In a nutshell- the Governor's office let the republican party chairman for the counties decide who got jobs and promotions- in clear violation of the state employee merit system.
But as one republican representative puts it- this is just how they do business.
"That's just party politics," Wesley said. "You can sound altruistic and all that, but there's a certain thing called loyalty. When an administration is Republican, of course, they like to have all the loyal people they could have working for them."
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http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/11682549.htm
STATE TRANSPORTATION CABINET INQUIRY
Job seekers underwent GOP check
Released phone log lists Fletcher's 'county contacts'
http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/11682549.htm
STATE TRANSPORTATION CABINET INQUIRY
Job seekers underwent GOP check
Released phone log lists Fletcher's 'county contacts'
By John Cheves
HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITER
Candidates for merit-system jobs at the Transportation Cabinet first were vetted by Gov. Ernie Fletcher's "county contacts," a network of local Republican leaders, according to a state phone log released this week.
The disclosure provides one glimpse of how the Fletcher administration filled jobs after it took office in December 2003, and what role was played by political friends. The influence of politics on hiring is now the subject of a widening investigation by Attorney General Greg Stumbo.
One of the records filed by a whistle blower and released by Stumbo was a Nov. 9, 2004, call sheet listing 41 candidates for hire or promotion at the Transportation Cabinet.
Next to each candidate's name was the name of the contact in the county where the job was located, with space for their comments.
"Yes -- Dependable, Hard worker," were the remarks attributed to Roger Myatt, chairman of the Monroe County Republican Party, about one potential employee. "Says he's OK," was the comment noted from former state Rep. J. Quentin Wesley of Union County. Other responses included: "No," "No -- Court Dealings" and "Doesn't know the candidate."
Yesterday, several county contacts -- many of them elected officials or Republican Party leaders -- said they have been asked by the Fletcher administration to give their opinions of job candidates who live in their area. Some said the candidates' political affiliation is not a factor when they make recommendations; others said it can be.
"My personal feeling is, if there's a Democrat qualified and a Republican qualified, I would recommend the Republican," said Wesley, who served in the legislature 30 years ago under Gov. Louie Nunn, the last GOP governor before Fletcher.
"That's just party politics," Wesley said. "You can sound altruistic and all that, but there's a certain thing called loyalty. When an administration is Republican, of course, they like to have all the loyal people they could have working for them."
Highway crews
Unlike politically appointed jobs that are filled at the governor's pleasure, such as cabinet secretaries, state government rank-and-file employees are supposed to be shielded from political influence by the merit system. State officials could be criminally charged if they are found to have acted on hiring demands or recommendations by individuals with "political influence," according to Stumbo.
In his investigation, Stumbo has released hundreds of e-mails, memos and other records indicating that Republicans won merit jobs at the Transportation Cabinet based, at least in part, on political ties, rather than just on their qualifications. His investigators have seized documents from the cabinet and the offices of Fletcher's aides.
Notable names among the Nov. 9, 2004, call sheet's list of county contacts include Frankfort attorney Bill Kirkland, who worked on Fletcher's campaign; Warren County Judge-Executive Michael Buchanon; Dave Dispo-nett, state Republican Party treasurer and a Fletcher adviser; and Frank Schwendeman of Lexington, former 6th Congressional District chairman on the state Republican Party Central Executive Committee.
The call sheet doesn't show which state agency called the county contacts -- the callers are identified only by their first names, "John," "Marion" and "Heather" -- but the jobs were at the cabinet, either its Frankfort headquarters or district offices across the state.
Many of the jobs involved working on highway crews for hourly wages of $8 to $16 an hour.
Carla Blanton, a spokeswoman for Fletcher, who is traveling in Asia, said she personally was not aware of a formal list of county contacts in the governor's office. She declined to explain the call sheet, saying the Fletcher administration still is reviewing the documents that have been released this week.
"It would be premature to comment at this point," Blanton said.
Patton patronage
Fletcher is only the latest Kentucky governor to use county contacts. His Democratic predecessor, Gov. Paul Patton, frequently was criticized for the amount of patronage awarded through his county contacts, one of whom -- Hickman County's Tina Conner -- turned out to be his mistress. The Kentucky Republican Party blasted the contacts as "a good ol' boys system" that would be inherently cleaner under a GOP governor.
After the Conner affair was revealed in 2002, as were various favors Patton had done for her, the Executive Branch Ethics Commission issued an advisory opinion setting limits on the role of county contacts. Generally, the panel said, county contacts may help local people apply for state jobs by providing the necessary address or phone number, but they should not use their political influence to promote job candidates.
"The practice of political contacts having an inside track to obtain favoritism within the Office of the Governor goes against the ideals of the Executive Branch Code of Ethics," the panel said.
County contacts' rewards aren't limited to being able to make job recommendations.
For example, Allen Sturgeon, chairman of the Breckinridge County Republican Party, was not only his area's contact, he also picked up a politically appointed job last October as a special assistant at the Transportation Cabinet, where he makes $62,620 a year.
Sturgeon was accused in a Feb. 25 report by the cabinet's inspector general of leaving a motor he owned to be worked on by employees at the cabinet's Elizabethtown garage. In the report, several garage employees confirmed the account. But the inspector general -- who was investigating another employee, not Sturgeon -- apparently did not interview Sturgeon and did not pursue the matter.
Yesterday, Sturgeon denied any suggestion that he asked cabinet employees for personal work.
"That's an absolute lie," he said.
As for his duties as county contact, Sturgeon said he makes recommendations on jobs, but he does not wield any improper influence.
"We don't have any more say-so in the governor's office than any other citizen would, probably," he said.
Reach John Cheves at (859) 231-3495 or 1-800-950-6397, Ext. 3495, or jcheves@herald-leader.com.
