Louisville mayor's wife had city-issued phone and computer, internal email says

In an internal email to Metro Hall staff last week, Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg’s chief of staff David Kaplan said the mayor’s wife uses a Metro Hall office and was given a government-issued @louisvilleky.gov email address, computer and iPhone as a volunteer with the administration.

The letter followed Courier Journal reporting that Rachel Greenberg has an office in Metro Hall, a city-issued email address and gave orders to staff. Additionally, The Courier Journal learned a Metro Hall summer intern listed their job as “Special Assistant to the First Lady” on LinkedIn.

The letter confirmed key aspects of what anonymous sources told The Courier Journal, while contradicting an earlier denial by the administration that Rachel Greenberg had a Metro Hall office.

“You may have seen a recent news story about First Lady Rachel Greenberg’s role in our Administration,” Kaplan wrote in the email, which was obtained by The Courier Journal. “Because you work in the Mayor’s Office or closely with us, I wanted you to have accurate information on this topic.”

After The Courier Journal contacted the mayor's office about the letter it had obtained, the office provided a copy of the letter Tuesday evening, as well as a brief statement from Kaplan saying "we are thankful for First Lady Rachel Greenberg's volunteer efforts on behalf of our city and city government."

Reached for comment for that initial Sept. 6 story, mayor’s office spokesperson Kevin Trager said "no, no, no, no," when asked if the first lady had a Metro Hall office or staff. He refused to answer any other questions about her role, insisting The Courier Journal send its questions by email.

The mayor’s office did not respond to detailed questions emailed by The Courier Journal, including questions about how the administration viewed Rachel Greenberg’s position in regard to Louisville’s ethics code, which bars family members, including spouses, from being employed by or appointed to a position with the election of a mayor — a clause ethics experts said the administration was potentially violating with the first lady’s hands-on role.

Kaplan’s letter, however, provided some insight into the administration's perspective on the ethics code.

“I am confident that the volunteer role of the First Lady, as described below, fully complies with the law and does not create any conflicts of interest,” Kaplan wrote.

Additionally, he wrote, the anti-nepotism clause of the ethics code “only applies to employment and appointed positions in the Mayor’s Office. Rachel is an unpaid volunteer working on Mayoral initiatives.”

Kaplan also wrote Rachel Greenberg “has no staff, she supervises no one, and no employees in the Mayor’s Office report to her.”

The mayor’s office did not respond to an inquiry on Aug. 30 about the Metro Hall intern who listed their job as Rachel Greenberg’s assistant. That intern, who was among those with close family ties to Greenberg hired to work at Metro Hall through a program the city portrayed as prioritizing disadvantaged youth, also did not respond to an email seeking comment.

"When Rachel is in Metro Hall, she works only on public business. When she is working with our staff, that work is only on public business," Kaplan wrote in his letter. "Rachel sometimes works out of an office in Metro Hall. Rachel was issued an @louisvilleky.gov e-mail address, iPhone and computer for proper record keeping."

Craig and Rachel Greenberg "have always been open and transparent about the role she would play in the administration, dating back to her central role in the Mayoral campaign," Kaplan added.

In The Courier Journal’s initial story about the first lady's role in the administration, an anonymous source with knowledge of the situation said Rachel Greenberg’s presence in Metro Hall “created resentment among staff” who were “uncertain about the extent of her decision-making power.”

Reach reporter Josh Wood at jwood@courier-journal.com or on Twitter at @JWoodJourno

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville mayor's wife had city-issued phone, computer, email says