On February 15, Portland residents were given the opportunity to voice their concerns at the neighborhood’s session of Café LOUIE, one of many events across Louisville promoted by the Library Foundation, the Louisville Free Public Library, the Leadership Louisville Center and the Friends of the Library. The League of Women Voters was also represented.
“Louisvillians: Organized, United, Informed & Engaged (LOUIE)… is designed to facilitate communication and interaction between elected officials—both state and local, and constituents through a series of informal meetings at Louisville Free Public Library locations,” according to its website. The Portland Museum was the local substitute of the Portland Library, which is under construction.
The elected officials included Representative Pamela Stevenson, from District 43, and Councilwoman Donna Purvis, District 5. Her district covers Chickasaw, Shawnee, Portland, and the Russell neighborhood.
Topics and themes of the wide-ranging discussion, moderated by museum Executive Director Katy Delahanty, included civics education, government response to the snow removal “disaster”, TARC, the state of the Democratic Party and the question of “overreach” on the part of Mayor Craig Greenberg, and the “toxicity” of current political climate.
But the main takeaway was the importance of staying engaged at the local level.
“That’s why we have chaos,” said Stephenson, in relation to non-engagement. “That’s when people say, ‘wake me up when it’s over’, and why people are in such a frenzy about these executive orders.”
Purvis added: “If you stay engaged, you win.”
Lee Burchfield, Director of Louisville Free Public Library, also offered an update on the Portland Library project, and said that construction will be finished by July or August, followed by more internal amenity enhancements. He said: “I’ve worked with LFPL for 27, 28 years, and when I became director my first priority was the Portland Library.” Go to https://www.lfplfoundation.org/cafe-louie/ to learn more about other upcoming events around the city.
