Scott Makes Discretionary Funds Available

Louisville Metro Councilwoman Attica Woodson Scott, D-1, will begin accepting applications for discretionary funds this week.In October, Scott was appointed to replace expelled Councilwoman Judy Green. She then asked the city auditor for a review of District 1 finances and pledged to wait until the report was complete before allocating taxpayer dollars to community groups.Chickasaw Neighborhood Association President Donovan Taylor says organizations have supported Scott’s decision to review spending and many want the expenditures to be postponed until after the special election for the seat in November."Most organizations were quite in agreement with that, in particular I think a lot of organizations feel that the neighborhood funds should be held until the actual of a permanent council person. I don’t think any NDF funds should be given out while we have an interim council person because it can adversely affect the election process," he says.The audit revealed a lack of monitoring in the neighborhood development funds in the district under Green, who was booted from office due to ethics violations involving her council discretionary accounts and allocations to community groups.Taylor says community organizations are eager to apply for the funds again, but many question whether the process is fair."I think most neighborhood groups will definitely look at all funding opportunities as eager to apply for them. But I think people are traveling really on the fence on it because they don’t know whether the process for applying and being selected for these funds is fair and equitable," he says.The city auditor is currently conducting a review of the entire council’s discretionary spending to determine if grant funds have been used in accordance with city regulations.