3 Black militia members injured in negligent gun discharge, may result in charges

NEWFLASH: Mayor McIdiot. This is not a political or divisive issue to the average everyday working black, brown or white voters of Louisville. You have turned this into a life and death issue because of your incompetence. None of us want to go downtown because of you. While you and a few of your lackeys on the council continue to split out police reform for our police department let's not forget that you have been the supreme leader for how long now???? Come on metro council dems and reps grow a set of balls and save us from 2 more years of zero leadership. For those laying claim to not being sure at least admit like David James did that your constituents want him gone. He'll all of you be honest and take a vote of pill asap and ask them. Be honest when you do it.

GOP Metro Council members: We have no confidence in Mayor Fischer

'A political sideshow': What does Metro Council say about Fischer no-confidence proposal?

DARCY COSTELLO AND EMMA AUSTIN | LOUISVILLE COURIER JOURNAL | 14 hours ago

Louisville Metro Council Republicans filed a resolution Monday calling for a no-confidence vote in Mayor Greg Fischer and asking him to resign.

Fischer has dismissed the resolution as "the kind of partisan and divisive political games that have paralyzed Washington, D.C.," adding that it's "sad and shameful" of Republicans to bring them to Louisville.

With all seven Republicans signed onto the legislation as co-sponsors, all eyes moving forward are on Metro Council Democrats -- putting some in a politically precarious position, should the legislation be called for a vote in a committee next week. (It's not clear yet which committee will hear it.)

We asked Metro Council members what they thought of the call for a no-confidence vote and how they plan to vote.

Here's what some had to say, lightly edited for clarity:

Councilwoman Donna Purvis

Purvis said she had not fully gathered her thoughts on the resolution or "come to a conclusion."

"We've had much discussion throughout these past few weeks, with regard to what we should have known so far, with regard to the investigation of these cases," said Purvis, D-5th District.

"I can honestly say that we are not happy with not being able to get the information that we need, moving forward, to start the healing process in the community."

"I can say that we have bipartisan concerns."

Full story: Metro Council to consider no-confidence vote in Mayor Greg Fischer

Councilwoman Barbara Sexton Smith

Sexton Smith, D-4th, called the no-confidence proposal "a colossal waste of time," arguing that the Metro Council had better things to worry about.

"We have some very serious issues in our community, such as LMPD reform, racial issues, the global pandemic (and) the housing crisis," she said. "This is a distraction. And the last thing the community wants or needs is a political sideshow."

Council President David James

James, D-6th, said Monday after the Republicans' press conference that there's frustration with the mayor's handling of "certain situations on both sides."

But, he said, he hadn't decided "whether to support this."

"I would tell you that there is frustration with the level of transparency that the mayor has provided through all sorts of different things within our community," James said, pointing to the Explorer sex abuse scandal and overtime use by the police department.

"All of those types of things lead to frustrations amongst the council members," he said. "I am personally frustrated, and currently, with the mayor's lack of transparency and suing the council for trying to get the truth to the community."

"What I will vote for when it comes time to vote, I can't tell you at this time. But I think there has to be some level of accountability from the mayor, as to what he has done and what he hasn't done," James said.

Asked if he agreed with Fischer's characterization of the resolution as a political game, James said he thought council members were "doing what their constituents are asking them and begging them to do."

"I know that they're doing that because they've been asking me and begging me the same thing," James said. "I think that it's not politics, but I believe that it is a natural concern that they have for the status of our city and how it's being run currently."

"There's a tremendous amount of frustration in the community," James said about Fischer's leadership.

Councilman Bill Hollander

Hollander, D-9th, said the resolution is "the last thing" Louisville needs.

"Council Republicans are taking a page from President Trump's playbook and distracting us with a political sideshow.

"I have questions -- I was the first member of Metro Council to call for an investigation. I think we need to get answers, but removing the mayor is not going to solve these problems. We need to keep the focus on systemic and long-lasting reform of LMPD."

"I'm working every day on a civilian review board, and there are no Republicans on that board. We're working every day on enhancing racial equity in this community."

Councilman Pat Mulvihill

Mulvihill, D-10th, said the process in place requires "a pretty high level of standards" to warrant a no-confidence vote. Unless there is evidence of willful neglect or criminal action, Mulvihill said he couldn't and does not support a vote of no confidence in the mayor.

Mulvihill acknowledged there have been missteps but said he appreciates the efforts Fischer has made in recent months.

"Who's prepared to deal with the pandemic and at the same time deal with civil unrest? I don't think anybody has a playbook," Mulvihill said. "We all have to step up. We all have to try to do better."

"Again, I would say nobody has a manual, and nobody does it perfect. I think he (Fischer) is working, and he is trying. There is no perfect way to figure out every problem. ... You're going to make some missteps. I do appreciate the efforts he made."

Councilman Kevin Kramer

Kramer, R-11th, is one of the co-sponsors of the resolution calling for a no-confidence vote in Fischer, which he said Monday was the council's only option.

"We believe that this community is struggling with a deep mistrust of what has transpired and what we are doing in response," Kramer said. "After exhausting every avenue, with the mayor's decision to actually sue the Metro Council, we found ourselves with no other option."

"I've been involved with Metro Council for over 18 years now. It never even crossed any of our minds that it would be possible that it would show up in a news report that the city of Louisville was suing Metro Council. The city of Louisville's not suing us. The mayor is. And the mayor is suing us because he doesn't want us asking hard questions.

"That brings us to today, where we are asking our colleagues to consider a vote of no-confidence."

Kramer said in a press conference that the Republican caucus "spoke to our colleagues on the other side to make sure that they understood what was going on."

"Our feeling was, as a caucus, that we just didn't believe that the community should be asked to wait any longer. It was time to start the process."

Metro Council member Kevin Kramer makes comments during a press conference calling on Mayor Greg Fischer to resign on Monday.

Metro Council member Kevin Kramer makes comments during a press conference calling on Mayor Greg Fischer to resign on Monday.

MICHAEL CLEVENGER/THE COURIER JOURNAL

Councilman Mark Fox

Fox, D-13th, said he wasn't surprised by the call for a vote but said it's too early for him to pick a side.

"I believe there are a lot of things that could have and should have been handled better in recent weeks, and that's kind of the feedback I've been getting. ... The take I'm getting from folks I represent is that the crime and lawlessness should not be allowed to occur."

Fox said his district in the South End of Louisville has "always been a very pro-law-and-order area" and is unhappy with the state of the police department.

"They're disappointed that the police department has gotten to the level it has," Fox said.

Fox said his decision will be based on the majority opinion of his constituents, whom he said he encourages to share their thoughts.

"I can't imagine anything more serious than scrutinizing an official that was elected by the people, and that should be taken very, very seriously," Fox said. "To go against the will of Election Day is going to require some very serious and compelling reasons to do so."

See also: LMPD spending thousands on security for officers in Taylor shooting

Councilman Markus Winkler

Winkler, D-17th, pointed to earlier discussions when the Government Oversight and Audit Committee initiated its investigation into Fischer's role in the Breonna Taylor case, David McAtee's death and the response to ongoing protests for racial justice.

"The commentary by many Republicans at that time was that we were going to let the facts shake out, see what they are and then make a decision," Winkler said. "I don't know that anything has materially changed in the weeks since then."

"I'm more interested in conducting and concluding our investigation, then making a decision on wrongdoing, based on the facts."

He added that he would much rather the council focus on working together, rather than "advancing our own political objectives and putting personal political ambitions above the needs of the city."

"It focuses on the wrong thing. What are we talking about right now? How we're going to heal the city? How we're going to bring about police reform? Or are we talking about this?" Winkler said. "The more time and energy we spend on this, the less time we spend on solving actual problems."

Councilman Anthony Piagentini

Piagentini, R-19th, said that up until now, Metro Council Republicans had been "holding off" asking for Fischer's resignation because they hoped to see a "full investigatory process play out through" the committee investigation.

"Right now, we are supposed to be in that committee hearing, asking questions of members of this administration about what's been going on over the past couple months, and getting the truth to the public," he said. "But we are not getting those questions answered because this mayor is suing us."

Metro Councilman Anthony Piagentini makes comments during a press conference calling on Mayor Greg Fischer to resign on Monday.

Metro Councilman Anthony Piagentini makes comments during a press conference calling on Mayor Greg Fischer to resign on Monday.

MICHAEL CLEVENGER/THE COURIER JOURNAL

"It is clear to me that waiting for that process to play out, the mayor will drag it out until he is no longer in office," Piagentini said. "I firmly believe that this city can wait no longer to begin the process of healing, related to social and racial unrest, related to the enforcement of our laws and related to the rebuilding of our city."

If Fischer's actions in the past are "any indicator of how he's going to act in the future," Piagentini added, "he will continue fighting every step of the way to stop any probing into the truth."

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Councilman Robin Engel

Engel, R-22nd, said the legislation is an "opportunity" for constituents to weigh in on the discussion.

"That is a discussion I look forward to having," Engel said, adding that he believes the city has been "set back a decade" by inaction from Fischer.

"In our discussion in committee, we're going to work with our Democratic colleagues and we're going to ask them: 'Will you vote for this, or are you going to defend the actions of this mayor and how he's handled this?'" Engel said. "I suspect ... that at the end of the day, this will be a nonpartisan vote, hopefully, and not just ours."

Councilman James Peden

Peden, R-23rd, said that Metro Council members have "tried to go the nonpartisan route," but that Fischer had decided to stymie that process.

"We tried to go the nonpartisan, 'be open, be transparent, just tell us what's going on.' He's the one who went as far as to sue us to put a stop to that," Peden said. "This is what he has forced us into. This is not the avenue we wanted to go."

The tide has shifted against Fischer. Only 4 of 26 came out publicly to support him in the media yesterday. That includes Sexton-Smith in district 4 downtown, Hollander in district 9 in the highlands, Mulvihill in district 10 around I-65 and I-264 and Winkler in district 17 in the east end around Gene Snyder south of I-71.

Fischer's base of support is built on people owning him favors from previous years not the sentiment of the people. The one thing that BLM radicals, west end blacks, south end whites and east end whites can agree on is that Greg Fischer should be replaced, along with all of his minions.