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In Defense of Louisville's Barbara Gregg

by Pat Pending

The C-J has gone into full-scale attack mode against Alderman Barbara Gregg, because she spent $500 of taxpayer money for a questionnaire to be mailed outside of her district to ask people in the county whether they wanted her to vote for an NBA arena.  The C-J is accusing Gregg of unethical practices, supporting the accusations of Aldermen Dan Johnson and Denise Bentley. While there can be no doubt that Gregg was trying to develop name recognition for herself in the district in which she would be running for election in the new, merged government, she also had a legitimate and reasonable purpose for asking the people in her area, who would eventually be stuck with the bill for the arena, whether they wanted to enter into the debt.  No doubt the rest of us out in the county wish that the aldermen adjacent to us had asked our opinions as well.  Certainly, the Mayor made it very clear that he didn't want to know what we thought!

The problem here is that the C-J hasn't put this situation into the proper context.  It hasn't said one word about Dan Johnson's spending $100,000 of taxpayer money to subsidize a restaurant, which, after operating unsuccessfully for a short period of time, mysteriously burned down.  It also hasn't questioned the ethics of Denise Bentley, who, while loudly proclaiming her opposition to building an arena, proceeded to abstain from the vote in order to ensure that the project went forward.  Nor has the C-J compared the millions and millions of dollars of taxpayer subsidies for restaurants, hotels, arenas, and other projects that were supported by the Mayor and Board of Aldermen with the so-called "unethical" $500 expenditure by Gregg.  Even if the $500 mailing were improper, it is very small potatoes compared with the extensive plunder of the taxpayers that has been occurring under this Mayor and this Board of Aldermen.

What can it mean when the C-J has made not one peep about the mountain of self-serving activities of the aldermen at the cost of hundreds of millions of dollars $$$$ but has gone into overdrive attacking Alderman Gregg for an expenditure of a mere $500?  Gregg opposed the proposed commitment of $250 million of taxpayer money to finance an arena.  No doubt, she has been a thorn in the side of those so-called "progressives" who believe the taxpayers should foot the bill for all their schemes.  When the C-J goes into the attack mode in such a big way over such a small matter, it tells me that Barbara Gregg must be doing something right!

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