Phillip M. Bailey

@phillipmbailey

Louisville's chamber of commerce has banned longtime Metro Councilman Dan Johnson from attending its events over remarks a female staff member found offensive.

"We had an incident at one of our events, we've dealt with it privately, and he's no longer welcome," said Alison Brotzge-Elder, a Greater Louisville Inc. spokeswoman.

The incident occurred in a social setting during a recent GLI-led trip to Austin, Texas, attended by Mayor Greg Fischer and his team, several council members and Louisville business leaders. Multiple sources said the incident involved a female GLI staffer.

Johnson, D-21st District, issued an apology late Wednesday afternoon that said he will honor GLI's request to not attend their events.

“It is certainly not in my character to be offensive, so I do apologize if I came across that way in Austin. GLI has not contacted me personally about any incident during the Austin trip. At the time, I was not aware that my words were offensive to anyone. I wish someone had brought this to my attention a month ago so I could have apologized."

As the regional chamber, GLI hosts more than 70 events across 15 counties each year including luncheons and different networking programs. Brotzge-Elder declined to say what Johnson said to the staffer to cause the ban other than to say he behaved unprofessionally.

"Protecting and respecting our staff's privacy has been our main concern," she said later Wednesday.

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Council President David Yates, who also attended the Austin event, said in a statement that he was made aware of the incident by GLI officials and had conveyed the chamber's wishes to Johnson.

"Although Councilman Johnson maintained that he did not believe that his words warranted such action he agreed to avoid any and all future GLI functions," said Yates, D-25th. "Neither GLI nor the individual has requested any further action from myself or the Metro Council, but has adamantly requested that this issue remain private.”

Other council members who attended the Austin trip said they did not witness Johnson behaving inappropriately, but they said city and business leaders who know about the incident need to be more forthcoming.

"If there's some behavior that occurred that puts anyone else at risk to being exposed to certain behavior, if it was inappropriate, that should indeed require disclosure," Councilwoman Angela Leet said. "Our safety is important, too."

Former Council President David Tandy said he didn't hear about any incident during the Austin trip but that he is curious to learn why GLI took the step to ban Johnson. "If there is an action that requires the council as a whole to respond then all the facts have to be laid out before we can take an appropriate action," said Tandy, D-4th.

"Whatever (President) Yates knows, he needs to share with us," said Councilwoman Julie Denton, R-19th, who also joined the Louisville delegation to Austin.

A spokeswoman for Louisville Forward — the city's economic development arm — which was also represented at GLI's trip to Austin, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Johnson, who represents parts of the Iroquois, Beechmont and other neighborhoods in southern Louisville, has been in public office for more than two decades. He was first elected as a member of the old Board of Aldermen and later as a charter member of Metro Council. In May, he lost a Democratic primary bid for the state House to political newcomer McKenzie Cantrell.

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In recent years, Johnson has been at the center of numerous controversies. In 2012, he was accused by Yates of trying to purchase the Colonial Gardens property and profit from its redevelopment. Johnson declined to say at the time if he made an offer to buy the historic site.

Two years later, Johnson was sued in two separate cases for writing bad checks to pay off personal loans. Those suits were later settled out of court. He had also written two bad checks in an attempt to pay an overdue bill on his city-issued cell phone but eventually paid the city back.

And last year, Johnson went on Facebook and accused Tandy of threatening to assault him over additional security at City Hall. Johnson never filed a police report against Tandy and later said it was a misunderstanding.

Reporter Phillip M. Bailey can be reached at (502) 582-4475 or pbailey@courier-journal.com.