Q&A: Louisville Mayoral Candidate Shameka Parrish-Wright Has Lived The Issues Plaguing The City

Editor’s Note: For LEO Weekly’s 2022 mayoral election special issue, our contributors and writers sat down with the three Democratic candidates who we felt have had the most visibility and comprehensive platforms so far: The Rev. Tim Findley, businessman Craig Greenberg and Louisville activist Shameka Parrish-Wright. You can also find our breakdown of the other candidates in the race here.

Shameka Parrish-Wright is running as the “The Candidate For The People,” and she highlights her many years in public service as proof. Parrish-Wright might be most well-known for her work with The Bail Project — a nonprofit that helps people who cannot afford bail — where she was up until recently the operations manager, and currently serves as the partnerships and advocacy manager. She also has been involved in organizations such as Kentucky Jobs with Justice, La Casita Center Board, Continuum of Care Board of the Homeless Coalition, The Carl Braden Memorial Center, Louisville Books to Prisoners program, Justice Now and Sowers of Justice Network.

LEO sat down with Parrish-Wright to discuss the city’s problems and potential and what her vision of Louisville looks like.

LEO: With the Bail Project, you’ve worked to reduce mass incarceration and provide wraparound services for people caught in the system. The jail is currently facing controversy because of the string of death since November [Eight at time of publication]. What does Louisville need to do to make Metro Corrections more safe and just, and how would you help as mayor?

Shameka Parrish-Wright: So, I started with the Bail Project as a bail disruptor, and this growth has shown me a lot of the inside operations of Metro Corrections. So, that’s definitely one of the things that I would make sure that, I, as mayor, use my firsthand knowledge to make those changes that’s needed. And that’s an important question because a mayor makes appointments of people who are able to help manage. A mayor has to be able to delegate, and I want to delegate good people, and people who are closer to the issue, so that we can make more meaningful decisions. I think that there’s a lack of transparency and people being at the table to make those decisions. We need people who’ve experienced what it’s like to be involved in the criminal legal system, as well as those of us who’ve been working on it for many, many years.

I think that we have a lot of programming that overlaps, a lot of departments who seem to be working in silos. So, I want to use my position as mayor to bring those groups together to be able to focus. So, I plan to have an accountability team, monthly meetings and check-ins on goals. And so people know where things stand, because they’ll get those check-ins, and they will be able to comment. And we’ll be able to get rid of what isn’t working, and then apply what we hear and assign a person who’s going to directly work on it. I don’t want to throw out positions and say things in press conferences, and then the way those things play out internally are not the same. So, I think we have too much of that. I want to go back to the drawing board and make sure we’re building this up.

You mentioned transparency throughout that answer. What steps would you take to increase transparency to the general public that you think previous administrations might have failed on?

We have to start with accountable policing. We’re not at a place where we can get rid of our police. We need our police, but we need our police to be held accountable. I have no issue to them being paid well. They are the most protected working class, and that comes with a great deal of responsibility. They are the enforcement arm, so we have to make sure that taking that responsibility and that they’re applying equal, unbiased application across the county, across our city of Louisville. 

MetroSafe is not equipped to run [emergency services] programming. I want MetroSafe to be more integrated to receive these calls, to have an alternative number that we market so that people know that I don’t just have to call 911. There was a gentleman, I think, and he got recognized for setting up 311. And his slogan was, ‘One Call To Metro Hall.’ I think that we need that. So the transparency is setting up a system where people know who to contact if it’s a problem with my roof, or if it’s a problem with someone digging, if it’s an emergency, if it’s a trauma. So being clear about what department you need to contact and having clear numbers and multiple ways to contact those department people. People are getting dead ends.

And I will say cutting the red tape. There’s a lot of red tape with Metro Government, some of it is unnecessary, some of it’s needed. As somebody who’s had to navigate it as a business owner, as a homeless person, as someone who had affordable housing, and needing those services, I want to make that easier. 

As you mentioned, you have experienced homelessness, and part of your campaign is that housing is a human right. How would you as mayor help establish affordable housing? And how would you provide more services for homeless individuals?

So all of us running know that we have a housing shortage of affordable housing, more than 30,000 units. I think that we also have a bunch of buildings that could be rehabbed and turned into housing. We have old hotels and churches that can be rehabbed. If we don’t need to build, let’s rehab and make it better, so that people can move into those units. 

Also, I think that affordable housing should be in every neighborhood, every zip code should have affordable housing. Door knocking in PRP [Pleasure Ridge Park], I knocked on someone’s door, and they make enough money to pay their mortgage, but their utilities are off. There are people living without utilities in all of these zip codes, and we don’t know about it. We think it’s just a West End or South End — in every end of our city, someone is struggling.

As you’ve alluded to, one of your platform points is ‘mayoral appointees matter.’ How do you think the current administration has done with appointments? And how would you make sure you found the best candidates for each job?

It’s been too much nepotism. It’s been too much rubbing of the shoulders. It’s like you have to know somebody that knows somebody to get things done. I want people who are capable, who are really connected to the issues, who understand what the people of Louisville are dealing with. I don’t want to take care of the same old people. And that’s what I see in some of the appointments. 

The decisions that are being made are bring made in rooms just like this, that people have no idea what’s happening. I want to open those processes up; I want to follow the rules that we have in place; I want to make sure people know how to apply to be eligible to be on boards and commissions, and to show them a pathway to serving your city. I’m a servant of our city. I want more people to serve. And we can’t do that if we operate out of nepotism, or the six or seven families who help really decide who our leaders will be.

Homicides and gun violence have hit record highs. What are some of the keys for us to reduce gun violence in Louisville?

As somebody who has survived gun violence, who’s survived so much, who has seen people murdered, dealt with poverty, to me, I believe poverty is our biggest issue. It’s a root cause. Everybody says that, because that’s the word to say. There’s always a word… I think last year, it was level-set. But I really mean it. I wouldn’t be here if people didn’t reach back, if there wasn’t programming, if I didn’t have the faith community, if I didn’t have access to a phone to help me relocate, and help me get respite, help me deal with, I dealt with domestic violence. And there was an organization that would come pick me and my kids up, and they’d take the kids off, do activities with them. I’ll get to rest, read a book. I was in college then, so I would get to do my work. And then they would cook dinner, and we all would eat dinner together. So, three hours in the afternoon, a few times a week, and I will never forget that. I never knew people cared. I’ve been a mom since I’ve been 15 years old, so all I know is responsibility. 

We have a transportation problem here. If you do want to participate in activities and programming… it needs to come to the communities. That’s why I’ve been pushing for mobile trauma response units, not just for when something’s wrong, but even when things are good. We need more education. So, on these units, we would have the professionals. I know Christopher 2X works with surgeons and trauma doctors and people like that. But, also having college students, having people who work in the media, all of these people, come in and talk to our young people. 

Most times people don’t just go into a community and just start shooting — there’s a connection. Maybe somebody owed somebody money, maybe somebody was robbed, maybe somebody was threatening someone’s life. And I know that the city, through the Office of Safe and Healthy Neighborhoods, had violence interrupters. I do believe in that. So, I’m going to put people to work. And I’m going to put them in every neighborhood, on every corner that’s needed. Also, those people will be paid a livable wage, and they will be elected by the community. They’re basically their neighborhood ambassadors who help deter crime. 

We’ve talked a lot about specific issues. So, for the final question, let’s zoom out a bit: What qualifies you to be mayor?

I think it’s time for a more inclusive mayor. I’m inclusive, I build bridges. I also live all of the issues. There is no issue, that any mayoral candidate is running on that I haven’t been impacted by, that I haven’t lived and I haven’t fought for on a social justice level. So, I feel like we need a new direction.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. 

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This article appears in March 30, 2022.