Bill would make Louisville mayoral race nonpartisan

Today at Noon, the House Standing Committee on Local Government will hear House Bill 309, a bill that would make several changes to the operations of Louisville Metro government, most notably changing Louisville’s mayoral race from partisan to nonpartisan.

The bill is sponsored by Rep. Jerry Miller, R-Louisville, and co-sponsored by fellow Louisville Republican Reps. Kevin Bratcher, Ken Fleming and Jason Nemes.

KY House Rep. Jerry Miller
Source: The Kentucky Legislative Research Commission (LRC)

Along with changing the way Louisville elects its mayors, the bill provides more accountability to Metro government departments by:

• Requiring the city government to provide an annual report to the urban service board and Louisville’s Metro Council detailing capital and operating expenditures for each service performed by the city;

• Requiring mayoral appointments to agencies, boards and commissions be approved by Metro Council;

• Allowing the city to set up a Civilian Review and Accountability Board to investigate complaints against police officers and review the police department’s policies, procedures and operations.

Regarding making the Louisville mayoral race nonpartisan, Miller wrote in a recently penned op-ed that “potholes do not care if you are a Republican or a Democrat,” and he notes that Louisville’s peer cities already run nonpartisan mayor’s races.

You can read more about the bill from Rep. Miller here.