{"id":10580,"date":"2026-01-16T09:33:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T14:33:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greaterlouisville.com\/?p=10580"},"modified":"2026-01-16T09:33:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T14:33:10","slug":"metro-council-organizes-for-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greaterlouisville.com\/advocacy-and-legislation\/metro-council-organizes-for-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Metro Council Organizes for 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Metro Council\u00a0held leadership elections and named chairs of committees for the new year\u00a0earlier this week.\u00a0Brent Ackerson\u00a0(District 26)\u00a0was elected to serve another term\u00a0as\u00a0president of the Council\u00a0and Councilwoman Tammy Hawkins\u00a0(District\u00a01)\u00a0was reelected as his vice chair.\u00a0Councilwoman\u00a0Hawkins\u00a0will also serve and Chair of the Democratic Caucus with Jennifer Chappell\u00a0(District 15)\u00a0as her\u00a0vice\u00a0chair.\u00a0Councilman\u00a0Anthony Piagentini\u00a0(District 19)\u00a0was reelected to serve as Chair of the Republican Caucus with Councilman Khalil Batshon (District\u00a025)\u00a0again serving\u00a0as his\u00a0vice\u00a0chair.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Committee chairs\u00a0were\u00a0assigned as follows:\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Planning and Zoning<\/span><\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Chair: Andrew Owen (District 9)<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Vice Chair: Scott Reed (District 16)\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Labor and Economic Development<\/span><\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Chair: Ben Reno-Weber (District 8)\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Vice Chair: Crystal Bast (District 14)\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Public Works<\/span><\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Chair: Jeff Hudson (District 23)\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Vice Chair: Ken Herndon (District 4)\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Government Oversight\/Audit and Appointments<\/span><\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Chair: Donna Purvis (District 5)\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Vice Chair: Ginny Mulvey-Woolridge (District 24)\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Equity, Community Affairs, Housing, Health, and Education<\/span><\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Chair: Barbara Shanklin (District 2)<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Vice Chair: Stuart Benson (District 20)\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Appropriations<\/span><\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Chair: Jonathan Joseph (District 12)\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Vice Chair: Marilyn Parker (District 18)\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Public Safety<\/span><\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Chair: Dan Seum, Jr. (District 13)\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Vice Chair: Tammy Hawkins (District 1)\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Parks and Sustainability<\/span><\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Chair: Khalil Batshon (District 25)\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Vice\u00a0Chair: Paula McCraney (District 7)\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Budget<\/span><\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Chair: Kevin Kramer (District 11)\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Vice Chair: Markus Winkler (District 17)\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">This annual organization\u00a0wrapped up in tandem with the filing deadline for Metro Council elections. The 2026 election cycle will cover all odd numbered districts and will be the first\u00a0cycle\u00a0where all local\u00a0races are\u00a0nonpartisan.\u00a0All members who are seeking reelection have opposition. Councilmembers Shameka-Parrish-Wright (District 3) and Andrew Owen (District 9) are not seeking reelection.\u00a0Councilwoman\u00a0Parrish Wright is running for Mayor.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">For a full list of candidates for local elections,\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/elections.jeffersoncountyclerk.org\/pdfs\/2026-candidate-filing.pdf\" class=\"external\" target=\"_blank\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">see here.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Metro Council\u00a0held leadership elections and named chairs of committees for the new year\u00a0earlier this week.\u00a0Brent Ackerson\u00a0(District 26)\u00a0was elected to serve another term\u00a0as\u00a0president of the Council\u00a0and Councilwoman Tammy Hawkins\u00a0(District\u00a01)\u00a0was reelected as his vice chair.\u00a0Councilwoman\u00a0Hawkins\u00a0will also serve and Chair of the Democratic Caucus with Jennifer Chappell\u00a0(District 15)\u00a0as her\u00a0vice\u00a0chair.\u00a0Councilman\u00a0Anthony Piagentini\u00a0(District 19)\u00a0was reelected to&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[247],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-advocacy-and-legislation"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.12 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Metro Council Organizes for 2026 &ndash; 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