Speaker 1: This is The Takeaway from WNYC and PRX in collaboration with GBH News in Boston.

Mayor Mattie Parker: My name is Mattie Parker, and I'm the new mayor of Fort Worth, Texas. Thank you very much.

Speaker 3: When a mayor has swagger, city has swagger.

Mayor Karen Bass: To everyone who will join our mission to move LA in a new direction, mark my words, we will get big things done.

Speaker 5: I was born and raised here and I love this city, and I walk with the city in my soul, and in my heart.

Speaker 6: Who's ready to move Louisville in a new direction?

Dr. Melissa Harris-Perry: This week, hundreds of mayors from across the country are gathering in Washington, D.C. for the 91st winter meeting of the United States Conference of Mayors. They'll be tackling some big issues, public safety, affordable housing, economic development. Whether you live in a city where the mayor has meaningful policymaking authority, or one where their role as largely ceremonial. One thing tends to be constant, mayors are the most visible local elected officials. When the trash needs collecting the snow needs removing or the park needs updating. It's the mayor's office that gets the calls.

They feel the love or the heat. This year, The Takeaway is placing some calls to mayors too with our new series, 23 Mayors in 2023. Throughout the year, we're talking to 23 mayors from cities big and small, all across the country, and we'll learn about how they're confronting the unique challenges facing their communities. We'll hear about some of their tragedies and triumphs. You might even get a little travel inspo for your next visit to one of America's great cities or towns. Today we're kicking it off with Louisville, Kentucky.

Mayor Craig Greenberg: Louisville is an amazing city that is going to get even more amazing over the coming years. We have wonderful people that really care about others that are proud of our city. We have wonderful historic buildings and amazing park system here. We of course are the home of Bourbon, a restaurant scene is second to none and we have just a wonderful growing economy that provides a high quality of life and affordable lifestyle with a lot to do as well. We're a great city for people to visit and live. My name is Craig Greenberg, and I'm the mayor of Louisville, Kentucky.

Dr. Melissa Harris-Perry: Elected in November and sworn in earlier this month, Mayor Greenberg is just a few weeks into his term. He was a lawyer and an entrepreneur who co-founded a luxury hotel chain and served as its CEO for a number of years. While he's a newcomer to politics, he's no stranger to a good skirmish. Greenberg is also a majority owner of Ohio Valley Wrestling, a professional wrestling organization. I asked Mayor Greenberg about the biggest challenges he'll be wrestling in Louisville.

Mayor Craig Greenberg: Well, unfortunately, right now, our biggest challenge is dealing with gun violence and we are working day and night to reduce the amount of gun violence that is plaguing our city. We are very focused on public safety and doing everything we can to provide short and long-term solutions. Whether that's ensuring that our police department has the resources they need to fully prevent crime from happening, but also investing in the root causes of poverty and investing in our youth so that they have hope and opportunity, and more community centers and programming for them.

Now, I'm working to make universal Pre-K a reality in our city so that kids get the best start on their education, and that they can live a safer life, healthier life, and have the most opportunity. We're also looking to build more affordable housing and the cost of housing is getting out of reach for too many in our community. Then also creating more good paying career path jobs, partnering with both the business and organized labor community so that people continue to invest in our city and create opportunities for people that historically have not had opportunities.

Dr. Melissa Harris-Perry: About a year ago, you were reportedly targeted for potential political assassination, a man who entered your campaign office, student your doorway, and begin to shoot at you. Can you tell me about that day and about that experience?

Mayor Craig Greenberg: Sure. Unfortunately, it is a day that I will never forget. It was a horrible, surreal experience but I certainly consider myself fortunate to have survived. Early one Monday morning, my team and I, four other colleagues of mine were in our campaign office, and a man walked into our campaign office, pointed a gun directly at me, and fired six times from very close range. One of my colleagues heroically slammed the door shut when he apparently was trying to change out his ammunition and we barricaded ourselves in fortunately, law enforcement was able to come to the rescue there, and also arrest the suspect.

I'm very, very fortunate to be alive. Literally, one of the bullets grazed my sweater. I don't know why or how I'm still here, but I certainly know what I'm going to do, because I am and that is in this position as mayor, to work every day with anyone in the community who wants to be a part of the solution to end gun violence.

Dr. Melissa Harris-Perry: Did the experience change how you think about the necessary policies to address gun violence? Or did it simply crystallize them and make them more personal for you?

Mayor Craig Greenberg: I think all of the above. One takeaway from that day is that many people read about the latest homicide in their city, and it's just numbers but the reality is both for those who pull the trigger, and for those who are the victims, they're real people. Their lives either brought them to a place where they decided to pull a trigger, or they are the victims whether they live or unfortunately do not. We as a society need to do everything we can to prevent people from finding themselves in a place where they're pulling the trigger, to support victims who are, and then to support the family, friends, neighbors, and neighborhoods of those who are the victims.

One of my takeaways is the impact of gun violence is on so many more people than just those who are injured or killed. It's the friends, it's the family, it's the neighbors, it's the neighborhoods that are impacted. We need to just focus our efforts on what we can do to prevent gun violence and part of that means addressing the number of guns on our streets that are in the wrong hands. In our state of Kentucky, it's not easy. There are stringent laws that restrict what cities like Louisville can do. We'll be doing everything that we can legally as a city. We'll also be advocating for changes at the state level to try to bring people together around reducing gun violence.

Dr. Melissa Harris-Perry: Okay, quick pause. We're back in just a moment with more of our 23 Mayors in 2023 Series with the mayor of Louisville, Kentucky.

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You're listening to The Takeaway. I'm Melissa Harris-Perry, and we're still with Craig Greenberg, mayor of Louisville, Kentucky, and the first in our new series, 23 Mayors in 2023.

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When you talk about public safety, from Louisville, Kentucky, for many, the first name to come to our lips, to our minds, to our thoughts is Breonna Taylor. Of course the question of whether or not a community there can trust in partner with Louisville police, given the reality. How have you as mayor been thinking about accountability and relationship repair?

Mayor Craig Greenberg: That is a tragedy that should have never happened for so many reasons. I've been focused on how we can move forward from that tragedy and other tragedies that have impacted our city and other cities and as you said, the distrust that exists between certain communities and our police department. I believe that Louisville residents deserve the best police department in America. To me what that means is one that is the most trusted, the best train, and the most transparent.

We have a new interim chief of police, an amazing woman, a pastor herself by the name of Jackie Gwinn-Villaroel who is working in partnership with me and our entire administration and the entire community to do a better job of listening, to do a better job of engaging with community leaders, with members of the clergy, with formerly incarcerated individuals, with anyone who wants to be a part of the solution to reduce the amount of crime in our city.

Last week, we, unfortunately, had our 10th homicide of the year, which is not something that we ever want much less in January. The chief and I gathered together, some victims' families, members of the clergy, neighborhood leaders, other members of the Louisville Police Department to make a call for community action, to ask people to call the mayor's office to get involved and be part of the solution. To impact and influence others because we need that communication to really help rebuild trust so that we can all work together to prevent crime from happening. We can't police our way to safety. Our police department needs to be involved in other community activities and investments in organizations that are doing things to reduce the amount of poverty, to end the hopelessness, and create hope and opportunity for the youth in our community that feel like they have no other path in life and are turning to a life of crime.

It's working with our school system. It's working with community centers to have more programming. It's working with our administration to make universal Pre-K a reality. It's working on workforce development training and higher education institutions. There are so many different things that can and must be done, and we're doing everything we can with a short and long-term focus.

Dr. Melissa Harris-Perry: I'm interested in some language that as we were preparing for the interview and talking with folks in your office, your advanced person, your press person, said to us that one of your central priorities is to protect the rights of women. What do you mean by protecting the rights of women?

Mayor Craig Greenberg: Well, unfortunately, Kentucky has an extreme abortion law. In the wake of Roe v. Wade, being overturned, I think it's important for leaders in the public and private sector to stand up and say, "We support the rights of women and girls to make their own healthcare decision." Even in the face of Kentucky's extreme ban on abortions in the state and their attempt to make it illegal, I just want to be very clear that our police department will be focusing on preventing violent crime, on reducing the amount of gun violence, not on enforcing this dangerous and archaic law that impacts the rights of women.

Dr. Melissa Harris-Perry: Okay. Now we're going to enter what we call our mayoral speed round. I'm just going to ask you a few questions for us to get a sense of local flavor and your own connection to the city. The first is, if I were to have the opportunity to hop on a flight or drive on down to your city, where is one place that I absolutely have to visit?

Mayor Craig Greenberg: I would take you to our parks, whether it's Waterfront Park or Jefferson Memorial Forest, which is the largest publicly owned urban forest in America, or some of our other amazing parks across our entire city. After the Walker run, I would take you to one of our bourbon distilleries, so you could see what only happens in Kentucky, right in and around Louisville, the making of bourbon. I would enjoy a glass of bourbon where we could continue to solve all of our country's challenges.

Dr. Melissa Harris-Perry: All right. People, who live in your city, what do they call themselves? If you are from Louisville, are you a Louisvillian?

Mayor Craig Greenberg: Yes. You're a Louisvillian now. There's a lot of confusion about how to pronounce our city's name. Some people say Louisville. It's Louisville, and so you're a Louisvillian.

Dr. Melissa Harris-Perry: Now, we know Muhammad Ali is famous as Louisvillian. Tell me, someone, who's not famous, but who really captures the spirit of Louisville.

Mayor Craig Greenberg: Is a woman I recently met named Maddie Jones. Maddie is in her late 80s, maybe even 90s now. She's an amazing civil rights leader from Louisville, who literally her entire life since her teenage years has been advocating for change, for racial equality, for investments in people and neighborhoods that have been overlooked, and for the rights of Black Americans and others who have been discriminated against.

She has been a true inspiration to me on the local and national level. Anyone who has the opportunity to spend 15, 30, 60 minutes with Maddie Jones, their life will be better as a result.

Dr. Melissa Harris-Perry: I want you to tell me a little bit of the history of the future. Cast yourself 20 years forward. Maybe you're sitting on your front porch, finally with your beloved wife. You get a minute to breathe, having a little bit of Kentucky Bourbon there. Whatever you're doing. How will you know that your time as mayor has been successful? What will your city be like?

Mayor Craig Greenberg: I hope that 20 years from now, kids are graduating college that got their start in education as a result of universal Pre-K that our administration made a reality. I hope that gun violence is a thing of the past. That there is enough housing in our city where people at all income levels can affordably live. That we have not just a thriving downtown, which is critically important to me, but we have thriving neighborhoods that each have their own unique identity and characteristics and charisma and charm and history that people want to live in, that they're walking to their work, they're walking to get their groceries.

That the city is a cleaner city than it currently is, and that the parks are more vibrant and more plentiful than they are today. That's the Louisville I'm working towards for 20 years from now.

Dr. Melissa Harris-Perry: Mayor Craig Greenberg is the mayor of Louisville, Kentucky. Mayor Greenberg, thanks so much for being with us today.

Mayor Craig Greenberg: Thank you so much.

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