Whitley judge-executive apologizes for keeping information about indicted sheriff from paper

The Whitley County judge-executive told The Times-Tribune of Corbin that he reprimanded employees in his office after finding that their response to an open-records request from the newspaper did not comply with the law.

The Times-Tribune sent Judge-Executive Pat White an open-records request on Jan. 26 "after the newspaper received what appeared to be a copy of a portion of a letter from the Kentucky Association of Counties to former Whitley County Sheriff Lawrence Hodge," Managing Editor Becky Killian writes. In the letter, the association asked to “review any correspondence, copies of claim forms or other documentation relating to a claim filed with KACO for legal representation” for Hodge, who lost his re-election bid and was indicted on 21 charges after an investigation (logo above) by the newspaper. The grand jury indictment accused Hodge of embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars in public funds.

"The letter asked White to contact the newspaper to arrange a time for the newspaper to review the documents," Killian reports. "White did not call and instead responded in writing with a letter that appears to bear his signature. He provided a copy of the Nov. 17 letter that again appeared to be only a partial copy of the document." Later, though, White allowed the newspaper to view and copy the documents.

Caroline Pieroni, a Kentucky Press Association attorney, told the paper that White's office had committed an “egregious violation of the Open Records Act” because public agencies are required to indicate when they have omitted or obscured information from a document and cite the Open Records Act exemption that they believe allows them to do so.

"White, who was informed of the Times-Tribune’s complaint on Wednesday, called later that day and said he had verbally reprimanded his staff for the violation," Killian reports. "He also apologized and said he would personally handle open records requests in the future." (Read more)

$1.5 million in grants fund project to hire one anti-corruption reporter in every state

The Center for Public Integrity, a well-established, well-respected source of not-for-profit accountability journalism, is recruiting reporters for "an ambitious risk analysis of corruption in all 50 state governments," covering everything from pension fund management to disclosure laws to state budget processes.

"The journalists will assess the existence and effectiveness of anti-corruption and government transparency measures at the state level, including political financing, civil service management and state budget processes," the center says. "The goal is to hire 50 reporters (one in each state) on a part-time, freelance basis to help us complete the project with on-the-ground reporting and data entry. We’re looking for experienced reporters who know their state and know how to dig." Apply here.

The project is funded with $1.5 million in grants from the Omidyar Network and the Rita Allen Foundation to the center, Public Radio International and Global Integrity, which analyzes government accountability and corruption trends.

Bill would apply records law to officials' groups

A bill making any organization whose employees get state retirement benefits will be subject to the Kentucky Open Records Act has been prefiled by Rep. Arnold Simpson, D-Covington, and the Lexingon Herald-Leader reported Thursday it seems likely to pass when the legislature convenes next year.

The newspaper said the bill stems from its recent investigations into lavish spending at the Kentucky League of Cities and the Kentucky Association of Counties that led to the resignations of the leaders of both organizations. Although both organizations had surrendered records to the paper, they had claimed they were not subject to the records law. Each agency receives more than 25 percent of its budgets from public funds, the law's threshold for public inspection. Employees of both agencies receive state retirement benefits.

Simpson said at a recent public hearing that any group that received even "an iota" of public funding should release such records. The Herald-Leader said that leaders in both houses of the legislature had indicated they favored the bill. For the full story on Simpson's proposal, click here.

League of Cities invites Herald-Leader to tomorrow's board meeting

UPDATE: Sylvia Lovely has resigned as executive director of the league.

The Kentucky League of Cities board has agreed to open its meeting tomorrow, at which directors are expected to discuss spending and other management issues in the wake of Lexington Herald-Leader stories about the organization that lobbies for cities and in the last 20 years has become their major insurer.

"Our board must be aware of all aspects of our business, including but not limited to compensation policies and guidelines," KLC Executive Director Sylvia Lovely, right, said in an op-ed article in the newspaper today. "And, while we hold to the belief that we are not subject to the open-meetings statutes, we invite the Herald-Leader to come to our meeting on Friday."

Herald-Leader Editor Peter Baniak told the Kentucky Open Government Blog, “We’re pleased that the Kentucky League of Cities has decided to open the meeting because what the league does is of vital public interest to cities, their employees and citizens. We hope the league will continue to be transparent.”

While the league is not covered by the state Open Meetings Act, it appears to be covered by the Open Records Act, which applies to any entity that gets at least 25 percent of the money its spends in Kentucky from state or local authority. The league fulfilled the open-records requests of Herald-Leader reporter Linda Blackford.

Lovely wrote that Blackford's articles "portray an executive with a sense of entitlement to rewards that are beyond the reach of public-sector leaders in our state. None of my compensation would probably have been written about if the paper accepted the League's position that we are in a competitive insurance business and have generated revenues during my tenure on the order of private companies. The insurance program was offered as a replacement for private insurance companies which stopped offering coverage to cities in the late 1980s. We now compete with these companies for city insurance business. The CEOs of those private companies typically earn much more than I in compensation and benefits, work no harder than I do, and do the same kind of business travel for similar purposes." (Read more)

UPDATE, June 19: The KLC board voted today to create a committee to review policies and procedures. It suspended expenditures at Lexington’s Azur Restaurant, which is one-fifth owned by Lovely's husband, Bernard Lovely; suspended travel for spouses of the executive staff; and decided to replace the sport-utility BMW that is part of Lovely's compensation.

Capacity crowd shows support for investigative journalism, openness in government

A capacity crowd in Lexington tonight was testimony to the importance of open government and investigative journalism.

Journalists and about as many non-journalists gathered to hear Lexington Herald-Leader reporter Jennifer Hewlett and projects editor Sharon Walsh discuss the paper's investigation of spending by local airport officials, which has resulted in resignations of several, a scathing report by the state auditor and a criminal investigation.

"I had no idea it was going to turn into what it did," Hewlett said at a meeting of the Bluegrass Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, in the Buckner Room at the Herald-Leader. She said a relatively minor story, coupled with help from "well-placed sources," resulted in stories that became the talk of the town -- especially after the airport board chairman revealed that the executive director and his lieutenants spent thousands of public dollars at a strip club. All told, the questionable expenses exceed half a million dollars.

Walsh (at right in photo) said the stories also hit home with readers because "People felt like the airport was theirs, and it was expenses people could identify with," such as using airport credit cards to fill up personal vehicles on the same day as airport vehicles.

Several in the crowd said the stories showed the essential role of independent journalism in a democratic system, at a time when newspapers are shriveling for technological and economic reasons.

"If it weren't for the Herald-Leader all the people who were supposed to be watching would have let this keep going," librarian Susan Daole told the speakers. "I am so worried about what's going to happen to it every day as you have to let more and more people go." Today, McClatchy Co., which bought the Herald-Leader in its purchase of the Knight-Ridder chain, announced that it would cut another 1,600 jobs.

With newspapers hobbled, civic activist Don Pratt said, journalists should help citizens understand how to use open-records laws to do their own investigations. The writer of this item urged non-journalists to become active in Kentucky Citizens for Open Government. To e-mail me, click here.

Legislative leaders propose investigative agency not subject to open-records law

The two top legislative leaders are backing legislation to create an investigative agency for the General Assembly that would "lack transparency," The Courier-Journal reports. "Its records and reports would be exempt from court subpoenas and the state's open-records laws."

Senate President David Williams, Frankfort's top Republican, introduced Senate Bill 188 on Friday, the deadline for new bills in the Senate for the current sesson. House Speaker Greg Stumbo's spokesman said the Democratic speaker plans to file a similar bill on Monday. In a joint statement yesterday, they said the legislation "recognizes the important 'watchdog' responsibility vested in the General Assembly to ensure tax dollars are spent efficiently and effectively."

The new General Assembly Accountability and Review Division would "conduct investigations, audits and reviews and otherwise monitor the activities of public agencies," the Courier-Journal's Tom Loftus and Stephenie Steitzer report.

"It's horrible," Common Cause Kentucky Chairman Richard Belies told the newspaper. "This is not in the public interest. To have it be able to conduct these investigations without anybody being able to have any type of information about it, I think, goes back to the way government was run in the Middle Ages."

The bill could raise constitutional questions about separation of powers among the branches of government, a strong principle in Kentucky law. SB 188 would require the state auditor, attorney general, cabinet secretaries and other agency heads to assist the Legislative Research Commission "in whatever manner the Legislative Research Commission deems that these officials can be helpful." House and Senate leaders comprise the LRC. It would have to vote for any records of the division to be released.

Auditor Crit Luallen told The Courier-Journal that the new agency could duplicate the constitutionally mandated duties of her office. Attorney General Jack Conway declined to comment. Gov. Steve Beshear's office said it had been busy with budget matters and hadn't reviewed the bill. Spokesman Jay Blanton said, "Over the next few days we'll meet with the sponsors involved to ascertain any questions or concerns they may have and determine how we might address those issues." The bill is in the Senate State and Local Government Committee. (Read more)