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Advocacy and Issues Working Group Page
Brookings Institute Report and LCON Responses
The Brookings Report on Louisville's Future: New from the Brookings Institution Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy
http://www.brookings.edu/urban
Partial Transcript of Brookings Neighborhoods Forum Q & A
LCON Process towards response:
From: "doug lowry" <wiredlow@hotmail.com>
Date: Sat Jul 13, 2002 1:07 pm
Subject: Writers needed: Brookings Site indicates solutions will come from "on high"
From the Brookings Website:
Beyond Merger: A Competitive Vision for the Regional City of Louisville
Brookings Institution Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy
In November 2000, residents of the City of Louisville and Jefferson County,
Kentucky passed an historic vote to merge their two governments. In
anticipation of the merger, effective January 2003, the Brookings Urban
Center will publish a major report outlining an affirmative strategy for a
strong, healthy, and competitive Greater Louisville. The report will
document the social, economic and demographic trends affecting the
Louisville metropolitan area, and will set forth a competitive vision for
the new "regional city." The report will also present a series of practical
policy reforms that could help achieve this vision. In order to ensure that
these recommendations accurately reflect the challenges and opportunities
facing the new regional city, the paper will be based on comments and ideas
from corporate, governmental and non-profit decision makers.
The above posting from the Brookings website certainly makes it appear that
solutions are not coming from street level folks who "live work and play
here". This is not a surprise. One has to question how legitimately
neighborhoods and thinking folks who don't fit in any of the narrow
categories mentioned above will feel about what is proposed ( not to
prejudice you in any way of course!) That the site doesn't mention the
handful of other folks selected for idea generation and evaluation doesn't
bode well in my eyes.
We need several responders to touch base with their aldermen and Metro
council candidates indicating IN WRITING that the approach is not what we as
LCON were hoping for. Put cc: Editor Forum Page the Courier Journal at the
bottom of your letter. Send a copy of the letter to Editor, Forum Page, care
of the Courier Journal.
Neither this Brookings study's planners, the legislative architects of the
merged government nor the Merger Task force have really allowed community
level engagement of the issues.
Please email me a copy of what you sent to your alderman or Metro Candidate.
We need several persons to write short 2-300 hundred word letters to LEO
and the Courier Journal the day the report is released indicating what
neighborhood association you are part of, that you are an LCON adherent and
that you are writing on behalf of a more participatory process. Feel free to
briefly critique ONE small aspect of the briefing. We need at least 10
letters written. If you will do this, please email me at
wiredlow@hotmail.com. (please CC: copy letters to louisville_neighborhoods@yahoo.com) If you email the letter by 1:00 pm Monday there is a
chance it will appear by Wednesday a.m.
Thanks Doug Lowry
Advocacy Committe
From: "doug lowry" <wiredlow@hotmail.com>
Date: Mon Jul 15, 2002 2:37 pm
Subject: Brookings Institute: 1st Installement on Delivery
A panel of four helped Bruce Katz answer questions about the suggestions
raised by the Greater Louisville study. Some of the most germaine comments
came from Barry Bingham who encapsulated what many of us already think: why
haven't we as a whole community been allowed to participate and what will
make the powers that be embrace these suggestions and make them happen when
they haven't so far?
The meeting was interesting, but probably could have been better organized
in the following ways: 1) knowing who was coming and what groups were
represented. 2) having the information available ahead of time for the group
would have led to more appropriate questions 3) having a way for groups to
invite representatives of the commitee to make a presentation to others
groups, (That is apparently part of the committee's plan). The group was not
prepared to respond to a person who asked if they had considered the fact
that the merger lawsuit is heading for upper courts to determine its
legitimacy.
Many folks left before the questions were all asked,which was further
complicated by an alarm tha prompted folks to completely exit the building.
Suggestion for the advocacy commitee:
1)Ask for a mailing list of who attended today's event and invite anyone who
did come to attend an upcoming LCON event.
2)Partner with Ms. Gatz and suggest that LCON lead as the primary co-planner
of many community group briefings that review the findings and address the
implication of the report
3) Attend the meeting tomorrow in force and critique/comment
See the Brookings website site for a full report, or read the Courier
Journal which will publish the report in twelve segments.
The Neighborhoods briefing is Tuesday morning at 10 a.m.
Beyond Merger:
A Competitive Vision for the Regional City of Louisville
July 2002
In early 2003, the City of Louisville, KY and Jefferson County will
officially merge to form the 16th largest city in the country. It will be
the first major city-county consolidation since 1970. This report examines
the key trends facing the new Regional City of Louisville and finds that the
city faces two major challenges that are eroding its strengths. First, it
has a workforce that is limited in size and skills that will hamper the
city's ability to mature its low-wage, service economy to a higher-wage one.
Second, the region is growing in a decentralized and divided way that will
ultimately harm the area's quality of life and hinder low-income households'
access to opportunities. The report mounts a call to action to Louisville's
strong civic, community, and political community to use the moment of merger
to think boldly and pursue a competitive agenda that will help the city
emerge as a truly top-tier American city.
To post a comment or review the LCON email discussions archive on these documents, please
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