Three Council Events On One Saturday

The C-J has posted three quick blurbs about Metro Council members holding public events.

First you can wake up with 12th District Councilman Rick Blackwell, who has invited his constituents to coffee.

Then you can have lunch with Council President and mayoral candidate David Tandy, who is sponsoring the Willie B. Bright community barbecue.

That night you can head over to Hill Street Missionary Baptist Church for 3rd District Democrat Mary Woolridge’s town hall meeting.

Tyler Allen Runs For Mayor

8664 Co-Founder Tyler Allen is running for Mayor of Louisville.

So far, the candidates are:

Democrats:

• Tyler Allen
• Metro Council President David Tandy
• Metro Councilman Jim King
• Businessman Greg Fischer
• West Louisville resident Connie Marshall

Republicans:

• Developer/Activist Chris Thieneman

Independent:

• Coffee shop owner, professor Nimbus Couzin

Still Rumored:

• Republican Metro Councilman Hal Heiner – a decision is coming soon.
• Republican Metro Councilman Doug Hawkins – this is unlikely.

The Democratic primary is close to–or has reached–a critical mass. It’s likely now that candidates will begin splitting certain votes. For example, progressives may be torn between Fischer and Allen. There’s no runoff, so it’s possible the winning candidate will have only 26% of the vote.

Where’s The Speculation?

A few people have asked why The Edit hasn’t posted any speculation about the mayoral race recently. Well, we don’t want to mislead anyone. But, with another candidate in the Mayor’s race, we’ll offer this.

Jim King made his announcement today with a PR firm (Tandem) behind him. He had a video crew record my interview with him and he’s clearly ready to sink a lot of money into this campaign.

Greg Fischer and David Tandy do not have as slick of campaigns as King…yet, but King’s entrance could put everyone into high gear for fundraising early on.

On the Republican side, Steve Pence is still an option, and Dan Seum said Doug Hawkins could fulfill his promise to run in State Sen. Seum’s steed. Hawkins would have to work hard to get the support he needs, and Pence may not want to give up his successful current career to run for a municipal office.

The GOP could also be working on choosing a candidate behind the scenes. With at least three Democrats battling it out in a primary, a unified Republican front could launch after Labor Day and smoothly sail until the general election campaign begins. This move would also save the Republican candidate significant energy and money by preventing a high-profile primary. It’s a smart political move, but it’s also risky; the public won’t have the chance to weed out a candidate they don’t like, and instead of losing a primary early on, the candidate loses the election much later.

However…The Republican candidate would have to compete with the media attention given to the contested Democratic primary.

It could be argued that the early start to the campaign will instill a fatigue in voters, and everyone will be tired of hearing about the candidates by the time the election comes around. I think the idea of voter fatigue is something that gets a lot of coverage, but doesn’t really exist.

Culture Maven Sounds Off On Cordish

C.D. Kaplan (who appears on our sister station WFPK every week) has a blog post up criticizing city officials and the Cordish Company for the sports bar project in 4th Street Live.

Cordish got a forgivable loan to renovate a bowling alley and isn’t keen on saying how the money was spent. A group of city officials–including Metro Council President and Mayoral Candidate David Tandy–went to Cordish’s Baltimore headquarters to investigate, and came up with even more secrets. (Kaplan says the trip was on the taxpayer’s dime, but Tandy’s assistant told me the President paid for his own ticket. I’m not sure about the others).

This part of Kaplan’s post jumped out at me:

…the five — Mike Norman, Bruce Traughber, David Morris, Ellis Shipley and mayoral wannabe David Tandy — signed away any power they might have had . . .  to do anything whatsoever. They put their John Hancocks on an airtight confidentiality agreement that includes indemnification clauses and penalty clauses and a draft of how Mike Norman’s final report to Abramson should read.

Oh yes, I forgot to mention, they agreed that the information was not subject to the state’s Open Records Laws.

That is not a typo. Before they even got to look at the scraps of “information” that Cordish revealed as a “courtesy,” the Five Stooges had to agree on what and how they would report to our mayor. And that nobody could demand to see the results of the “audit.” Such as they are. Not even the mayor. Nor we the lenders.

We’ve been saying this for months. Privatization frequently removes from government-funded projects the oversight mechanisms such as regulation, open records laws and even certain Constitutional protections for workers. It can also save tons of money, so there’s not usually much argument (or need for argument) about these types of projects until something like this Cordish debacle comes up.

There’s talk of Council legislation that will require the records of city-funded projects to be open. With this situation fresh in many Council member’s minds, I imagine that the resolution will be fairly popular.

Two Notables On Tandy’s Staff

Metro Council President David Tandy’s mayoral campaign will have at least two familiar politicos working behind the scenes. Jim Cauley, who worked with Barack Obama’s senate campaign and Steve Beshear’s gubernatorial campaign will be Tandy’s senior advisor. Former Kentucky Democratic Party Chair Jennifer Moore will be the Tandy campaign’s treasurer.

Tandy Will Run

And then there were two…Democratic candidates for Metro Mayor.

Metro Council President David Tandy will run for mayor. He’ll face businessman Greg Fischer (and maybe others) in a primary.

WFPL’s coverage of the candidates:

A rundown of the potential competitors

An independent enters the race

Dan Seum steps out

Tandy’s recent trip to Baltimore to investigate Cordish’s spending didn’t cause the stir many observers were expecting. But nonetheless, he can tie his declaration to another news item…for better or for worse.

Jim King Says Maybe, But Not Yet

Here’s Metro Councilman Jim King’s statement on running in Abramson’s stead. Stephanie caught up with Council President David Tandy earlier today:

“I would like to congratulate Governor Steve Beshear for selecting one of America’s outstanding leaders, Mayor Jerry Abramson, to join his ticket for the 2011 Governor’s election. Whoever succeeds Mayor Abramson as the next Mayor of Louisville has large shoes to fill.  He has earned our respect and gratitude for his commitment to Louisville these last 25 years.

Over the past few weeks, as it grew increasingly clear that Mayor Abramson would be joining Governor Steve Beshear’s ticket, I have been encouraged by family, friends and respected leaders in our community to seriously consider running for Mayor in 2010.

Today is not the time for an announcement about my own political future, but it is certainly the time for our community to begin a discussion about how we move Louisville forward, particularly in these tough economic times. Now is also the beginning of what should be a great debate about what type of leader can best manage one of America’s largest cities and provide the vision for a Greater Louisville.

I look forward to participating in that debate and expect to make an announcement about my plans in the coming weeks.”

Putting The Shhhhh In Cordish

Did you watch the All-Star game on TV on Tuesday? Did you notice the softball field next to the stadium? Well, that was originally supposed to be a giant, multi-purpose entertainment and business complex called Ballpark Village. It was to be developed by the Baltimore-based Cordish Company, which is also behind 4th Street Live and Center City (when it happens).

Cordish isn’t solely, or even chiefly, responsible for Ballpark Village’s perpetual delay. But, the company’s involvement in the project provides a good excuse to bring up this hours-old news item. Metro Council President David Tandy is asking for some answers from Cordish. Tandy wants Cordish to say how it spent $950,000 on renovations to a bowling alley in 4th Street Live.

He writes:

While I believe that Fourth Street Live has been a successful venture for our community it is important for the Cordish Company, and for that matter any other company or entity that receives public funds to clearly demonstrate how taxpayer dollars are being used. There is serious public concern over the use of the $950,000 loan that funded the renovation of this recent project.

Development isn’t really something governments do themselves, so parternships with private entities are the norm. But this does raise questions of trust, and how much control governments should be willing to give up. How much control governments should have is an entirely different debate.

Abramson’s Capital

So the Jefferson County Republican Party doesn’t want Jerry Abramson to be mayor anymore. Shocking.

After Brad Cummings gave his big, well-reasoned list of arguments for why Abramson should not seek a third and final term, we got to talking in the newsroom. That conversation spilled out of the station and I picked it up with friends and strangers. Here are some thoughts and observations.

1. A lot of people I talked to either don’t know about the controversies in housing, animal services and zoning or they take the same stance on them as the Mayor. When Stephanie caught up with Abramson last week, he said mistakes were made but they were rectified and it’s time to move on. It seems like a lot of people I talked to agree about moving on.
2. Most of those same people weren’t surprised that Republicans don’t want the Mayor to run.
   1. If the Mayor is so terrible, wouldn’t the GOP want him to run, so that a campaign against him would be easier than one against a strong, “clean” Democrat?
   2. Maybe they’re hoping such a Democrat doesn’t exist or won’t run.

Who will the Republicans put up?

I don’t know if Abramson, David Tandy, Jim King, Anne Northup, Kevin Kramer, Craig Greenberg, Tyler Allen or Gabe Bullard will run for mayor, but I do wonder how recent events will shape next year’s campaign.

First, I assume that my random unscientific polling is evidence of Abramson’s continued popularity with many voters. He’s not as popular as he once was, but he’s not as disdained as it sometimes seems.

Second, last month’s budget hearings might have changed the race for everyone. After a few shortfalls, Abramson bit the bullet and made deep cuts in the Metro budget. Then, in an unprecedented act of unity, the Metro Council came together and made the budget into something everyone (except Doug Hawkins—who cast the only “Nay” vote) could get behind.

Passing a successful budget builds political capital for the Mayor, but the council’s action does much more for King and Downard, who are now essentially the faces of bipartisanship in tough economic times. But do the same people who don’t care about illegal zoning board meetings care about the two guys who stayed up all night amending the budget?

Is King’s reputation hurt by the talk of improper campaigning during his daughter’s successful bid for District Court Judge? What about Museum Plaza developer Craig Greenberg? Is the nonexistent tower a platform worth running on? (Update: Jake says Greenberg is not running) If successful elections boost political capital, where does Anne Northup stand after losing two bids for an office she held for a decade? And if the rumors that Abramson will try to move up to Lieutenant Governor are true, then what exactly does Ambramson hope to accomplish in that job? It could be a good way to get familiar with voters around the state and gear up for a Senate bid, but that’s a lot of speculation.

But all of this is a lot of speculation, and I don’t like speculation. Regardless, let’s close with a great big guess.

If the council’s budget work and Museum Plaza are planks in various platforms, wouldn’t David Tandy have the firmest ground of all the rumored candidates? He wasn’t on the budget committee, but he is President of the Council, and arguably just as recognizable at this point as King or Downard. Plus, as the councilman for downtown, he can get points for supporting Museum Plaza, but no demerits for not being able to build it. 4th Street Live and other controversial Cordish projects are more closely associated with the Mayor than Tandy, so it could be tough to point any negative Center City sentiment at the Council President.

A Tandy/Kramer race could be interesting as well. Both are competent, reasonable politicians and one some level the race would pit urban interests against suburban interests. It’s a battle that’s been brewing in the council since merger. With money being spent on giant projects downtown and road repairs in the suburbs, there are frequently debates on the best way to improve the city—from the outside in or from the inside out. A mayoral campaign could put one side in power for at least four more years.

But then again, Abramson could run. Al Cross says that would be wise. The economy has made this the toughest term of his career (his words), and perhaps he’ll want to leave the city on a better note.