October 31, 2025 • 21 mins
Louisville, Kentucky Mayor Craig Greenberg sat down with WHAS Radio's Terry Meiners for a wide-ranging chat on today's wins and challenges for the city. Mayor Greenberg addressed the impending SNAP benefits conundrum, new affordable housing, renewed downtown business leases, re-opening the juvenile justice center, the scourge of fentanyl, assisting homeless people, Yum Center debt, and much more.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Ladies and gentlemen. The mayor of the City of Louisville
is Craig Greenberg, and he's back in studio. Well, it's
great to see again, Mayor.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Happy Halloween.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Happy Halloween to everyone. Obviously, you know we're still a
little while from sundown, but kids go out, the youngest
kids go out with their parents, like now.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Yeah, I'd say they're getting their costumes on as we speak.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Yeah, that's always great fun. Okay, we know there was
a lot of issues pressing in the whole country and
here locally, but let's start on the Snap benefits. We
don't know if those get uprooted tonight at midnight, but
I know a judge is ruling or may.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Right, there was a good ruling today, but we need
to make sure that that's implemented and that people don't
have a delay in losing their Snap benefits. But here's
what it means for people who might not know what
SNAP is or the implications. Over eighty thousand people in
Louisville rely on Snap benefits and that's a monthly stipend
for that they can buy basic groceries for their family.
If this judge's ruling does not take effect, gone. That's
(00:58):
really huge impact on the people of Louisville, and so
we've been working to do what we can in partnership
with There to Care, community ministries and other organizations to
try to help. But you know, at the local level,
we're limited compared to the resources of the federal government.
But I do want to thank Louisville because people have
stepped up. Yesterday was with Vincent James and Dare to Care.
We announced a drive that bring can goods to some
(01:20):
of the races that we're having this weekend or at
the zoo donate money. We've already raised a lot of
money overnight, and I know I've seen the generosity of
Louisville really step up over the last couple of hours.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Indeed, there's the There to Care food Bank, Neighborhood House
Hope and Southern Indiana Community Kitchen and more that people
are saying they're bolstering their supplies, doing the best they can,
and I think people are stepping up all around.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Yeah, and even before this, you know, with rising costs
of groceries, there are a lot of people that are
struggling with the cost of living these days, and so
we've been working at Louisville Metric government to see what
we can do. Even before this, for the first time
in forty three years, the community ministries had one day
a few weeks ago that they out of food because
the demand was that high. And that was before this
(02:04):
federal government imposed snap benefits crisis. So it is a
big need. And even hopefully if the snap benefits are
restored next week as a result of this judge's ruling,
hopefully the federal government gets back open, we'll still have
a need in the community. So here at city government
figuring out what we can do to support these great organizations.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
I saw some numbers posted in Kentucky, thirty eight plus
percent they say of all recipients are in working families.
I know a lot of people say, well, there are
a lot of people who shouldn't be on benefits, and
it gets this cruelty factor comes into play. But we
have a lot of people we need to take care of.
Whatever the numbers are.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
I mean, that's right. There are folks that are working
at JCPS, there are folks that are working at other
organizations doing great work around the city that don't earn
a lot and they qualify. That's what it's there for
that's who it's there to help.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
And remember that Dare to Care was started in this
city in nineteen sixty nine after a child starved. Essentially,
it's someone named Bobby Ellis. It's a kid who passed
away from moult nutrition and so that's what kicked off
There to Care. So it's always good to remind people
about that that that can happen in this it.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Is And today I was just with the Neighborhood Place,
which is an organizaate part of Louisville Metro Government where
people who qualify for snap benefits or need help, they
come for assistance and there's sort of the concierge that
helps them navigate the challenging system of federal benefits and things.
So I was just there to say thank you to
them today because you know, we're trying to do everything
we can to help you.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
Mentioned races. I heard a rumor you're running more than
one tomorrow. Is this right?
Speaker 2 (03:30):
That is true? I'm going to try something Terry that
I've never done in my life. Tomorrow morning. We've got
a new year. I've got this Mayerthon Theory series of
four running races throughout the summer and fall, and the
final one is tomorrow. It's the through the Ville five k.
It's through u of L's campus, so it's going to
be a lot of fun. Starts at LMN Football Stadium
and then we're going to run through campus and back
(03:51):
a grete five k. We are there, we're going to
raise either people can bring cands to donate to Dare
to Care. There'll be qr cos that people can donate.
Every dollar helps and then in the evening there's a
great run at the zoo or the Zoo through the Boo.
So I'm going to do two races and one day
we'll see what my Sunday looks like. I might be
a little sluggish, but.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
You are a regular runner, so six mile whatever, I
think I'll be all right. You can handle all that.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
I'm not going to set any prs, but I'll be okay.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Do you run every day?
Speaker 2 (04:18):
I do not. I try to run at least four
days a week, every weekend day and a few times,
get up super early during the weekend, hop on my
treadmill at home before I leave.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
What goes through the Mayor's mind because I know as
an exercise or your mind gets into whatever it does
for me, it's structuring my day what happens to you.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
So if I'm running on the weekends outside, I run
without music or anything, So I'm thinking about lots of
you know, really just strategic thinking, looking back on the weeks,
or thinking about what I want to get accomplished over
the coming months and years. When I run at home,
I watch you Netflix usually, so right now I'm getting
caught up on Tulsa King, so I'm not really thinking
(04:57):
about much when I'm running at five point forty five
in the morning on my chindhood home with Netflix or
Paramount Plus or whatever I happened to be watching.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
I can't believe that Sylvester Stallone and those guys get
away with that much crime in that city.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
It's amazing. I'm glad it's not Louisville King, because we
don't want people think that you can get away with
that here.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
That would be ugly.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
But it is about Bourbon this season though, so it's
pretty fun and interesting. And I had Tealer Sheridan and
David Glaster. They were some of our Derby guests last year,
so it was fun to talk to him.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
We saw them, and do you already have guests pick
for next derby. Is that's not that organized and advance?
Speaker 2 (05:31):
No, but actually we're talking about that right now. So
we want to make sure we get invitations out and
we've got some good ideas on people we want to
bring to Louisville to get them here excited about doing
things in our city.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
We're speaking with the Mayor of the City of Louisville,
Craig Greenberg. That is one of the things that you're
supposed to do. But some people always get worked up
about where are we spending money brigging people here. It's
because we're trying to get business here, right.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Like, how about this? How about the folks from the
LPGA that came to Louisville and shortly thereafter decided to
have the Solheim Cup here. We're working to expand and
the film industry to bring people here. The PGA Championship,
we had leaders from the PGA. We're looking to bring
another PGA back to Louisville in the next decade. We
hope at Valhalla lots of great opportunities to get people
(06:12):
to Louisville that might otherwise not get here, get them
excited about investing in here, hosting events here, doing things
in Louisville when they see what we can pull off
every year with the Derby.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
And Valhalla has such a great acreage footprint, you can
have a massive event here, whereas a lot of other
places are more tightly locked in.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
It's great for the fans, it's great for TV, and
so it's really a wonderful, world class course.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
We heard the big news about young brands. You know
this radio station. All of our iHeart stations were out
on Newburgh Road near them. That's right, and now they're
coming home just like iHeart. That's exactly right. We led
them and so they still want to be our neighbors.
I know, a big law firm, Steptoe and Johnson also
has a huge presence in that building. So we're pulling
(06:55):
people back home.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Yeah, we have been very focused on bringing downtown back
after COVID. This announcement that Yum is relocating five hundred
and fifty employees that are going to be coming downtown
to work every day, it's phenomenal news. It's a sign
of the great momentum that we're seeing in downtown and
across the city. This helps our local businesses, our restaurants.
We want to bring more retail here, and we want
people to realize that downtown is indeed back and they
(07:18):
should come check out downtown. If you haven't been here
in a while, you know, any weekend people will be
I think people in Louisville are surprised at how crowded
downtown is over the weekend. We're rebuilding that downtown business
space as well. We're working to build more housing down
here as well. We've got great parks with Waterfront Park,
great reasons to come down with U of L men's
and women's basketball seasons, starting volleyball, at other events at
(07:40):
the YOUM Center, Kentucky Center for the Arts. Lots of
great things going on.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
What do you have to do for like a company
like YOUM to get them to come downtown to you say,
we'll give you some tax break.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
In this instance with Young we worked with them on
some parking support to help their employees park. And we
own a lot of parking garages. We want more cars
in those garages. That's what they're there for. There's capacity
right now to help provide some incentives through that.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
There are some buildings. There's one behind you. It's a
beautiful building called the Starks Building. It's been up and
down as to whether or not it's going to get
retro fitted. Is it cost prohibitive for some of these
developers when they look at it and think, can I
turn that into housing? Because I know there's other affordable
housing has.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Been challenging with high construction costs and high interest rates
has been challenging over the past couple of years. I
want to give a big shout out though to the
state leaders because working with the leaders of the General Assembly,
they've provided some new incentives that never existed before to
do invest in downtown. And in the last session they
in twenty twenty four, they provided one hundred million dollars
for us to invest in downtown projects which you're seeing
(08:38):
come to life. Louisville Gardens, the Community Care Campus, going
towards the Belvidere, new housing right next to Lynn Family Stadium,
on those parking lots, and the list goes on and
vacant building conversions. So like what you're talking about, we
now have money available so that we can convert these
vacant historic buildings into whether it's new housing, a new hotel,
more office space. And I'm hoping in the next session
of the General Assembly, which starts in January, you'll see
(09:01):
that same positive momentum continue.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
A grocery store is what people always mention.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
It's been challenging, you know, working with some of the
national grocers on that. They're really focused on the number
of people who live in a dense radius. So we're
not quite there yet, but we are working on that
every week to try to make that happen.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
The affordable housing announcements have been pretty stunning. The one
by U of L campus recently amazing.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
That's right, And you know, one thing that I really
want people in Louisville to know is when we talk
about affordable housing, it is quality housing. We just had
a great announcement this week in the Loo Med District
downtown with over three hundred new units. And if you're
standing in that courtyard, anyone in Louisville would be proud
to live in these apartments, great facilities, great amenities. It
(09:45):
just happens to have some subsidies from the federal, state
or local government so that the cost can be brought
down for people who meet some certain income limitations. But
this housing is good stuff. It's people, hardworking people in
Louisville that are living in here. I'm proud that we've
already built five thousand more. We got tens of thousands
of more units to go.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
The residents are helping with pay the fees. Nobody's there
for free. No one's there for free. Everybody's paying. It's
just the rent is lower because of some support from government.
That makes sense. Also, I'm going to get a couple
other topics in here before we get away. The Juvenile
Justice Center. Are we going to get that thing reopened again?
Speaker 2 (10:21):
It is under construction right now, so if you drive
by it downtown you'll see the construction signs on. That's
a state project. Their scheduled to finish in twenty twenty seven.
We've been working with the state to try to see
if we can accelerate the schedule to get it open
even earlier in twenty twenty seven. I hope that's the case.
We need to open as soon as possible.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
Yeah, we hate to even have to have that, but
we know, Mayor that public safety oftentimes is violated by
underage people, and so what are we doing in those
areas to try and move parents to get control of
their out of control fourteen, fifteen, sixteen year olds.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
You know, we're doing a lot of things that ride.
One is we're actually working on programs to get kids earlier.
We've just started a new program called get Busy, where
we're really not targeting middle school students. We were focused
on teenagers and people in the early twenties when maybe
they're committing the crimes. We've realized that's too late. We
need to get to them earlier and help them get
a new path in life. We're working. We are doing
some things with parents. We're getting ready to start some
(11:20):
new public service announcements. I don't know if you remember
the old it's ten pm, do you know where your
parents are? Of course they're coming back, so going to
We really want to continue to remind parents of the
responsibility of it's the greatest joy of Rachel in my life.
It's also a huge responsibility and parents need to take
that very seriously.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
Christopher two X told me years ago on the station.
He just said, we got to talk to five year olds,
he said, trying to talk to a twelve year old
out of a life that he's already been put on.
They're so far off the rails that's hard to bring
them back.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
It's why we're starting our early Childhood Learning Initiative to
make early childhood education and quality preschool and child care
reality for all three and four year olds. We've got
to get to them before even their first day kindergarten.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
You had a big class join LMPD. Yes, So what's happening.
Why is the needle moving in the right direction? You
were having trouble getting three people.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
I think it's a lot of reasons why. One is
we've provided unprecedented support for our hard working officers at
LMPD over the past several years. Historic pay raises that
I provided the new Wellness Center, which provides physical and
spiritual and mental health treatment and support for them. Chief
Humphrey is a strong leader who's really helped improve the
(12:32):
culture of LMPD. I think when people know that they've
got the Mayor's support, the chief support, and now the
community support, we're starting to see people come back to LMPD.
I'm incredibly proud of it. We have forty one folks
in the academy right now. That's the largest it's been
since I've been mayor in years before. Then, we're getting
ready to start. If you're still interested, there's going to
be another class starting again. We're going to keep building
(12:53):
and getting more officers out on the street working with
the community to prevent crime from even happening in the
first place.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
And you don't even have to be an eighteen year
old either. This isn't like the Marines. You can be
somebody who's had a different career.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Right, definitely. Yeah, there are people of all ages that start.
You do have to be twenty one right now to
be in the academy, but we want people from all
different backgrounds. We want people who have been social workers
or teachers, who worked at ups and to form. We
want LMPD to be a reflection of our community and
that's what we're going for.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
You're in the mayoral race again, but it's not this time.
It's not a deal where you're just tagged as a Democrat.
You're just tagged as a candidate.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
What is the change here? And is the Democratic support
the same for you? Like is the party still going
to help you?
Speaker 2 (13:38):
So I think the reason you're asking the question that way, Terry,
just in case folks don't know, is for the first time,
everyone who runs for mayor and Metro Council are going
to be running a non partisan races. There's no d
or Ri next to any of our names. We're all
just running a non partisan races. That's a new state
law that takes effect for the first time next year.
You know, Look, I am a proud Democrat, Terry. I've
(13:59):
also just as we've talked about here, I've worked incredibly closely,
and I'm proud of the work that we've done with
Republicans and Independents with passing my budget with strong bipartisan
support because it helps the entire community move forward in
a new direction. I've worked closely with the Republican leadership
of the General Assembly in Frankfort, just as I have
with our Democratic Governor Andy Bashier to get record amounts
(14:20):
of money invested in Louisville. As I mentioned that one
hundred million dollars for downtown earlier, over a billion dollars
in total in the last session. We're gearing up for
another great session. I hope starting in January. That's you know,
regardless of what's happened in Washington where there's all that fighting,
I'm trying to bring people together here in Louisville to
work on our common goals we all have. I think
(14:41):
most of the same goals. We might not agree on everything,
but that's okay. We all want to reduce gun violence.
We all want more jobs in our city. We all
want better education. None of us like traffic. You know,
there are some common things that regardless of your party,
regardless of what you think about what's going on in DC,
we can work together here at home. And that's what
I've been doing.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
Okay, a couple of other quick things to get to JCPS.
The test scores are still not what we want. We
know we're dumping a lot of money in there, and
they need more money. We've heard about their budget work, right,
what are we going to do to improve test scores?
Speaker 2 (15:16):
So I think Doctor Yearwood, in my conversations with the
new superintendent, he has been very focused on childhood education
and results for them, and so I think you see.
I mean, I don't get involved in the details of
their budget because that's a separate governmental entity. But in
my conversations with him, I think you're going to see
JCPS making cuts to make their budget work with a
(15:37):
focus on the schools and the classroom. That's where the
investments need to be in our teachers, in the classrooms,
and as a result, I think you'll see better results
on the test scores, better education results for our kids,
which is what we all want.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
It's a conundrum that no one seems to be able
to solve, so we hope we're moving in the right direction.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
That is the hope.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
I've had a guy in here talking about the Young
Center over and over again and the death that we owe.
Why does the city keep putting ten million in there
when the Young Center says they've got money in the bank,
sixty million dollars in the bank.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
I mean that was part of the original agreement when
the bonds were refinanced many years ago, long before I
was mayored. I think it's proven to be a great investment.
Look at what's going on in downtown. Having the Young
Center downtown is one of the reasons why Yum just
relocated five hundred and fifty jobs. It's creating a lot
of revenue for the city with all of the local
restaurants that are around Whiskey Row and all of downtown,
(16:31):
and Yum needs to reinvest in the facility. It's a
fifteen years old. We just celebrated the fifteen year anniversary
last week before the Kansas Exhibition game with u of
L men's basketball, and we need to stay on the
cutting edge if we want to continue to get the
great acts, not just u OFL basketball and volleyball, but
also great concerts, great other events. We have to have
(16:53):
it being a world class facility, and so they need
to reinvest and that's what they're getting ready to do.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
I know you've been there for wrestling, me too. Of
course they've had huge events. It's only fifteen years old,
but we're replacing the roof. Did we not have a
warranty for at least fifteen.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
Yeah, I'm not sure about that. I had some question,
but that was like what maybe it was a ten
year warranty.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
I guess. Last thing and it's still serious business. We
talked about affordable housing, but I'm going to ask you
about the homeless situation. There are people who can't muster
up anything to help with their put a roof over
their head. You and I know about this. We've talked
about it before. People it's set up camp. Fentanyl we
know is an issue. President Trump was just talking to
the Chinese leader about this fentanyl business and the scourge
(17:36):
of drugs in America. How is your administration best serving
the issue that deals with homeless people, mentally ill people.
What do we do for them?
Speaker 2 (17:48):
Well, this is an area we've made progress, but once
again we need to make a lot more and so
we're going to keep at it. We've been focused on
providing housing and healthcare for those who are in need.
Working a part ship with Volunteers of America, we're building
the new Community Care Campus. It already has opened a
family shelter for families, working to get families off the street.
It's a partnership with the YMCA to help teenagers get
(18:10):
off the street and have a new path in life.
We've opened new twenty four to seven shelters. We've got
a lot of shelter space in our community, but I
realized that during the day they could not stay in
the shelter. We need places for them to be all
day long. So we've done that. And then just this
week we had two big announcements. One is we created
a new Office of Behavioral Health. Because so many people
(18:31):
who are homeless, the reason they're homeless is that they're
struggling with either addiction, mental health issues, or oftentimes both.
We need to prioritize getting more mental health services, more
addiction treatment services to people in need, ideally before they
become homeless. And so we now have an office in
the Mayor's office that is focusing on coordinating all the
(18:52):
agencies are on Louisville Metro government that work on this
to help prevent people from ending up homeless. And the
other big initiative we had this week is called per
supportive housing. So, yes, we need to get people off
the street into new units of housing. We're doing that.
We've already built, as I mentioned, five thousand new units
across the city. For some people, they need more than
just a roof over their head. They need services. They
(19:13):
need help, whether it's to get signed up for Medicaid,
whether it's to have that addiction treatment services, whether it's
to get an IDs, or whether it's job training so
they can get back into the workforce. That's called permanent
supportive housing. It's housing plus services. And so we made
a goal that we just talked about yesterday to have
two hundred and fifty new units of permanent supportive housing
by twenty twenty seven. I've already dedicated some city funds
(19:36):
towards that. We're now working with the philanthropic community to
get private donations as well. I'm confident we can do
this and we will continue to make even more progress
on this front over the coming months and years.
Speaker 1 (19:47):
And fentanyl is killing people around, absolutely killing. You've seen
those videos of people. They're like zombies, They're bent over
at the waist, and it's like, good lord, we've got
to do the adults have to take.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
Just like getting people before they end up committing a crime,
we need to try to get to people before they
come addicted. It's rare that people go from totally sober
to fentanyl. There are a lot of things that happen
in someone's life in between. We need to intervene and
help get them back on the right path in life.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
Yeah, well, I'm glad law enforcement say a little deal
with that.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
But yeah, I hope folks have noticed. You know, we
have made great improvements and downtown today is very different
than it was. I know there are still people at
intersections around the community and we need to provide support
for them and help them find new paths in life
that don't involve, you know, hanging out on the intersections
all day. We've made progress, There's still a lot to do,
and we're on it.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
Mayor it is great to see you again. Good luck
with your two races tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
Remember to bring can goods for this too, because there
to care will benefit in these food.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
Louisville really has shown that they step up in times
of need, and it's really we all should be proud
of our city.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
You bet, Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg, and we'll talk again
down the road sometimes. So great to see you again.
Have a great weekend, Terry, coming right back on news
radio EID forty. You ight shas
Ladies and gentlemen. The mayor of the City of Louisville
is Craig Greenberg, and he's back in studio. Well, it's
great to see again, Mayor.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Happy Halloween.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Happy Halloween to everyone. Obviously, you know we're still a
little while from sundown, but kids go out, the youngest
kids go out with their parents, like now.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Yeah, I'd say they're getting their costumes on as we speak.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Yeah, that's always great fun. Okay, we know there was
a lot of issues pressing in the whole country and
here locally, but let's start on the Snap benefits. We
don't know if those get uprooted tonight at midnight, but
I know a judge is ruling or may.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Right, there was a good ruling today, but we need
to make sure that that's implemented and that people don't
have a delay in losing their Snap benefits. But here's
what it means for people who might not know what
SNAP is or the implications. Over eighty thousand people in
Louisville rely on Snap benefits and that's a monthly stipend
for that they can buy basic groceries for their family.
If this judge's ruling does not take effect, gone. That's
(00:58):
really huge impact on the people of Louisville, and so
we've been working to do what we can in partnership
with There to Care, community ministries and other organizations to
try to help. But you know, at the local level,
we're limited compared to the resources of the federal government.
But I do want to thank Louisville because people have
stepped up. Yesterday was with Vincent James and Dare to Care.
We announced a drive that bring can goods to some
(01:20):
of the races that we're having this weekend or at
the zoo donate money. We've already raised a lot of
money overnight, and I know I've seen the generosity of
Louisville really step up over the last couple of hours.
Speaker 1 (01:29):
Indeed, there's the There to Care food Bank, Neighborhood House
Hope and Southern Indiana Community Kitchen and more that people
are saying they're bolstering their supplies, doing the best they can,
and I think people are stepping up all around.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
Yeah, and even before this, you know, with rising costs
of groceries, there are a lot of people that are
struggling with the cost of living these days, and so
we've been working at Louisville Metric government to see what
we can do. Even before this, for the first time
in forty three years, the community ministries had one day
a few weeks ago that they out of food because
the demand was that high. And that was before this
(02:04):
federal government imposed snap benefits crisis. So it is a
big need. And even hopefully if the snap benefits are
restored next week as a result of this judge's ruling,
hopefully the federal government gets back open, we'll still have
a need in the community. So here at city government
figuring out what we can do to support these great organizations.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
I saw some numbers posted in Kentucky, thirty eight plus
percent they say of all recipients are in working families.
I know a lot of people say, well, there are
a lot of people who shouldn't be on benefits, and
it gets this cruelty factor comes into play. But we
have a lot of people we need to take care of.
Whatever the numbers are.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
I mean, that's right. There are folks that are working
at JCPS, there are folks that are working at other
organizations doing great work around the city that don't earn
a lot and they qualify. That's what it's there for
that's who it's there to help.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
And remember that Dare to Care was started in this
city in nineteen sixty nine after a child starved. Essentially,
it's someone named Bobby Ellis. It's a kid who passed
away from moult nutrition and so that's what kicked off
There to Care. So it's always good to remind people
about that that that can happen in this it.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Is And today I was just with the Neighborhood Place,
which is an organizaate part of Louisville Metro Government where
people who qualify for snap benefits or need help, they
come for assistance and there's sort of the concierge that
helps them navigate the challenging system of federal benefits and things.
So I was just there to say thank you to
them today because you know, we're trying to do everything
we can to help you.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
Mentioned races. I heard a rumor you're running more than
one tomorrow. Is this right?
Speaker 2 (03:30):
That is true? I'm going to try something Terry that
I've never done in my life. Tomorrow morning. We've got
a new year. I've got this Mayerthon Theory series of
four running races throughout the summer and fall, and the
final one is tomorrow. It's the through the Ville five k.
It's through u of L's campus, so it's going to
be a lot of fun. Starts at LMN Football Stadium
and then we're going to run through campus and back
(03:51):
a grete five k. We are there, we're going to
raise either people can bring cands to donate to Dare
to Care. There'll be qr cos that people can donate.
Every dollar helps and then in the evening there's a
great run at the zoo or the Zoo through the Boo.
So I'm going to do two races and one day
we'll see what my Sunday looks like. I might be
a little sluggish, but.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
You are a regular runner, so six mile whatever, I
think I'll be all right. You can handle all that.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
I'm not going to set any prs, but I'll be okay.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
Do you run every day?
Speaker 2 (04:18):
I do not. I try to run at least four
days a week, every weekend day and a few times,
get up super early during the weekend, hop on my
treadmill at home before I leave.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
What goes through the Mayor's mind because I know as
an exercise or your mind gets into whatever it does
for me, it's structuring my day what happens to you.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
So if I'm running on the weekends outside, I run
without music or anything, So I'm thinking about lots of
you know, really just strategic thinking, looking back on the weeks,
or thinking about what I want to get accomplished over
the coming months and years. When I run at home,
I watch you Netflix usually, so right now I'm getting
caught up on Tulsa King, so I'm not really thinking
(04:57):
about much when I'm running at five point forty five
in the morning on my chindhood home with Netflix or
Paramount Plus or whatever I happened to be watching.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
I can't believe that Sylvester Stallone and those guys get
away with that much crime in that city.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
It's amazing. I'm glad it's not Louisville King, because we
don't want people think that you can get away with
that here.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
That would be ugly.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
But it is about Bourbon this season though, so it's
pretty fun and interesting. And I had Tealer Sheridan and
David Glaster. They were some of our Derby guests last year,
so it was fun to talk to him.
Speaker 1 (05:26):
We saw them, and do you already have guests pick
for next derby. Is that's not that organized and advance?
Speaker 2 (05:31):
No, but actually we're talking about that right now. So
we want to make sure we get invitations out and
we've got some good ideas on people we want to
bring to Louisville to get them here excited about doing
things in our city.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
We're speaking with the Mayor of the City of Louisville,
Craig Greenberg. That is one of the things that you're
supposed to do. But some people always get worked up
about where are we spending money brigging people here. It's
because we're trying to get business here, right.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Like, how about this? How about the folks from the
LPGA that came to Louisville and shortly thereafter decided to
have the Solheim Cup here. We're working to expand and
the film industry to bring people here. The PGA Championship,
we had leaders from the PGA. We're looking to bring
another PGA back to Louisville in the next decade. We
hope at Valhalla lots of great opportunities to get people
(06:12):
to Louisville that might otherwise not get here, get them
excited about investing in here, hosting events here, doing things
in Louisville when they see what we can pull off
every year with the Derby.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
And Valhalla has such a great acreage footprint, you can
have a massive event here, whereas a lot of other
places are more tightly locked in.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
It's great for the fans, it's great for TV, and
so it's really a wonderful, world class course.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
We heard the big news about young brands. You know
this radio station. All of our iHeart stations were out
on Newburgh Road near them. That's right, and now they're
coming home just like iHeart. That's exactly right. We led
them and so they still want to be our neighbors.
I know, a big law firm, Steptoe and Johnson also
has a huge presence in that building. So we're pulling
(06:55):
people back home.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Yeah, we have been very focused on bringing downtown back
after COVID. This announcement that Yum is relocating five hundred
and fifty employees that are going to be coming downtown
to work every day, it's phenomenal news. It's a sign
of the great momentum that we're seeing in downtown and
across the city. This helps our local businesses, our restaurants.
We want to bring more retail here, and we want
people to realize that downtown is indeed back and they
(07:18):
should come check out downtown. If you haven't been here
in a while, you know, any weekend people will be
I think people in Louisville are surprised at how crowded
downtown is over the weekend. We're rebuilding that downtown business
space as well. We're working to build more housing down
here as well. We've got great parks with Waterfront Park,
great reasons to come down with U of L men's
and women's basketball seasons, starting volleyball, at other events at
(07:40):
the YOUM Center, Kentucky Center for the Arts. Lots of
great things going on.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
What do you have to do for like a company
like YOUM to get them to come downtown to you say,
we'll give you some tax break.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
In this instance with Young we worked with them on
some parking support to help their employees park. And we
own a lot of parking garages. We want more cars
in those garages. That's what they're there for. There's capacity
right now to help provide some incentives through that.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
There are some buildings. There's one behind you. It's a
beautiful building called the Starks Building. It's been up and
down as to whether or not it's going to get
retro fitted. Is it cost prohibitive for some of these
developers when they look at it and think, can I
turn that into housing? Because I know there's other affordable
housing has.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Been challenging with high construction costs and high interest rates
has been challenging over the past couple of years. I
want to give a big shout out though to the
state leaders because working with the leaders of the General Assembly,
they've provided some new incentives that never existed before to
do invest in downtown. And in the last session they
in twenty twenty four, they provided one hundred million dollars
for us to invest in downtown projects which you're seeing
(08:38):
come to life. Louisville Gardens, the Community Care Campus, going
towards the Belvidere, new housing right next to Lynn Family Stadium,
on those parking lots, and the list goes on and
vacant building conversions. So like what you're talking about, we
now have money available so that we can convert these
vacant historic buildings into whether it's new housing, a new hotel,
more office space. And I'm hoping in the next session
of the General Assembly, which starts in January, you'll see
(09:01):
that same positive momentum continue.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
A grocery store is what people always mention.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
It's been challenging, you know, working with some of the
national grocers on that. They're really focused on the number
of people who live in a dense radius. So we're
not quite there yet, but we are working on that
every week to try to make that happen.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
The affordable housing announcements have been pretty stunning. The one
by U of L campus recently amazing.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
That's right, And you know, one thing that I really
want people in Louisville to know is when we talk
about affordable housing, it is quality housing. We just had
a great announcement this week in the Loo Med District
downtown with over three hundred new units. And if you're
standing in that courtyard, anyone in Louisville would be proud
to live in these apartments, great facilities, great amenities. It
(09:45):
just happens to have some subsidies from the federal, state
or local government so that the cost can be brought
down for people who meet some certain income limitations. But
this housing is good stuff. It's people, hardworking people in
Louisville that are living in here. I'm proud that we've
already built five thousand more. We got tens of thousands
of more units to go.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
The residents are helping with pay the fees. Nobody's there
for free. No one's there for free. Everybody's paying. It's
just the rent is lower because of some support from government.
That makes sense. Also, I'm going to get a couple
other topics in here before we get away. The Juvenile
Justice Center. Are we going to get that thing reopened again?
Speaker 2 (10:21):
It is under construction right now, so if you drive
by it downtown you'll see the construction signs on. That's
a state project. Their scheduled to finish in twenty twenty seven.
We've been working with the state to try to see
if we can accelerate the schedule to get it open
even earlier in twenty twenty seven. I hope that's the case.
We need to open as soon as possible.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
Yeah, we hate to even have to have that, but
we know, Mayor that public safety oftentimes is violated by
underage people, and so what are we doing in those
areas to try and move parents to get control of
their out of control fourteen, fifteen, sixteen year olds.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
You know, we're doing a lot of things that ride.
One is we're actually working on programs to get kids earlier.
We've just started a new program called get Busy, where
we're really not targeting middle school students. We were focused
on teenagers and people in the early twenties when maybe
they're committing the crimes. We've realized that's too late. We
need to get to them earlier and help them get
a new path in life. We're working. We are doing
some things with parents. We're getting ready to start some
(11:20):
new public service announcements. I don't know if you remember
the old it's ten pm, do you know where your
parents are? Of course they're coming back, so going to
We really want to continue to remind parents of the
responsibility of it's the greatest joy of Rachel in my life.
It's also a huge responsibility and parents need to take
that very seriously.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
Christopher two X told me years ago on the station.
He just said, we got to talk to five year olds,
he said, trying to talk to a twelve year old
out of a life that he's already been put on.
They're so far off the rails that's hard to bring
them back.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
It's why we're starting our early Childhood Learning Initiative to
make early childhood education and quality preschool and child care
reality for all three and four year olds. We've got
to get to them before even their first day kindergarten.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
You had a big class join LMPD. Yes, So what's happening.
Why is the needle moving in the right direction? You
were having trouble getting three people.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
I think it's a lot of reasons why. One is
we've provided unprecedented support for our hard working officers at
LMPD over the past several years. Historic pay raises that
I provided the new Wellness Center, which provides physical and
spiritual and mental health treatment and support for them. Chief
Humphrey is a strong leader who's really helped improve the
(12:32):
culture of LMPD. I think when people know that they've
got the Mayor's support, the chief support, and now the
community support, we're starting to see people come back to LMPD.
I'm incredibly proud of it. We have forty one folks
in the academy right now. That's the largest it's been
since I've been mayor in years before. Then, we're getting
ready to start. If you're still interested, there's going to
be another class starting again. We're going to keep building
(12:53):
and getting more officers out on the street working with
the community to prevent crime from even happening in the
first place.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
And you don't even have to be an eighteen year
old either. This isn't like the Marines. You can be
somebody who's had a different career.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Right, definitely. Yeah, there are people of all ages that start.
You do have to be twenty one right now to
be in the academy, but we want people from all
different backgrounds. We want people who have been social workers
or teachers, who worked at ups and to form. We
want LMPD to be a reflection of our community and
that's what we're going for.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
You're in the mayoral race again, but it's not this time.
It's not a deal where you're just tagged as a Democrat.
You're just tagged as a candidate.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
That's right.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
What is the change here? And is the Democratic support
the same for you? Like is the party still going
to help you?
Speaker 2 (13:38):
So I think the reason you're asking the question that way, Terry,
just in case folks don't know, is for the first time,
everyone who runs for mayor and Metro Council are going
to be running a non partisan races. There's no d
or Ri next to any of our names. We're all
just running a non partisan races. That's a new state
law that takes effect for the first time next year.
You know, Look, I am a proud Democrat, Terry. I've
(13:59):
also just as we've talked about here, I've worked incredibly closely,
and I'm proud of the work that we've done with
Republicans and Independents with passing my budget with strong bipartisan
support because it helps the entire community move forward in
a new direction. I've worked closely with the Republican leadership
of the General Assembly in Frankfort, just as I have
with our Democratic Governor Andy Bashier to get record amounts
(14:20):
of money invested in Louisville. As I mentioned that one
hundred million dollars for downtown earlier, over a billion dollars
in total in the last session. We're gearing up for
another great session. I hope starting in January. That's you know,
regardless of what's happened in Washington where there's all that fighting,
I'm trying to bring people together here in Louisville to
work on our common goals we all have. I think
(14:41):
most of the same goals. We might not agree on everything,
but that's okay. We all want to reduce gun violence.
We all want more jobs in our city. We all
want better education. None of us like traffic. You know,
there are some common things that regardless of your party,
regardless of what you think about what's going on in DC,
we can work together here at home. And that's what
I've been doing.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
Okay, a couple of other quick things to get to JCPS.
The test scores are still not what we want. We
know we're dumping a lot of money in there, and
they need more money. We've heard about their budget work, right,
what are we going to do to improve test scores?
Speaker 2 (15:16):
So I think Doctor Yearwood, in my conversations with the
new superintendent, he has been very focused on childhood education
and results for them, and so I think you see.
I mean, I don't get involved in the details of
their budget because that's a separate governmental entity. But in
my conversations with him, I think you're going to see
JCPS making cuts to make their budget work with a
(15:37):
focus on the schools and the classroom. That's where the
investments need to be in our teachers, in the classrooms,
and as a result, I think you'll see better results
on the test scores, better education results for our kids,
which is what we all want.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
It's a conundrum that no one seems to be able
to solve, so we hope we're moving in the right direction.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
That is the hope.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
I've had a guy in here talking about the Young
Center over and over again and the death that we owe.
Why does the city keep putting ten million in there
when the Young Center says they've got money in the bank,
sixty million dollars in the bank.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
I mean that was part of the original agreement when
the bonds were refinanced many years ago, long before I
was mayored. I think it's proven to be a great investment.
Look at what's going on in downtown. Having the Young
Center downtown is one of the reasons why Yum just
relocated five hundred and fifty jobs. It's creating a lot
of revenue for the city with all of the local
restaurants that are around Whiskey Row and all of downtown,
(16:31):
and Yum needs to reinvest in the facility. It's a
fifteen years old. We just celebrated the fifteen year anniversary
last week before the Kansas Exhibition game with u of
L men's basketball, and we need to stay on the
cutting edge if we want to continue to get the
great acts, not just u OFL basketball and volleyball, but
also great concerts, great other events. We have to have
(16:53):
it being a world class facility, and so they need
to reinvest and that's what they're getting ready to do.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
I know you've been there for wrestling, me too. Of
course they've had huge events. It's only fifteen years old,
but we're replacing the roof. Did we not have a
warranty for at least fifteen.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
Yeah, I'm not sure about that. I had some question,
but that was like what maybe it was a ten
year warranty.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
I guess. Last thing and it's still serious business. We
talked about affordable housing, but I'm going to ask you
about the homeless situation. There are people who can't muster
up anything to help with their put a roof over
their head. You and I know about this. We've talked
about it before. People it's set up camp. Fentanyl we
know is an issue. President Trump was just talking to
the Chinese leader about this fentanyl business and the scourge
(17:36):
of drugs in America. How is your administration best serving
the issue that deals with homeless people, mentally ill people.
What do we do for them?
Speaker 2 (17:48):
Well, this is an area we've made progress, but once
again we need to make a lot more and so
we're going to keep at it. We've been focused on
providing housing and healthcare for those who are in need.
Working a part ship with Volunteers of America, we're building
the new Community Care Campus. It already has opened a
family shelter for families, working to get families off the street.
It's a partnership with the YMCA to help teenagers get
(18:10):
off the street and have a new path in life.
We've opened new twenty four to seven shelters. We've got
a lot of shelter space in our community, but I
realized that during the day they could not stay in
the shelter. We need places for them to be all
day long. So we've done that. And then just this
week we had two big announcements. One is we created
a new Office of Behavioral Health. Because so many people
(18:31):
who are homeless, the reason they're homeless is that they're
struggling with either addiction, mental health issues, or oftentimes both.
We need to prioritize getting more mental health services, more
addiction treatment services to people in need, ideally before they
become homeless. And so we now have an office in
the Mayor's office that is focusing on coordinating all the
(18:52):
agencies are on Louisville Metro government that work on this
to help prevent people from ending up homeless. And the
other big initiative we had this week is called per
supportive housing. So, yes, we need to get people off
the street into new units of housing. We're doing that.
We've already built, as I mentioned, five thousand new units
across the city. For some people, they need more than
just a roof over their head. They need services. They
(19:13):
need help, whether it's to get signed up for Medicaid,
whether it's to have that addiction treatment services, whether it's
to get an IDs, or whether it's job training so
they can get back into the workforce. That's called permanent
supportive housing. It's housing plus services. And so we made
a goal that we just talked about yesterday to have
two hundred and fifty new units of permanent supportive housing
by twenty twenty seven. I've already dedicated some city funds
(19:36):
towards that. We're now working with the philanthropic community to
get private donations as well. I'm confident we can do
this and we will continue to make even more progress
on this front over the coming months and years.
Speaker 1 (19:47):
And fentanyl is killing people around, absolutely killing. You've seen
those videos of people. They're like zombies, They're bent over
at the waist, and it's like, good lord, we've got
to do the adults have to take.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
Just like getting people before they end up committing a crime,
we need to try to get to people before they
come addicted. It's rare that people go from totally sober
to fentanyl. There are a lot of things that happen
in someone's life in between. We need to intervene and
help get them back on the right path in life.
Speaker 1 (20:13):
Yeah, well, I'm glad law enforcement say a little deal
with that.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
But yeah, I hope folks have noticed. You know, we
have made great improvements and downtown today is very different
than it was. I know there are still people at
intersections around the community and we need to provide support
for them and help them find new paths in life
that don't involve, you know, hanging out on the intersections
all day. We've made progress, There's still a lot to do,
and we're on it.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
Mayor it is great to see you again. Good luck
with your two races tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
Remember to bring can goods for this too, because there
to care will benefit in these food.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
Louisville really has shown that they step up in times
of need, and it's really we all should be proud
of our city.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
You bet, Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg, and we'll talk again
down the road sometimes. So great to see you again.
Have a great weekend, Terry, coming right back on news
radio EID forty. You ight shas
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