COUNTY JUDGE MURNER MISLEADS PUBLIC ONCE AGAIN

On June 26, 2009 County Judge Duane Murner finally released the name of the “anonymous” donor of $100,000 given to the Oldham County Fiscal Court in February 2008. Not surprising, the donor was not George Rawlings as Murner led everyone to believe shortly before the end of last year when he announced that Rawlings was the donor. The fact of the matter is the donor was the Rawlings Foundation. Some people will say what is the difference?

There could be a lot of differences. Consider the fact that the foundation also gave $100,000 to the City of LaGrange, who in turn gave $50,000 of it to the Oldham LaGrange Development Authority (OLDA) whose main purpose is to develop the Oldham Reserve property. Oldham Reserve is the location of the Rawlings Group company and building that is controlled by George Rawlings. Did Rawlings make a tax deductible contribution to a foundation bearing his name with the intention that the foundation would channel the money to a group that would benefit his company? Are you getting the picture?

For some reason, Murner did not want to divulge the true name of the donor. Apparently, he thought that he could just say that it was George Rawlings and everyone would drop the issue. However, thanks to Magistrate Scott Davis, the correct named was finally divulged by Murner. The Oldham Circuit Court had ordered Murner to furnish Davis with the name some four months ago. However, Murner defied the court order and never released the documents identifying the donor. After Murner’s continued defiance, Davis filed a motion in Oldham Circuit Court to have Murner held in contempt. The motion was scheduled for a hearing on Friday, June 26th at 1:00 PM. Finally, rather than appear in court and face the consequences, Murner released the name to Davis’ attorney. The documents clearly reflect that the donor was The Rawlings Foundation, not George Rawlings personally. This is just another example in a long line of misleading statements and actions by County Judge Murner. His is cementing his legacy of being one of the least trusted and respected elected officials in the history of Oldham County.