LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Using part of a $26 million surplus created by funding from the federal CARES Act, Louisville Metro Council approved a mid-year spending package to address some of the city's most dire needs. However, a brand new councilman voiced skepticism to his colleagues.
Jecorey Arthur, D-4, who formally took office on Monday ahead of the vote, said the spending might not have the impact council desires.
Council voted to spend a few million of a leftover $26 million to tackle some of the city’s biggest problems: homicides, homelessness and hospitality — problems some council members have said have only been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
It budgeted $250,000 toward the Office of Resilience & Community Services for its homeless assistance efforts.Â
Louisville Metro Councilman Jecorey Arthur, D-4.
Millions of dollars were directed toward street sweeping, removing graffiti, mowing vacant lots and cleaning up downtown.
Additionally, council voted to use $350,000 to reduce violent crime by hiring youth outreach specialists as part of the new Group Violence Initiative, which in partnership with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, will address the racial disparities and inequitable impact of violence in our community. The program, known as GVI, will focus on those at-risk individuals in the community who are most likely to commit crime.
Arthur, who lost his 3-year-old cousin, Trinity Randolph, to a shooting last summer, doesn’t think the program or the money council spent on it or the other issues will make a dent.
Trinity Randolph (Source: Game Changers)
“It’s about Trinity, the 3-year-old Trinity Randolph, who was killed — my little cousin. It’s also about plenty of other family members," Arthur, who replaced Councilwoman Barbara Sexton Smith on the council, said. "They are dying, and they are dying at rapid rates because of neglect."
He says poverty is the true root of crime that needs to be addressed.
"I’m new but I’m not naïve, and it’s naïve to think that cleaning up graffiti and cutting grass is going to stop people from trying to get it by any means necessary," he said.
On the other hand, Councilman Anthony Piagentini, R-19, said the GVI program council helped fund has a proven track record of success in other cities that could be duplicated here.
Piagentini, however, says GVI won't be the end of the violence reduction conversation and says council should consider other proven strategies to fight crime going forward.
Using the $26 million surplus, council already approved a $10 million expenditure to help those struggling with utility payments. About $13.8 million of the $26 million remains unspent.
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