190. More thoughts on Jefferson County.

Deboarding the #17 bus this morning, I noticed the balance of the magnolias which once stood on the Court House lawn are finally gone. Thanks Be To God. With them goes the thousands of starlings which regularly roosted among them, and the deposits they left behind on sidewalks, grass, and occassionally people. The work the County and the contractors are doing on the Court House has been exceptional. Too bad they are only doing one-half the job.

Several months back I made an entry on this matter. It seems the exterior renovation of the Court House finally got off the planning pages and into bricks and mortar due to a mold and mildew problem affecting the office of the Mayor of the Louisville - Jefferson County Metro, the over-abundant name we voted to name ourselves when we the voters assimilated the old City of Louisville government into the broader Jefferson County government, back on November 7, 2000. For the record, I voted No on that measure. I was concerned the City would lose its identity amongst all the folks in the County. But, I digress.

The mold and mildew apparently made its way into the southeast corner of the upper floors, the corner of the building where the Mayor keeps appointments when he isn't out planting begonias or announcing Parks improvement, neither entirely a bad thing to be doing as the City-County's Chief Executive Officer. Due to the dew getting into the executive suite of offices, the time arrived for a major renovation of part of the Court House exterior, the part including the area of Hizzoner's office. Old stucco, applied over some less-than-stellar quality stone used in the original construction needed to be removed. Moisture was making its way into the poor-quality stone and the stucco was forcing it to stay there, causing it to seep further into the stone, clear through to other side, which is to say, into the Mayor's suite of rooms.

So began the renovation of watersealing the old stones with a breathable mixture allowing excess moisture to escape to the exterior, rather than the interior. Over-laid upon the newly waterproofed stone was new stucco, which then was painted a very neutral and attractive color, allegedly and probably close to the coloring of the stone when the Court House was originally built in the mid-1800s. But this new waterproofing, re-stuccoing, and repainting is only for the southern half of the building. It is simply a facade, being visible only when one looks at the building from the front as most people do as they drive down W. Jefferson Street, following the route the bus I took into town today does. The rear of the building, which few see when driving will not be presently fixed. There is no money for this part, which, since the events of September 11, has been the part of the building most used by the citizens themselves. The main entrance to the Court House since that tragic day has been through the back doors, the double-set of double-doors in the Court House Alley (properly called Court Place, and elsewhere in the City called either Congress Street or Congress Alley). This entrance and its surroundings are not getting the update afforded the facade. Hopefully either the Mayor or the Council can find the money to finish the job on the building.

Coinciding with the update of the southern facade has been the relandscaping of the entire half-block where the Court House is situated. While some of the plantings have been a bit too suburban, symbolic of the City being consumed by the more suburban County, the end result has nonetheless been a great improvement. Along with the plantings has been the removal of the magonlias as well as a number of shrubs set against the building and rather poorly kept at times over the years. The effect of the entire project, as long as one views it from the front along W. Jefferson Street, is extraordinary. Job (or 1/2 job) well done.

While we are on the topic of Louisville, Jefferson County, and Louisville-Jefferson County, it has been reported in the news today that if we get to count all the citizens in the smaller cities, which is to say all the cities which weren't assimilated into Jefferson County by the vote of November 7, 2000, that our place in the Litany of the Most Populous Cities would fall at #17. But, as the Census Bureau which makes these counts is a responsible unit of government and refuses to count people twice, Louisville's population is set using the same standards as every other so-called Merged government and will county only those people who aren't in any other government entity, such as Saint Matthews, Hills and Dales, or South Park View, or any of the other 94 or so government entities that the so-called Merger vote didn't Merge. Thus the population of whatever Louisville is stands at 554,496, or #27 on the list. On the other hand, the overall population for the Louisville - Jefferson County Metro, which is to say all of Jefferson County, has risen above 700,000 and now reads 701,500. Congratulations are in order I suppose. If the Mayor had truly pushed a Merger bill in 2000, as opposed to one which only killed off the City of Louisville, then he could announce our place at #17. But the Merger he pushed and successfully passed was a Smoke and Mirrors affair, and now that the smoke has settled and the mirrors are cracked, the reality is we didn't Merge. We did away with the City of Louisville. We yielded its spirit up to that of the government of Jefferson County, whose population stands at 701,500.

If I sound bitter - perhaps sour grapes-ish, I am. The people of the old City of Louisville lost out in the vote and are continuing to do so - most noticeably by the continuation of being taxed both as a City, which they no longer are, and as a County, which is fair. Until and unless there is an equalization of the tax rates, meaning that those in the old City must be lowered and those in the unincorporated parts of Jefferson County must be raised, we will not have accomplished Merger. Rather, we will continue to be Keeping up Appearances, much as we are with the Court House's new facade.