The Louisville People's Agenda was a city-wide coalition which came together in 2002 to chart a progressive, socially just and sustainable course for the community.The "Conference for a People's Agenda" was convened August 24, 2002 to develop a common community based People's Agenda for Louisville, Kentucky, USA in the face of the creation of a new government under City-County merger.
This website presents an overview of the People's Agenda, including founding documents such as the 2002 People's Agenda Conference Consensus Document and the 2003 Metro Government Call for Action. In addition, you can access the extensive 2002 -2007 Peoples Agenda Website Archives and join the current and archived online discussions and announcements from community members on the still active People's Agenda email listserv and group site.
Background and Overview:
The 2002 People's Agenda Conference synthesized several hundred policy proposals in areas such as Civil and Human Rights, Community Governance,Criminal Justice, Economic Development through Community Empowerment, Housing, Education and Youth Empowerment, Environment, Health, Human Services and Workers Rights. Over 32 community organizations participated in the call for the conference, and many more became involved over the subsequent 5 years. As organizers pointed out,"The event was a major success and was historic because it brought together in a working setting such a wide diversity of people and groups, something that had not happened on this scale in Louisville in anyone's memory - and also because there was a spirit of hope and commitment as participants realized that with all of us working together we really do have the power to shape the future of our community."
The Coalition formed in response to the merger of City and County governments in Louisville, KY, USA, the first such merger of a major city in the United States in 30 years. The Louisville merger was the culmination of local and national campaigns for corporate control of local governments in the name of "efficiency" and "regional stewardship" aimed towards integrating localities into globalization regimes ( a campaign which has now been extended to over 37 communities in the US alone). Merger reduced the influence of minority communities, labor, and progressives, while imposing a "strong mayor-weak council" governance model that centralized power, diminished transparency, and was accompanied by myriad other measures which substantively curbed local democracy.
Over the next 5 years, the People's Agenda used a variety of strategies to advance a comprehensive, sustainable, socially just vision by and for the community. Modeled in part on the World Social Forum and the worldwide Participatory Budgets movements, the People's Agenda accomplished several historic firsts:
The Coalition formed in response to the merger of City and County governments in Louisville, KY, USA, the first such merger of a major city in the United States in 30 years. The Louisville merger was the culmination of local and national campaigns for corporate control of local governments in the name of "efficiency" and "regional stewardship" aimed towards integrating localities into globalization regimes ( a campaign which has now been extended to over 37 communities in the US alone). Merger reduced the influence of minority communities, labor, and progressives, while imposing a "strong mayor-weak council" governance model that centralized power, diminished transparency, and was accompanied by myriad other measures which substantively curbed local democracy. Over the next 5 years, the People's Agenda used a variety of strategies to advance a comprehensive, sustainable, socially just vision by and for the community. Modeled in part on the World Social Forum and the worldwide Participatory Budgets movements, the People's Agenda accomplished several historic firsts:
- The first meeting of the newly merged Louisville Metro Government Council was packed to overflowing by coalition members. Hundreds of community leaders filled the Council Chambers, nearby hallways and offices and spilled into the streets to hear and cheer the presentation of the "Call for a People's Agenda."
- As a result of lobbying and direct action throughout the spring of 2002, the Coalition broke the system of "Closed Door Review" for the Metro Budget and forced the Mayor to hold the first public budget hearings, a tradition which has endured. This has allowed thousands of citizens to participate in the budget process for the first time.
"The fact that there is a public comment session (where anyone can speak, not just agency heads or public officials) is due solely to the work of the Peoples Budget and Peoples Agenda.
"This work is important and does make a difference."- K.A. Owen - The Coalition, through the "People's Agenda" developed the first open, multi-issue platform for change in Louisville, and laid the basis for cooperation and collaboration between movements and across issues which continues in numerous social justice and sustainability campaigns and initiatives.
- The Coalition for the first time raised a challenge to the top-down model of budget development and review, promoting transparency, sustainability, democracy and social justice indicators for measuring policy and accountability, beyond corporate-style "performance measures."
- Forced the Chamber of Commerce/Greater Louisville Inc. to make publicly accessible the "Boyle Report," and related documents which, along with the Metro Government Reconciliation and the Brookings Reports formed the three legs (control of business, government and social crises) of the planning process for corporate management of the Metro Government regional transition.
- Several years of Peoples Agenda Conferences, modeled in part after the World Social Forum, helped bring together the many strands of progressive movement in the region, not only honing issues for Metro government action and reform, but providing solidarity and active support for emerging local movements and continuity of communication between organizations.
- The People's Agenda provided for the first time in one web page, links & resources for direct online access to all Metro Council Members and collaborated with other networks to make available easily accessible political maps of the region.
The work of the Coalition points towards much programmatic work still undone, for instance the call for neighborhood Sustainable Economic Development Councils based in directly democratic neighborhood assemblies and institutions at the precinct and confederal municipal levels, establishment of directly democratic Participatory Budget processes (modeled in part on the Porto Alegre model), and the establishment of community based social justice and sustainability indicators and budget priorities that go beyond the special interest influence and the corporate - modeled "performance" measures suggested (but largely not implemented) by the City.
Similarly, the confluence of different interests, communities and movements which the Coalition represented, galvanized by the threat and reality of the concentrations of power under the newly merged Metro government, resulted in support for a variety of ongoing partnerships and campaigns. The activist community in Louisville still has much work to do to build on the gains and lessons of the People's Agenda towards establishing enduring coalitions which can accomplish the fundamental goals of community wide, directly democratic and accountable processes for local governance.
Many organizations provided in kind and organizing support for the People's agenda, including notably the Kentucky Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, Kentucky Youth Advocates, the Fairness Coalition, Jobs for Justice, Legal Aid, Adena, AME, Communicas and others. Click here to see a partial list of supporting organizations.
The work of the People's Agenda network continues through a variety of successor projects. With work begun towards reconvening the People's Agenda in 2010, and with lessons learned in intervening years from the Kentucky Alliance, Kentucky Social Forum, Kentuckians for the Comonwealth, Sustainable Louisville, Green Convene and other local multi-issue organizing efforts, the archives of the People's Agenda may provide useful guideposts.
You can join the People's Agenda public Yahoo group and email list service, which remains active as a networking tool for local activists and as an archive (2002 - present):
Similarly, the confluence of different interests, communities and movements which the Coalition represented, galvanized by the threat and reality of the concentrations of power under the newly merged Metro government, resulted in support for a variety of ongoing partnerships and campaigns. The activist community in Louisville still has much work to do to build on the gains and lessons of the People's Agenda towards establishing enduring coalitions which can accomplish the fundamental goals of community wide, directly democratic and accountable processes for local governance.
Many organizations provided in kind and organizing support for the People's agenda, including notably the Kentucky Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, Kentucky Youth Advocates, the Fairness Coalition, Jobs for Justice, Legal Aid, Adena, AME, Communicas and others. Click here to see a partial list of supporting organizations.
The work of the People's Agenda network continues through a variety of successor projects. With work begun towards reconvening the People's Agenda in 2010, and with lessons learned in intervening years from the Kentucky Alliance, Kentucky Social Forum, Kentuckians for the Comonwealth, Sustainable Louisville, Green Convene and other local multi-issue organizing efforts, the archives of the People's Agenda may provide useful guideposts.
You can join the People's Agenda public Yahoo group and email list service, which remains active as a networking tool for local activists and as an archive (2002 - present):
You can see People's Agenda website archives ( 2002 - 2007 ) at:
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