Lexington, KY - In a Tuesday afternoon release sent by his campaign's finance director, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer has announced his intentions to seek a second term as mayor of the commonwealth's largest city.
Fischer won election in 2010 to succeed longtime Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson, who at the time had announced his plans to join Gov. Steve Beshear's reelection as Lieutenant Governor in 2011, which they won. Fischer, a Democrat won with just over 51 percent of the vote, defeating Hal Heifner in the general election after taking 45 percent of the vote in an eight-way democratic primary. In the primary, he received more than twice as many votes as his closest competitor, David Tandy.
“I’ve been honored to serve my hometown for the last two years," Fischer is quoted as saying in a release. "My team, with the assistance of all 750,000 citizens, has set Louisville on a new course -- creating a more innovative, entrepreneurial and compassionate city. We have accomplished much, but we have more to do.”
Before taking office, Fischer and then Lexington Mayor-elect Jim Gray sat together at the UK/UofL basketball game and hatched the idea that has become the Bluegrass Economic Advancement Movement (BEAM), which has brought business leaders in the two cities and surrounding areas together to develop best practices in order to attract advanced manufacturing to the area. The group, which meets quarterly, is being assisted by the Washington-based Brookings Institution.
Gray, Fischer's Lexington counter-part, announced in November that he too would seek a second term as mayor.
Both mayors could have been considered as possible challengers to Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell. Fischer finished second in the 2008 Democratic Senate Primary with 33.8 percent of the vote, losing to Bruce Lunsford, who in turn was beaten by McConnell by six points that fall.
Fischer was an entrepreneur before entering the political ring starting SerVend, a company that engineered and manufactured vending machines for the food service industry, in addition to other ventures.
In his time as mayor, according to the release, Fischer lauds:
· Breaking ground on the 40-year-old Ohio River Bridges Project by working with officials in Kentucky and Indiana.
· Investing in the city’s libraries, including re-opening libraries on Sunday and renovating Shawnee, Bon Air and the Western branch, opening a new Fairdale branch and funding construction of the Southwest regional library, in Valley Station.
· Creating the Office of Performance Improvement and LouieStat, short for Louisville Statistics, to ensure taxpayer dollars are wisely spent. LouieStat led to $1.46 million in savings in overtime from March of last year to March this year, a 14 percent savings.
· Leading a cultural transformation at the Metropolitan Sewer District and a consolidation with Louisville Water Company, saving up to $25 million to ratepayers.
· Developing a safer city, including the creation of the LMPD VIPER squad to pursue violent repeat offenders -- and get them off the street. Overall crime in the city is down 10 percent, according to data.
· Developing a more compassionate community, including the Give a Day week of service each April, which led to Louisville being named America’s Most Livable City by the U.S. Conference of Mayors.