Common Sense Leadership for Etown: Julia Springsteen

Julia Springsteen identifies needs and works to find solutions, believing that proactive leadership builds a stronger community. While practicing law and volunteering in Etown for several years, she decided to run for office in the hopes of identifying and improving policies that put Kentucky families in difficult circumstances.

Julia’s community involvement started with taking adoptable pet photos at the Hardin County Animal Shelter in 2013. When the county received a new shelter in 2014, she co-founded Friends of Hardin County Animal Shelter with Jo Ellen Thomas, Leslie Smith and Autumn O’Neal to provide spay/neuter programs, establish a medical fund for sick and injured pets, and reintroduce the shelter to the public to encourage adoption first. After stepping off the FOHCAS board to run for office, the group has continued to thrive and become a mainstay in the community.

In her first term on City Council, Julia sponsored the Humane Pet Store ordinance, making Etown the first city in Kentucky to outlaw parking lot and retail sales of dogs and cats. The goal of the ordinance is to encourage adoption first and promote responsible breeding practices. This protects consumers from the financial burden of sick and poorly-bred pets. Since Etown’s adoption of the ordinance, five other cities—including Louisville and Lexington—and one county have passed the same or similar law to protect pets and consumers.

Julia has consistently supported increasing and expanding sidewalk repairs and installations, commissioned an updated stormwater master plan, and helped update the City’s Comprehensive Plan in anticipation of industry, retail and population growth. She serves as the Council Liaison to the Elizabethtown Tourism Commission and attends Elizabethtown Planning Commission hearings to listen to citizens’ concerns about zoning issues that will come before Council. She also worked on the Safe Streets for All Grant Committee to evaluate dangerous intersections and potential remedies in coordination with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet District 4.

Julia served two terms as Chair of Feeding America, Kentucky’s Heartland, a food bank serving 42 counties. She was honored to be named a Kentucky Colonel by Gov. Andy Beshear in 2022 and was appointed by Gov. Beshear to the Animal Control Advisory Board (ACAB) in 2021 and 2024. ACAB distributes funds raised by sales of the Kentucky Spay/Neuter license plate to county animal shelters to help spay and neuter adoptable pets. She spearheaded a statewide contest to redesign the plate, which has resulted in a marked increase in funds available for shelters.

Julia works behind the scenes on the board of Warm Blessings Community Kitchen to help raise money for an upcoming expansion. She is a charter investor of Heels Together, a women’s fund founded by the Central Kentucky Community Foundation. Now a decade old, the fund supports community programs designed to raise up women and girls in our community. She has also served as a community contributor on The New Enterprise Editorial Board and on The Heritage Council to promote downtown development.

After spending over a decade in sales and marketing, including as VP of Sales/Marketing for an international logistics software company, Julia pursued a law degree at New England School of Law in Boston. She practiced first in Virginia as a trial attorney with the federal government before moving to Etown in 2009, joining the Kentucky bar and practicing nonprofit law. Her solo law practice resulted in the creation and stabilization of several local nonprofits from which local residents directly benefit.

Outside of work and public service, Julia enjoys spending time with her husband, Ray, and their two teenagers.

With every decision, Julia aims to make Elizabethtown a better place for families to live, work and grow.

Re-elect Julia Springsteen to the Etown City Council on November 3!