QUALIFICATIONS:A member must be at least 18 years of age, a qualified voter and must be a resident within the territory of the consolidated local government and district that he or she seeks to represent for at least one (1) year immediately prior to the person’s electionTERM:The members are elected by the city’s twenty-six districts in partisan elections to serve four-year, staggered terms.DUTIES:The Louisville Metro Council is the city’s primary legislative body. It is responsible for adopting the city budget, approving mayoral appointees, levying taxes, and making or amending city laws, policies, and ordinances. It was formally established in 2003 after the merger of the City of Louisville and Jefferson County. The Metro Council is made up of twenty-six members.
Campaign Phone
502-479-5815
Contact email
matt@mattformetro.com
Current Job
General Counsel, Community Relations Director
I have 27 years of legal experience; many of those years were spent in local government advocating for the interests of the community. There are very few who can outwork me.
It is difficult to pick just one. I am very concerned with public safety, disparities in our community's public health, and making sure that our economic drivers grow Louisville as a whole while not leaving people behind. As a Metro Council person overseeing a more than billion dollar budget, I will make sure that the expenditures we make on these essential services are wise.
I believe we need to promote small businesses and enterprises as builders of generational wealth. We also need to make sure Louisville is open to ventures wishing to locate here to grow our City economically.
We can adhere to open records laws and, if we find them lacking, we can promote ordinances that are more expansive. I also believe that we must work together as a community to make sure our open records departments are funded and staffed as an element of our work.
It is clear that the constitution guarantees the right to private gun ownership, which I exercise safely. At the same time, there is nothing to prohibit smart gun safety regulation at Congress or our state legislature (which has prohibited Metro Government's regulation of guns in many cases). The Kentucky General Assembly's bipartisan CARR act bill which sought limit possession of weapons during mental crisis was just such an example. I intend to listen to groups like Whitney Strong and Moms Demand Action to gain input.
I like the current concepts around universal Pre-K. I am also very supportive of co-locating city services around schools. By doing this, we could drive greater connection of parents to schools and the city to families.
Campaign Phone
502-648-5072
Contact email
Reedmetro16@gmail.com
Current Job
VP- Business Dev. V.G. Reed 16th District Lou Metro Councilman
I am a job creator, who has helped lead efforts to bring opportunities to an area lacking in investment. I have a record of leadership that I have used to increase investment in safety, infrastructure and improving our neighborhoods.
Our company, V.G. Reed & Sons is a Hubzone certified (diversity) business located in the California neighborhood of Louisville. We provide job opportunities to those needing them the most. I keenly understand how excessive regulations and red tape affect job and business development in the city and have used that experience to benefit the city as Councilman.
By far, the highest priority issue is Public Safety. We MUST get our LMPD staffing levels back to 2018 levels, prior to the gutting of the department by the Fischer administration. I have supported paying our officer more, increasing their access to technology and provided tools for fighting crime as well as more training.
As a member of the Public Safety Committee I have led efforts to improve oversight and worked to address issues such as street racing, graffiti and destruction of property along while also working to better maintain our parks and neighborhoods.
As a Vice Chair of the Metro Councils Planning and Zoning Committee I have worked hard to bring balance to our zoning process. I have opposed bad proposals that would hurt our neighborhoods and supported smart proposals that will enhance our neighrhoods.
I will listen first to our residents and will work to live up to principals of smart growth and I will oppose proposals that hurt our community by promoting someone else.s political agenda.
I have helped expose abuse within a number of departments under the watch of our previous Mayor and his administration. As the representative of District 16 I have been an active member of the Oversightt and Accountability Committee and I used my role on the Budget Committee to stop the tripling of insurance taxes, instead leading efforts to find better ways to fund our government using current taxes instead of new ones.
We need judges willing to enforce our current laws first. We have too many people accused or even convicted of violent crimes allowed to avoid jail only to commit more crimes.
I also support efforts to increase training, provide gun locks and hold those avoiding our current laws related to the purchase of guns accountable.
My first focus will be one addressing Metro’s responsibilities of proving safety, infrastructure and protecting people’s health. The creation of new responsibilities that carry with them millions of new employees and spending concerns me, especially when we have a local school system that has twice our budget and the responsibility of teaching our youth.
