Tagged: Louisville Metro Councilman Jim King

In a unanimous vote, Louisville Metro Councilman Jim King has been re-elected to a third consecutive term as council president.

The council held its organizational meeting Monday, and elected King to the one-year term. He has been council president since 2011, and also served in the position in 2008.

No other member has been council president as long or as often

Among the accomplishments that King's supporters point to is his leadership in helping the council close a $20 million budget shortfall and overriding a mayoral veto for the first time in council history.

King says the body faces a number of challenges in 2013, and lawmakers need to be united in order to accomplish their goals and remain relevant in city government.

"And don’t we want our council to be respected and seen as relevant? I know one thing. We can’t be relevant if we are divided or if we are seen as parochial. I happen to know that we are much more relevant when we function in a unified way," he says.

Louisville Metro Council President Jim King says it isn’t practical to raise taxes for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, despite Mayor Greg Fischer’s suggestion.

The council set up the trust fund to give grants and loans for affordable housing activities, such as new construction, home rehabilitation, payment assistance and emergency repair. But the fund has struggled to find an adequate revenue stream since it was first formed in 2008.

After months of saying that residents had no appetite for higher taxes, Fischer told The Courier-Journal his administration supports a one percent increase of the insurance premium tax to pay for the trust fund if council members agreed.

But King says raising taxes of any kind would be a burdensome to residents and small businesses in a tough economy.

"I would have to say that I didn’t expect (Fischer's) comment because I wasn’t aware he was interested in adding anything to that tax. But I don’t think that the council as a whole is in a position to support that right now," he says.

Louisville Metro Councilman Jim King, D-10, is favored to serve an unprecedented third consecutive one-year term as council president.

Since city and county governments merged, council presidents have traditionally held the seat for a year before stepping down. King informed his Democratic colleagues—who hold a 17-to-9 majority—and Republicans of his intentions this month, and no other candidates have emerged.

"I think I have earned the trust and I want to keep the trust of both sides of the body—Republicans and Democrats. And I do try to work in a manner that is fair to both sides, and moving forward the legislative agenda of the council," King said.

"I think that the council members see me as someone who can lead them, but I can’t lead them without their support and I certainly value that."

An ordinance before the Louisville Metro Council would require restaurants to post nutrition information on their menus.

Council President Jim King, D-10, and Councilwoman Vicki Aubrey Welch, D-13, are sponsoring the bill.

It requires businesses that have caloric and other nutrition information available to post that information on their menus or on a menu board located in the restaurant. The ordinance would only apply to businesses that have the information available.

Welch is chairwoman of the health, education and housing committee. She says the law will give residents the needed information to make better choices.

"I want consumers to be able to choose what they’re eating and putting into their bodies. I think they deserve to know what they’re purchasing. So many people are health conscious now about what they’re eating," she says.