LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The legal showdown between The City of Louisville and Metro Council continues after a lawsuit was filed to block the open testimony of public safety officials.
This comes just a week after acting Louisville Metro Police Chief Robert Schroeder and Chief of Public Safety Amy Hess walked out of a Government Oversight Committee meeting, refusing to testify in an open session.
They offered to do it either in executive session, or at a later time. The GOA showed them the door, according to the lawsuit filed August 10.
"Putting it off doesn't help, I think it just makes it worse," Councilman Kevin Kramer said. "We cannot restore the faith of our citizens if we aren't being truthful and up front with them."
The committee had initiated an investigation into the Fischer administration and its handling of protests in the deaths of Breonna Taylor and local businessman David McAtee.
"I'm somewhat surprised that the mayor feels strongly enough about not allowing us to know what the truth is that he would actually go to court," Councilman Kramer said.
Attorneys for both Hess and Schroeder recently argued their clients couldn’t testify publicly because of a recently filed federal lawsuit against Metro Government, Mayor Greg Fischer and several police officers, including Schroeder.
They believe testifying to the council in open court would jeopardize their position in the lawsuits. The lawsuit states "Chief Hess and Chief Schroeder have nothing to hide."
"The City is committed to everything coming out, all the facts, all the truths in these cases and everything we deal with," Mayor Greg Fischer said Tuesday. "But it needs to be in accordance with any type of others issues that are on-going."
A judge gave the green light to the restraining order to keep Metro Council’s subpoenas from being enforced ahead of a government oversight committee meeting scheduled to take place on Aug. 17.
Kramer said on Tuesday that during a time where Louisville feels divided, now is when city leaders should be working together.
"We are not going to fix any kind of systemic problems that have brought us to this place if all we do is look across the street at each other and say 'I'm not telling you why I did what I did, I'm not telling you what I think about this, I'm not willing to share.'"
A hearing is set for August 24th to further discuss the matter in front of a judge.
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