In an Aug. 10 letter, Mary Ellen Wiederwohl, chief of Louisville Forward, told the council’s government accountability panel that roughly 80 people have been invited to attend the Derby in the past three years.
The numbers do not count an invited guests spouse or partner who also attended Derby-related events, according to the letter. A city spokeswoman said the agency does know how many of those individuals also attended but she did not immediately share that figure with a reporter.
Of the approximately 80 attendees with business ties, only eight companies have entered into a non-disclosure agreement with the city.
“To put the (non-disclosure agreements) in context, most companies have an expectation that their project will be treated as confidential,” Wiederwohl said in the letter, which was obtained by the Courier Journal through an open records request.
Democratic Councilman Brent Ackerson requested the information as part of the ongoing City Hall hearings orbiting his ordinance, which seeks more transparency on the mayor’s Derby guest list.
If the measure were to pass, Fischer would have to report any expenses above $10,000 paid by the city no later than three years and three months after the event. It would also require the mayor’s office to back up any claim that there is an economic benefit to the Derby-themed spending.
The administration is opposing Ackerson’s measure, however, saying such a move would jeopardize economic opportunities by tipping off a visitor’s competitors or influencing the financing options of any future deal.
Wiederwohl’s letter categorizes the guests in three groups: potential business; local “cheerleader” entrepreneurs; and city staff. It shows about 70 Derby guests have not signed a legally binding agreement that would bar the city from releasing their names.
Approximately 50 visitors in the past three years have been potential businesses, according to the letter. It lists more than a dozen other local entrepreneurs who are categorized under “cheerleaders” who city officials have said helped with recruiting at the Derby.
Wiederwohl’s letter said companies that do not insist on a non-disclosure agreement, “are more comfortable with a ‘belt and suspenders’ approach.”
But she told council members during a July 31 hearing on Ackerson’s proposal that the city does not parade its Derby guests around town and maintains a very tight schedule with them.
“A lot of our guests who come as cheerleaders, for instance, it would have a chilling effect on their interest doing so if they thought that their names were going to be published in the media,” Wiederwohl said. “That would make it harder for me to ask that health care CEO to spend the weekend with us recruiting this company if they knew the next thing was having media on their doorstep.”
Ackerson defended his ordinance at that same City Hall hearing, saying that the public has a right to know how their money is being used and what came from that spending.
“I get what this is, Derby’s a party, and you’re bringing folks in to party here and hopefully do business here,” he said. ” But then the question is how many of those folks on that same party bus need to be made public.”
The Courier Journal learned the name of one guest who benefited from the public spending: national Urban League President and CEO Marc Morial. It is unclear, however, which events he participated in during his stay in Louisville or what costs of his trip were paid by the city.
The mayor’s office has spent about $390,000 on Derby-themed events for visitors since 2015, according to public records. None of the guests have been named.
Watchdog advocates and others, including Republican mayoral candidate Angela Leet, have called on Fischer to be more transparent when using public dollars. But Fischer, a Democrat, has said releasing the names “would be one of the dumbest things I could possibly do.”
This year, Fischer spent roughly $109,000 in taxpayer money including approximately $72,450 on tickets to Churchill Downs; $29,950 on rooms at the Omni hotel; $5,000 for charter bus transportation, plus a $250 tip; and $950 on photography.
Wiederwohl’s letter said the city entertained 22 guests at Derby this year with the city signing a non-disclosure agreement with one individual. The other guests this year were 10 potential businesses, six local “cheerleader” entrepreneurs and four city staffers whose names were previously disclosed in addition to the mayor and his wife, Alex Gerassimides.
Jessica Wethington, a spokeswoman for Louisville Forward, said Monday that the decision to execute a non-disclosure agreement is tied to a project, and not a guests attendance at the Derby.
Fischer’s office has defended the use of taxpayer dollars at Derby saying it represents “a unique opportunity for us to show off our city to prospective businesses looking to locate or expand here.”
The Fischer administration hasn’t touted what companies, if any, have moved to Louisville as a result of attending Derby-related events.
But Wiederwohl told council members that guests who attended last year’s Derby, for instance, have made more than $911 million in new investments and added 125 new jobs in Louisville. She said about a dozen others guests are actively pursuing expansion plans and that the administration plans to share more of those figures with council members.
“We have something that no other city has and that’s the Kentucky Derby, it’s a bucket list item and we shine that weekend like nobody else can,” Wiederwohl said. “That’s not going to seal a deal … but we can get people’s attention and change their impressions of Louisville and create new opportunities for all of us.”
Ackerson’s measure is scheduled to be discussed on Tuesday at 5 p.m. at City Hall, 601 W. Jefferson St.
