Phillip M. Bailey

@phillipmbailey

Local Democrats say they are alarmed by a growing amount of state legislation aimed at Louisville, such as a bill giving Gov. Matt Bevin the power to appoint the mayor and Metro Council members in case of vacancies.

Mayor Greg Fischer has called that specific proposal, House Bill 202, "absurd" and defended Louisville's right to home rule.

"People closest to the elected officials should elect them," Fischer said in a recent interview. "That's a basic principle of local control, and that doesn't matter if the governor is a Democrat, Republican or Independent."

There are other pieces of legislation, however, in the pipeline that would impact Louisville. Republican Dan Seum, for instance, has filed a bill that would lift the ban on creating incorporated cities within Louisville Metro, which Fischer's office says would erode merger.

Another GOP measure, HB 246, which sailed through committee on Wednesday, seeks to abolish the city-county solid waste board and reconfigure the panel with new requirements on where its members should live and term limits. The legislation also would eliminate all current environmental rules and regulations — including the city's plastic bag ban — unless reauthorized by the new board and Metro Council.

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The mayor's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the waste board changes.

Louisville Democratic Party Chairman Russell Lloyd said these proposed changes show the GOP is targeting the city. "Each and every voter should remember the Republican Party of Kentucky’s 'War on Louisville' when the (next election) comes around," he said.

He pointed to Bevin's overhaul of the University of Louisville board of trustees and the recently announced state audit of Jefferson County Public Schools. The audit was launched by Education Commissioner Stephen Pruitt, who was appointed to his nonpartisan position by the state education board before Bevin took office.

Lloyd said the GOP maneuvers could leave Louisville with a crisis similar to the lead contamination of water in Flint, Michigan.

"Perhaps the people of Michigan stand as the best example of what happens when a politically motivated Republican is allowed to usurp the will of the voters of a community," Lloyd said. "Flint, Michigan, is a stark reminder of why HB 202 is a horrible idea."

Republicans in City Hall and Frankfort defend many of the proposed changes as sensible ideas that council Democrats have supported in the past. "The council, I know when I was on it, have been frustrated with many of these issues," said state Rep. Ken Fleming, a former council member who filed HB 202.

Under that bill, the mayor would be limited to two terms, a deputy mayor would be established to create a line of succession, the council would have subpoena power over the administration and specific steps would be taken if the mayor fails to make required appointments to boards or commissions.

"Some of this stuff is not bad," said Councilman Brent Ackerson, D-26th District. "Some of this stuff is what we've been looking for but the problem is there are a few pieces hidden in this package that we can't live with."

What troubles Ackerson and others is a provision that would require a two-thirds vote to approve redrawing council seats mandating that each district shall be within 2 percent of other districts in population as opposed to "nearly equal as is reasonably possible." Democrats hold a 17-9 majority on the council, which Ackerson said gives Republicans the ability to block any redistricting map, which he fears could throw the decision about drawing those new lines to an outside body.

What also agitates Democrats — which Fischer has described as a "power grab" — is giving Bevin or his successors the power to appoint the mayor and council members in case of his or her death, resignation or removal from office. Under the current law, the council has 30 days to select a new mayor by a majority vote, and on six occasions the council has done just that to fill its own vacancies before the city holds a special election.

"Of all the pressing issues hitting the state, Frankfort deems it that this is the most important issue facing Louisville," said Councilwoman Madonna Flood, D-24th. "I guarantee you, asking anyone who was a victim of a violent crime last year, this means nothing."

Metro Council President David Yates, D-25th, said despite that the chief sponsors being former members, his office wasn't consulted on this plan or any of the other bills. He and other Democrats said that didn't stop sponsors from reaching out to council Republicans.

"Our process of (filling seats) has been very local," he said. "We know the individual neighborhoods, the hardships of the districts and it makes more sense to keep that decision with us. It gives me pause that Frankfort would be making that decision."

Republicans point out that the 2000 ballot referendum that allowed the merger of city and county governments originally allowed the governor to fill those seats. But Democrats counter that two years later a special task force recommended changes that were unanimously adopted by the legislature giving that authority to Metro Council.

Fischer administration officials have said the Jefferson County Attorney's Office is examining the legal ramifications of Fleming's measure.

"We're happy to discuss. It's not that we're against every aspect of the bill," said Sarah Massey, Fischer's state lobbyist. "But to understand the intent and what they're actually trying to achieve, we need to be included."

Reporter Phillip M. Bailey can be reached at (502) 582-4479 or pbailey@courier-journal.com

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