Mayor-elect Greg Fischer named a large and diverse transition team Wednesday that he said will help him lay the foundation for an improved metro government and ensure a smooth change to his administration from that of Jerry Abramson on Jan. 3.
The mostly volunteer team of leaders, about 40 strong, is headed by Rep. Ron Weston, an outgoing Democratic state representative who was the first president of the Louisville Metro Council in 2003. Fischer also named three vice chairmen: Mary Gwen Wheeler, who is a senior adviser to Abramson on education; businessman Doug Cobb, past president of Greater Louisville Inc.; and Merv Aubespin, a civil-rights activist and retired Courier-Journal editor.
Fischer promoted the team as "representing all the faces of Louisville," and a group that will help him find topnotch personnel and develop short- and long-term goals for his administration, with the No. 1 task being the creation of "jobs, jobs, jobs."
Fischer said the team represents in the whole community in terms of geography, race, gender, nationality, political affiliation, faiths and orientations and includes names that are both familiar and unfamiliar to most people.
Weston promised a "seamless transfer" between administrations, including no disruption of services. He said the transition team held its first meeting Wednesday morning before Fischer's 10 a.m. news conference on the steps of the Jefferson County Courthouse.
Weston pledged that the team will work "day and night (to make sure) we have the foundation for one of the best city governments in America."
Fischer spokesman Chris Poynter said Jackie Green, an independent candidate for mayor who withdrew late in the campaign and threw his support to Fischer, will not have a role in the transition, although Fischer has indicated he would consult with Green in setting up an environmental office.
Chad Carlton, Abramson's spokesman, said the Metro Council has approved $50,000 in funding for the transition. Poynter said that money will be used, starting Monday, to pay him and four other people who served on Fischer's mayoral campaign staff and will become his paid transition staff.
The large transition policy team will not be paid.
Poynter didn't rule out the possibility of Fischer finding private money to supplement the $50,000, if needed.
Each of the members of the volunteer transition team will probably have specific responsibilities related to their field of expertise. Poynter said several subcommittees will be set up, including ones devoted to economic development, one on how Fischer can convert his campaign promises into policy and another on personnel.
Poynter said Fischer will ask each department head and each member of Abramson's office staff to submit letters stating whether they want to serve in the new administration and to assess their own personal strengths and weaknesses. The information will be reviewed by the transition team to help determine which current officials will have a place in Fischer's administration, Poynter said.
Fischer said Leadership Louisville and the Bingham Fellows, a group of community leaders who study local issues, will help identify people who might serve in his administration.
Fischer has set up a new website at www.louisvilleky.gov/transition where people can volunteer to help in the transition or in the new administration, or submit a resume to apply for a job.
He said he and his staff will continue to work out of the campaign office at Distillery Commons near Payne Street and Lexington Road, probably until he takes office.
Fischer said former mayor and county judge-executive Dave Armstrong, now head of the state Public Service Commission, will have a role in the transition that will be announced soon.
Poynter said Fischer left late Wednesday morning to vacation in Florida and will return next week.
In addition to Weston, Aubespin, Wheeler and Cobb, transition team members include:
Gabriela Alcalde, public health consultant; Bill Altman, Kindred Healthcare executive; Muhammad Barbar, physician; Bill Bardenwerper, zoning attorney; Erica Kellem-Beasley, bank vice president; Nicole Candler, owner, public relations firm; Byron Chapman, Middletown mayor; Tommy Clark, city disabilities program coordinator; Ann Coffey, president Women 4 Women; Sherry Conner, Shively mayor; Jose Neil Donis, publisher and leader in local Latino community; Jonathan Dooley, TARC transit union president; SteVon Edwards, obesity prevention specialist; Bill Finn, electrical worker union leader; Jon Goldberg, attorney and arts activist; Eric Gunderson, communications company executive; G.J. Hart, president, Texas Roadhouse; Margaret Handmaker, retired human resources executive; Gill Holland, developer/film producer; Nikki Jackson, Kentucky Personnel Cabinet secretary; Vince Jarboe, insurance executive.
Lee Lewis, high school computer teacher; Tomiko McDaniel, Ford truck plant assembly line worker; J.K. McKnight, founder, Forecastle Festival; Rishabh Mehrotra, president, SHPS Inc.; Lynnie Meyer, executive, Norton Healthcare; Larry Michalczyk, faculty, University of Louisville Kent School of Social Work; Charlie Moyer, dean, U of L Business School; Yung Nguyen, president, IVS LLC; Kent Oyler, entrepreneur, investor; Djenita Pasic, owner, Brainswork USA; Ben Richmond, president, Louisville Urban League; Vidya Ravichandran, president, GlowTouch Technologies; Greg Roberts, president, Muhammad Ali Center; Ann Smith, executive director, Ministries United South Central Louisville; the Frank Smith, president, Interdenominational Ministerial Coalition; Mary Ellen Wiederwohl, government relations specialist.