Jackie Green

Independent Mayoral Candidate, Neither Democrat nor Republican

Louisville requires a bold, cohesive strategy to improve Louisville's economy, health, education, transportation, water and air. The measures necessary to meet the challenges are diverse, yet inter-related.

Louisville's Economy
Louisville has done a good job of developing our economy on the strengths of diversity and geography. We have taken advantage of our geographic location to develop the city as a convention locale and a transportation hub. We have developed an economy of diverse businesses. That diversity of economic strength is seen in our growing healthcare sector and in companies such as Brown-Forman, Ford, GE, Humana and UPS.

We must now position ourselves to attract companies that can thrive in a post-carbon economy. Those new economy/job creating companies demand a developing level of energy self reliance in the local economy, strong neighborhoods, a healthy, well educated and engaged population, excellent neighborhood schools, calm traffic, bicycle friendly roads, clean air and water, and a world-class public transit system. While we can promise wonderful and accessable parks and recreational facilities, some great neighborhoods, a great local food culture and wonderful arts, we are very nearly 100% dependent on non-local fuels. We continue to weaken our existing neighborhoods by investing resources in new neighborhoods. We might send the children of the employees of relocating companies to distant schools rather than a neighborhood school. Our sewers overflow into our creeks. We do not comply with the EPA's air quality standards. Our public health ranks poorly nationally. Our education achievement is low. We do not have a good public transit system. And we have been rated the seventh most dangerous community in the nation for pedestrians. We must address these failures in order to attract companies and keep intelligent youth that will help build a resilient local economy.

The challenge in redeveloping our economy as a low energy, clean energy, diverse, strong economy is great. Conservation, energy efficiency and renewable energy will all play a huge role in rebuilding our economy.

Cities are launching funding programs for private property owners (home owners and businesses) to finance property related conservation, energy efficiency and renewable energy improvements through voluntary property tax assessment (Property Assessed Clean Energy - PACE). In such programs each assessment will be paid in full within 20 years. The programs are administered by private business and bond funded.

Alternatively, another funding mechanism which should be explored concerns carbon taxes. Carbon taxes on an a national scale are approaching. Louisville should take a lead in establishing a local carbon tax on coal burned in local power plants. The funds generated from the local carbon tax on coal power plants should be invested in renewable electrical power generation.

More efficient transportation will also contribute heavily to a more sustatinable economy.

Louisville's economy is too dependent upon cheap, plentiful fuel. The economic impact of our energy dependency is huge. Louisville produces no energy. Metro Louisville drives 27 million miles daily. The dollars that buy that fuel leave our local economy - every day.


No place for the Next Neighborhood Neighborhoods
We must increase our commitment to existing neighborhoods. Every new neighborhood takes services, public infrastructure and private investment away from every one of our existing neighborhoods. Every new neighborhood destroys farms, fields and forests. We must reclaim blighted neighborhoods and abandoned industrial/commercial sites. Utility projects such as the Louisville Water Company's pipeline to Shelby and Franklin counties and MSD's expansion must be managed to avoid weaking our existing neighborhoods.

Land Use
Land use values are at the heart of the neighborhood question. Do we value rural/natural spaces and access to those spaces enough to protect them? This question must be answered in the affirmative regarding the area around Floyd's Fork. The Wayside Christian Mission and Jefferson Community Technical College dispute over the old Holiday Inn on Broadway is another conflict of land use values in an urban rather than rural setting. If the Wayside/JCTC dispute is a question of sheltering people in a vertical structure rather than parking cars in horizontal space, the question's answer should be evident to most.

JCPS Transportation Plan
Parents, particularly low-income parents, cannot be involved in the education of their children if the student is sent to a distant school. Children cannot participate in after school programs in distant schools. Louisville must invest more in the education of our children and less in our school bus fleet. The Courier-Journal reported (1 May 2008) that Jefferson County Public Schools “expects to spend up to $1 million more on fuel for next school year, on top of the $6 million it already spends to bus about 60,000 of its 98,000 students every day. Rick Caple, the system's transportation director, said the district uses about 12,000 gallons of fuel each day, has 860 buses (each costs about $50,000)”. Resources should be directed out of transportation and into low achieving schools. We must also model sustainable practices and encourage healthy living by giving school assignment preferences to students who will walk and bicycle to school.

Quality Affordable Housing
A more organic, less artificial way to assure diversity in our public schools is to maintain affordable housing in every school district. As Louisville razes concentrated low income housing complexes downtown they should be replaced (in advance) by dispersed affordable units.

Pedestrian Right-of-Way
To insure the safety of our children as they walk and bicycle to school we need to establish a clear, unambiguous, absolute pedestrian right-of-way within three (3) blocks of schools - inside and outside crosswalks.

Urban Agriculture
Louisville's food security is dependent upon distant suppliers. Louisville needs to protect the last remaining farms and fields in Jefferson county. We also need to increase urban gardening, community gardening, while also supporting and diversifying regional agriculture. We need to implement government procurement policies supporting “Buy Local” goals, encourage Farm to School Programs, and support farmers' markets and other initiatives to provide increasing amounts of healthy local food to all Louisvillians. We must consider agriculture and the local food economy as an economic development strategy and generator of jobs. Metro must pilot grazing programs in local parks using sheep and goats rather than using gas and coal fired equipment to cut grass. The program would be a tremendous plus for visitors to parks while producing wool, meat and milk products to be marketed through Community Supported Agriculture efforts.

Public Transit
Every world-class city has a great public transit system. Since 1950, Louisville has under-invested in public transit. The result is a local public transit system that does not serve citizens' transportation needs. Louisville has a difficult choice to make regarding transportation priorities. Federal, state and local transportation dollars are very limited, if available at all. Over the next ten years we can dedicate those limited funds to building more highways, roads and bridges or we can build a great public transit system. We cannot do both. A great public transit system will reduce the traffic on our current highways, roads and bridges, and serve all our citizens. New highways, roads and bridges will only increase traffic, consume ever more expensive and dwindling fuel, pollute our air, and encourage sprawl. Louisville must develop a great public transit system before building a new bridge. We must also employ congestion mitigation measures that reduce traffic and speeds, and make our streets safer to walk and bicycle.

Here's a fun video on multi-modal transportation system (bus rapid transit, light rail, cycling, walking) courtesy of YERT.com

Public Transit Funding
Our success in building a great public transit system is dependent on Louisville's relationship to state legislators in Frankfort. Louisville will need to assertively lobby for significant legal and funding changes in Frankfort - this includes addressing the 1945 KY Constitutional Amendment limiting funding for public transit. Another public transit funding mechanism which should be explored concerns carbon taxes. Carbon taxes on an a national scale are approaching. Louisville should take a lead in establishing a local carbon tax on gasoline and diesel fuels. The funds generated from the local carbon tax should be used to build a first-class public transit system.

Frankfort
Louisville also must support an unequivocal message to Frankfort with unwavering commitment within Metro government. That commitment should be expressed by addressing the failures of metro's ordinances and by metro conducting business by TARC, foot and bicycle. The funds formerly spent on metro's automotive fleet should be redirected to TARC and to pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure.

KIPDA
Louisville must relocate our metropolitan planning agency (Kentuckiana Regional Planning & Development Agency - KIPDA) to a public transit central location and demand a more democratic vote at KIPDA that is proportional to our population.

Passenger Rail
Louisville must also establish a strong commuter service to Frankfort and restore (passenger rail) service from Louisville to Cincinnati, Indianapolis, St Louis and Nashville.

Sustainability
Louisville must play a positive role in creating a sustainable city. We must significantly reduce our contribution to global climate instability. We will not support the destruction of people or of habitats and will reject violence of all types. We must be transparent in government, fiscally prudent and work for justice for all people in all places.

These measures by local government are interrelated. The success of one depends on the success of another - so much so that a commitment to and action on these local government measures should be concurrent.

Your work, your help, your personal commitment is needed to assure our success. Local government cannot successfully navigate the future alone. Individuals/families/neighborhoods cannot successfully navigate the future alone. Nor can one element delay necessary commitment, awaiting changes by others. The “chicken or egg” debate is irrelevant. We must all shoulder the coming changes concurrently. Get on board.