asked the question I was going to ask. I'm good. I want to thank you for coming here to volunteer for this board. And, you know, if anybody has any concerns with an individual, then, you know, those are welcome. find questions asked, but I think I have no evidence here that you won't. And you've said you would do a good job and be unbiased in your service on the Landmarks and Preservation District Board. So thank you for coming here today. Thank you for being willing to accept this appointment and looking forward to voting for you. Thank you. Thank you.

Are there any other questions? Councilman Kramer.

Thank you, Madam Chair. First, I wanted to say I've looked over the resume that you've submitted. I'm very much impressed with your work as a parliamentarian. I very much appreciate the importance of having someone in the room who fulfills that role. There have been times at Metro Council meetings, if you watch some of our Thursday night meetings, that I have kind of wished that you were sitting right next to the president or other members of this body who would benefit from having a parliamentarian so close. So I appreciate your skillset and I'm grateful that you're willing to serve on this board. I don't know what the makeup is and maybe your skillset will not be necessary there, but having spent so much time in the classroom and in lots and lots of meetings all over the place, having a skilled parliamentarian in the room is always, always a benefit and an advantage. So thank you for being willing to serve on this board and for bringing that particular skillset. Thank you.

Okay, so I am going to hold you to making sure that I get notifications of those Westover meetings. Donna.Pervis at Louisvilleky.gov. Yes, ma'am. From here on out. Yes, ma'am. Someone from this office will be there.

Yes, ma'am.

We're ready to vote. All those in favor, say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Any opposition? Madam Chairman. Yes.

I was trying to get into the queue. I'm so sorry. Before the vote. So I want to thank Rune Hilder for being here today. I am going to have to abstain from the vote, however, because she is a former employee and I don't want any signs of inappropriateness or conflict of interest. So I wanted to state the reason why I will be abstaining. Thank you, Councilwoman.

Okay, any oppositions? Okay, this will go before old business. Thank you. Thank you, everyone. That concludes this meeting. This meeting is adjourned.

was overwhelming. The statistics say about 22 veterans a day commit suicide. We have eight caseworkers to cover the entire country.