Meet the candidates for Metro Council District 6

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - The governor’s race might be the headliner of this year’s election season, but there are other races on the local level that are important. Like the race for Metro Council District 6.

District six sits in the middle of the metro. That’s where you’ll find neighborhoods like Germantown, Parkhill and a few others.

Incumbent democrat Phillip Baker is running against republican Judy Stallard.

In the middle of district six sits Central Park. In the park, you’ll find a playground that’s there because Phillip Baker worked to put it there.

“I take the same approach that I take in my day job of just making sure I move barriers for all people every day no matter the circumstances,” Baker said.

Baker works at JCPS as a family resource coordinator and was elected to Metro Council in February. In that relatively short amount of time, he’s accomplished a few things he’s proud of. Such as the playground in Central Park.

Besides the youth, he’s passionate about seniors and public safety.

“We’ve made sure we’ve added more lighting to the parks, walking paths, improve the infrastructure,” he said. “We’ve allocated $10,000 in police overtime making sure police come from a community engagement standpoint.”

If he keeps his seat, he wants to do more, like improving conditions at Parkway Place and providing opportunities for seniors.

“Some of these colleges right in the bowtie of my district literally have non-traditional students that come back, making sure we’re addressing healthcare, food insecurity, so I have a whole gambit of things and ideas,” Baker said. “Just keep watching and waiting to see what we’re going to accomplish.”

On the other side of the aisle is Judy Stallard.

“I fell in love with Louisville about five minutes after I got here,” Stallard said.

Stallard is originally from Alabama but moved here for work in 1999. She’s running because she says change is needed.

“I want to be that change,” she said. “I’m a problem solver, and I’ve got a heart for the people. It’s just something that I’ve felt very led to do.”

One issue she wants to tackle is homelessness. She says there are three main things that lead to homelessness. Financial reversal, addiction, and mental instability.

“I want to first work with the people that have had financial reversals and get them job training and get them back,” Stallard said. “There’s a lot of organizations that can help them get back into work, and there’s also organizations that do addiction and mental instability getting people together.”

Public safety is another issue she wants to work on.

“We need more police,” Stallard said. “We got to try to do everything we can do to get more police, and I’d like to see the ones that we have get out of their cars and get to know the people.”

As a newcomer, she thinks she’d bring a new perspective to Metro Council.

We’ll be previewing each of the races for Metro Council for the next two days on WAVE news.

Election Day is coming up on Tuesday, November 7th.

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