Mayor Greg Fischer, Police Chief Steve Conrad and Louisville Metro Government Chief Equity Officer Kellie Watson today launched the Synergy Project, a community engagement initiative aimed at further strengthening police and community relationships grounded in trust and legitimacy.

By bringing together people from all parts of the community – residents, academia, business, youth, faith-based organizations, law enforcement, and political leaders – this project creates an opportunity for police and community to work together in a safe, open, and respectful environment to identify root causes of distrust and find actionable solutions to move the city forward.

“Like communities across the nation, Louisville has challenges when it comes to police and community relations. We need to address that, and we believe that real, honest conversation is a good place to start,” said Mayor Greg Fischer. “I’m excited about the prospect of sessions planned throughout our community to really delve into complex issues and find solutions.”

The Synergy Project will explore the tensions that exist between the significant societal values of public safety and individual rights and determine how to create and maintain a balance between the two. Synergy will explore these tensions in order to mobilize actions for city-wide systemic change so every person in every part of the community can thrive.

The Synergy Project is modeled after The Illumination Project, an initiative undertaken in Charleston, S.C. after the 2015 hate crimes at Emanuel AME Church. During a year-long process, dozens of facilitated community conversations were held to discuss tensions between police and residents. At the end of the year, a strategic plan was unveiled, which continues to be revised and implemented today.

Each step of the process seeks to build greater understanding and agreement. Watson said that while the conversations may be challenging, the effort has the potential to forever change police-community relations in our community.

On Thursday, Mayor Fischer and Chiefs Conrad and Watson introduced the community members who have volunteered to serve on a Steering Group for the project.

“I’m grateful to the many officers and community members who have agreed to help guide and develop this process,” said Chief Conrad. “We need everyone in the community engaged to make our city safer, and we can’t do that unless we build better trust. This process is to help us do that.”

Chandra Irvin, Executive Director for the Center for Peace and Spiritual Renewal at Spalding University, participated in the development of the Charleston project and is lending her expertise to the project here in Louisville.

“This work is about what we do and what we achieve, about who we are and who we are becoming,” said Irvin. “Based on my work in Charleston and my belief in the people of Louisville, I believe we can achieve a shared greater purpose of building trust between police and residents. This effort is going to take the investment of the entire community.”

The Synergy Project is being initiated as part of Mayor Fischer’s Lean Into Louisville initiative.

“The goal of Lean Into Louisville is to have a more equitable city; a more unified and compassionate city where everyone can thrive,” said Chief Watson. “This is the beginning, by having difficult but honest conversations on issues that impact our entire city, such as police and community relations.”

Costs for both Synergy and Lean Into Louisville are being covered through generous donations from The Papa John’s Foundation for Building Community, the Humana Foundation, the Gheens Foundation and other donors, as well as through in-kind donations from Spalding University and other Metro Government agencies.

“I’m impressed with the city leadership’s commitment to creating programs that promote equality, fairness, respect and opportunity for all. These values are consistent with the mission of The Papa John’s Foundation,” President and CEO of Papa John’s International, Inc. Steve Ritchie said. “Working together to heal and move forward takes courage, which is why we are proud to support The Synergy Project.”

A fun – and free – family event will take place on the banks of the Ohio River in southwest Louisville on Saturday, June 15th as Riverside, the Farnsley-Moremen Landing hosts “Family Farm and Forage Day” from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The event will explore historic and present-day farming with a variety of activities, workshops, talks and booths for children and adults.

Families can enjoy a milking demonstration featuring “Bluegrass Bessie” the cow; a petting zoo; farm-to-table cooking demonstrations at the Thorobred Mobile Kitchen; outdoor play activities at Jefferson Memorial Forest’s ECHO Mobile; 4-H Fair Exhibits; 4-H Goat Show; a Kentucky Proud recipe tasting; horse-drawn wagon rides; barrel train rides; and music from the bluegrass band “Hog Operation” at the pavilion from noon to 2 p.m.; as well as tours of the 1837 Farnsley-Moremen house.

All events and demonstrations are free, although donations to tour the historic house are appreciated.

Featured topics for demonstrations and talks include: hay cutting and forage crop demonstrations, growing grapes for wine making (10:30 am – 11:30), rainfall simulator, beneficial insects, invasive species, forest mushrooms and urban water issues.

“Please come out for a fun-filled day to learn and experience farm life at the Farnsley Moremen Historic Home this weekend,” said Councilwoman Cindi Fowler, who represents District 14, where Riverside is located. “This is a great opportunity for folks from across the region to bring their children and grandchildren to see and pet farm animals, ride the grounds on a horse-drawn carriage and participate in a fun scavenger hunt! Of course, there will be tours of the historic home. I hope to see you there!”

This event is held in partnership with the Jefferson County Cooperative Extension Service and the University of Kentucky’s College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, Kentucky State University, 4-H, Future Famer’s of America, Jefferson County Farm Bureau. In addition to Councilwoman Fowler, Metro Council sponsors include David Yates, D-25; Mark Fox, D-13 and Rick Blackwell, D-12.

Food Vendors at the event will be: LaRue County Pork Producers and Ehrler’s Ice Cream.

Jefferson County Attorney Mike O’Connell released his annual publication of delinquent child support obligors on Monday, June 10.

“Louisville, we need your help to find these individuals who are not meeting their obligation to their kids,” O’Connell said. “Please call, visit or email my office if you know the address or the employer of someone on this year’s delinquent child support list.” 

This year’s list of 4,272 names can be found online at https://louisvilleky.gov/government/county-attorney/2019-delinquent-child-support-list. A shorter list of 638 names appeared in a printed insert in the June 9 edition of The Courier Journal. This year’s list shows more than $96 million in total arrearages owed.

“These amounts often build up over years and my staff works tirelessly to connect kids with the child support dollars that are rightfully theirs,” O’Connell said. “The information you share with us could be vital to a child in need.”

Child support collection offers a strong return on investment of public dollars. For every $1 spent nationally, federal child support programs collect $5.33. That figure rises to $6.32 for every $1 spent in Kentucky.

Anyone with information that could help locate someone on the list should call the Jefferson County Attorney’s child support tip line at (502) 574-0821, go online to www.louisvilleky.gov/countyattorney or visit the office’s Child Support Division at 315 W. Muhammad Ali Blvd.

Mayor Greg Fischer and The Rockefeller Foundation’s 100 Resilient Cities (100RC) today released Louisville’s first citywide Resilience Strategy, a new approach to address the city’s most pressing and interconnected challenges.

Entitled Resilient Louisville, the strategy serves as a roadmap to better adapt city systems and institutions to the challenges of the 21^st century, and prepare the city and its citizens for both expected and unexpected challenges. It includes an actionable set of visions, goals and targets that address the region’s most pressing stresses and seeks to build capacity among residents and city systems alike to better withstand future shocks.

Nearly 3,000 individuals contributed ideas and recommendations that fed into the development of the strategy, which focuses on human resilience and is supported by a 38-person Resilience Steering Committee comprised of leaders from across Louisville’s public, private, academic and non-profit sectors.

“City resilience is about making a city better, in both good times and bad, for the benefit of all its citizens,” Mayor Fischer said. “We are stronger and more resilient when we work together. This strategy sets out long-term objectives and immediate actions that residents, communities and organizations can take to build a Louisville that can continue to thrive.”

Led by Louisville’s Chief Resilience Officer, Eric Friedlander, and the Office of Resilience and Community Services, in collaboration with Mayor Fischer’s leadership team, Louisville’s Resilience Strategy proposes an integrated response to various urban vulnerabilities.

Every vision, goal and action reflect the Louisville Resilience Equation: Equity plus Compassion plus Trust (R=E+C+T). 

“Resilient Louisville is the culmination of the process to cultivate partnerships and develop actions that increase Louisville’s resilience,” Friedlander said. “It is also the beginning of a greater citywide commitment to continue to collaborate, form new partnerships, and design new initiatives in a process that will contribute to a safer and stronger Louisville.”

Resilient Louisville is organized around four visions, 10 goals and 46 action steps:

1. Embrace Lifelong Learning: Includes two goals that aim to ensure equitable education attainment for all residents; and to attract, retain and develop talent for the workforce of the future.
2. Ensure a Safe and Healthy City: Includes three goals that seek to address the needs of Louisville’s most vulnerable populations; implement trauma-informed violence reduction strategies; and strengthen built and natural infrastructure to promote health and well-being.
3. Build a Vibrant Economy and Place: Includes three goals that endeavor to ensure inclusive and equitable economic growth in historically marginalized communities; increase individual financial stability and opportunity for economic mobility; and build upon Louisville’s cultural assets.
4. Maximize Innovation and Civic Engagement: Includes two goals that strive to cultivate social-change agents and foster greater community cohesion; and implement shared transparency and accountability measures with the community.

Resilient Louisville links and reinforces the goals in the Mayor’s Strategic Plan for Louisville’s growth and prosperity. Each vision also ties to the global sustainability community by aligning with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and deepening the connection of this work with partners at the University of Louisville and its Envirome Institute.

With its strategy established, Louisville joins the ranks of approximately 65 cities around the world, including Paris, New York, and Bangkok, that have worked with 100 Resilient Cities to publish similar strategies, which they are working to implement.

Financial and technical assistance for Resilient Louisville were made possible through a partnership between Louisville Metro Government and 100 Resilient Cities, in which Louisville has been a member since 2016.

“Resilient Louisville may be produced by Louisville Metro Government, but it is truly a strategy whose creation and implementation are owned by the city’s residents,” said Michael Berkowitz, president of 100 Resilient Cities. “Along with the global 100RC Network, we look forward to watching this work progress, with the power to transform Louisville into a more resilient city, where all residents can learn, live, thrive and engage today and for generations to come.” 

As a living document, Resilient Louisville will continue to be updated as action steps are added, supplemented by report cards for assessing progress in partnership with the Louisville Metro Office of Performance Improvement and Innovation. 

Read the full Resilience Strategy here. Learn more about the Resilience Louisville development process at  https://louisvilleky.gov/resilience.

President David James (D-6) has announced than in conjunction with PRIDE Week, the Clock Tower at Historic City Hall will glow like a rainbow this week.

          “One of the unique qualities of Louisville Metro is our embracing of diversity and the LGBT Community throughout the city,” said the President. “Let the Clock Tower show all that we support everyone who makes our city what it is: a welcoming community for everyone where all are respected and appreciated.”

          In January of 1999, the then city of Louisville became the first city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky to pass a fairness ordinance protecting the LGBT people from discrimination and employment. It was expanded to include housing and public accommodations.

          In 2004, The Louisville Metro Council adopted the measure after merged government was approved and went in to operation.

          “Today, we members of the Louisville Metro Council still support our LGBTQ community. Realizing that it is through our inclusivity and our diversity that we become a stronger, more prosperous and more dynamic community,” said the President.

          This is the second year the Clock Tower will glow in rainbow colors, from today through next Sunday.

          To learn more about PRIDE Events this week in Louisville Metro, go to:

Mayor Fischer today joined Metro Council representatives, Karen Williams, President & CEO of Louisville Tourism, Civitas, the newly-formed Louisville chapter of the National LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce, the Human Relations Commission and Chris Hartman, Director of the Fairness Campaign, to declare June 10 – 17, 2019 as Pride Week in Louisville.

“Louisville is a compassionate city where everyone is welcome,” said the Mayor. “Let’s join together to show support and unity for our LGBTQ family, because no matter where you’re from or who you love, Louisville welcomes you.”

In honor of Pride Week, Fischer and supporters raised two Pride flags in front of Metro Hall.

“Communities that embrace diversity are strong communities. That’s why we are proud to become the first Kentucky community to officially display an international symbol of inclusivity by raising the Pride flag,” said the Mayor.

The flags were designed and donated to the city by Louisville Tourism and feature a black fleur-di-lis in the middle of the flag.

“Louisville has always ‘prided’ itself on being a welcoming and inclusive destination, making it our mission to be one of the most LGBTQ-friendly cities in the country,” said Karen Williams, President & CEO of Louisville Tourism. “These flags serve as a public display of support, reinforcing our outreach to the LGBTQ community, which has helped us capture major accolades including the current cover story in Passport Magazine and the recent designation by Instinct Magazine for Kentuckiana Pride as one of the 12 Fabulous Worldwide Events Taking Place During Pride Season.”

Additionally, Metro Council President David James announced that the City Hall Clock Tower will be lit in support of Louisville’s LGBTQ residents. 

“I’m proud to celebrate Pride Week here in Louisville by lighting our historic City Hall Clock Tower with the colors of Pride—signifying Louisville’s embrace of our diversity and inclusion of All of our residents,” said James.

As a show of support and to educate the public on the modern fight for LGBTQ rights, an installation of 70 flags has been placed in the ground in front of Metro Hall. The flags celebrate the twenty-year anniversary of the Fairness Ordinance and honor the fifty-year anniversary of Stonewall.

The Fairness Ordinance was passed in 1999 and protects LGBTQ citizens from employment discrimination. It was one of the first passed in the South and one of the few in the country to include the transgender community.

The Stonewall riots marked the beginning of the modern gay rights movement that paved the way for anti-discrimination ordinances, hate crime legislation and marriage equality.

“We’re excited Louisville continues to take a lead in embracing inclusion, diversity, and our LGBTQ community,” said Chris Hartman, Director of the Fairness Campaign. “Twenty years after Louisville banned LGBTQ discrimination with its historic Fairness Ordinance, the raising of Pride flags at Metro Hall signals to everyone who visits our city that it is open to all.”

Fischer is encouraging all businesses and residents to show their colors and participate in this year’s Pride Parade, which is anticipated to be the biggest Pride Parade yet with more than 100 entries and 5,000 walkers.

Fischer and Metro Government employees will march in solidarity with the LGBTQ community and Civitas.

The annual parade starts 7 p.m. Friday, June 14 at Market and Campbell streets and proceeds to the Big Four Lawn, where the Big Four Bridge will be lit in rainbow colors at dusk and the annual pride festival is being held.

For more details about the pride festival, visit http://www.kypride.com/

Louisville’s Points of Pride include:

•  A perfect score of 100 in the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Municipal Equality Index four years in a row (2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018)
• Home to the 11^th largest LGBTQ population in the United States.
• University of Louisville is one of only 17 schools in the nation to earn five stars in the Campus Pride Index, the only public university in the South ranked among the “Best of the Best.”
• University of Louisville Medical School has piloted the first medical student training for targeted LGBTQ healthcare needs and is the first university in the country to offer a LGBTQ Studies minor.
• Louisville Metro Government extends benefits options to domestic partners of employees and was one of the first cities in the South to do so.

Louisville recent LGBTQ accolades:

• Named one of six Surprising Cities Great for LGBTQ Families, Family Traveller
• Named one of six Underrated Cities for LGBT Travelers, Conde Nast Traveler
• Named one of nine Perfect Places for Your LGBT Destination Wedding, Travel + Leisure
• Named one of the 10 Hottest Gay Destinations, Orbitz
• Named one of America’s 10 Gayest Cities, Gallup Poll
• Named one of seven U.S. Pride Festivals off the Beaten Track that will Blow you Away, GayStarNews
• Louisville included in twelve fabulous worldwide events taking place during Pride Season, Instinct

Louisville Metro Government has earned a top ranking in the third annual Equipt to Innovate survey, a Living Cities and Governing magazine collaboration that recognizes cities for exceptional performance and innovation.

The high-performing cities were  formally recognized this week at the 2019 Summit on Government Performance & Innovation, an annual gathering of innovators, public sector change-agents, disrupters and civic entrepreneurs from around the country interested in making government work better for local communities.

Louisville Metro earned top honors in the Broadly Partnered category.

“From Day 1 of this administration, we’ve focused on continually improving the services Louisville residents rely on through purposefully finding efficiencies and breakthrough innovations,” Mayor Greg Fischer said. “Our Office for Performance Improvement & Innovation has been at the forefront of this work, and this award shows why they’re among the best in the business of municipal performance improvement.

 “I’m especially pleased that Equipt to Innovate is recognizing our efforts to involve a broad base of community partners to help get residents what they need. Now more than ever, that work is essential.”

Louisville Metro Government has been ranked in the survey’s top 10 cities for the last three years.

Carmen Moreno-Rivera, the city’s Chief of Performance Improvement, added: “The Office for Performance Improvement & Innovation works diligently to help our colleagues and partners develop the best practices and innovations we need to provide the best possible services to our community. Our team is honored that this work continues to receive national recognition.”

Equipt to Innovate is an integrated, collaborative framework anchored in seven key characteristics of high-performance government — being dynamically planned, broadly partnered, resident-involved, race-informed, smartly resourced, employee-engaged and data-driven.

Sixty-six cities participated in the 2019 survey, bringing the three-year total to 144 cities.

In recognizing Louisville Metro Government, Equipt noted that the city develops relationships and partnerships with regional institutions, counties, school districts and neighborhood groups to improve the lives of city residents. Among the work cited:

• The Office of Performance Improvement and Innovation develops templates, processes and best practices to advance the Mayor’s strategic plan goals, and shares them widely with various partners, including the Louisville Metro Housing Authority, the city’s utility companies and school systems, and area nonprofits.
• In the area of criminal justice, KentuckianaWorks developed the “Reimage” program to focus on diversion, felony prevention and violence reduction for 16- to 24-year-olds who have been involved with the justice systems.
• The city’s Office for Safe and Healthy Neighborhoods is implementing Louisville’s Cure Violence Program, which is intended to help stop the spread of violence by using strategies associated with disease control — detecting and interrupting conflicts, identifying and treating the highest-risk individuals and changing social norms. The office works with nonprofits, the school system, a local hospital and other Louisville Metro government offices to establish the program in local communities.
• In 2018, Evolve502, a coalition of community, government and education organizations, was launched to better deliver the services all families and children need to succeed and thrive, and to create a scholarship for every JCPS graduate to help make a two-year college degree affordable and achievable.

As part of its Equipt to Innovate honors, top-ranking cities were identified in each of the core elements:

1. Dynamically Planned – Dallas, TX
2. Broadly Partnered – Louisville, KY
3. Resident-Involved – Baltimore, MD
4. Race-Informed – San Diego, CA
5. Smartly Resourced – San Antonio, TX
6. Employee-Engaged – El Paso, TX
7. Data-Driven – Grand Rapids, MI