King Re-Elected Council President

Louisville Metro Councilman Jim King, D-10, was re-elected president of the city council on Monday at its first meeting of 2012.The Louisville banker is the first council member in history to be elected to successive terms as president. He was first elected president in 2008. King says the New Year has many opportunities and cited job creation and economic development as key goals for the coming year. The former mayoral candidate also told city lawmakers he plans to create two new ad-hoc committees that will look at land codes and abandoned properties.Council Democrats and Republicans also re-elected their caucus leadership to serve another term. Councilwoman Madonna Flood, D- 24, was re-elected as Majority Caucus Chair and Councilwoman Barbara Shanklin, D-2, was re-elected as caucus vice-chair. The council GOP re-elected Councilman Ken Fleming, R-7, Minority Caucus Chair and Councilman Kevin Kramer, R-11, as vice-chair.The council also reelected Metro Council Clerk Kathy Herron and elected Stephen Ott as deputy clerk by unanimous vote.