Mayor Greenberg, ABC explain expanded enforcement authority

Our goal is to have the ability to keep folks in Louisville safe when they're having a good time. When we want people to enjoy themselves, Louisville is known for bourbon. We're known for great hospitality around the Kentucky Derby and every other time of year. And whether it's on Bargstown Road or any other place in the entire city, we want people to have a good time, but be able to have a good time safely and to be in an environment that's safe for them to enjoy themselves. And so we saw an opportunity that we needed to step up some of the ordinances to give ABC some more tools to ensure that folks that are serving alcohol follow the rules so everyone can do so safely. I'll kind of go back to 2023. There was a shooting that took place on Market Street. Metro government made a request to Kentucky ABC for an emergency suspension order. That's the way it used to be. The establishment after that mass shooting event was going to close the following week. So Kentucky ABC, and I'm not throwing any shade at them in any way, because the establishment was closing, they elected not to issue an emergency suspension order. And then around that same time, Cafe 360 had a shooting incident that took place over on Bargstown Road. And what would happen was we would make the request to Kentucky ABC. It would take multiple days to get some formal resolution, and then sometimes the orders were issued. And the administration and part of our safety plan was that ABC is a public safety agency and we had to be able to respond in a way that could actually respond quickly to address these issues. And since 2024, we've issued I think we're at 12 emergency suspensions now and it's not taken or done lightly, but we had to be able to respond in a way that was responsive to the community needs for safety. And this is owning a business that serves alcohol is not a right. It is a privilege. There are rules that go along with it. And we want to make sure that all the businesses that serve alcohol in our community follow the rules. And this is one way that we can help ensure that happens. And again, I know that nearly every one of the businesses in this community and their owners are good local businesses that are doing the right thing, that want their customers to enjoy themselves, that do right by their employees. But for those very few that don't, we want to have the enforcement ability to take action so that everyone else is safe and can enjoy themselves.