Behind the Bid
Regarding the recent story on No Kill Louisville’s (NKL) bid to take over adoptions at Louisville Metro Animal Services (LEO Weekly, July 6): The author suggested three board members resigned during and because of the bidding process. This is inaccurate. These members left before NKL decided to put in a bid.

As for board member Barbara Haines comparing NKL’s bid to Ford employees trying to run Ford, my response is simple: LMAS is not by any stretch of the imagination Ford. That would suggest it was actually run like a business.

Haines never told the board she felt NKL should not put in a bid. Not every board member has to agree, but the bottom line is most of the board members did believe we should submit a bid, and many of them worked very hard to put together a solid proposal.

The truth is we don’t have political clout or endless amounts of money — so you have a mayor who isn’t listening despite the fact he was at our first fundraising event last year, had a booth at our Million Mutt March, and had a “meet and greet” at one of our co-founder’s homes, not to mention the thousands of No Kill supporters who were promised change.
Jessica Reid, president, No Kill Louisville

Loosen Up
I fervently hope that if I ever open a business, it is not subject to a “positive” review by Peter Berkowitz. In his review of the Leavenworth Inn (LEO Weekly, July 6), a destination he and his wife “settled” for in lieu of something better, he managed to insult a number of groups, including:

• The Indiana land and culture west of New Albany

• Bikers

• The Overlook restaurant whose food seemed “good enough”

• Anyone he has to share a bathroom with

• Sad people (especially those you have to share breakfast with)

• Patrons at Walter’s Pub (one of whom was trashy, but Berkowitz was kind enough to mention that she didn’t bother him much)

But thank god for the view! The view and some nearby caves helped, as Berkowitz and his wife eventually “managed to have fun.” My advice to the reviewer would be maybe to have a beer with those bikers or a conversation with that annoyingly sad man. Maybe it would loosen up his sphincter a bit.
Toni Bowers, New Albany

Premature Fourth
The Waterfront Park Fourth of July Festival rolled by, highlighted by the Funky Meters from New Orleans. As an avid fan of music from the Big Easy, this event, also marking the 25th anniversary of the park, was not to be missed.

About an hour into the customary wait, an announcement from the stage explained that technical difficulties were holding up the show. Eventually the band opened with “Cissy Strut.” Within the idiom of old-school funk, the tune is an instrumental anthem covered by every aspiring band under the sun. About 30 minutes later, the band jumped from warming up to exploding into the underrated super group, the “A” list of musicians they are purported to be. A LEO interview (June 28) with 73-year-old founder Art Neville indicated he would continue to play as long as he could.

Without notice, the fireworks started, implying and buffering that the two-day festival, as well as the concert, were coming to a now swift — if not premature — end. (A couple of union stagehands blamed the mess on two malfunctioning but essential microphones.)

Nevertheless, the city does well to sustain this annual event. Other metros have reported that their free city festivals have been jeopardized by the bleak economy. Louisville’s promoters offset the threat by hustling up a long list of corporate sponsors, adding Thornton’s to the mix. Hopefully, we will see yet another first-class festival unroll July 4, 2012.
Lance Crady, Clifton