Reducing violent crime will help people feel safe in Louisville Metro

My No. 1 priority as Louisville Metro Mayor will be public safety. We must reduce violent crime. My goal is to ensure that all residents feel safe at home and wherever they go in Louisville Metro. To prosper, everyone – resident or visitor – must feel safe here.

When talking with families in the West End, I’ve learned that some parents have their children sleep in their bathtubs to protect them from stray bullets that enter homes in their area. That is not acceptable —children should not have to live in fear.

I will be Ready Day One as Louisville Metro Mayor as my team and I launch effective public safety strategies and programs that we know work and have experience implementing. I will surround myself with knowledgeable and experienced team members, including Jeffersontown Police Chief Rick Sanders.

I will bring Chief Sanders with me in a yet-to-be-determined capacity. He is an accomplished law enforcement executive whose experience includes serving as third in command of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) in Washington, D.C., Commissioner of the Kentucky State Police, and more than a decade as Jeffersontown Police Chief. Together, we will get our hometown back on track as a safe community.

Public safety is undoubtedly the most critical challenge facing Louisville Metro and thus is the major focal point for the Louisville Metro Mayor race this year. Other mayoral candidates will have public safety plans. They probably will mention some of the same objectives we will put in place.

But having a plan does not come close to having the know-how, connections and successful experience Chief Sanders and I have to address the public safety challenges facing Louisville Metro. We will be Ready to Lead Day One to implement effective strategies and programs that we’re already doing every day. We’ve got to get law and order restored in Louisville Metro.

Below are some of my public safety priorities:

• Law enforcement experience means we’re Ready Day One

• Building up the ranks of LMPD is necessary

• Violent crime must be stopped

• Community Oriented Policing works

• Intelligence-led Policing takes down criminals

• Group Violence Intervention can be effective – when done right

• Youth detention center must reopen

• Corrections debacle requires major changes

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With Ford battery plants on horizon, economic development strategies must be proactive, effective

Economic development/job creation, public safety and education, my top priorities, are intertwined. A well-educated and skilled workforce attracts businesses that will bring well-paying jobs to Louisville. It’s a simple statement not easily achieved. That’s why my experienced leadership as a successful Mayor matters when it comes to business attraction and retention and job creation.

The most significant economic development opportunity in decades is on the horizon for Louisville Metro with Ford Motor Co. and SK Innovation’s twin electric vehicle battery production plants headed for a site just south of Jefferson County in Glendale, Ky. The $5.8 billion investment is expected to create 5,000 jobs.

But that is just a start with economic investment and job creation related to the battery plants.

Since United Parcel Service Inc. located its Worldport air hub in Louisville, hundreds of businesses have located in the Louisville region to serve and be close to the UPS operation.

The same will happen with the battery production plants. With their location in Glendale, those suppliers and other businesses will have a choice which direction they go for their locations — north toward Louisville or south toward Bowling Green, Ky., and Nashville. We have to pull out all the stops to get them to choose Louisville.

We also need to be prepared to welcome the thousands of employees who will work at the battery production plants and ancillary businesses. Many of them will want to live in a metropolitan area that can provide a wide price range of housing, parks, recreational activities, entertainment, dining and arts offerings that Louisville has. But we will need to have a focused effort to attract these families to our community.

Louisville has to be prepared to attract businesses to locate here so they bring investment, jobs and families to our community. We have to be ready to act promptly, efficiently and proactively. That’s what successful cities do. It’s what I have done in Jeffersontown for the past 11 years and continue to do today.

As Louisville Mayor, I will move forward with dynamic business attraction and residential development strategies to ensure Louisville is a welcoming location of choice.

Below are some of my economic development priorities:

• Best practices call for collaboration of private sector and government

• Regulatory processes must be effective and efficient

• Entrepreneurs, small businesses are important economic engine

• Ensuring minority-owned businesses have opportunities

• A safe and welcoming downtown is imperative for economic growth

• Workforce development in crisis mode

• JOBS incentive program brings well-paying jobs

• Louisville needs a fresh mentality for economic growth

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Providing students with a great start, relevant learning and career education is vital

Education of our next generation is an issue of great importance to me. I want to make Louisville a city that people can be proud of as a place to live, learn, establish their homes, raise families and enjoy life — and encourage other people to want to reside here. But for those efforts to truly matter, we have to have our young people well educated and prepared to be successful in life.

I am passionate about providing pre-preschool programs for our youngest learners. Early success on the education front is vital, and we must make sure all students have access to school readiness programs. I also believe we need to ensure our high school graduates take advantage of post-secondary learning opportunities — whether it’s college or skilled trades training — so they want to call Louisville home and a place to raise their families.

Relevant learning, like that offered by Jefferson County Public Schools’ Academies of Louisville program, are putting students on a strong path for transition readiness into the workforce. More businesses need to get involved with Academies’ Business Partnerships to further these connections between students and the workplace.

Below are some of my education priorities:

• Pre-preschool programs are vital for students’ success

• Students must be prepared for learning opportunities after high school

• The importance of making learning relevant

• Students must feel safe in school

• Education needs collaboration not more bureaucracy

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