Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.
The Equity, Community Affairs, Housing, Health, and Education Committee met on Wednesday, October 7, 2026, in Council Chambers and virtually. Chair Barbara Shanklin (D-2) called the meeting to order at 1:33 p.m., and a quorum was established with all six committee members present. Committee Member Marilyn Parker (R-18) attended virtually; Council Members Paula McCraney (I-7) and Shameka Parrish-Wright (D-3) also attended as non-committee members. The committee considered three pending resolutions and recommended all three for approval, sending them to the Consent Calendar for the October 15, 2026 Metro Council meeting. The meeting adjourned at 1:48 p.m.
Note: The action summary says all committee and non-committee members attended in Chambers except Parker, but the transcript shows Council Member McCraney apologizing for not being there and speaking from a remote, noisy location. The minutes also refer to R-130-26 once as an “Ordinance,” although the agenda and motion treat it as a Resolution.
21 years to attend and come support this amazing cause, our amazing friends and support the chefs that you love. And then the next event we'll go over to Brandy's house and do the Tomahawk State. Yes, we'll do the Tomahawk and we'll collect funds for April there too, right? I love that. I love that. Support Apron Inc. It is, I'm telling you, we are very proud of our restaurants. Our chefs like Chef Brandy, but you can support them by supporting Apron Inc. Go to the website, go to the Tint Taste Experience. Thank you so much for watching Global Now. We are at Waverly Park and we're celebrating the completion of the clinic loop. We've made it uh an adaptive mountain bike friendly, and it's been a process we've taken about a year. The Clinic Loop is a trail that has existed at Waverly. It's a 2.5 mile trail. It traverses through the hills and woods of Waverly Park. This is the first certified adaptive mountain bike trail in Louisville. And so it's just been it's a been a collaboration between Kentucky Mountain Bike Association, Catalyst Sports, and Louisville Parks to make that happen. I think it's one of those if you build it, we will come kind of thing. And for the importance for the disabled community to uh be seen at large, but also to see themselves and in places that maybe they haven't seen themselves before. Adaptive trails open it not just to adapted people, but it's also uh we have Nika teams, which are young kids riding bikes. Uh it opens up to different groups. So we wanted to do that. We wanted to bring more people into it. And that's just so cool for me uh to be able to see that in District 12 and in the South End that we have an opportunity for people to be able to come out to be able to enjoy uh Waverly Park as a whole, but also to be able to enjoy um the adaptive trail. Uh just a really unique opportunity for sure. It is the first one in the city, and we are really excited. We're very grateful to our partners at Kimba and Catalyst Sports for helping us open up this opportunity to be in nature and to enjoy this kind of recreation to more people. Um, the work that was done on this trail will allow those adaptive mountain bikers to come out here and enjoy Waverly Park along with the rest of the park and the trails. So we're we're pretty excited. My early Alzheimer's diagnosis gave us for too long, too many homes and businesses in parts of Jefferson County lacked access to reliable high-speed internet access. It's crazy to think, but in 2026, that was still the case. Today, that is no longer the case. Metro County Louisville Metro Government was proud to partner with Spectrum to help expand broadband access across our entire community into every corner of our community. And today, I'm proud to announce that through this partnership, Spectrum has connected more than 1,800 previously unserved homes and businesses in Louisville. And so that means today, in 2026, every address that we're aware of in Jefferson County now has access to broadband high-speed internet access. It's about time. For years, residents of Eastern Jefferson County have asked for broadband, but the cost was so exorbitant that we it seemed like it was almost an intractable problem. But then Councilman Stuart Benson stepped up and offered over 200,000 as a match for a state grant. And then the mayor stepped up and offered several hundred thousand dollars to support an RFP. And Spectrum stepped up with over five and a half million dollars invested investment in Louisville, and we got it done. The mayor's community safety walks are an opportunity for Metro government to get out into our community and connect with people. We're trying to find ways to benefit the community. So that could be bringing over a dry a steering wheel lock when someone has had their car broken into or someone has had their car attempted to be stolen from them. It could be uh reporting a pothole and getting that taken care of, uh, especially where somebody who has limited mobility needs to get to and from various areas over that unsecured area. It could be addressing an abandoned vehicle, um getting that picked up, or getting clear boarding for a vacant house that's nearby. When we discover these issues through community input, we're able to act on them quickly and follow up with those people. The really cool thing about the mayor's community safety walks is it's not just one agency effort, it's across metro government.