Butler Named Pro Tem of Council Court

Louisville Metro Councilwoman Marianne Butler, D-15, has been named chair pro tem of the council court that will hear the expulsion trial against Councilwoman Judy Green, D-1.The court will be made up of 20 city lawmakers who will decide Green's fate by a two-thirds vote. Last month, council members Barbara Shanklin, D-2, Tina Ward-Pugh, D-9, Kevin Kramer, R-11, Stuart Benson, R-20, and Madonna Flood, D-24, brought misconduct charges against Green after the ethics commission ruled she deliberately violated the ethics ordinance in two separate cases.The ethics panel recommended Green's ouster.Butler will preside over the hearings in the absence of the court's chairman, Councilman Kelly Downard, R-16, who was selected to chair the court after Council President Jim King, D-10, announced he was stepping down due to Green's persistence criticism that King was bias against her.“Having worked hand-in-hand with Councilwoman Butler during the past year’s budgeting process, I know of her commitment to holding meetings in a professional and fair manner," says Downard. "Our working relationship made her an obvious choice for this position."