One City. One Community. One Family.

Louisville Male High School Drum Line

The One City Inaugural Celebration Breakfast on Jan. 3 began with a parade of dancers representing various cultures, and rightfully so: It was a day of celebration – of a new administration and of Mayor Greg Fischer’s platform of “One City. One Community. One Family.”

Rev. Frank Smith, pastor of Christ’s Church For Our Community, gave the invocation to a crowd of 2,300 at the Kentucky International Convention Center.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to pray for this day,” he said. “We think the world of Mayor Fischer and am confident in his gifts and abilities – his love and spirit.”

Guests enjoyed a morning of coffee and a warm breakfast as inauguration co-chair Tommy Elliot introduced former Mayor David Armstrong, former Congressman Romano Mazzoli and former State Sen. Georgia Powers, all honorary inaugural chairs and the morning’s speakers. The room fell silent as each person spoke on city, community and family.

Mazzoli said he is typically a “person” voter during election time; however, when it came to Fischer, he credited both the “person and the platform” that secured his support.

After Christy Brown’s introduction of Fischer, which ended on the idea of “one family,” the crowd channeled Sister Sledge and began singing “We Are Family” as Fischer looked on with a humble smile.

Mayor Greg Fischer is introduced

Applause erupted as Fischer took the podium and greeted the crowd. He spoke of a newly “un-tapped energy” in the days leading up to the inauguration and his vision of Louisville being “big enough to be an international community but small enough to get things done.”

With concluding promises of being an inclusive mayor, the crowd took to the streets for the “People’s Procession” to the Cathedral of the Assumption for the Inaugural Interfaith Celebration.

The feeling of “one family” rang true as citizens gathered and celebrated its diversity with representatives from different faiths all coming together as “one community” at the cathedral.

The procession continued to Metro Hall where Matthew Barzun, U.S. ambassador to Sweden, greeted the crowd as the inauguration’s emcee.

“Clapping does warm the hands, but it also slows things down. I’ll trust you with the balance,” said Barzun as he introduced Louisville’s elected officials, who also took the oath of office.

While the 300 VIP seats placed on stage might have had the heaters, the rest of the crowd gathered in the cold at the steps of Metro Hall at the foot of a statue of Thomas Jefferson, the crowd awaited to be addressed by the mayor.

Fischer smiled as he affirmed never to have been in a duel, part of Kentucky’s traditional oath of office since 1849. With that, Louisville’s 50th mayor was sworn in.

Mayor Greg Fischer delivers the Inaugural Address

Barzun introduced the new mayor.

“In this wonderfully diverse, dynamic and shining galaxy we call Louisville, I can think of no greater center of gravity than Greg Fischer,” he said.

Fischer’s 15-minute speech began around noon and covered his goal for Louisville to have a “culture of entrepreneurship.”

Fischer stated his promise for Louisville of one day being “a city full of entrepreneurs, ambitious thinkers and risk takers.”

Fischer’s platform challenge of service and forming Louisville into a more “compassionate city” was immediately addressed as he declared Jan. 8 a city-wide day of service.

“As a city we must think big and we must think bold,” he said. “The relevance of Louisville as a thriving 21st century city is what’s at stake here. Our city might not be the biggest, but we must always aspire to be the best.”

Fischer also quoted scholar Thomas Merton: “We are already one. But we imagine we are not. What we have to recover is our original unity.”

The day was as much about the citizens as it was about a new mayor. Fischer’s speech was followed by the One Community Inaugural Parade and the One Family Inaugural Gala later that night.

Fischer made it apparent that the community is a team.

“And whether you like it or not – we’re all in this together,” he said.

Tags: Inauguaral Gala, Inauguration Day, Louisville, Mayor Greg Fischer

Category: Cover Stories